Kabarett! Leighton House programme

KABARETT!

Night is not only there for sleeping…

Leighton House, London 7:00pm Wednesday, 23 September 2015 BRAD COOPER tenor ROSS ALLEY piano PROGRAMME PART TWO PART ONE Ivor Novello (1893-1951)

Tom Lehrer The Masochism Tango

Shine Through My Dreams

Norbert Glanzberg (1910-2001) Padam Padam

Tom Lehrer (1928-) Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

Marilyn Miller (1898-1936) & Cheryl Hardwick (1944-) Making Love Alone

Noël Coward (1899-1973)

Dillie Keane (1905-1993) ‘Lieder’

London Pride Someday I’ll Find You Hans May (1886-1958) Heut ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben…

Louis Guglielmi (1916-1991) La Vie En Rose Charles Dumont (1929-) Non, Je ne regrette rien!

Noël Coward Nina

Dillie Keane Stick Your Head Between Your Legs

Ivor Novello We’ll Gather Lilacs

Peter Allen (1944-1992) I Still Call Australia Home

Robert Stolz (1880-1975) Ob blond, ob braun, ich liebe alle Frau’n Ivor Novello Rose of England

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Brad Cooper trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the National Opera Studio, London, and with Marilyn Horne at the Music Academy of the West, California. Now resident in Australia, Brad debuted as Albert in Albert Herring for Opera Australia in 2013. This season Brad performs Tamino in Magic Flute for Opera Australia and Orfeo in Haydn’s Orfeo ed Euridice under Richard Bonynge for the Sydney Conservatorium’s Centenary Celebrations. Memorable appearances include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Oper Köln), Don Alonse in L’Amant Jaloux (Opéra Comique, Paris), Conte Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Holland Park, London) and Clem in Hamel’s Snow White (Nederlandse Reisopera). His performance of Davey in Dove’s Siren Song for Amsterdam’s Grachtenfestival has been released ‘live’ on Chandos Classics. Brad is thankful for the support of Tait Memorial Trust, Nance Atkinson Trust, Johnson Bequest, Australian Opera Auditions Committee’s Dame Joan Sutherland Award and Australian Singing Competition.

Ross Alley is a native of New Zealand, he worked as a pianist and music teacher at the National School of Ballet and the Australian Ballet Company and School before moving to England. In London he was employed by the Royal Ballet School as a pianist, with responsibilities as a music tutor to develop the teachers’ training course and create the pianists training program for aspiring ballet accompanists. Mr. Alley is closely associated with the Cecchetti Society, researching, editing and arranging music for the syllabi. He lectures on classical music at the Royal Opera House, organized by the Royal Opera House Education Department with the University of London and Friends of Covent Garden.

ABOUT THE MUSIC David Ivor Davies, known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer and actor who became one of the most prominent entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. His songs of the 1930s provide listeners with a hope that never again will such rage (as that of the Great War) be encountered on any part of the civilized world again.

His music was so popular it actually saved the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane from financial ruin, yet is sadly rarely performed these days.

Working for the Secret Service, Noël Coward, known for his wit and flamboyance, was told by Winston Churchill to go and sing for the troops. His tour of the troops proved very successful and the 1950s saw Coward gaining success as a cabaret performer with his own compositions.

Serving in the US Army from 1955–1957, Tom Lehrer, a noted satirist, pianist and mathematician, wrote a collection of songs in the 1960s with many modern overtones of Gilbert & Sullivan, however some would argue his compositions were written before the audiences were ready for such ‘dark humour’.

A string of failures drove Graz born Robert Stolz* to find fame composing for the Silver Screen in Berlin. When the National Socialists rose to power in 1933, he returned to his native Austria. Up until 1938 he divided his time between Berlin and Vienna, smuggling many persecuted artists from Germany in his limousine. Stolz eventually fled to New York, where he shared an apartment with fellow composer, Emmerich Kálmán. His song Ob Blonde, Ob Braun, Ich Liebe Alle Frau’n (Blonde or Brunette, I love all women) enjoyed huge success at the hand of Polish ‘singing sex symbol’ tenor, Jan Kiepura.

Louis Guglielmi was a Catalan musician of Italian extraction who wrote under the name Louiguy and is most known for writing the melody to Édith Piaf ’s lyrics of La Vie en Rose. Also well-received was his own Latin jazz composition Cerisier rose et pommier blanc, a popular song written in 1950 and made famous in English (titled Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White). The piece was recorded by Pérez Prado and became a big hit.

Charles Dumont wrote Non, je ne regrette rien in 1956 and it was recorded in 1960 by Édith Piaf. The collaboration led to Dumont writing more than 30 songs for her, such as Flonflons du Bal, Mon Dieu and Les Amants which Piaf and Dumont wrote and sang together in 1962. In 1971, he sold a song to Barbra Streisand, Le Mur, which became known as I’ve been here on her album at the time.

Polish born Norbert Glanzberg* is another composer closely associated with Édith Piaf, first touring with her and Tino Rossi in 1940 whilst in exile. A Jew, he was denounced in France in 1942 and imprisoned for six months before the actress, Marie Bell organized his escape with the help of a prison guard. He was hidden, firstly by fellow composer George Auric, then by poet René Laporte, until the liberation of 1945. Piaf sung Padam Padam (co-written with lyricist, Henri Contet) in 1948 before going on to make a huge hit of his song Mon Manège à moi.

Born Johannes Mayer in Vienna, Hans May* fled to Paris and finally England following the Anschluss, where he lived until his death in 1958. Whilst mainly a composer for the Silver Screen many of these were Operetta films.

The song Heut’ ist der schönste Tag in meinem leben!, from the film of the same name, proved a huge hit for star tenor Joseph Schmidt. A Jew, Schmidt died tragically young from ill health after being interred in a Swiss refugee camp in 1942.

Louise M. “Dillie” Keane (born 23 May 1952) is an Olivier Award-nominated actress, singer and comedienne. She is perhaps best known as one third of the comedy cabaret trio Fascinating Aïda (conceived in 1983), but she has also enjoyed a prominent solo career. Keane is the perfect living example of performer, lyricist and composer all rolled into one.

Marilyn Miller & Cheryl Hardwick’s* song Making Love Alone caused a sensation when performed by Bernadette Peters on Saturday Night Live in 1981. She followed this up with performances on the Tonight Show and at Carnegie Hall. Miller was one of the most popular Broadway performers of the 1920’s & 30’s whilst Hardwick has written, composed and performed extensively for TV & Film, including Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street.

Born Peter Richard Woolnough, Peter Allen* is remembered as one of Australia’s leading songwriters and entertainers. Married to Liza Minelli from 1967-74 before becoming more comfortable with his sexuality in the 1970’s. Both he and long-term partner, Gregory Connell, went on to develop Aids, dying in 1984 and 1992 respectfully. His songs form the basis of the Australian and Broadway Hit Musical The Boy From Oz, whilst his 1980 song I Still Call Australia Home is perhaps his greatest legacy. © David Barnard & *Brad Cooper, 2015

We would like to thank the following people for making this evening possible: Brad Cooper and Ross Alley for generously donating their services tonight. Sam Butler from Leighton House, and the Tait Trust Committee. A special thank you to Stephen Cronk from Mirabeau en Provence, in Cotognac, France for his generous donation of Rosé Wine for this evening. Wolf Blass Yellow Label Sparkling Wine provided by Treasury Wine Estates

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The Tait Memorial Trust The Tait Memorial Trust was formed in 1992 by Isla Baring OAM in memory of Sir Frank and Viola, Lady Tait and the Tait brothers who played such an important part in the establishment of theatre and the performing arts in Australia. The Trust offers awards/grants for postgraduate study, performance opportunities to young Australian musicians and performing artists and general help in the furtherance of their careers while resident in the UK. To ensure its continuance the Trust arranges regular fund raising events & concerts, invariably featuring the talented young winners of the various awards, and relies a great deal on financial support from the business sector, private donors and other loyal supporters. In 2014 the Commonwealth Bank of Australia became the Principal Partner of The Tait Memorial Trust. We are extremely grateful to them for their support.

Chairman Isla Baring OAM Founding Patrons Dame Joan Sutherland AC OM DBE, Viola, Lady Tait AM, John McCallum AO CBE, Googie Withers AO CBE Patrons Leanne Benjamin AM OBE, John Frost AM, Julian Gavin, Patricia Countess of Harewood, Barry Humphries AO CBE, Piers Lane AO, June Mendoza AO OBE, Ermes de Zan Trustees Justin Baring, Isla Baring, Shirley Barr, Anne Longden, Susie Thornton Committee Fay Curtin, Jan Gowrie-Smith, Caroline Hamilton, Ros Higgins, Wendy Kramer, Dr Margaret Mayston AM, Gayle McDermott, Sue McGregor, Patricia Nimmo, John Rendall, Margaret Rodgers, Ann Seddon, Jacqueline Thompson, Rosemary Tuck Treasurer Will Middleton Honorary Committee Member Nicola Downer AM