United Kingdom Longborough Festival Opera Nominated for RPS Award
Longborough Festival Opera is delighted to announce that its 2013 Ring Cycle has been shortlisted in the Opera and Music Theatre category of the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.
LFO is the first privately owned opera house to have staged a full-length production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle led by conductor Anthony Negus conductor and director Alan Privett and the performances received rave reviews.
Presented in association with BBC Radio 3, the RPS Awards are the highest recognition for live classical music and musical excellence in the UK. Awards, in thirteen categories, are decided by independent panels consisting of some of the music industry’s most distinguished practitioners. This year’s RPS Music Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in 2013.
Winners will be announced at the RPS Music Awards ceremony on Tuesday 13 May, with a special RPS Music Awards programme broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 18 May at 10 pm. The Opera and Music Theatre award is sponsored by the Incorporated Society of Musicians.
Meanwhile preparations are well under way for the 2014 season at Longborough, which will stage Tosca, The Barber of Seville and Rinaldo, Handel’s first opera successin London . Details are as follows:.
Tosca, Giacomo Puccini
24, 26 June, 3, 8, 15, 19 July
CONDUCTOR Jonathan Lyness
DIRECTOR Richard Studer
DESIGNER Richard Studer
LIGHTING DESIGNER Wayne Dowdeswell
Floria Tosca – Lee Bisset
Baron Scarpia – Simon Thorpe
Mario Cavaradossi – Adriano Graziani
Cesare Angelotti – Nicolas Legoux
Spoletta – Richard Roberts
Sacristan – Wyn Pencarreg
Sciarrone – Mark Saberton
all performances of Tosca commence at 6.00 p.m. and will have short interval after Act One and a longer dining interval after Act Two.
The Barber of Seville, Gioacchino Rossini
2, 5, 6, 10, 18 July
CONDUCTOR Jonathan Lyness
DIRECTOR Richard Studer
DESIGNER Richard Studer
LIGHTING DESIGNER Wayne Dowdeswell
Figaro – Grant Doyle
Rosina – Helen Sherman
Almaviva – Nick Sales
Dr. Bartolo – Adrian Powter
Berta – Constance Novis
Don Basilio – Julian Close
Fiorello – Mark Saberton
Performances on 2, 5, 10, 18 July begin at 18.30 pm and have a ninety minute dining interval. The performance on 6 July begins at 15.00 pm and has a 75 minute interval for afternoon tea.
Rinaldo, George Frideric Handel
24, 26 July
There will also be performances of Rinaldo on 17th July at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in London, and in Hastings on 19th July.
For London performance: www.berniegrantcentre.co.uk
CONDUCTOR Jeremy Silver
DIRECTOR Jenny Miller
DESIGNER Faye Bradley
Goffredo Martha Jones
Almirena Eloise Irving
Rinaldo Jake Arditti
Argante Nicholas Merryweather
Armida Rhiannon Llewellyn
However this summer’s concentration on Puccini, Rossini and Handel does not signify that Longborough has abandoned Wagner. Some of Wagner’s music will feature in a concert on June 28t when Anthony Negus conducts the LFO Orchestra and last year’s Brünnhilde, Rachel Nicholls, sings the Wesendonck Lieder.
Looking further ahead there will be a new production of Tristan und Isolde in 2015 which will be followed by Tannhaüser, Lohengrin and Parsifal in future years..
Roger Jones