About the Artists

countertenor

After graduating in Archaeology and Anthropology from St John’s College, Cambridge, Iestyn Davies studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London. An esteemed Handelian, he has astounded audiences globally with his vocal agility in roles such as Orlando, Rinaldo, Ottone in Agrippina and David in Saul. His intelligent and considered interpretations have led to fruitful collaborations with Thomas Adés, George Benjamin and Nico Muhly. Iestyn received an Olivier Award nomination for singing the role of Farinelli in Farinelli and the King opposite Mark Ryalnce, a Globe Theatre production that had successful runs on the West End and Broadway. On the opera stage, he has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Teatro alla Scala Milan; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; English National Opera; Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Welsh National Opera; Teatro Real Madrid; Salzburg Festival and in Munich, Vienna and Zurich. In the 2021/2022 season Iestyn sings Arsace in Partenope at Teatro Real Madrid, Ottone in Agrippina at Staatsoper Hamburg and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Bertarido Rodelinda at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Concert engagements have included performances at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan with Dudamel, the Concertgebouw and Tonhalle with Koopman and at the Barbican, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Lincoln Centre and at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall with orchestras that include the New York Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, English Concert, Britten Sinfonia, Concerto Köln, Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Highlights on the concert platform this season include Handel’s Rodelinda at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow, a French tour of Handel Duets with Ensemble Jupiter and Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Handel’s Radamisto with the Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, Stanford and Berkley. A committed recitalist, his repertoire ranges from Dowland to Clapton and he has performed at Carnegie Hall, New York and enjoys a successful relationship with the Wigmore Hall and King’s Place in London where he has curated residencies. He has won a Grammy Award, 3 Gramophone Awards for recital recordings, the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist of the Year, and the 2013 Critics’ Circle Awards for Exceptional Young Talent (Singer). In 2017 he was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his services to music.

soprano

Liv Redpath is quickly becoming a leading soprano leggero on the opera and concert stage today. During the 2021-22 season, Ms. Redpath returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin to make her debut in the title role of

Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor as well as the Metropolitan Opera where she covers the title role in Aucoin’s Eurydice conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with staging by Mary Zimmerman. She will make her Bayerische Staatsoper house debut singing the role of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski in a production by Barrie Kosky. Ms. Redpath’s concert performances include double appearances at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow: Lisette in La Rondine with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Michal in Saul for the Handel Festival led by Christopher Moulds, in addition to Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall: singing a new arrangement of arias from Aucoin’s Eurydice with the MET Orchestra Chamber Ensemble conducted by Maestro Nézet-Séguin and an all-Schubert program of chamber ensembles and songs with members of the

Orchestra of St. Luke’s with guest pianist Pedja Mužijević; as well as a return to the Edinburgh Festival for Handel’s Saul with The English Concert at the Edinburgh Festival led by Bernard Labadie, a chamber music gala concert in honor of Martin Chalifour’s 25th anniversary organized by the Los

Angeles Philharmonic, and a Mozart Requiem with the Long Beach Symphony. Next season, she will reprise her role in Lucia di Lammermoor for a new Simon Stone production at the LA Opera under the baton of James Conlon and makes her Utah Symphony debut as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana with Fawzi Haimor on the podium. She has been engaged by numerous opera companies and leading orchestras including Lyric Opera of Chicago,

Bregenzer Festspiele, Seattle Symphony, The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Aspen Music Festival, and Scottish Opera, among others, and has collaborated with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Vasily Petrenko, Andrés

Orozco-Estrada, William Christie, Emmanuel Villaume, Barbara Hannigan, and Christophe Rousset. Ms. Redpath is a graduate of Harvard University and The Juilliard School.

soprano

British soprano Ellie Laugharne is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, she began her career as a Jerwood Young Artist at the Glyndebourne Festival and more recently was an Associate Artist for Opera North. Recent operatic engagements include: Susanna Le nozze di Figaro (The Grange Festival); Eliza Doolittle My Fair Lady (The Grange Festival and Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona);

Gianetta The Gondoliers, Princess Zara Utopia Limited, Adina L’elisir d’amore, Frasquita Carmen, Mabel The Pirates of Penzance (Scottish Opera); Frasquita Carmen, Cupid Orpheus in the Underworld, Phyllis Iolanthe, Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro (English National Opera); Pamina The Magic Flute, Despina Cosí fan tutte, Gretel Hänsel und Gretel, Susanna Le nozze di Figaro (Opera North); Polissena Radamisto (English Touring Opera); Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Lucia The Rape of Lucretia (Glyndebourne on Tour); Governess The Turn of the Screw, Tina Flight, Zerlina Don Giovanni (Opera Holland Park); Bastienne Bastien&Bastienne, Zerlina Don Giovanni, Temperantia Applausus, Emirena Adriano in Siria (The Mozartists); Helene La Belle Helene (Blackheath Halls); Sandrina La Finta Giardiniera, Edna Tobias and the Angel (Buxton Festival); Valencienne The Merry Widow (International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival). On the concert platform, Ellie has worked with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, both the Ulster and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, the Edinburgh International Festival, the London Mozart Players and has sung recitals at The Wigmore Hall.

Future engagements include a return to The Grange Festival to perform the role of Elsie Maynard in The Yeoman of the Guard, a new production of Tamerlano in which she will sing the role of Asteria (English Touring Opera), she will also return to English National Opera.

mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta was the winner of the ‘Young Singer’ category at the 2018 International Opera Awards and ‘Breakthrough Artist in UK Opera’ in the 2017 WhatsOnStage Awards. Highlights of the 2021/22 season include Maria in Maria de Buenos Aires for Opera de Lyon following a recent run of performances at the festival Les Nuits de Fourvière, Angelina in La Cenerentola for Opera Montpellier, and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Dallas Opera.

Operatic highlights for Giunta include Anna 1 in Seven Deadly Sins for Opera North, Dodo in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Adelaide Festival, house debuts for Seattle Opera as Angelina in La Cenerentola and for Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Bradamante in Alcina, role debuts as the title role Carmen, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, and Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at Oper Leipzig, Idamante in Idomeneo at Opera Atelier, Toronto, and Flora in La Traviata with Placido Domingo at the Royal Opera House, Muscat. On the concert platform, recent highlights include The Sound of Argentina and a critically acclaimed solo recital at the BBC Proms in Cadogan Hall, a return to the Münchner

Rundfunkorchester for Mozart’s Die Schuldigkeit des Ersten Gebots, a return to Koerner Hall, Toronto, for a Bernstein Centenary gala following her acclaimed performances as Anna in Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with the Toronto Symphony

Orchestra, Mozart’s Grosse Messe with the Gewandhaus Orchester and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.

Giunta is a recipient of a 2013 Novick Career Advancement

Grant and the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Career Development Award, and has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. She is a 2013 graduate of both the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist

Development Program, and the Juilliard School’s Artist Diploma in Opera Studies, and was a member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio 2009 to 2011.

bass-baritone

Making his debut with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and hailed by the New York Times as “sturdy,” “dynamic,” and “excellent,” Aubrey Allicock continues to make his mark among important opera companies and symphonies both at home and abroad.

A Grammy nominee for his role in John Adams’s Doctor Atomic as General Groves, Mr. Allicock adds to that nominee list a BBC Music Magazine Award for Opera. Recent and upcoming: Engagements have included

Bernstein Songfest in Carnegie Hall conducted by Marin

Alsop; a debut with Opéra de Montréal in Champion; a reprise in the title role of Le nozzze di Figaro with Opera

Theatre of Saint Louis; and a returned to Glyndebourne as Argante in Rinaldo. Now in his third season with the

Seattle Opera he was Minskman in Flight in and Alberich in Das Rheingold with Virginia Opera. This season Aubrey Allicock made his role debut as Yusef Salaam with Portland

Opera in Central Park Five; records John Henry in Daniel

Roumain’s We Shall Not Be Moved, a role he created with

Opera Philadelphia; and, participates in the exploration of a new work, Robeson/Moscow with Cincinnati Opera.

Additionally, he is the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance with Virginia Opera next season along with a role debut of Dick

Hallorann in The Shining with Lyric Opera Kansas City. As Young Emile, he debuted Champion with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis with ensuing productions at Washington National Opera, New Orleans Opera, Dutch National Opera and the Apollo Theater. He was guest artist at the Los

Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel in works by Mozart; debuted with the Concertgebouw in

John Adams’s El Niño and returned to Europe to make his

BBC debut as General Groves in Doctor Atomic recording the work for Nonesuch Records. Mr. Allicock has also performed with the Wexford Festival, Opera Omaha, the

Bard Music Festival, Ojai Festival, Salzburger-landestheater and the Komische Oper Berlin. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Mamoud in The

Death of Klinghoffer bringing him world-wide recognition that season.

Mr. Allicock received his Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School; M.M. from Indiana University; holds a B.M. from

Grand Canyon University and was a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

baritone

Morgan Pearse is already established as one of the most exciting baritones of his generation. In 2015/16 he made his debut at English National Opera singing Figaro Barber of Seville and returned to sing the role again in 2017/18. Recent and future opera highlights include Figaro Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno Die Zauberflöte and Araspe Tolomeo in Karlsruhe, Sid Albert Herring for the Buxton Festival, Belcore L’Elisir d’Amore and Figaro Barbiere for New Zealand Opera and the State Opera of South Australia, Ned Keene Peter Grimes in a concert performance with the Auckland Philharmonia, Figaro nozze in a new production for the Opernhaus Zurich, Papageno in a concert performance with the Russian National Orchestra as well as covering the role of Billy Budd for the Bolshoi. Concert highlights include a solo recital at Wigmore Hall, appearances as soloist with the Birmingham Philharmonic, Moscow Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, the orchestra of the Opernhaus, Zurich, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic

Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Gabrieli Consort, Academy of Ancient Music, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth

Symphony Orchestra at the Newbury Festival, Huddersfield Choral Society, King’s College Choir Cambridge and Messiah with the Tasmanian, West Australian and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras. After his studies Morgan was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio where his roles included Papageno (The Magic Flute), Yamadori (Madame Butterfly), Anthony (Sweeney Todd) and the cover of Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte). He went on to perform Figaro in Corigliano’s Ghosts of Versailles for Wolftrap Opera in Virginia. Morgan Pearse studied at the Royal College of Music International Opera School, where he won the prestigious

Lies Askonas Prize. He was selected by YCAT in 2013 and won the Gold Medal at the Royal Over-Seas League Competition. He won the Cesti competition in 2016 and has since appeared regularly at the Innsbruck Festival for Early Music.

(http://georgesouglides.com)

Designer (http://georgesouglid es.com)

set and costume designer George was born in Cyprus but has lived in Greece and England before moving to France. He studied 3-D design atGeorge Souglides was born in Cyprus and was brought up in Nigeria, Cyprus and Greece. He moved to London where he studied Art at Middlesex Polytechnic and then received a Bachelor’s Degree in Kingston University and Theatre Design atInterior/3D design at Kingston Polytechnic. He studied Theatre Design at Motley under Percy Harris at Riverside Motley. George was part of the BritishStudios. He now lives in the South of France. Theatre Design exhibition Collaborators atHe has worked extensively in Opera, Theater and Dance in Britain, Europe and the USA. the Victoria and Albert Museum and partRecent projects include A Flowering Tree at Gothenburg of the Greek entry at the PragueOpera in February 2015, Boris Godunov (Sets) at Savonlinna Opera in June 2015 and in Orange in July 2017 and Lohengrin Quadrennial in 2007. at The Royal Theatre, Copenhagen in January 2016, all directed by Nicola Raab, L’Italiana In Algeri at Garsington Opera in the summer of 2016, directed by Will Tuckett. Recent opera productions include The Golden Cockerel at the Bergen National Opera, dir. Mark Lamos, Cosi Fan Tutte at the Greek National Opera, dir. Rodula Gaitanou, Le Nozze di Figaro at Gothenburg Opera, dir. Stephen Langridge, La Dispute at the National Theatre of Cyprus dir. by Constantinos Arvanitakis and Tristan and Isolde for the Novaya Opera in Moscow directed by Nicola Raab.

He designed his first Musical, The Light in the Piazza by Adam

Guettel at the Curve theatre directed by Paul Kerryson, as well as the costumes for 42nd Street at Chichester festival’s acclaimed production which was revived at the Curve Leicester.

lighting designer

Peter van Praet was the lighting director at the Flanders Opera for several years during which time he began working with Robert Carsen. He then went on to collaborate with Carsen on the revivals of Semele in London (ENO), Graz and Cologne, La Bohème in Mannheim and

Japan, and Tosca at the Liceu in Barcelona. Since then, and again in collaboration with Robert Carsen, he created the lighting for Kátia Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen at the Flanders Opera, Jenůfa at the Saito Kinen

Festival, Fidelio at the Amsterdam Opera and the Maggio

Musicale Fiorentino, Rusalka, Capriccio, Tannhäuser, Die Zauberflöte and Elektra at the Paris Opera, Les Boréades in

Paris, Caen and New York (BAM), Der Rosenkavalier at the Salzburg Festival, La Traviata at La Fenice in

Venice, Elektra at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Liceu in Barcelona, Iphigénie en Tauride at the Chicago Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, Madrid’s Teatro Real and the Canadian Opera

Company of Toronto, Candide at Milan’s La Scala, the

English National Opera and Japan, Don Giovanni at Milan’s

La Scala, The Cunning Little Vixen, The Makropulos Affair, From the House of the Dead and Don Carlo at the Rhine Opera in

Strasbourg, Falstaff at Milan’s La Scala and London’s Royal

Opera House, Philippe Fénelon’s JJR, Citoyen de Genève at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, The Love for Three Oranges at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the world premiere production of Giorgio Battistelli’s CO2 at Milan’s La Scala, Campra’s Les Fêtes vénitiennes at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse,

Handel’s Agrippina at the Theater an der Wien, L’Orfeo at the

Lausanne Opera, a new production of Der Rosenkavalier at

London’s Royal Opera House, and The Beggar’s Opera at the

Bouffes du Nord.

Peter Van Praet also created the lighting for the Pierre Audi productions of Les Troyens in Amsterdam and Alcina in Drottningholm. He has also worked with the La Fura dels Baus for the Ring Cycle and Les Troyens in Valencia (Carlus Padrissa), Enesco’s Oedipe and Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre in Brussels (Alex Ollé and Valentina Carrasco), and the Ring Cycle in Buenos Aires (Valentina Carrasco).

stage director

Christophe Gayral studied as an actor at the Ecole Nationale de la Rue Blanche in Paris, and worked as an actor for many years with many French directors including: Yannis Kokkos, Hans Peter Cloos, Catherine

Anne, Stuart Seide, Brigitte Jaques, Pierre Tabard, Laurent

Gutmann, Pierre Santini, Stanislas Nordey.

Gayral co-wrote Le Grand Carrousel, an equestrian opera, for the city of Brussels. He wrote and directed Jai mata di, an Indo-French co-production which toured India. For the Alden Biesen Festival in Belgium he has directed Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor by Nicolaï and the world premiere of La Fable de Ooh et Aah by Wise. He has worked regularly on training young opera singers, particularly in Belgium, directing them in l’Enfant et les Sortilèges by Poulenc, The Telephone by Menotti and La Serva Padrona by Pergolese.

In 2010 Christophe Gayral directed Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio segreto for the Opéra du Rhin and his production was revived in Rennes in 2011 and 2015 again in Strasbourg. He directed Owen Wingrave by Britten in 2013, and the show was revived in Besançon in 2014. He staged a new production of Mozart’s Idomeneo for Strasbourg Opera in 2016 and Così fan tutte in 2019 for St Etienne Opera which was revived in 2021 in Toulon. He was invited to stage a new production of La Traviata in September 2020 and premiered a new production of Vivaldi’s Farnace for La Fenice in 2021.

Director’s Notes by Christophe Gayral

My overall idea for staging Radamisto came naturally from our use of Stanford Live’s Bing Concert Hall. When PBO presented the challenge of staging a Handel opera in a concert hall, I thought it was absolutely necessary to take full advantage of the possibilities this magnificent venue affords. I therefore imagined using the technical aspects of this hall—specifically the adjustable risers built into the stage— to create different spaces representing geographical locations from the libretto as the story evolves.