Concert Programme: Donizetti's L'esule di Roma

Britten

Sinfonia

DONIZETTI

PROGRAMME

Thursday 11 May 2023, 7pm

Cadogan Hall, London

GAETANO DONIZETTI: L’ESULE DI ROMA

Thursday 11 May 2023, 7pm

Cadogan Hall

5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

Box Office: 020 7730 4500

Book online: cadoganhall.com

Sung in Italian, with English surtitles

ACT 1 75’ INTERVAL 30’ ACT 2 50’

Carlo Rizzi conductor

Albina Shagimuratova Argelia

Nicola Alaimo Murena

Sergey Romanovsky Settimio

Lluís Calvet i Pey Publio

Kezia Bienek Leontina

André Henriques Lucio/Fulvio

Britten Sinfonia

Opera Rara Chorus

Cadogan Hall information for visitors

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Opera Rara Donizetti Patron: His Excellency The Italian Ambassador

Tonight’s performance is generously supported by the Opera Rara Donizetti Syndicate.

WELCOME

Welcome to tonight’s performance of Donizetti’s opera L’esule di Roma. Premiered in Naples in 1828, this opera launched his international career and was a milestone in Donizetti’s work. We present it as a part of our year-long celebration of the 225th anniversary of Donizetti’s birth. Tonight’s concert marks the world premiere of our new critical edition of the score and is Opera Rara’s 27th complete Donizetti restoration.

Partnership is core to both Opera Rara's and Britten Sinfonia's work. We first joined forces in 2019 with another Donizetti opera, Il Paria. Since then, we have collaborated on Mercadante’s Il proscritto, an opera that had not been heard for nearly 200 years, which we performed last year at the Barbican. Our studio recording was released worldwide earlier this year.

Tonight, we welcome an international cast of soloists. Albina Shagimuratova and Nicola Alaimo return to Opera Rara following previous acclaimed performances. They are joined by Sergey Romanovsky, who makes his highly-anticipated debut this evening. Lluís Calvet i Pey and André Henriques, both recent graduates from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s Opera School,

as well as Kezia Bienek, are working with Opera Rara for the first time.

It is a pleasure for Opera Rara and the Britten Sinfonia to be working together again and to welcome you to an evening of operatic discovery.

MEURIG BOWEN Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Britten Sinfonia

HENRY LITTLE Chief Executive, Opera Rara

ON STAGE TONIGHT

CAST

Albina Shagimuratova Argelia

Nicola Alaimo Murena

Sergey Romanovsky Settimio

Lluís Calvet i Pey Publio

Kezia Bienek Leontina

André Henriques Lucio/Fulvio

TEAM

Martin Fitzpatrick (assistant conductor)

Matteo Dalle Fratte (Italian language coach)

Elizabeth Rowe (repetiteur – principals)

Stephen Westrop (repetiteur – chorus)

Stephen Harris (chorus director)

Steve Phillips (chorus manager)

Kate Telfer (surtitling)

With thanks to:

Hampstead Parish Church

Yvonne Horsfall Turner

Goldsmiths, University of London

Matthew Rose

OPERA RARA CHORUS

Sopranos

Jo Appleby

Rosanna Harris

Claire Pendleton

Eiry Price

Jane Read

Leah Redmond

Emma Silversides

Zita Syme

Elizabeth Thomson

Nicola Wydenbach

Mezzo-sopranos

Morag Boyle

Tamsin Dalley

Deborah Davison

Vanessa Heine

Anna Jeffers

Helen Johnson

Gemma Morsley

Natalie Sinnott

Amy Sedgwick

Kate Warshaw

Tenors

Allan Adams

Robert Carlin

Philip Clieve

Jonathan Cooke

Peter Evans

Neil Gillespie

John-Colyn Gyeantey

Ben Kerslake

Graeme Lauren

Stuart McDermott

David Newman

Roger Paterson

Ed Saklatvala

Adam Sullivan Basses

Robert Winslade Anderson

Owain Browne*

Matthew Duncan

Spiro Fernando

James Holt

Louis Hurst

Meilir Jones*

Nicholas Morris*

Christopher Nairne*

Jack Redman

David Porter-Thomas

Paul Sheehan

Danny Standing

Andrew Tinkler

*ThesesingersarealsosingingtheConfidentiinActOne.

BRITTEN SINFONIA

Violin I

Thomas Gould

Katherine Shave

Cecily Ward

Ricky Gore

Victoria Gill

Alicia Berendse

Hannah Bell

Kirra Thomas

Jaga Klimaszewska

Eulalie Charland

Sophie Ryan

Isobel Howard

Violin II

Miranda Dale

Suzanne Loze

Marcus Broome

Judith Stowe

Ikuko Sunamura

Anna Brigham

Eluned Pritchard

Eloise MacDonald

Tom Grundy

Stella Di Virgilio

Violas

Ben Newton

Rachel Byrt

Francis Gallagher

Elisa Bergersen

Cara Coetzee

Martin Lissola

Isobel Doncaster

Katie Perrin

Cellos

Ben Chappell

Julia Vohralik

Rebecca Herman

William Clark-Maxwell

Joy Lisney

Hugh Mackay

Double Basses

Stacey Watton

Chris Kelly

Owen Rump

Jack Cherry

Flutes

Thomas Hancox

Sarah O’Flynn

Piccolo

Frederico Paixão

Oboes

James Hulme

Emma Feilding

Cor Anglais

Emma Feilding

Clarinets

Joy Farrall

Oliver Pashley

Bassoons

Sarah Burnett

Emma Harding

Horns

Andrew Littlemore

Tom Rumsby

Jason Koczur

Dave Wythe

Kieran Lyster

Trumpets

Christopher Deacon

John Blackshaw

Trombones

Andrew Connington

Andrew Cole

Bass Trombone

Paul Lambert

Cimbasso

Jonathan Rees

Timpani

Scott Bywater

Percussion

Tim Gunnell

Ben Fullbrook

Karen Hutt

Aidan Hammond

Harp

Tamara Young

BANDA: Piccolo

Daniel Shao

Clarinets

Stephen Williams

Fresca David

Horns

Fabian van de Geest

Jake Bagby

Dave Horwich

Trumpets

Imogen Whitehead

Gideon Brooks

Sarah Campbell

Trombone

Becky Smith

Percussion

Ignacio Molins

Joseph Mathers

SYNOPSIS

ACT ONE

A public square surrounded by palaces, temples and monuments. The Triumphal Arch. A view of the Campidoglio. On the right, the vestibule of Murena's house.

The Roman populace hail general Publio, who has returned triumphant from Sarmatia. Publio is betrothed to Argelia, the daughter of the senator Murena; the crowd calls forth the senator, who appears outside his house. However, in a lengthy aside (“Per lui… nel mentre… avea…”), Murena admits that he cannot join the rejoicing. Some time before, for personal gain, he helped condemn to exile the innocent Settimio, who loved and was loved by Argelia. The crowd is perplexed by Murena’s evident agitation, but then renews its celebration of Publio (“Lauro d’eterna gloria”). Publio speaks from his chariot (“Se della patria”). He anxiously questions Murena about Argelia’s continuing affection; the senator reassures him and they prepare to go in triumph to the Campidoglio (“A quel Dio”). Before he and Publio depart, Murena again betrays his forebodings about the future, feelings that resonate with Publio and make him anxious. They and the crowd disperse to an orchestral reprise of the victory chorus.

Settimio appears, wrapped in a cloak. He has returned secretly to Rome to see Argelia (“Aure

di Roma!...”) and now expresses his enduring love (“Tacqui allor…”). Argelia appears, dismisses her attendants and privately admits her continuing love for Settimio. At this moment Settimio emerges, and the two lovers embrace (“Fia ver?... Oh Ciel!”). Settimio insists that he was wrongly accused and punished but will not tell Argelia who was responsible; they renew their vows to each other (“Se a me fido”).

Lucio appears with a group of soldiers: Settimio has been recognised and is led off under guard. Publio then appears and confronts Argelia with his suspicions. She admits that she loves Settimio, and Publio generously offers to help him clear his name. As they depart, Murena appears, followed by Fulvio. Fulvio tells Murena that Settimio is in Rome and awaiting judgement by the Senate; Murena is again struck by terror. They depart for the Senate.

The interior of Murena’s house. At the back, between columns, can be seen the street and some gardens.

Argelia is anxiously awaiting news from the Senate. She is joined by Settimio, who has come to bid her farewell. He reveals written evidence that he was the victim of a conspiracy and that he knows the identity of his accuser. Murena’s followers appear, solemnly announcing that Settimio has been condemned to death by the Senate (“Nel suol dove vagì”).

Argelia begs Settimio to show her the evidence, and reluctantly he does so, thus proving to her that

Murena was the false accuser (“Murena, il genitor…”). Murena then appears and the act ends with a prolonged Terzetto (“Ei stesso… La mia vittima…”). Settimio reveals his proof to Murena, who offers to help him escape with Argelia. But Settimio refuses, preferring to meet his death in Rome.

him that he is to be taken to his place of execution. He announces that he dies willingly (“Si scenda alla tomba”).

Another square, this one bisected by the Tiber, over which is a magnificent bridge.

ACT TWO

The interior of Murena’s house.

The act opens with a chorus of Murena’s followers, lamenting their leader’s distracted state (“Non v’è… di qua partì…”). Murena staggers on, driven mad by remorse at the thought of Settimio being thrown to wild beasts (“Entra del Circo!”). Publio and Argelia are then seen in conversation, the former still hoping to intercede on behalf of Settimio. Leontina emerges, graphically describing Murena’s mental collapse. Murena, returning, continues his ravings (“Vagiva Emilia ancora”). He asks Argelia for the letter that incriminates him, wanting to use it for his own destruction; but she rips it to pieces before his eyes and proudly asserts her filial devotion (“Quando il mio core”).

A dark underground place

Settimio is in prison, awaiting execution (“Nudo terren”). He sings of his love for Argelia (“S’io finor, bell’idol mio”) but is interrupted by jailors, who tell

Lucio and Publio discuss the forthcoming spectacle before the chorus describes a doleful funeral procession (“A un pianto!”). Settimio is seen crossing the bridge. Argelia begs for her own death (“Morte! Ah pria che l’una”), but the scene is then invaded by a group proclaiming that Settimio has been saved. He appears with Murena, announcing that the lion to whom he was thrown remembered him from a past encounter in which he had saved the beast’s life. Argelia sings a final aria of rejoicing (“Ogni tormento, qual nebbia al vento”).

“The yoke of the finales”: Donizetti’s experimental calling card

By Roger Parker Musicologist and Opera Rara Repertoire Consultant

A common narrative about Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) places his serious operas of the 1820s, mostly written for the theatres of Naples, as – to be brief – the work of a journeyman, by necessity a follower of Rossini. The breakthrough then comes with Anna Bolena, written in 1830 for Milan and from there spreading throughout the Italian peninsula and to the major European capitals, thus paving the way for the great public successes of the next ten years, including Lucrezia Borgia and Lucia di Lammermoor.

Such a story, surely not by coincidence, chimes neatly with our present-day Donizetti repertoire, in which the first serious opera to receive regular revivals is indeed Anna Bolena. In other words, it congratulates contemporary operatic habits. However, a closer look at (and a closer listen to) some of those operas from the “forgotten” Neapolitan 1820s tells a different tale, one in which L’esule di Roma is, as it happens, a prime exhibit.

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As usual at this period, we know little about the opera’s genesis. Set in ancient Rome, it was based on Luigi Marchionni’s play Il proscritto romano (Venice, 1820), which in turn came from an earlier French play about Androcles and the lion (a tale already well known in Italy in many formats, which probably accounts for the rather sketchy denouement of the opera). First performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on New Year’s Day 1828, it was immediately proclaimed a public success, and this in spite of the fact that the performance was attended by a large

contingent of the Neapolitan court: royal personages whose presence often tended to subdue the reactions of their loyal subjects. During the ensuing season, it was performed a further 20 or so times and then remained in the repertory into the 1840s – a singular achievement in those swiftly changing operatic times. Part of the initial success must, of course, have been due to the principal singers, all of them much praised: tenor Berardo Winter as Settimio, the exile of the title; soprano Adelaide Tosi as his beloved Argelia; and, considered best of all, bass-baritone Luigi Lablache as Argelia’s father Murena, tortured by the fact that his machinations were responsible for Settimio’s banishment. However, the most extraordinary feature of the reception is that – although the premiere was played before an audience generally thought of as conservative and tradition-worshipping, forever thinking back fondly to the times when the “Neapolitan school” was at the forefront of Italian music – it was precisely the most innovative aspects of Donizetti’s new opera that caught the public’s and the critics’ imagination.

Central to this innovation is the character of Murena. Unlike the usual, unbending patriarch of stock melodrama, Murena is from the start a wavering, unstable figure, full of regrets and anxiety about his past iniquity. And, taking his cue from the libretto, Donizetti embraced this unstable aspect in his music for the character. Even in Murena’s most conventional moments, such as his two-movement aria embedded in the opening Introduzione, he is forever prone to unpredictable outbursts and unusual vocal effects. Both the slow movement and the cabaletta of this opening aria (“Per lui… nel mentre” and “M’appare mai sempre”) have virtually no trace of continuous lyrical line, the opening statements

in both cases being little more than an accumulation of declamatory proclamations, with agitated orchestration only emphasising the sense of unease. Murena’s aria in the second act, “Entra nel Circo… Ahi misero”, takes this unconventional style to even greater extremes: the accumulation of guilt has by this stage cast Murena into madness: in a remarkable anticipation of Donizetti’s famous mad-scenes of the 1830s, his vocal discourse is built from disjointed fragments of recollection and horrified anticipations of the future his wickedness has set in motion.

In comparison with Murena, the two young lovers are by contrast more conventional characters. Argelia is the most obviously Rossinian in vocal style, particularly in the opera’s finale, in which the plot’s rather precipitate happy ending is celebrated by a so-called Rondò finale (“Ogni tormento, qual nebbia al vento”), with streams of soprano coloratura acclaiming the restoration of order to a dangerously unstable state. Perhaps not surprisingly, Argelia is at her most affecting in her second-act duet with her father, in which her gentle melodic idiom proves to have an eminently dramatic function in calming her troubled parent. Her exiled lover Settimio is a more complex case. His opening aria and duet with Argelia in the first act also present a character mostly reminiscent of Rossinian vocal ways, although with far less ornamental exuberance. But, at least as the opera was first performed, he virtually disappeared from the action in the second half of the opera, only returning at the very end to narrate his unlikely, lion-assisted escape from the Roman Colosseum. Small surprise, then, that in the opera’s very first revival, at La Scala Milan in July 1828, Donizetti balanced the character, indeed enriched it considerably, by providing Settimio with a “prison scene”, one that we include in tonight’s performance. A complex orchestral picture of the “oscuro sotterraneo” where Settimio awaits his sentence precedes a further two-movement aria in which he reiterates his love for Argelia and, at the last, defies fate in the face of death.

However, in spite of all these compelling arias and duets, there was one further number, in many ways the opera’s most daring, that caught the public imagination. As several reviewers pointed out, at the midpoint in the opera, at the end of Act 1, where tradition would have demanded a so-called concertato finale, with chorus, soloists and orchestra all coming together for a grandiose close, Donizetti broke with tradition and closed the act with a long Terzetto for the three principals, one in which – again – Murena’s instability dominates the vocal gestures to a remarkable degree. During this period in Italy, composers often defied audience expectations at their peril, but here the dramatic effect of the Terzetto was unprecedented. In a half-joking letter to his revered teacher Simone Mayr, Donizetti reported on the extraordinary reception of the piece, and mentioned that its success was encouraging him further in experimentation, in evading what he called “the yoke of the finales”.

That would be a project for the future, in particular for the remarkable sequence of further experimental works Donizetti wrote for Naples in the late 1820s. But there is no doubt that L’esule di Roma pointed the way. What is more, it proved to be by far the composer’s most popular opera of the 1820s: within six years it had been seen in more than 30 Italian cities, with additional premieres in London, Vienna and Madrid. Often, as was normal at the time, various parts of the opera were substituted in these revivals, in particular the tenor’s second act aria, which became a site in which singers felt they could insert a favourite number from elsewhere. But the Terzetto ending Act 1 continued to excite comment and admiration, demonstrating to an increasingly broad international audience that a new, innovative operatic personality had come into view. The stage was thus set for Donizetti’s triumphant decade to come.

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CARLO RIZZI

conductor Carlo Rizzi, Opera Rara's Artistic Director, holds a long-standing reputation as one of the world's foremost operatic conductors, in demand as a guest artist at the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals. Equally at home in the opera house and the concert hall, his vast repertoire spans everything from the foundation works of the operatic and symphonic canon to rarities by Bellini, Cimarosa and Donizetti to Giordano, Pizzetti and Montemezzi. Combining a deep expertise in the vocal art with theatrical flair and the practical collaborative skills honed over decades of experience in the world's finest theatres, he is acclaimed by singers and audiences alike as a master of the operatic craft.

Born in Milan, Rizzi studied at the city’s conservatoire, and following his graduation was employed as a repetiteur at the legendary Teatro alla Scala. He launched his conducting career in 1982 with a production of Donizetti’s L’ajo nell’imbarazzo, and has now performed over a hundred operas, with a broad repertoire that is rich in Italian works in addition to the major titles of Mozart, Wagner, Strauss, Britten, Mussorgsky, Martinů and Janáček.

In September 2019 he was appointed Artistic Director of Opera Rara, the UK-based company devoted to resurrecting and returning to the repertoire undiscovered and undervalued works from opera’s celebrated and neglected composers.

Following 2022’s new recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto, the position was extended until 2025. Since 2015, Rizzi has been Conductor Laureate of the Welsh National Opera, following his tenure as Music Director (1992-2001 and 2004-8) during which he was widely credited with overseeing a dramatic increase in the company’s artistic standards and international profile. He also has held long-standing relationships with the Teatro alla Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and his career has seen him leading numerous productions at the most distinguished operatic addresses including

the Opera National de Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, the Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro, the Netherlands Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the New National Theatre Tokyo, Opernhaus Zürich, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie, Brussels.

This season has seen him opening the new season of the Metropolitan Opera New York in a new production of Cherubini’s Medea alongside revivals of Tosca, La bohème and Don Carlo (Met), and conducting a new staging of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the Opera National de Paris. He has also led revivals of Il trovatore (Opera de Paris), Manon Lescaut (Bayerische Staatsoper) and Aïda (New National Theatre, Tokyo).

Carlo Rizzi’s extensive discography includes complete recordings of Gounod’s Faust, Janáček’s Katya Kabanova (in English) and Verdi’s Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera, all with Welsh National Opera; a Deutsche Grammophon DVD and CD of Verdi’s La traviata recorded live at the Salzburg Festival with Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón and the Vienna Philharmonic; numerous recital albums with renowned opera singers including Joseph Calleja, Juan Diego Flórez, Edita Gruberová, Jennifer Larmore, Ernesto Palacio, Olga Borodina and Thomas Hampson. He has also made recordings of symphonic works by Bizet, de Falla, Ravel, Respighi

and Schubert with orchestras including the London and Netherlands Philharmonics.

With Opera Rara, Rizzi has recorded a pair of Gramophone Award-nominated recital discs with Joyce El-Khoury and Michael Spyres, the original 1912 version of Leoncavallo’s Zingari, and the premiere recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto.

Albina Shagimuratova

soprano

Albina Shagimuratova has been hailed as the “Coloratura Wonder Woman” (Die Welt) and by Bachtrack as “a rare and exceptional talent; one that only occurs once a decade”. Since first coming to international attention as the Gold Medal winner in the 2007 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Albina has performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Lucerne Festival, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, plus the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres. She is regarded as one of the world’s leading interpreters of the role of the Queen of the Night since she made her European opera debut at the Salzburg Festival under the baton of Riccardo Muti. “Every inch a queen” was the reaction to her role debut of Rossini´s Semiramide at the BBC Proms which was recorded for Opera Rara and won the ICMA award. She also has recorded the role of Neala in Opera Rara’s recording of Donizetti’s Il Paria.

Recently Albina returned to Bayerische Staatsoper as Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, as well as Wiener Staatsoper and Lyric Opera Chicago as Violetta (La traviata). In addition, Albina returned to the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres for performances of Il viaggio a Reims, Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor. In concert, Albina performed Britten’s War Requiem with the Orchestre de

Paris, conducted by Daniel Harding. Her future engagements include Il pirata with Stichting Omroep Muziek in Amsterdam and La traviata in Liège.

The Russian coloratura soprano is a graduate of the prestigious Houston Grand Opera Studio and has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Antonio Pappano, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Tugan Sokhiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Mark Elder, Ivor Bolton, Nicola Luisotti and Daniel Harding.

Nicola Alaimo baritone

Premio Abbiati winner of 2016, Nicola Alaimo is among the most appreciated interpreters of the international music scene, applauded in prestigious theatres and festivals around the world: Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Salzburg Festival, La Monnaie, Concertgebouw, Paris Opera, Royal Opera House, Teatro Real, Deutsche Oper and the Rossini Opera Festival. The great success of his interpretation of the title role in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell has seen acclaimed performances in opera houses worldwide.

Recent engagements include: Cenerentola, Turco in Italia and a Rossini Gala with Cecilia Bartoli directed by Gianluca Capuano; Simon Boccanegra (title role) in Antwerp; Adriana Lecouvreur in Palermo; La forza del destino at the Metropolitan Opera; La bohème in Bologna; Il trovatore in Montecarlo; Falstaff in Budapest; La cena delle beffe, Le comte Ory, Il pirata at La Scala; and Messa di Gloria by Puccini in Madrid. He has collaborated with conductors including Maurizio Benini, Bruno Campanella, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Daniele Gatti, James Levine, Michele Mariotti, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Evelino Pidò, and Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

At the Rossini Opera Festival, he received ovations in La Cenerentola, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Matilde di Shabran, Guglielmo Tell, Gazzetta, Turco in Italia, and Torvaldo e Dorliska. He made his debut at the Arena di Verona as Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia. His recording credits include an album of Rossini arias

titled Largo al Factotum released by Bongiovanni, and the 2014 Prix de l’Académie du Disque Lyrique award-winning recording of Donizetti’s Belisario with Opera Rara.

Future engagements include Falstaff in Venice and Tokyo; La forza del destino in Paris; Il barbiere di Siviglia in Monte Carlo; L'Italiana in Algeri and La Cenerentola in Zürich; Nabucco and Roberto Devereux in Geneva; Simon Boccanegra in Florence; I Due Foscari in Chicago; La Cenerentola and Adriana Lecouvreur in Toulouse, and Guillaume Tell in Liège.

Sergey Romanovsky tenor

An innate musical talent, young Russian tenor Sergey Romanovsky is quickly establishing himself as one of the most interesting voices of a generation. Having studied at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory and the Academy of Choral Arts in Moscow, Romanovsky is the winner of numerous competitions, including the 2005 International Bella Voce Competition in Moscow.

In the 2022-23 season, he sings Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata at The Royal Opera House in Muscat, Raoul in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots at Semperoper Dresden and the title role in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux. Romanovsky has performed at opera houses around the world, including Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Alfredo in La traviata); Teatro Alla Scala (Libenskof in Il viaggio a Reims); Opernhaus Zürich (Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles); Bregenzer Festpiele (Duca in Rigoletto); Dutch National Opera (Rodolfo in La bohème); the Rossini Opera Festival (Leicester in Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, Néoclès in Le siège de Corinthe, and Agorante in Ricciardo e Zoraide); and Wexford Festival Opera (Giasone and Medea) to name a few.

Recent concert engagements include Verdi’s Requiem (his debuts with Vlaanderen Opera and the Berliner Philharmoniker); Mascagni’s Messa di Gloria (Concertgebouw, Amsterdam); and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia).

He has collaborated with conductors including Lorin Maazel, Evelino Pidò, Leo Hussain, Alberto Zedda, Christophe Rousset, Michele Mariotti, Daniele

Callegari, Antonio Fogliani, Yuri Bashmet and Ottavio Dantone, and such stage directors as Robert Carsen, Denis Krief, Stefano Mazzonis Di Pralafera and Luca Ronconi.

This is his debut with Opera Rara.

Lluís Calvet i Pey

baritone

Lluís Calvet i Pey began his studies at the Conservatori Professional de Sabadell with singing teacher Elisenda Cabero. In 2017 he was awarded the Young Promises scholarship by the Fundació de Música Ferrer-Salat to study the singing degree at the Conservatori Superior del Liceu with singing teacher, Maria Dolors Aldea, vocal coach Marta Pujol, and chamber music teacher Alan Branch.

In 2019, Lluís participated in projects with the MA Opera course at the Conservatori Superior del Liceu, playing the role of Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, under the stage direction of Paco Azorín. In September 2020, Lluís moved to Cardiff, Wales, to begin his final year of undergraduate studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and remained for studies at the Royal Welsh College’s David Seligman Opera School, with singing teacher Adrian Thompson, and vocal coach Nicki Rose. Lluís was awarded a scholarship to complete his MA in Advanced Opera at the RWCMD by Clive Richards Foundation and John & John Foundation.

Recently he has been awarded the Eva Kleinitz Scholarship and has been offered a place in the International Opera Studio at Staatstheater Hannover, where he will spend the next two years. This summer he took part in L'Academia Rossiniana di Pesaro playing the role of Lord Sidney in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims

This is his debut with Opera Rara.

Kezia Bienek

mezzo-soprano

British born and of Mauritian and Lithuanian heritage, Kezia moved to London from Gloucestershire aged 16 to study musical theatre at the Brit School. During that time, she was drawn to opera and went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She completed her studies at the Benjamin Britten International Opera School of the Royal College of Music (RCM) in 2015. Kezia is a Solti Te Kanawa Academia di Bel Canto alumna, and worked with many wonderful singers in various masterclasses during her training years, notably Brigitte Fassbaender, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Richard Bonynge and Sir Thomas Allen.

Current and recent engagements include the title role in Carmen and Beppe in L’amico Fritz for Opera Holland Park, Suzuki in Madame Butterfly and Second Lady in The Magic Flute for Welsh National Opera and Silvia (The Messenger) in Orfeo at Opera North, as well as a return to Glyndebourne Festival in 2024.

She made her Glyndebourne Festival début as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare, and later that year as Dorothée in Cendrillon (directed by Fiona Shaw) in her début for Glyndebourne on Tour. In 2019 she appeared as Second Lady in The Magic Flute for her Welsh National Opera début , where she soon returned to sing Forester’s Wife (and cover Fox) in Cunning Little Vixen. Other opera engagements have included La frugola in Il tabarro and Gianetta in

Don Bucefalo (Wexford

Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw (Barnes Festival), Iside in Giove in Argo and Tauride in Arianna in Creta (London Handel Festival), Concepcion in L’heure espagnole and Doralicein in La gazzetta (RCM), Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro (British Youth Opera) and Dido in Dido and Aeneas (Glyndebourne Youth Opera).

Upcoming appearances include recitals with Opera Rara this summer in Cardiff and London. This is her debut with Opera Rara.

Festival Opera),

André Henriques

baritone

Bass-baritone André Henriques has a degree in Voice from the School of Music at the Conservatório Nacional (Portugal) where he studied with António Wagner Diniz. Receiving a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, he continued his studies in Opera Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where he studied with Donald Maxwell. Currently he is a student of Lúcia Lemos.

Among the various projects in which he has featured, the highlight was the world premiere of A Canção do Bandido by Nuno Côrte-Real/Pedro

Mexia and directed by Ricardo Neves-Neves in a co-production between the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos and the Teatro da Trindade/Força de Produção, where he sang the role of Macaco. Other highlights include the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Pedro Amaral; and the bass-baritone soloist of Haydn's Die Schöpfung at F.C.Gulbenkian, conducted by Leonardo Garcia Alarcón.

Recently, he sang roles such as the bass in Miguel Azguime's A Laugh to Cry in O'culto da Ajuda, conducted by Pedro Neves; Bellini Belcanto in The Ring of the Unicorn, in a production of the Teatro do

Eléctrico; Don Parmenione in L'occasione fa il ladro by Rossini, at the Sintra Music Festiva; and Don Alvaro in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, at the CCB.

This is his debut with Opera Rara.

Opera Rara

Opera Rara’s mission is to restore, record, perform and promote the lost operatic heritage of the 19th and early 20th 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. Working with the best singers, conductors, orchestras and musicologists, we are at the cutting edge of the opera world, leading the expansion of the repertoire and encouraging other opera companies to explore new and unknown rediscoveries.

2020 marked Opera Rara’s 50th anniversary: half a century of ground-breaking work. Our artistic success has been recognised through major awards at the International Opera Awards (Best Opera Recording) for 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); Opus Klassik (Best Recording) for Semiramide (2019) and at the OPER! Awards (Best Recording) for Donizetti’s L’Ange de Nisida (2019).

Our catalogue comprises over 100 titles, including more than 60 complete opera recordings. Our work has led to a fundamental revaluation of the

reputation of composers such as Donizetti, Pacini, Offenbach and Mercadante, changing the way in which these figures are perceived internationally. The most recent example is Opera Rara’s premiere recording of Mercadante’s opera Il proscritto, painstakingly restored from the original manuscript over two years, which was released worldwide in April 2023.

Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi was appointed in 2019. Since then he has recorded the original 1912 version of Leoncavallo’s Zingari as well as Il proscritto, whose discovery and restoration he championed. 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. Over the next three years, we will record and perform all of Donizetti’s solo songs, many of which have never been heard by modern audiences. Led by Rizzi, the project will see eight new recordings featuring renowned artists including Jaho and Spyres: in addition, concerts at Wigmore Hall, the first on 9 September 2023, will feature Lawrence Brownlee and Etienne Dupuis with Rizzi at the piano. Opera Rara’s next release will be the studio recording of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde conducted by Paul Daniel, in autumn 2023.

Opera Rara people

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Carlo Rizzi

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Henry Little

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Charles Alexander CBE, Chair

Philip Eisenbeiss

Glenn Hurstfield

Adolfo Laurenti

Simon Mortimore KC

Alison Nicol

Islée Oliva Salinas

Terence Sinclair

Nicholas Thomas

Louis Watt

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Glenn Hurstfield, Chair

Dori Dana-Haeri

Islée Oliva Salinas

Terence Sinclair

John Tierney

AMERICAN FRIENDS COMMITTEE

Islée Oliva Salinas, Chair

Adolfo Laurenti, Vice-Chair

Allan Heinberg

Jennifer Marling

HONORARY ARTISTIC PATRON

Renée Fleming

ARTIST AMBASSADORS

Ermonela Jaho

Michael Spyres

LABEL and PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Aurelie Baujean

FINANCE DIRECTOR

Irene Cook

DEVELOPMENT and COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Zachary Vanderburg

DEVELOPMENT and EVENTS COORDINATOR

Lara Bader

CONSULTANTS

Kirstin Peltonen, Development Consultant

Jesús Iglesias Noriega, Casting Consultant

Sophie Cohen, Press and PR

Roger Parker, Repertoire Consultant

Opera Rara supporters

Opera Rara’s projects are 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 19th and early 20th centuries. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those individuals and foundations who have made a gift to our Annual Fund*. Their continued support is vital to our success.

Guardian Society

Carlo Grosso

Stefan Olsson and John Tierney

Circle Members

OPERA RARA CIRCLE

Sir Simon and Lady Virginia Robertson

ARTIST’S CIRCLE

Philip Eisenbeiss

Michael Hartnall

Islée Oliva Salinas and Michael Buckley

Carlo Rizzi and Lucy Stout*

Patrons

BENEFACTOR

Jon and Julia Aisbitt*

Roger Bramble

Edward Gasson

Yvonne Horsfall Turner◊

Bruce and Sara Mauleverer

Terence and Sian Sinclair

Gerry Wakelin and Ivor Samuels*

DEVOTEE

Charles Alexander CBE

Timothy Congdon

Allan Heinberg* o

Leslie and Peter Macleod-Miller ◊

Imogen Rumbold

Louis Watt

AFICIONADO

Sir David Bean

David Bernstein

Elizabeth Bunker

John Chichester

Sir Anthony Cleaver

Marco Compagnoni

Eleanor Cranmer and Nick Thomas

Jeff and Emily Fergus

Malcolm Herring

Alan Jackson

Adolfo Laurenti and Juliet Petrus

Michele Leuenberger

David and Janet McCue o

Chris and Dominique Moore

Simon Mortimore KC

Alison Nicol

Susan Pitts+

Peter Rosenthal

Martin and Patricia Spiro

Mark Walker

Friends

ENTHUSIAST

Claus Ambos

Marian Gilbart Read

Sarah and Christopher Knight

Hal Lindberg

Sir Timothy Lloyd

Zachary Vanderburg and Felipe Ramos Barajas

CONNOISSEUR

Primrose and Christopher Arnander

Jonathan Jempson

Virginia Lawlor

Christopher Leslie

Margaret and Oscar Lewisohn

David Macfarlane

Jennifer Marling o

Lady Carolyn Newbigging

John Nickson

Lady Jane Rayne

Mark Shaw

Lucie and Christopher Sims

And our many Contributor and Member Friends

The Annual Fund list is comprised of donors who gave at the Connoisseur level or higher from September 2021 to April 2023

Trusts and Foundations

Foyle Foundation

John Ellerman Foundation

Colwinston Charitable Trust

Backstage Trust

Cockayne Grants for the Arts

London Community Foundation

Lifetime Guardians

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

Charles Alexander CBE

Arts Council England

Foyle Foundation

Carlo Grosso

Michael Hartnall

Glenn Hurstfield

The Monument Trust

Sir Peter Moores and the Peter Moores Foundation

Stefan Olsson & John Tierney

Sir Simon and Lady Virginia Robertson

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

Britten Sinfonia

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ORCHESTRA

“One of our most innovative and vital ensembles” (The Guardian, February 2023), Britten Sinfonia is known for its adventurous programming and stunningly high-quality performances, and equally for its acclaimed nurturing of new talent and work with schools, hospital patients and communities across our home region, the East of England.

We are defined not by the traditional figurehead of a principal conductor, but by the dynamic meeting of outstanding individual players and the broad range of their collaborators – from Steve Reich, Thomas Adès and Alison Balsom to Pagrav Dance Company, Father John Misty, Rufus Wainwright, and Anoushka Shankar.

We are resident in Norwich, an Associate Ensemble at the Barbican in London, and Resident Orchestra at Saffron Hall in Essex.

Beyond the concert hall, Britten Sinfonia musicians help raise the aspirations of more than 8,000 young people in East of England schools each year, bring highquality music-making to under-served communities in the region, and enable people in hospitals and those living with life-limiting health conditions to use music to enhance their lives.

New music is in our DNA. Over 30 years, we have commissioned almost 250 works, and we run two annual development schemes for composers – Opus 1 and Magnum Opus.

MANAGEMENT

Meurig Bowen CEO & Artistic Director

Supported by Hamish & Sophie Forsyth

Hannah Bates Planning & Personnel

Manager

Chris Bell Learning & Participation Director

Nick Brealey Development Director

Cheryl Davis Production Coordinator

Lauren Hill Production Coordinator

Annabel Leakey Concerts & Tours

Manager (maternity cover)

Elaine Rust Finance Manager

Shoël Stadlen Marketing & Communications Director

TRUSTEES

Janis Susskind OBE Interim Chair

Mark Jeffries

Professor John Last OBE

Sreeja Nedungadi

Professor Helen Odell-Miller OBE

Emily Parris

Richard Plaskett

Judith Serota OBE

Rebecca Trumper

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Judith Serota OBE Chair

Helen Fairfoul

Caroline Jarrold

Patricia Morison

Sreeja Nedungadi

Barry Scrutton

BRITTEN SINFONIA SUPPORTERS

Britten Sinfonia is proud to acknowledge the support of numerous individuals, trusts and foundations, corporate partners and public funders who enable us to play outstanding concerts to audiences across the UK and the rest of the world.

Everything we do – each and every concert, project, collaboration and partnership – benefits from the vision and generosity of all those listed and those who wish to remain anonymous.

For more information about giving to your orchestra, please contact the Development Team on 01223 558501 or email support@brittensinfonia.com

TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS

Britten Sinfonia is a PRS Foundation

Talent Development Partner supported by PPL

The Behrens Foundation

Dacia Tasker Fund

The Delius Trust

The Golsoncott Foundation

The Hinrichsen Foundation

John Jarrold Trust

The Marchus Trust

PBM Fund

Finlay & Kathryn Ross Trust

Patrick Rowland Foundation

Atack Van Someren Charitable Trust

Michael Williamson Trust plus anonymous trusts and foundations

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS:

Sinfonia Circle

Dr Claire Barlow & Prof Jim Woodhouse

Barbara & Michael Gwinnell

Patrick Meehan

Richard Plaskett

Charles Rawlinson MBE and Jill Rawlinson

Penelope Robson

Barry & Ann Scrutton

Janis Susskind OBE

Andrew & Jane Sutton

Andrew & Rosemary Tusa

Richard & Fiona Walford plus anonymous donors

Benefactors

Alison and Richard Ball

Dr Richard Blackford

Nicholas & Caroline Dixey

Emily Fletcher

Susan May

Sue & Frank Paice

Garth Pollard

Rob Hammond & Charlotte Sankey

Principal Sponsor:

Robin Boyle

Hamish & Sophie Forsyth

Charles Rawlinson MBE & Jill Rawlinson

Barry & Ann Scrutton

Dr Peter Stephenson

Chair Partners

Lord Jeffrey Archer

Dame Mary Archer DBE

Anna & Kamal Ahuja

Roger Bamber

Joe Smouha plus anonymous donors

Gold Friends

Chris and Mary Ash

Sarah Knights & Tony Barnett

Robert Burton

Susan Costello

Jeffrey Dandy

Sally & Michael Fowler

Diana Hiddleston

PUBLIC FUNDERS & PARTNERS

Cambridgeshire Music Partnership

Norfolk & Norwich Festival Bridge

Norfolk Music Hub

Peterborough Music Partnership

William & Judith Bollinger

Dr & Mrs Jerome Booth

Delia Broke

Hamish & Sophie Forsyth

Elizabeth Goodchild

Prof John Last OBE

Isobel Lee

Roger Rowe plus anonymous donors

BRITTEN SINFONIA SUPPORTERS

Silver Friends

Jeremy Allen

Bob Allies & Dr Jill Franklin

Ariane Bankes

Sarah Bradfield

Janet Brealey

David Brief

Josephine Burns

Susan & Tim Burton

John Ceybird

Alison Clarke

Anna Crookes

Dennis Davis

Miriam Elston

Helen Fairfoul

Sarah & Simon Garnier

Jen Gilchrist

Sally Groves

Dr Anna Guy

Nigel & Alison Hall

Maureen Hanke

Mike Holley

Alan Holmes

Richard Hopkin

John & Frances Howard

Oliver King

Arabella Lee

Susan Maddock

Dr Colin Matthews

Michael & Patricia McLaren-Turner

Elizabeth Miles

John Robins & Patricia Morison

Guy Norton

Carmen Paddock

Sylvie Pierce

Dr Peter Poore OBE & Hilary Belchak

Ruth Rattenbury

Judith Rattenbury

John Roote

Dr Paul A Sackin

Alan Sainer

Angela Skinner

Richard Somerford

Mary Anne Sutherland

Ka Yuen Eunice Tai

Christine & Peter Wall

Kay Warbrick

Merlin & Imogen Waterson

Christine Webber

Dave Plummer & Lesley Whitby

Colin Willis

Sally & Paddy Wilson

Christine Wilson

Plus Bronze Friends and anonymous donors

PLAY ON APPEAL

More than 600 donors have given to the appeal to date.

BRITTEN SINFONIA AT 30 FUND

Lord & Dame Mary Archer

Nicholas & Caroline Bewes

Dr Richard Blackford

Joe Cronly

Meredith Lloyd-Evans

Hamish & Sophie Forsyth

Bob Allies & Dr Jill Franklin

Jill Halliday

Olivia Kilmartin

Professor John Last

Karen McClellan

Helen Odell-Miller

Sreeja & Gautham Nedungadi

Andrew Neubauer

Janis Susskind OBE

Richard Plaskett

Charles Rawlinson MBE & Jill Rawlinson

Penelope Robson

Roger Rowe

Rob Hammond & Charlotte Sankey

Paul Schofield

Judith Serota

Lynn Biggs & Michael Stone

Richard & Fiona Walford

Paul Zisman

plus anonymous donors

BOOK FOR OUR UPCOMING EVENTS:

Opera Rara

Various dates in the 2022/23 season

Salon Concert Series

Various venues, London

Presenting emerging vocal talent in unique programmes, upcoming concerts include tenor

Julian Henao Gonzalez and pianist Anna Tilbrook on 21 June, and mezzo-soprano Kezia Bienek and pianist James Southall on 5 October.

Sunday 9 September 1pm

Donizetti & Friends

Wigmore Hall, London

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee and baritone Etienne Dupuis join Opera Rara’s Artistic Director and pianist Carlo Rizzi in a concert featuring songs by Donizetti and his contemporaries.

Thursday 18 April 2024 7.30pm

Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

Opera Rara and The Hallé perform the newly edited 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.

Sir Mark Elder leads an all-star cast including Igor Golovatenko, Eleonora Buratto, Iván Ayón-Rivas and William Thomas.

Britten Sinfonia

Wednesday 24 May 7.30pm

Musical Everests: The Year 1953

Milton Court Concert Hall, Barbican, London

Britten Sinfonia reveals music by Tippett, Maconchy and Walton – written in the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and the summiting of Mt Everest – which scaled dizzying artistic heights and yet is rarely heard today.

Wednesday 6 September 7.30pm

Britten Sinfonia at BBC Proms

Royal Albert Hall, London

Britten Sinfonia leader Thomas Gould is the soloist and director in a programme featuring Recomposed, Max Richter’s celebrated 21st-century reimagining of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

Friday 20 October 7.30pm

Britten Sinfonia and Elizabeth Watts

Milton Court Concert Hall, Barbican, London

Celebrated British soprano Elizabeth Watts sings Finzi’s Dies Natalis and a new song cycle by Richard Blackford in a programme which also includes Elgar’s Serenade for Strings