PDF programme

Gregory
with
Kunde
Simon
TENOR
Lepper
PIANIST
Recital programme
Thursday 18th September 2008 7.30pm
-- St. John’s Smith Square
First Part
Questa o quella
Rigoletto
G. Verdi
Chanson Triste
Le Manoir de Rosamonde
Phydilé
H. Duparc
Guitare ... Comment disaient-ils
Oh, quand je dors
Chanson a boire
E. Lalo
L’amour, l’amour! ... Ah, leve-toi soleil!
Roméo et Juliette C. Gounod
Second Part
The Year’s at the Spring
Ah Love, But a day
I Send My Heart up to Thee
A. Beach
Mi lagnerò tacendo
Tirana alla Spagnola (Rossinizzata)
G. Rossini
O Waly, Waly
Oliver Cromwell
Sweet Polly Oliver
B. Britten
Salut, demeure chaste et pure
Faust
C. Gounod
1
Gregory
Kunde
TENOR
Tenor Gregory Kunde made his European
debut as Nadir in Bizet’s Les Pécheurs des
Perles with Opera de Nice. Since then, he
has become well known for his
interpretations of some of the most
challenging tenor roles.
Gregory has
appeared regularly and with great success in
the world’s most notable opera venues,
including Paris’ Opera Comique and Bastille,
Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Colon in
Buenos Aires, Rome, Madrid, Toulouse,
Vienna, Pesaro’s Rossini Festival, Athens,
Montreal, Zurich, Tokyo, Verona, Teatro alla
Scala, Grand Theatre du Genève and many
others.
He has earned widespread acclaim for his
performances of the most demanding tenor
roles of the French and Italian bel canto
operas, including, most notably, Arnold in
Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, Tebaldo in Bellini’s
I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Lindoro in
Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, Julian in
Charpentier’s Louise, Des Grieux in
Massenet’s Manon, Nadir in Bizet’s Les
Pécheurs des Perles, Ernesto in Donizetti’s
Don Pasquale, Elvino in Bellini’s La
Sonnambula, Fernando in Donizetti’s La
Favorita, Idreno in Rossini’s Semiramide,
Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Don
Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Rinaldo
in Rossini’s Armida and Arturo in Bellini’s I
Puritani.
Under the direction of John Nelson, Gregory
performed and recorded Benvenuto Cellini
in concert with the Orchestra Radio France
(Virgin Classics). At Paris’ Theatre du
Chatelet, he appeared in the challenging role
of Aeneas, for a landmark staging of Berlioz’s
Les Troyens under the baton of Maestro
John Eliot Gardiner (released in January 2005
as a DVD from the BBC and Canal Plus).
2
The 2007/08 season has included
performances of La Damnation de Faust
with Welsh National Opera, an appearance
with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the title role
in Benvenuto Cellini with the London
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin
Davis, Leicester in Maria Stuarda at the
Baltimore Opera and Rodrigo in La Donna
del Lago at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Future engagements include performances as
Des Grieux in Manon with Opera de Nice,
Leicester in Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra
at the Monnaie in Brussels, the title role in
Rossini’s Otello with the Rossini Opera
Festival on a tour to Japan and Opera de
Lausanne, Rodrigo in La Donna del Lago
with Geneva Opera, Argirio in Tancredi at
the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Rinaldo
in Haydn’s Armida with VARA Amsterdam,
Gluck’s Alceste at the Athens Megaron,
Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette with the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra, and Pirro in Ermione
at the Rossini Opera Festival.
His discography includes Bellini’s Bianca e
Fernando
(Nuova
Era),
Rossini’s
Semiramide (Ricordi), Armida (Sony),
Thomas’ Hamlet (EMI), a live concert
recording from Pesaro entitled Di Tanti
Palpiti (Ricordi), the much acclaimed EMI
recording of Delibes’ Lakmé, Strauss’
Capriccio (Forlane), a DVD of the Chatelet’s
new landmark production of the Berlioz epic
Les Troyens – named as Gramophone’s
DVD of the Year 2005, and the newly
released Benvenuto Cellini of Berlioz
(Virgin Classics) – winner of Gramophone’s
prestigious Opera Recording of the Year
2005.
Simon
Lepper
PIANIST
Simon Lepper was educated at King’s
College Cambridge and the Royal
Academy of Music where he studied
piano with Michael Dussek. Whilst a
student he won every major award for
piano accompaniment including the
Gerald Moore Award and the
accompanist prizes in the Kathleen
Ferrier and Royal Overseas League
Competition.
He became an Associate of the Royal
Academy of Music in 2005 and from
September 2008 will be Professor of
Piano Accompaniment at the Royal
College of Music.
Simon’s recent performances with singers
include those with Cora Burggraaf,
Nicole Cabell, Karen Cargill, Allan
Clayton, Ronan Collett, Lucy Crowe,
Gillian Keith, Gweneth-Ann Jeffers,
Andrew Kennedy, Stephan Loges, Sally
Matthews, Mark Padmore, Felicity
Palmer, Joan Rodgers, Kate Royal, James
Rutherford,
Bryn
Terfel,
Adrian
Thompson, Ailish Tynan, Elizabeth
Watts and Roderick Williams.
Future releases include works by
Feldman, Zimmerman, Xenakis and
Schoenberg with the violinist Carolin
Widmann (ECM) and Mahler and Brahms
songs with Patricia Bardon (Landor).
Simon is an official accompanist for the
BBC Singer of the World Rosenblatt
Song Prize and Yehudi Menuhin Violin
Competition and returns this summer to
the Verbier Festival to co-ordinate and
play for the vocal masterclasses.
Highlights of the coming seasons
include performances of the Schubert
song cycles with Mark Padmore, a
performance of Messiaen’s Harawi with
Gweneth Ann Jeffers as part of the
South Bank Messiaen Festival and at
the Proms, a recital with Sally Matthews
at the Concertgebouw and for the
Rosenblatt Recital Series, and recitals
with Allan Clayton and Ronan Collett
at the City of London Festival recorded
for BBC Radio 3.
Recordings include Debussy songs with the
soprano Gillian Keith (Deux-Elles),
Warlock songs with Andrew Kennedy
(Landor Records), Rhian Samuel songs and
cello works (Deux-Elles), A Garland for
Presteigne with Gillian Keith (Metronome)
and recordings of the Cello and Flute
Syllabus for the Associated Board.
3