Concert Programme - Soraya Mafi, Robert Lewis & Anna Tilbrook - Salon Concert

Restoring, recording, performing and and Restoring, recording, performing promoting the forgotten operatic heritage promoting the forgotten operatic heritage of the 19th and early 20th centuries of the 19th and early 20th centuries

Soraya Mafi, Robert Lewis & Anna Tilbrook SALON CONCERT

THURSDAY 23 APRIL 2026, 7.00PM Bechstein Hall, 22 Wigmore Street, London

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SORAYA MAFI, ROBERT LEWIS & ANNA TILBROOK curated by Roger Parker

Salon Concert The concert will finish at approximately 8.15pm, without interval The Donizetti Song Project is generously made possible by Opera Rara Donizetti Syndicate members Philip Eisenbeiss, Carlo Rizzi & Lucy Stout, Jon & Julia Aisbitt, Gerry Wakelin, Allan Heinberg, and The Donizetti Society in memory of its Chairman from 1989 to 2024 Alexander Weatherson with special thanks to Opera Rara's Donizetti Patron, His Excellency The Italian Ambassador.

The Donizetti Song Project is also supported by

Opera Rara’s 2025/26 Salon Series is made possible in part by

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Welcome Welcome to Bechstein Hall and this evening’s salon concert featuring soprano Soraya Mafi, tenor Robert Lewis and pianist Anna Tilbrook.

Tonight’s performance is part of Opera Rara’s 55th season and is the final concert in this season’s Salon Concert series. We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Bechstein Hall, offering opportunities for exceptional young artists to explore and perform rarely heard repertoire in intimate settings.

This recital is part of Opera Rara’s ongoing Donizetti Song Project, an ambitious endeavour to perform and record the complete solo songs of Gaetano Donizetti.

Comprising nearly 200 works, many of these songs have lain undiscovered in archives around the world and are now being brought to light for modern audiences, often for the first time in almost two centuries.

The project is curated by our Repertoire Consultant Roger Parker, whose extensive research has uncovered manuscripts from collections across Europe and beyond. In keeping with Opera Rara’s spirit of operatic discovery, tonight’s programme offers a glimpse into this remarkable body of work, featuring two duets by Donizetti and shedding new light on his lesser-known output.

Alongside these discoveries, this evening’s programme explores a rich and varied musical landscape, placing Donizetti’s songs in dialogue with complementary repertoire.

Through this, we explore the rich legacy of Donizetti’s songs and celebrate the diversity of vocal expression and storytelling across styles, nationalities and traditions. This evening also includes texts by William Shakespeare set to music in celebration of his birthday today.

We are delighted to welcome Soraya Mafi, an internationally acclaimed soprano known for her versatility and expressive artistry; Robert Lewis, who made his recording debut with us earlier this season in Puccini’s final 1921 version of La rondine and whose lyrical voice and compelling interpretations have been heard on leading stages; and Anna Tilbrook, a distinguished collaborator and a central figure in Opera Rara’s Salon Series.

We are especially grateful to the Backstage Trust, supporter of Opera Rara’s 2025/26 Salon Series, and to Opera Rara’s Donizetti Syndicate, the Colwinston Trust and Cockayne Grants for the Arts at the London Community Foundation for their continued support of the Donizetti Song Project, as well as to His Excellency Inigo Lambertini, Opera Rara’s Donizetti Patron.

We hope you enjoy tonight’s concert.

Henry Little Chief Executive Opera Rara

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Programme

Soraya Mafi, soprano Robert Lewis, tenor Anna Tilbrook, piano

Composer

Song

Poet

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Les roses d’Ispahan

Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Le Tournoiement

Armand Renaud

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Adieux de l’hôtesse arabe

Victor Hugo

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Pace non trovo Benedetto sia ’l giorno

Francesco Petrarca Francesco Petrarca

Io d’amor, oh Dio, mi moro

Pietro Metastasio

Soraya Mafi and Anna Tilbrook

Robert Lewis and Anna Tilbrook

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) Roger Quilter (1877-1953)

Soraya Mafi, Robert Lewis and Anna Tilbrook

Three Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6 “Come away, death” “O mistress mine” “Blow, blow thou winter wind”

William Shakespeare

Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)

Orpheus with his lute

William Shakespeare

Henry Bishop (1785-1855)

Lo! Here the gentle lark

William Shakespeare

Robert Lewis and Anna Tilbrook

Soraya Mafi and Anna Tilbrook

Gaetano Donizetti

Uno sguardo di nera pupilla

Michele Palazzolo

Soraya Mafi, Robert Lewis and Anna Tilbrook

WANT MORE SONGS?

Check out our Donizetti Song Project playlist on the Opera Rara YouTube channel.

Scan the QR code to hear more Donizetti Songs 3

Programme Note and Texts Opera Rara’s Donizetti Song Project One of Opera Rara’s most ambitious projects in its more than fifty-year history is to record the complete solo songs of Gaetano Donizetti.

A handful of these songs have been long known and often performed; many more were listed in specialist catalogues but very rarely if ever performed; others still were completely unknown or thought lost and have now come to light.

Recent research connected with this project has made clear that, in total, Donizetti wrote some 200 solo songs over the course of his thirty-year career.

Making modern editions of this vast corpus has been challenging: the songs are dispersed in European libraries and beyond, often having been casually given away at the time of composition (typically as a present to the dedicatee).

In their totality, these compositions make a powerful case for Donizetti as a key figure in nineteenth-century domestic music-making: someone whose achievements in this area deserve to be better known; a body of work that, single-handedly, makes a powerful argument for the importance of the Italian “school” in a field long dominated by German and French composers.

The Donizetti Song Project is based on a new edition of the composer’s complete solo songs, concluded by Roger Parker and Ian Schofield.

All Donizetti commentary, texts and translations in this programme book have been provided by Roger Parker, with additional translations from Oxford International Song Festival and Lieder.net.

For a collection of clips from the recital hall and the recording studio, visit our YouTube channel at

youtube.com/@operararaofficial.

LIVES IN SONG: DONIZETTI

Dig into Donizetti’s life in our new Opera Insider series exploring musicians’ biographies through their music.

Scan the QR code to watch

4

Nicola Alaimo sings Donizetti.

This June, hear new songs by Donizetti at Wigmore Hall.

Praised internationally for his commanding stage presence and vocal artistry, Italian bass-baritone Nicola Alaimo makes a welcome appearance at Wigmore Hall in a programme that brings together the wit, elegance and lyricism of early 19th-century Italian song.

Joined by pianist and Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi, with appearances by cellist Hetty Snell, Alaimo explores the rarely heard world of Donizetti’s solo songs alongside works by Rossini, Bellini, and Mercadante. The recital highlights the ingenuity and invention of composers best known for their operatic triumphs, yet whose songs are often neglected.

Tuesday 16 June | 1.00PM Nicola Alaimo bass-baritone Carlo Rizzi piano with Hetty Snell cello

Learn more at

opera-rara.com/events tickets are on sale now!

Gabriel Fauré

Les roses d’Ispahan Les roses d’Ispahan dans leur gaine de mousse, Les jasmins de Mossoul, les fleurs de l’oranger Ont un parfum moins frais, ont une odeur moins douce, Ô blanche Leïlah! que ton souffle léger.

The roses of Isfahan in their mossy sheaths, The jasmines of Mosul, the orange blossom Have a fragrance less fresh and a scent less sweet, O pale Leilah, than your soft breath!

Ta lèvre est de corail, et ton rire léger Sonne mieux que l’eau vive et d’une voix plus douce, Mieux que le vent joyeux qui berce l’oranger, Mieux que l’oiseau qui chante au bord d’un nid de mousse …

Your lips are of coral and your light laughter Rings brighter and sweeter than running water, Than the blithe wind rocking the orangetree boughs, Than the singing bird by its mossy nest…

Ô Leïlah! depuis que de leur vol léger Tous les baisers ont fui de ta lèvre si douce, Il n’est plus de parfum dans le pâle oranger, Ni de céleste arome aux roses dans leur mousse …

O Leilah, ever since on light wings All kisses have flown from your sweet lips, The pale orange-tree fragrance is spent, And the heavenly scent of moss-clad roses…

Oh! que ton jeune amour, ce papillon léger, Revienne vers mon cœur d’une aile prompte et douce, Et qu’il parfume encor les fleurs de l’oranger, Les roses d’Ispahan dans leur gaine de mousse !

Oh! may your young love, that airy butterfly, Wing swiftly and gently to my heart once more, To scent again the orange blossom, The roses of Isfahan in their mossy sheaths!

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6

Camille Saint-Saëns

Le Tournoiement

Sans que nulle part je séjourne, Sur la pointe du gros orteil, Je tourne, je tourne, je tourne, À la feuille morte pareil ; Comme à l'instant où l'on trépasse, La terre, l'océan, l'espace, Devant mes yeux troublés tout passe, Jetant une même lueur ; Et ce mouvement circulaire, Toujours, toujours je l'accélère, Sans plaisir comme sans colère, Frissonnant malgré ma sueur.

Without pausing in hesitation, On my tippy-toes, I turn, I turn, I turn, Like a falling leaf; Just as at the moment we cross over, The earth, the ocean, space, Before my troubled eyes, they all pass, radiating the same glow; And I continue my circular movements, Always, always accelerating, With as little pleasure as anger, Shivering in my own sweat.

Dans les antres où l'eau s'enfourne, Sur les inaccessibles rocs, Je tourne, je tourne, je tourne, Sans le moindre souci des chocs.

Dans les forêts, sur les rivages ; À travers les bêtes sauvages, Et leurs émules en ravages, Les soldats qui vont sabre au poing, Au milieu des marchés d'esclaves, Au bord des volcans pleins de laves, Chez les Mogols et chez les Slaves, De tourner je ne cesse point.

In caves where water plunges, Above the inaccessible rocks, I turn, I turn, I turn, Without the slightest concern for harm.

In the forests, on the shorelines; Past the savage beasts, And their ravaging rivals, Soldiers go with saber in hand, Into the heart of the slave markets, Near volcanoes brimming with lava, Into the homes of Mongols and Slavs, And I never stop turning.

Soumis aux lois que rien n'ajourne, Aux lois que suit l'astre en son vol, Je tourne, je tourne, je tourne ; Mes pieds ne touchent plus le sol.

Je monte au firmament nocturne ; Devant la lune taciturne, Devant Jupiter et Saturne, Je passe avec un sifflement, Et je franchis le Capricorne, Et je m'abîme au gouffre morne De la nuit complète et sans borne Où je tourne éternellement.

Subject to laws which no one is above, To laws governing stars in flight, I turn, I turn, I turn; My feet no longer touching the earth.

I ascend into the night sky; Past the taciturn moon, Past Jupiter and Saturn, I pass with a whistle, And I cross the constellation Capricorn, And I disappear into the gloomy chasm Of complete and limitless night Where I turn eternally.

DONIZETTI’S L’ESULE DI ROMA

Nicola Alaimo stars in one of Donizetti’s most exciting roles for bass-baritone Listen by scanning the QR code 7

Georges Bizet

Adieux de l’hôtesse arabe Puisque rien ne t’arrête en cet heureux pays, Ni l’ombre du palmier, ni le jaune maïs, Ni le repos, ni l’abondance, Ni de voir à ta voix battre le jeune sein De nos sœurs, dont, les soirs, le tournoyant essaim Couronne un coteau de sa danse,

Since nothing can keep you in this happy land, Neither shade-giving palm nor yellow corn, Nor repose, nor abundance, Nor the sight of our sisters’ young breasts trembling At your voice as, in a whirling swarm at evening, They garland a hillside with their dance,

Farewell, fair traveller! Ah! Adieu, beau voyageur! Hélas adieu.

Why are you not like those Oh! Que n’es-tu de ceux Qui donnent pour limite à leurs pieds paresseux Whose indolent feet venture no further Than their roofs of branch or canvas!

Leur toit de branches ou de toiles !

Que, rêveurs, sans en faire, écoutent les récits, Who, musing, listen passively to tales Et souhaitent, le soir, devant leur porte assis, And dream at evening, sitting before their door, Of wandering among the stars!

De s’en aller dans les étoiles!

Had you so wished, perhaps one of us, O young man, would fain have served you, kneeling, In our ever-open huts; Lulling you asleep with songs, she would have made, To chase the noisome midges from your brow, A fan of green leaves.

Si tu l’avais voulu, peut-être une de nous, O jeune homme, eût aimé te servir à genoux Dans nos huttes toujours ouvertes; Elle eût fait, en berçant ton sommeil de ses chants, Pour chasser de ton front les moucherons méchants, Un éventail de feuilles vertes.

Si tu ne reviens pas, songe un peu quelquefois If you do not return, dream at times Of the daughters of the desert, sweet-voiced sisters, Aux filles du désert, sœurs à la douce voix, Who dance barefoot on the dunes; Qui dansent pieds nus sur la dune; O handsome young white man, fair bird of O beau jeune homme blanc, bel oiseau passage, passager, Souviens-toi, car peut-être, ô rapide étranger, Remember – for perhaps, O fleeting stranger, More than one maiden will remember you!

Ton souvenir reste à plus d’une !

Alas! Farewell, fair stranger! Remember!

Hélas ! Adieu ! bel étranger ! Souviens-toi !

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’ BEST RECORDINGS OF 2026

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Franz Liszt

Pace non trovo Pace non trovo, et non ò da far guerra; e temo, et spero; et ardo, et son un ghiaccio; et volo sopra 'l cielo, et giaccio in terra; et nulla stringo, et tutto 'l mondo abbraccio.

I find no peace, and all my war is done; I fear and hope. I burn and freeze like ice; I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise; And nought I have, and all the world I season.

Tal m'à in pregion, che non m'apre né serra, né per suo mi riten né scioglie il laccio; et non m'ancide Amore, et non mi sferra, né mi vuol vivo, né mi trae d'impaccio.

That loseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison, And holdeth me not--yet can I scape no wise; Nor letteth me live nor die at my device, And yet of death it giveth me occasion.

Veggio senza occhi, et non ò lingua et grido; et bramo di perir, et cheggio aita; et ò in odio me stesso, et amo altrui.

Without eyen I see, and without tongue I plain; I desire to perish, and yet I ask health; I love another, and thus I hate myself.

Pascomi di dolor, piangendo rido; egualmente mi spiace morte et vita: in questo stato son, donna, per voi.

I feed me in sorrow and laugh in all my pain; Likewise displeaseth me both life and death: And my delight is causer of this strife.

Benedetto sia ’l giorno Benedetto sia 'l giorno, e 'l mese, e l'anno, E la stagione, e 'l tempo, e l'ora, e 'l punto E 'l bel paese e 'l loco, ov'io fui giunto Da'duo begli occhi che legato m'hànno;

Blessed be the day, and the month, and the year, And the season, and the time, and the hour, and the moment, And the beautiful country, and the place where I was joined To the two beautiful eyes that have bound me:

E benedetto il primo dolce affanno Ch'i' ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto, E l'arco e la saette ond' i' fui punto, E le piaghe, ch'infino al cor mi vanno.

And blessed be the first sweet suffering That I felt in being conjoined with Love, And the bow, and the shafts with which I was pierced, And the wounds that run to the depths of my heart.

Benedette le voci tante, ch'io Chiamando il nome di Laura ho sparte, E i sospiri e le lagrime e 'l desio.

Blessed be all those verses I scattered Calling out the name of my lady, And the sighs, and the tears, and the passion.

E benedette sian tutte le carte Ov'io fama le acquisto, e il pensier mio, Ch'è sol di lei, si ch'altra non v'ha parte.

And blessed be all the sheets Where I acquire fame, and my thoughts, That are only of her, that no one else has part of.

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Gaetano Donizetti

Io d’amor, oh Dio, mi moro Io d’amor, oh Dio, mi moro: Scopro a te la mia ferita; Tu, crudel, puoi darmi aita, E mi lasci, oh Dio, morir?

I am dying of love, oh God: I bare my wound to you; You, cruel one, can you help me, And leave me, oh God, to die?

No, sì barbara non sei: Hai pietà de' mali miei; È un ritegno quel tuo sdegno, Non desio del mio martir.

No, you are not so cruel: You have pity on my woes; That disdain of yours shows restraint, Not a desire for my suffering.

Want to know more? #AskOperaRara Do you want to know Donizetti’s eye colour?

Or perhaps about his feud with his employer? Or maybe what his favourite drink was? Well, Ask Opera Rara!

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DONIZETTI’S IL PARIA

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Man’s best friend becomes head-of-state.

This October, hear the UK premiere of Offenbach’s Barkouf.

What happens when man’s best friend becomes head-of-state? Opera Rara and the Hallé team up once again to present Offenbach’s opera Barkouf, where a dog rules the day.

Join us at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall and step into the absurd political world of Offenbach’s Barkouf — a riotous opera where corruption runs wild, flattery is an art form and the only thing more dangerous than power are the incompetent politicians desperate to win it…

Sunday 4 October 2026 | 4PM

Paul Daniel Conductor Yann Beuron Bababeck Mathias Vidal Saëb François Piolino Kaliboul Philippe Talbot Xaïloum Anne-Catherine Gillet Maïma Katia Ledoux Périzade Thibault de Damas Le grand Mogol The Hallé Chorus of English National Opera Royal Northern College of Music Opera Chorus Purchase your tickets and learn more at

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Scan the QR code to hear previews from the studio from our latest recording of Puccini’s 1921 La rondine

A night over 100 years in the making.

Puccini’s final 1921 version of

La rondine

“Rizzi’s entirely persuasive manner of interpreting Puccini’s music – the equal of that of any conductor of our time… All in all an outstanding evening and one of genuine importance in the history of opera itself.”

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MERCADANTE

One woman pays the highest price in a profoundly human struggle for dignity, agency and compassion. Rosa Feola stars in Mercadante’s electrifying opera Il campo de’ crociati, with powerful, moving music that will be heard for the first time in over 150 years at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in May 2027.

Filled with sweeping choruses, heroic vocal writing and raw emotional power, Il campo de’ crociati is an opera that deserves to be heard. The drama centres on Lea who is caught between two worlds.

Driven by passionate love but trapped by forces beyond her control, she navigates danger and faith in a war-torn land shaped by violence, the ruthless pursuit of power and the certainty of righteousness on all sides.

Wednesday 5 May 2027 | 7PM Carlo Rizzi Conductor Rosa Feola Lea Iván Ayón-Rivas Carlo Germán Enrique Alcántara Ismaele Giorgi Manoshvili Goffredo di Buglione London Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus of English National Opera

Tickets go on sale this May

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Roger Quilter

Come away, death

Blow, blow thou winter wind

Come away, come away, death, And in sad cypress let me be laid.

Fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid.

My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, O, prepare it!

My part of death, no one so true Did share it.

Blow, blow thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind As man’s ingratitude; Thy tooth is not so keen Although thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh ho! sing heigh ho!

Unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, Most loving mere folly: Then, heigh ho! the holly!

This life is most jolly.

Not a flower, not a flower sweet, On my black coffin let there be strown.

Not a friend, not a friend greet My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown.

A thousand thousand sighs to save, Lay me, O, where Sad true lover never find my grave, To weep there!

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky, Thou dost not bite so nigh As benefits forgot: Though thou the waters warp, Thy sting is not so sharp As friend remember’d not.

Heigh ho! sing heigh ho! unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly Then, heigh ho! the holly!

This life is most jolly.

O mistress mine O mistress mine, where are you roaming?

O stay and hear; your true love’s coming, That can sing both high and low; Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers’ meeting, Every wise man’s son doth know.

What is love? ’tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What’s to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty; Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty; Youth’s a stuff will not endure.

LIVES IN SONG: PUCCINI

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Arthur Sullivan

Orpheus with his lute Orpheus with his lute made trees, And the mountain-tops that freeze, Bow themselves, when he did sing: To his music, plants and flowers Ever sprung; as sun and showers There had made a lasting spring.

Everything that heard him play, Even the billows of the sea, Hung their heads, and then lay by.

In sweet music is such art: Killing care and grief of heart Fall asleep, or, hearing, die.

Henry Bishop

Lo! Here the gentle lark Lo, here the gentle lark, weary of rest, From his moist cabinet mounts up on high, And wakes the morning, from whose silver breast The sun ariseth in his majesty; Who doth the world so gloriously behold That cedar-tops and hills seem burnish'd gold.

Venus salutes him with this fair good-morrow: 'O thou clear god, and patron of all light, From whom each lamp and shining star doth borrow The beauteous influence that makes him bright, There lives a son that suck'd an earthly mother, May lend thee light, as thou dost lend to other.

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Gaetano Donizetti

Uno sguardo di nera pupilla Uno sguardo di nera pupilla Nel mio core la strada s’aprì, Come raggio di sole che brilla E traversa la nebbia del dì.

A look of those black eyes Opened a road in my heart, Like a ray of sunshine that shines Across the fog of the day.

Una voce, un angelico accento, Lieve, lieve sull’alma posò, Come raggio dell’astro d’argento L’onda azzurra che dorme baciò.

A voice, an angelic accent, Lightly, lightly rested on my soul, Like the ray of a silver star It kissed the blue wave that sleeps.

Se un lampo è la vita che passa E la gioia non torna mai più, Sia memoria a quest’anima lassa Una voce ed un guardo che fu.

If life passes in a flash And joy never returns, Let this weary soul remember A voice and a look from the past.

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LISTEN TO OUR ARTIST AMBASSADOR MICHAEL SPYRES AT HOME

Michael’s debut recital album includes arias in French and Italian by Donizetti, Berlioz, Verdi and Rossini.

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Soraya Mafi Lancashire-born soprano Soraya Mafi studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and Royal College of Music, supported by the Help Musicians UK Sybil Tutton Award.

Soraya’s many awards and prizes include the Maggie Teyte Prize in 2014 and the Susan Chilcott Award in 2016. She was also the 2nd Prize winner in the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and is an Associate of the RNCM, an honour conferred upon recent alumni making an outstanding contribution in the early stages of their career.

Recent highlights include Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) for the Glyndebourne Festival and Opéra de Rouen, Valencienne (The Merry Widow) at Glyndebourne, and Ismene (Mitridate, re di Ponto) for Garsington Opera. This season she sings Gilda (Rigoletto) with Welsh National Opera and Irish National Opera, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at Opera North, and Michal (Saul) at Glyndebourne, with future plans including Cunegonde (Candide) for WNO and Nitocris (Belshazzar) at Komische Oper Berlin.

A former ENO Harewood Artist, her roles there include Tytania, Mabel, Yum-Yum and Amor, with further appearances as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Despina (Così fan tutte), Morgana (Alcina), Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), Musetta (La bohème), Nanetta (Falstaff), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare).

On the concert platform she has performed with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music and Ensemble Matheus, and in recital at Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Oxford and Buxton Lieder Festivals, Ludlow English Song Weekend, Covent Garden and Opéra de Lille.

This is her debut with Opera Rara

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Robert Lewis Robert Lewis is the winner of the 2025

Tenor Viñas Competition Domingo Prize. A former Jerwood Artist at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, he began forging his professional career in one of the world’s most respected young artist programmes, the Opéra national de Lyon Studio, where he sang a wide range of roles spanning Mozart to Strauss and Janáček, including Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro and Janek in The Makropoulos Affair. He made his major festival debut at the Festival d’Aixen-Provence as Andres in Wozzeck with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle.

In 2026, he returned to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Der Bucklige and Die Erscheinung eines Jünglings in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Klaus Mäkelä, and he also made his debut in the role of Erik in Der fliegende Holländer at the Opéra de Rouen Normandie. He returned to the Opéra de Lyon as Edmundo in Manon Lescaut and made his debut for Glyndebourne as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other highlights have included Andres and Ferrando in Così fan tutte for the Opéra national de Lyon, Lensky in Eugene Onegin for the Opéra national de Lorraine and Der Bucklige in Die Frau ohne Schatten for the Dutch National Opera.

He is also building a notable concert profile. Highlights include performances as Alfred in Die Fledermaus on tour with Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski, Britten’s War Requiem with the Tokyo Philharmonic conducted by Jonathan Nott and Don José in concert performances of Carmen in the Philharmonie de Paris with Divertimento and conductor Zahia Ziouani and a Russian operatic programme with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera conducted by Stuart Stratford.

Robert Lewis made his debut with Opera Rara in 2026, with the recording and performance of Puccini's final 1921 version of La rondine, to be released in October this year.

GO INTO THE RECORDING STUDIO

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19

Anna Tilbrook Anna Tilbrook has been a regular

artist at all the major concert halls and festivals since her debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1999 and frequently broadcasts for Radio 3.

She has collaborated with many leading singers and instrumentalists including Lucy Crowe, James Gilchrist, Ian Bostridge, Mary Bevan, Sophie Bevan, Barbara Hannigan, Sir John Tomlinson, Sir Willard White, Roderick Williams. Matthew Rose, Nicholas Daniel, Michael Collins, Natalie Clein, Philip Dukes, Jack Liebeck, Pavel Šporcl, Elise Båtnes, Chloe Hanslip, Emily Sun, Louisa Tuck, Sol Gabetta, Guy Johnston, Laura van der Heijden, Jess Gilliam, Ben Goldscheider and the Fitzwilliam, Carducci, Sacconi, Elias, Navarra and Barbirolli string quartets. She has also accompanied José Carreras, Angela Gheorghiu and Bryn Terfel in televised concerts.

Performance highlights include at Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, deSingel Antwerp, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Opera National du Rhin, Anima Mundi Pisa, Wrocław Cantans, appearances at the Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Oxford Lieder, Jersey, West Cork and Savannah (Georgia) Chamber Music festivals and curating a number of series of concerts for the BBC. She has also curated a number of festivals at St John’s Smith Square and in 2021 and 2022 Anna was the curator for the JAM on the Marsh festival in Kent.

In 2023 Anna was on the jury for the Song Prize for Cardiff Singer of the World.

She is Professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music and teaches at the University of Oxford. Anna performs frequently with Opera Rara and is the featured collaborator in Opera Rara’s 55th Season.

THE OPERA RARA SALONS

Hear rising stars in intimate concerts with Opera Rara’s Salon Series - returning this autumn.

See our upcoming events by scanning the QR code 20

Roger Parker Roger Parker is Professor Emeritus

at King's College London. He studied at the University of London, first at Goldsmiths College, then at King’s College. In 1982 he moved to Cornell University in upstate New York where he was Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor. In 1994 he returned to England to become a Lecturer in Music (later Professor) and Fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford. In 1999 he became Professor of Music at Cambridge, where he was a Fellow of St John’s College and (in 2005-6) Chair of the School of Arts and Humanities.

In 2002 he was the Visiting Ernest Bloch Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley; in 2007 he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. From 2006 to 2010 he delivered four series of free public lectures as Professor of Music at Gresham College.

For many years Roger’s work has centred on opera, in particular Italian opera of the 19th century. For ten years he was founding co-editor of the Cambridge Opera Journal, and he continues as General Editor of the Donizetti Critical Edition.

He received the Premio Giuseppe Verdi in 1986, was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1986-7, in 1991 was awarded the Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association and in 2008 was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

Roger writes regular reviews for Opera magazine, has written numerous programme books for the major opera houses (Royal Opera, ENO, Glyndebourne) and appears often on BBC Radio 3.

Roger Parker is Opera Rara's Repertoire Consultant. He has overseen the creation of several performing editions for Opera Rara, with recent titles including Il Paria by Donizetti, Il proscritto by Mercadante, and L’esule di Roma by Donizetti.

He is also the editor of Opera Rara’s most recent complete opera recording, the 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, and he has discovered and edited nearly 200 solo songs by Donizetti, forming Opera Rara’s Donizetti Song Project.

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Trustees, Patrons and Staff ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Carlo Rizzi

STAFF

CHIEF EXECUTIVE Henry Little

FINANCE DIRECTOR

LABEL and PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Aurelie Baujean Irene Cook

DEVELOPMENT and COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Zachary Vanderburg

SENIOR PHILANTHROPY MANAGER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Natasha Hastings

Charles Alexander CBE, Chairman Philip Eisenbeiss Anthony Freud OBE Glenn Hurstfield Adolfo Laurenti Bruce Mauleverer KC Alison Nicol Gerry Power Islée Oliva Salinas Terence Sinclair Nicholas Thomas

DEVELOPMENT and EVENTS COORDINATOR

Orlando Querobino Vas

CONSULTANTS

PRESS, PR and SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT

Moë Faulkner

CASTING CONSULTANT

Jesús Iglesias Noriega

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

REPERTOIRE CONSULTANT

David Hall Glenn Hurstfield Islée Oliva Salinas Terence Sinclair Lucy Stout John Tierney

Roger Parker

ARTIST AMBASSADORS Ermonela Jaho Michael Spyres HONORARY ARTIST PATRON Renée Fleming DONIZETTI PATRON His Excellency, Inigo Lambertini the Italian Ambassador to the United Kingdom

Opera Rara’s Donizetti Patron, His Excellency Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom awards Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi with the Star of Italy

OUR ARTIST AMBASSADORS IN OPERA NOW MAGAZINE

Ermonela Jaho and Michael Spyres speak about Opera Rara and more upcoming great discoveries.

Scan the QR code to read more 22

About Opera Rara Opera Rara’s mission is to restore, record, perform and promote the lost operatic heritage of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Opera Rara is a unique combination of opera company, recording label and live operatic archaeologist. We search for neglected operatic masterpieces and restore them to life for contemporary audiences to enjoy and other opera companies to explore. Our work has led to a fundamental revaluation of composers such as Donizetti, Pacini, Offenbach, Rossini and Mercadante, changing the way in which these figures are perceived internationally.

In 2024, Opera Rara was named Gramophone’s Label of the Year. Our catalogue comprises over 100 titles, including 65 complete opera recordings. Our artistic success has continued to be recognised through major awards, in the last decade alone at the International Opera Awards (Best Opera Recording) for Mercadante’s Il proscritto (2023), Rossini’s Semiramide (2019), Donizetti’s Les Martyrs (2016) and Offenbach’s Fantasio (2015); International Classical Music Award for Semiramide (Best Opera, 2019) and for Ermonela Jaho’s debut recital album Anima Rara (Best Vocal Music Recording, 2021) as well as for her recording of Donizetti Songs (Best Vocal Music Recording, 2026); Opus Klassik (Best Recording) for La Princesse de Trébizonde (2024) and Semiramide (2019) and at the OPER! Awards (Best Recording) for Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde (2024) and Donizetti’s L’Ange de Nisida (2019). Most recently, our Donizetti Songs series has received an OPER! Award in 2026 in recognition of the historic significance of this project.

Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi was appointed in 2019. Since then he has recorded the final 1921 version of Puccini’s La rondine, the original 1912 version of Leoncavallo’s Zingari and Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma as well as Mercadante’s Il proscritto, whose discovery and restoration he championed, and seven new volumes of Donizetti Songs.

Internationally renowned soprano Renée Fleming, who made her complete opera recording debut with Opera Rara in 1994 in Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, is our Honorary Artist Patron. In 2022, marking Donizetti’s 225th birthday, we announced Ermonela Jaho and Michael Spyres as Artist Ambassadors, commemorating their long and acclaimed work with the company.

Our ground-breaking work is only made possible by the generosity of our supporters.

Opera Rara is a charity that receives no public funding. Nearly £1M needs to be raised annually. By supporting Opera Rara, you become an essential member of the Opera Rara family and join us on a journey of operatic discovery. Learn more at opera-rara.com.

HEAR FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR CARLO RIZZI

Carlo Talks is a series of interviews with our Artistic Director and the artists from our 55 year history.

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Opera Rara’s Supporters THANK YOU!

Opera Rara’s work is only made possible by the generosity of our supporters, who believe in our mission to restore, record, perform and promote the forgotten operatic heritage of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those individuals and foundations who have made a gift to our Annual Fund*. Your continued support is vital to our success.

A full list of Opera Rara’s current Annual Fund supporters can be found at: www.opera-rara.com/list-of-supporters.

PATRONS

GUARDIANS

Elena Baturina Carlo Grosso Stefan Olsson & John Tierney Andrea Pessino∞

BENEFACTOR

Jon & Julia Aisbitt Allan Heinberg∞ Yvonne Horsfall Turner◊ Sara Naudi & Prof. Mark Layton Peter Rosenthal Terence & Sian Sinclair Gerry Wakelin & Ivor Samuels

CIRCLE MEMBERS ARTISTS CIRCLE

Charles Alexander CBE

DEVOTEE

Timothy Congdon Sir Vernon Ellis Harry Hyman Alan Jackson Leslie & Peter Macleod-Miller◊ Joseph Mari∞ Bruce & Sara Mauleverer David & Janet McCue∞ The Donizetti Society

OPERA RARA CIRCLE

Philip Eisenbeiss Seifi and Ellen Ghasemi+ Jenny Hodgson Carlo Rizzi & Lucy Stout+ Ditlev Rindom & Enrique Sacau Islée Oliva Salinas & Michael Buckley Sir Simon & Lady Virginia Robertson

in memory of its Chairman Alexander Weatherson

LIFETIME GUARDIANS Opera Rara is particularly grateful to those individuals and organisations who have been exceedingly generous and guardians of our work since 1970.

Peter Thompson

in honour of Carmen Giannattasio

Imogen Rumbold Mark Walker AFICIONADO

Claus Ambos Malcolm Barnett Sir David Bean David Bernstein Mackenzie Brown Anonymous∞

Charles Alexander CBE Foyle Foundation Carlo Grosso Michael Hartnall Glenn Hurstfield The Monument Trust Sir Peter Moores & the Peter Moores Foundation Stefan Olsson & John Tierney Sir Simon & Lady Virginia Robertson

*The Annual Fund list is comprised of donors who gave at the Connoisseur level or higher from September 2024 to March 2026 +International Circle ◊Gift in Kind ∞American Friend

YOUR GENEROSITY GIVES NEW VOICES THEIR RECORDING DEBUTS

Germán Enrique Alcántara made his acclaimed recording debut in Verdi’s 1857 Simon Boccanegra

Scan the QR code to hear about it from Germán 24

PATRONS John Chichester Marco Compagnoni Eleanor Cranmer & Nick Thomas Jeff & Emily Fergus Howard Gatiss Paul Giles Guido Gläser & Nelly Frei Jane Gross∞ Malcolm Herring Nicole Hoechli Marie-Louise Jungels Kathryn Langridge Adolfo Laurenti & Juliet Petrus Michele Leuenberger & Martin Hatzinger Louis Levene Henry Little & Prof. Maria M. Delgado Marie-Louise Jungels Chris & Dominique Moore Simon Mortimore KC Alison Nicol Martin and Nicole Ostwald Gerry Power & Pawan Dhillon Christian & Myrto Rochat Jackie & John Rothenberg Anonymous Mark Shaw Zachary Vanderburg & Felipe Ramos Barajas Arne Wasmuth

FRIENDS

CONNOISSEUR

Ignacio Álvarez-Rendueles & Marivi Lorente Amanda Elder Christopher FitzGerald Julien Herveau Eduard Herzog Jonathan Jempson Sarah & Christopher Knight Janetta Lee∞ Christopher Leslie Jonathan & Fangmin Macdonald David Macfarlane Gerald Malone Sarah Mason Lady Carolyn Newbigging David Pease Deborah Roslund Alan Sainer Lucie & Christopher Sims Joe Valone & Michael Paul∞ and special thanks to our many Contributor and Member Friends TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS

FRIENDS ENTHUSIAST

Nicholas Berwin Anthony Freud & Colin Ure Lesley Garrett & Peter Christian Marian Gilbart Read David Hall Glenn Hurstfield Hal Lindberg Sir Timothy & Lady Lloyd Jennifer Marling∞ Janet McLeavy Catherine Roe Bradley Sabel∞ Lord & Lady Sassoon David & Unni Spiller Lady Judith Swire Richard Anwyl Williams The cast of La rondine share music from the newly restored edition for Opera Rara supporters at the Italian Embassy.

YOUR SUPPORT HELPS US SHOWCASE EMERGING ARTISTS

Soprano Ellie Neate made her recording debut this season in Puccini’s 1921 version of La rondine Scan the QR code to watch an interview with Ellie 25

No 11 Cloisters House 8 Battersea Park Road London SW8 4BG info@opera-rara.com +44 (0)20 7613 2858 Registered Charity No. 261403

Explore our recordings of rare operas and see how you can help us secure their legacy for years to come at opera-rara.com Join our mailing list at opera-rara.com/mailing

International

winner

= number of awards