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Glyndebourne Festival Opera: A Gala Evening

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Wikipedia article




'Glyndebourne Festival Opera: A Gala Evening' was a 111-minute concert staged by Glyndebourne Festival Opera on 24 July 1992, performed by Kim Begley, Montserrat Caball, Cynthia Haymon, Felicity Lott, Benjamin Luxon, Ruggero Raimondi and Frederica von Stade with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis and Sir Bernard Haitink. It was televised in the United Kingdom by the BBC and released on VHS Videocassette by Kultur Video and on DVD by Image Entertainment, Arthaus Musik and Geneon.

Background



The Glyndebourne Festival Opera was founded in 1934 by the English landowner John Christie (1882-1964) and his wife, the English and Canadian soprano Audrey Mildmay (1900-1953). The Christies mounted their productions in a theatre specially built for the purpose in the grounds of their manor house near Lewes in East Sussex. After John Christie's death, the management of the Festival was taken over by his son George Christie (1934-2013). George Christie demolished Glyndebourne's original theatre in 1992 in order to replace it with something larger and better equipped. The final performance in the old auditorium was a fund-raising gala presented at 8:30 p.m. on 24 July 1992 in the presence of His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales. The event was sponsored by N M Rothschild & Sons, Banque and The Private Bank and Trust Company Limited, with additional support from British American Tobacco plc. In acknowledgement of the Festival's history, the gala began and ended with excerpts from the opera which had been the first work performed in the Festival's original house, Mozart's 'Le nozze di Figaro'. This was also the opera that was performed on the opening night of the new theatre in 1994.

DVD chapter listing



* 1 (3:29) Opening credits and introduction by George Christie

'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (1756-1791)

'Le nozze di Figaro' ("The marriage of Figaro", K. 492, Vienna, 1786), with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838), after 'La folle journe, ou Le marriage de Figaro' ("The mad day, or The marriage of Figaro", 1778) by Pierre Beaumarchais (1732-1799)

* 2 (3:57) Canzona (Cherubino): "Voi che sapete", with Frederica von Stade, conducted by Andrew Davis

Introduction by George Christie

'Giuseppe Verdi' (1813-1901)

'Macbeth' (Florence, 1847), with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave (1810-1876) incorporating additions by Andrea Maffei (1798-1885), after 'Macbeth' (?1606) by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

* 3 (9:35) Chorus and aria: "Patria oppressa!... Ah, la paterna mano", with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and Kim Begley, conducted by Andrew Davis

'Otello' (Milan, 1887), with a libretto by Arrigo Boito (1842-1918) after 'The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice' (?1603) by William Shakespeare

* 4 (19:36) Willow song and prayer (Desdemona): "Salce, salce... Ave Maria", with Montserrat Caball, conducted by Andrew Davis

Introduction by George Christie

'Gioachino Rossini' (1792-1868)

'Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione' ("The barber of Seville, or The useless precaution", Rome, 1816), with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini (1784-1831) after 'Le barbier de Seville' (Paris, 1775) by Pierre Beaumarchais

* 5 (6:10) Aria (Rosina):"Una voce poco f", with Frederica von Stade, conducted by Andrew Davis

* 6 (5:02) Aria (Don Basilio) "La calunnia un venticello", with Ruggero Raimondi, conducted by Andrew Davis

'Igor Stravinsky' (1882-1971)

'The Rake's Progress' (Venice, 1951), with a libretto by W. H. Auden (1907-1973) and Chester Kallman (1921-1975), based on 'A Rake's Progress' (1733-1735), a series of painting and engravings by William Hogarth (1697-1764)

* 7 (4:56) Chorus: "Ruin, disaster, shame", with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, conducted by Andrew Davis

Introduction by Janet Baker

'Claudio Monteverdi' (1567-1643)

'Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria' ("The return of Ulysses to his homeland", SV. 325, Venice, 1639-1640 carnival season), with a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro (1602-1654) after 'The Odyssey' ('circa' 700 BC) by Homer

* 8 (6:42) Duet: "Illustratevi o cieli", with Frederica von Stade and Benjamin Luxon, conducted by Andrew Davis

Introduction by George Christie

'George Gershwin' (1898-1937)

'Porgy and Bess' (Boston, 1935), with a libretto by DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) and Ira Gershwin (1896-1983), after 'Porgy' (New York, 1927) by DuBose Heyward and Dorothy Heyward (1890-1961), after 'Porgy' (1925) by DuBose Heyward

* 9 (3:53) Aria: "Summertime", with Cynthia Haymon, conducted by Andrew Davis

'Benjamin Britten' (1913-1976)

'Peter Grimes' (London, 1945), with a libretto by Montagu Slater (1902-1956) after 'The Borough' (1810) by George Crabbe (1754-1832)

*10 (7:52) Storm interlude, conducted by Andrew Davis

Introduction by Elisabeth Sderstrm

'Richard Strauss' (1864-1949)

'Capriccio' (Op. 85, Munich, 1942), with a libretto by Clemens Krauss (1893-1954) and Richard Strauss, based on a libretto by Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) developed by Joseph Gregor (1888-1960)

*11 (23:14) Closing scene: "Kein Andres, das mir so im Herzen loht", with Felicity Lott, conducted by Bernard Haitink

Introduction by Sir Geraint Evans

'Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'

'Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il Don Giovanni' ("The rake punished, or Don Giovanni", K. 527, Prague, 1787), with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, after 'El burlador de Seville y convivado de piedra' ("The trickster of Seville and the stone guest", ?1616) by Tirso de Molina (1579-1648)

*12 (4:57) Duet (Don Giovanni and Zerlina): "L ci darem la mano", with Ruggero Raimondi and Cynthia Haymon, conducted by Bernard Haitink

Introduction by George Christie

'Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante' ("Idomeneo, King of Crete, or Ilia and Idamante", K. 366, Munich, 1781), with a libretto by Giambattista Varesco (1735-1805), after a French text by Antoine Danchet (1671-1748) which had been set to music by Andr Campra (1660-1744) as 'Idomne' (Paris, 1712)

*13 (7:44) Chorus: "Nettuno s'onori", with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, conducted by Bernard Haitink

Introduction by George Christie

'Le nozze di Figaro'

*14 (4:46) Overture, conducted by Andrew Davis, with fireworks and closing credits

Personnel



Artists



* Janet Baker (b. 1933)

* Kim Begley, tenor

* Montserrat Caball (1933-2018), soprano

* Geraint Evans (1922-1992)

* Cynthia Haymon (b. 1958), soprano

* Felicity Lott (b. 1947), soprano

* Benjamin Luxon (b. 1937), baritone

* Ruggero Raimondi (b. 1941), bass-baritone

* Elisabeth Sderstrm (1927-2009)

* Frederica von Stade (b. 1945), mezzo-soprano

* Martin Isepp (1930-2011), harpsichord continuo

* Glyndebourne Festival Chorus

* David Angus, chorus director

* Tina Gruenberg, concertmaster

* London Philharmonic Orchestra

* Andrew Davis (b. 1944), conductor

* Bernard Haitink (b. 1929), conductor

Glyndebourne Festival Opera personnel



* Anthony Whitworth-Jone, general director

* Stephen Cowin, stage manager

* Julie Crocker, stage manager

* Helen McCarthy, stage manager

* Thom Stanbury, stage manager

* Stephen Lawless, producer

* Paul Pyant, stage lighting

* Keith Benson, stage lighting

Broadcast personnel



* Val Fraser, outside broadcast stage manager

* Alex Thomas, outside broadcast stage manager

* Peter Hill, camera supervisor

* Barry Milne, vision supervisor

* Priscilla Hoadley, vision mixer

* Dierdre Alle, production assistant

* Jim Baker, engineering manager

* Graham Haines, audio engineer

* Dennis Butcher, television lighting

* Dennis Marks, executive producer

* Christopher Swann, director

Critical reception



J. B. Steane reviewed the gala on DVD in 'Gramophone' in May 2004. In the words of its "urbane Master of Ceremonies", he wrote, the gala was "a moment of some nostalgia". Glyndebourne habitus who watched the disc would find themselves on a journey down memory lane. The critic Philip Hope-Wallace used to observe that an evening in Glyndebourne's opera house was "like living in a match-box with a bumble-bee", but many people were fond of the familiar old theatre, and would feel even warmer about it after a couple of hours with Arthaus's DVD.Steane, J. B.: 'Gramophone', May 2004, p. 97

The gala was well planned and well executed. It offered a menu of composers and compositions with which Glyndebourne had had some of its greatest successes, and presented artists who had played a particularly distinguished part in the festival's history. Janet Baker, Geraint Evans and Elisabeth Sderstrm participated in order to introduce other singers rather than to perform themselves, but their contributions were nevertheless very worthwhile.

The best section of the concert was the closing scene of 'Capriccio', sung by Felicity Lott with "Bernard Haitink conducting with undemonstrative skill and affection". Also difficult to forget was the scene from 'Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria' in which Ulysses and Penelope begin to heal the rift between them. Both of the Penelopes from Sir Peter Hall's production were in attendance, Janet Baker introducing the duet and her successor in the role, Frederica von Stade, "recreating her own lovely performance" of 1979.

Ruggero Raimondi was a singing actor who was invariably enjoyable, and his exposition of the mischief of "La calunnia" offered as much to the eye as the ear. Montserrat Caball - visiting Sussex despite being thereby obliged to hire a private jet in order to get her to Barcelona in time for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games - exhibited astonishing skill in her excerpt from 'Otello', although "the slow tempo, always seeming about to get slower, [weakened] the cohesion and underlying tension of the scene".

Sir George Christie was eloquent in his admiration for his company's chorus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and his encomium was no less than they deserved. The BBC too deserved praise for the expertise of their filming. Arthaus's DVD preserved a broadcast that was "carefully supervised with no time wasted, and a few occasions found to roam around the garden, watch the light fading on the walls of the house, and see the night sky lit up with celebratory fireworks".

The gala was also discussed in 'BBC Music Magazine','BBC Music Magazine'. Vol. 15, Issues 7-13, 2007, p. 98 'Billboard','Billboard', Vol. 114, 1992, p. 84 'Country Life','Country Life', Vol. 186, 1992, p. 116 Paul Campion and Rosy Runciman's 'Glyndebourne recorded: sixty years of recording, 1934-1994' (1994)Campion, Paul and Runciman, Rosy: 'Glyndebourne recorded: sixty years of recording, 1934-1994', Julia MacRae Books, 1994, p. 224 and Michael Kennedy and Julia Aries's 'Glyndebourne: a short history' (2019).Kennedy, Michael and Aries, Julia: 'Glyndebourne: a short history', Shire Publications, 2019, p. 56

Broadcast and home media history



The gala was televised live in England by the BBC.

All home media releases of the gala present the same 111-minute edition of it, and all offer 4:3 colour video and stereo audio. In 1995, the gala was issued on VHS videocassette by Kultur Video in the United States'Glyndebourne Festival Opera: a Gala Evening', Kultur Video, VHS, 1995 and by Videolog in the United Kingdom.'The Glyndebourne Gala', Videolog, VHS, 1995 In 1997, Image Entertainment issued the gala in the United States on a Region 1 DVD with NTSC video and Dolby Digital audio.'Glyndebourne Festival Opera: a Gala Evening', Image Entertainment DVD, ID-5814-RADVD, 1997 In 2004, Arthaus Musik issued the gala in Europe on a Region 2 and Region 5 DVD with PCM audio.'Glyndebourne Festival Opera: a Gala Evening', Arthaus Musik DVD, 100-432, 2004 Also in 2004, Geneon NBC issued the gala in Japan on a DVD with NTSC video and PCM audio.'Glyndebourne Festival Opera: a Gala Evening', Geneon NBC DVD, 030423, 2004

Gallery of artists





File:Janet Baker (1967).jpg|Janet Baker

File:Montserrat Caball 1971b.jpg|Montserrat Caball

File:Geraint Evans.jpg|Geraint Evans

File:Bernard Haitink 1984b.jpg|Bernard Haitink

File:RUGGERO RAIMONDI.jpg|Ruggero Raimondi

File:Elisabeth Sderstrm.jpg|Elisabeth Sderstrm

File:Frederica von Stade.jpg|Frederica von Stade



References



Category:1992 classical albums

Category:1992 television films

Category:1992 films

Category:Classical video albums

Category:Live classical albums

Category:Opera recordings

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