Wessex Consort Sings Thomas Hardy Poems at His Family Church Near Dorchester

[Updated Tuesday 17 April 2018 – Seen and Heard International is sad to report the passing of Graham Stansfield  on Friday 13 April, following a long struggle against cancer, an illness he steadfastly refused to make concessions to. He worked consistently throughout lengthy and often debilitating periods of treatment. Indeed, just six days before he had introduced his latest work – new settings of poems by his beloved Thomas Hardy – at a concert in St Michael’s Stinsford, the Hardy family church, given by the Wessex Consort ensemble he co-founded with conductor Andrew King.]

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Graham Stansfield: Wessex Consort (Vicky Jackson, Alison Gormley, Melissa Stansfield [soprano], Sarah Palfreman-Kay, Natalie Davies [mezzo-soprano], Aino Konkka, Ellie Edmonds [alto], Matt Spillett, Michael Aitkenhead [tenor], Tom Asher, John Twitchen [baritone], Tim Emberson, Andrew Fellowes [bass]), Andrew King (conductor), St Michael’s Church, Stinsford, Dorchester, 7.4.2018. (IL)

Graham Stansfield and Andrew King

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Aljaž Škorjanec, Janette Manrara and Company are Absolute Joy in Remembering Fred

United KingdomUnited Kingdom Various composers, Remembering Fred: Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara (co-creators and choreography) and Company (Adrian Hansel, Miranda Wilford [featured singers], Charlie Bruce, Aaron Bryan, Scott Coldwell, Alastair Crosswell and Veronica Fulton), Gareth Walker (director and choreographer), Barnaby Dickenson (musical director), London Palladium, 7.4.2018. (JPr)

Janette Manrara, Aljaž Škorjanec and Company in Remembering Fred

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Vienna State Opera’s Parsifal: Vacuous Production but Strong Musical Performances

AustriaAustria Wagner, Parsifal: Soloists, Children of the Vienna State Opera Opera School, Chorus (chorus master: Martin Schebesta) and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera / Semyon Bychkov (conductor). Vienna State Opera, 5.4.2018. (MB)

Parsifal © Wiener Staatsoper/Michael Pöhn

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