Idomeneo - Blackheath Halls

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
CAST:
Idomeneo: Mark Wilde
Idamante: Sam Furness
Ilia: Rebecca Bottone
Electra: Kirstin Sharpin
Arbace: Will Davies
Voice of Neptune: Pauls Putnins
Blackheath Halls Opera Chorus
Blackheath Halls Orchestra
Pupils from Greenvale School
Pupils from Charlton Park Academy
Pupils from Year 5 at Beecroft Garden
Primary School
Pupils from Year 5 at Mulgrave
Primary School
BLACKHEATH HALLS TEAM:
General Manager: Keith Murray
Community Engagement Manager:
Rose Ballantyne
Operations Manager: Hannah Benton
Technical Manager: Malcom Richards
Marketing and Box Office Co-ordinator:
Heather Stephenson
Development Officer: Fiona Sanderson
Bookkeeper: Debra Skeet
Administrator: Caroline Foulkes
Communications Consultant: Clare Fisher
PRODUCTION:
Musical Director: Nicholas Jenkins
Director: James Hurley
Designer: Rachel Szmukler
Lighting Designer: Ben Pickersgill
Assistant Director: Laura Attridge
Assistant Musical Director: Jeremy Cooke
Production Manager: Isolde Nash
Costume Supervisor: Laura Rushton
Costume Assistant: Evelien Coleman
Community Costume Assistant: Rita Craft
Senior Stage Manager: Sasja Ekenberg
Deputy Stage Manager: Jean Hally
Assistant Stage Managers: Matthew Carlisle
and Emily May Sions
Community Stage Manager: Sarah Southerton
Project Manager: Rose Ballantyne
Assistant Project Manager: Isabel Jeakins
Publicity and Programme Designer:
Colin Dunlop
TRINITY LABAN PROJECT TEAM:
Project Manager: Elizabeth Green
Project Leader: Joe Townsend
Running Time: 2hrs and 50mins
Welcome to Blackheath Halls!
Welcome to Blackheath Halls Opera’s production of Mozart’s Idomeneo.
This year’s community opera performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo, bring to a
that it continues to grow and develop year on year offering people
close another wide-ranging and lively season here at Blackheath Halls. We offer
of all ages from the local community and neighbouring boroughs,
It is the ninth year of our Community Opera programme and I am thrilled
audiences a chance to hear world class performers alongside up and coming
including primary school children and students, a rare opportunity to
talent in a programme of recitals, concerts and events. In addition to this we
rehearse and perform in a full stage opera. We are very proud of what
showcase many successful comedy and family events throughout the year; there
we have achieved so far and are so grateful for the unstinting efforts and
really is something for everyone! We have exciting plans for our 2015/16 season
commitment of all who have been involved in any way.
and beyond, working with a range of new and existing artistic partners.
The Community Engagement team run a thriving programme of events which embraces musical
Blackheath Halls Opera aims to be inclusive, creative, challenging and fun. It nurtures
styles from Gospel to Broadway and Classical. Our aim is to engage people of all ages from the
an interest in opera and offers wider opportunities in terms of learning about the
diverse local community and beyond, in high quality music making and performance at this
skills required to perform and sing and the importance of working as part of a cross-
wonderful historic venue. I would like to thank Rose Ballantyne, our Community Engagement
generational community. Each year we consciously try to extend the reach of our
Manager, and indeed all of the Blackheath Halls’ staff, for their hard work and enthusiasm, and we all
look forward to celebrating the community opera programme’s 10th birthday in 2016.
We could not put on a project of this scale without financial support. We are very grateful to Arts
Council England for their very generous support for our year round “Opera for All” Programme. We
would also like to thank The Royal Borough of Greenwich, The London Borough of Lewisham, The
engagement with neighboring boroughs. This year we are joined by pupils from Beecroft
Garden, Lewisham and Mulgrave Primary School, Woolwich. It has been a delight to
continue working with students from two special schools with whom we have a longstanding relationship, Charlton Park Academy and Greenvale School.
Hearn Foundation, The Samuel Gardner Memorial Trust, The Ingles Charitable Trust and The Fischer
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance support our efforts too through their
Fund for their support. We would also like to offer special thanks to the many individuals who
talented vocal students who perform in the opera and Blackheath Halls Orchestra and
donate to the opera, and a variety of other projects within the Halls.
through this year’s special composition project led by Joe Townsend which offers another
We enormously appreciate the fundraising efforts of The Friends of Blackheath Halls. They have
opportuntity for students to creatively engage with the opera.
generously supported the installation of fans in the Great Hall which will enhance the audience
experience. We have ambitious plans for the future development of the facilities at the Hall and as
part of this we are collaborating with the Friends to refurbish and redecorate the Café Bar.
Thank you for coming to watch the remarkable achievements of all those involved in Idomeneo. We
hope you enjoy the performance and look forward to welcoming you back to Blackheath Halls soon.
Keith Murray General Manager
Blackheath Halls Opera started in 2007. Our first production was arguably one of the most
popular operas of all time, Bizet’s Carmen. We have a small number of participants who
have been part of Blackheath Halls Opera since the beginning so congratulations to those
for returning year after year.
Next year, it will be our 10th Birthday! Plans are already being made so watch this space.
We invite all of you to join us for the celebrations and, if you’ve been an enthusiastic
member of the audience then why not consider joining the cast for what we hope will be
another wonderful production from Blackheath Halls Opera.
Thank you for coming to tonight’s performance. All at Blackheath Halls Opera, hope you
have a wonderful evening enjoying this magical opera and this special production; the
result of so many people’s hard work and dedication.
Curtain up!
Community Engagement Manager
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IDOMENEO
IDOMENEO 3
Mozartian myths –
Idomeneo comes to
Blackheath
A selection of wonderful design and costume images from
Idomeneo. This year’s production marks the ninth year of
Blackheath Halls Opera!
By Nicholas Jenkins
2015 marks the 9th Blackheath Halls Community Opera
project, and we are delighted to be presenting a Mozart
opera for the first time in this series. Idomeneo is based on
a Greek myth that tells of two nations at war, and a father
who has to sacrifice his own son to the god Poseidon.
Idomeneo was apparently Mozart’s own favourite among
his operas, and years after his death his widow Constanze said that he was never happier than when
he was writing it. Of all the Mozart operas it is the one with the greatest involvement of the Chorus,
a vital part of the Blackheath Halls operatic experience.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was an Austrian composer who is widely considered to be
one of the greatest geniuses that ever walked this earth. Born in Salzburg, he was a child prodigy
who learnt to play the harpsichord aged 3, and started composing aged 5. In the 36 years of his
life he wrote more than 600 pieces of music, of which a good number are masterpieces that are
regularly performed to this day. Towards the end of his life Mozart had a run of bad luck and was
in debt. He became ill in late 1791, died 2 months before his 36th birthday, and was buried in a
common grave outside Vienna. But Mozart is still with us 250 years after he lived because of great
tunes we can never forget, and harmonies that surprise and touch the soul. Mozart could imitate
any musical style he had heard, from popular songs of his day to the most spiritual masterpieces of
Baroque composer J.S. Bach, yet in a voice that is always inimitably his own. In his operas he creates
characters whose music is so striking and varied that listeners believe they are hearing the drama
and emotions of the story in sound, in a way that goes beyond words.
Mozart achieved celebrity during his own lifetime in a way that had not been possible for any
composer before him. He gave concert tours as both composer and performer, where symphonies
and concertos were heard. He composed to order for noble employers, wrote religious music for
the Church, as well as chamber music and sonatas which were published largely for the benefit of
bourgeois amateurs to play at home. In the late 18th Century most composers lived like servants
and were dependant on a wealthy patron or the Church. J.S. Bach (1685-1750) was a Church
organist and composer in Leipzig all his life, working a punishing schedule; the successful career of
George Frederic Handel (1685-1759) had a lot to do with the support of the English Royal Family.
Mozart had an important patron in Archbishop Collaredo of Salzburg (1732-1812) but annoyed the
Archbishop with his frequent absences freelancing in Vienna and lost his job in Salzburg in May
1781 - incidentally just a few months after the first performance of Idomeneo in Munich. Had Mozart
lived slightly later, or been better at getting on with his employers, he might have had a more stable
existence. Even the older composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) - who worked much of his career
at the court of Count Esterházy in Eisenstadt, a remote part of Austria - outlived Mozart, and had
some big freelance successes at the end of his life with big concert tours that yielded up the famous
“Paris” and “London” Symphonies. If Mozart could come back from the dead and claim royalties on
all of the music that has been performed and recorded since, he would be a billionaire.
Blackheath Halls Opera can be followed on Twitter @OperaBH
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IDOMENEO
IDOMENEO 5
Mozart’s achievements have given
A vital decision for today’s performers concerns the casting of Prince Idamante. In 1781 Idamante
rise to many legends, not least Peter
was sung by a castrato (an adult singer who had been castrated before puberty to preserve his
Schaffer’s 1979 play and 1984 film
treble voice); in 1786 Mozart re-worked the role for a tenor and made other changes and cuts to
Amadeus, about a largely-imagined
the score. Modern performers can choose the 1781 version with a either a high mezzo-soprano or
rivalry between Mozart and the more
counter-tenor Idamante (though counter-tenor is rare as the role sits high in the voice); or one can
old-school composer Antonio Salieri
opt for a tenor Idamante as in Mozart’s 1786 version, though it is quite usual to combine elements
(1750-1825), court composer to Holy
of his 1781 score with the 1786 reworkings. Here in Blackheath we have gone for a tenor Idamante
Roman Emperor Joseph II. The movie
but kept to the structure of the 1781 original. An epically long Idomeneo in Blackheath would not be
is still well-worth watching even if
appropriate, but James Hurley and I have made a few bold textual choices, and like King Idomeneo
the historical facts are very much
himself have wielded the knife only when we felt it was really necessary to do so.
elaborated upon.
In recent weeks I have been bowled over by the reactions of our Blackheath performers to Mozart’s
Mozart wrote some 22 operas of which 7 are mature masterpieces that are frequently performed
music. And I wish that the critics who once dismissed Idomeneo as old-fashioned could have
today. Idomeneo is the first of these mature operas, composed by the 24-year-old Mozart for court
been present at the rehearsals at Charlton Park Academy and Greenvale Schools, where Mozart’s
performance in Munich in early 1781. It was commissioned by the Elector of Bavaria, who had brought
power to thrill, shock and inspire seemed very real. It is worth noting that a fair number of the
to Munich the famous Mannheim Court Orchestra, described by Mozart’s father Leopold as being
children performers involved said that they had never heard of Mozart before this project began – a
the finest orchestra he had ever heard. For them Mozart wrote orchestral music in Idomeneo that
humbling fact for those of us who are lucky enough to take his genius for granted. The Blackheath
is astonishing in its drama and detail. The libretto (words) of the opera are by Giambattista Varesco
Halls Community Opera is all about getting people involved in opera who might have never seen or
(1735-1805), who adapted an early 18th-Century French play Idomenée by Antoine Danchet (1671-
performed in one before. We seek to break down the notion that opera is for the privileged, yet to
1748). Mozart drove Varesco to distraction by repeatedly asking for the operatic customs of the time
work on Idomeneo with all of these wonderful and talented people I think that I must be among the
to be overturned, so that certain scenes took place not as arias or duets but as recitatives (sung
most privileged individuals on the planet!
speech with harpichord accompaniment). Scholars and performers admire in Idomeneo the way in
which musical numbers and recitatives blend into one another, and the extensive use of orchestrally
accompanied recitative. The crucial scene of the sacrifice between Idomeneo and Idamante in the
Temple of Poseidon Act 3 takes place in an orchestral recitative that is more dramatic than any
duet could have been in 1781. Mozart’s blending of styles, breathtaking orchestration, and his everchanging musical fabric paves the way for the arch-Romantic Richard Wagner (1813-1883), creator of
through-composed “music-dramas”.
nso
Idomeneo was given just four times during Mozart’s lifetime – a big disappointment to him: there
were three performances in Munich in 1781 with a stellar cast, and then one concert performance in
Vienna in 1786 performed by aristocratic amateurs. Even in 1781 Idomeneo was considered to be an
old-fashioned opera, in the “opera seria” (literally “serious opera”) style of Italian librettist Metastasio
(1698-1782) - an operatic genre defined by strict conventions; but Idomeneo owes just as much
in form and style to the very dramatic and theatrical French operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck
(1714-1787), most notably his 1779 masterpiece Iphigénie en Tauride (a ‘must-hear’ piece if you have
enjoyed Idomeneo). After 1786 Idomeneo seems to have languished unperformed for much of the
19th Century, but in 1931 there were notable revivals in Munich and Vienna, though in both of these
cases Mozart’s music was partially re-written by composers Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari and Richard
OPÉRA-COMIQUE by AMBROISE THOMAS
Sung in English
Strauss respectively. The 1951 Glyndebourne Festival production of Idomeneo was a crucial turning
point in the opera’s fortunes, causing a substantial re-appraisal of Mozart’s great score, and giving
Lewes Town Hall
rise to a wave of productions throughout the world. But it still took some people time to get to grips
Wednesday 11 November 7.30pm
with it – the Metropolitan Opera in New York only performed Idomeneo for the first time in 1982, in a
Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
production starring Luciano Pavarotti that can now be seen on DVD.
Creating a performing version for a production of Idomeneo is both a joy and a challenge. Mozart
lavished huge care on its composition, and wrote far more music for the piece than it is ever possible
Sunday 22 November 3pm
Cadogan Hall, London SW1
Tuesday 24 November 7pm
to include a single performance, not least as certain numbers exist in more than one version. Mozart
himself was obliged to make extensive cuts to the monumental Act 3 before the first performance.
www.NewSussexOpera.org
Following their remarkable Oberon, NSO
reunites director Harry Fehr and conductor
Nicholas Jenkins for one of the mostperformed operas of the late 19th Century,
Mignon by Ambroise Thomas. This
delectable 1866 opéra-comique, inspired
by Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, tells the story
of the enigmatic and waif-like Mignon,
tormented in captivity and longing for
freedom, peace, and love. Thomas’ music,
composed at the high noon of romanticism,
abounds in radiant melody, and paraphrases
a great Goethe poem in the celebrated aria
“Connais-tu le pays?”
One of the UK’s most touching and eloquent
operatic artists, mezzo Victoria Simmonds
plays Mignon. Dazzling young coloratura
soprano Ruth Jenkins-Róbertsson plays
her feisty rival Philine. Don’t miss it!
NSO Chorus, St Paul’s Sinfonia
conductor Nicholas Jenkins
director Harry Fehr
designer Eleanor Wdowski
New Sussex Opera is a registered charity no. 279800
6
IDOMENEO
Biographies
James Hurley
Rebecca Bottone
Director
James is a stage director working in both opera and theatre. He read English at
Cambridge University before completing an MPhil in American Literature, specialising
in dramatist David Mamet. Directing includes l’Ospedale (Aldeburgh Music);
Brundibar, The Little Sweep, Noye’s Fludde (Blackheath Halls); La Rondine (Factory 7/
Bristol Paintworks); Aida (Epsom Playhouse); Semele (Upstairs at the Gatehouse).
Originally from Derbyshire, Rebecca Bottone is a graduate of the Royal
Academy of Music. Recent and future engagements include Peter Pan and
Pelléas et Mélisande (Welsh National Opera)‚ Yum Yum The Mikado‚ Clorinda
La Cenerentola, and Mabel The Pirates of Penzance (Scottish Opera).
Further appearances include First Niece Peter Grimes and the world premiere of
Birtwistle’s Minotaur (Royal Opera House‚ Covent Garden)‚ Cricket and Parrott
in the world premiere and subsequently the USA premiere of Jonathan Dove’s The Adventures of
Pinocchio (Opera North and Minnesota Opera)‚ the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Prima
Donna (Manchester International Festival) Blonde Die Entfürung aus dem Serail (Aix-en-Provence,
France)‚ Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Garsington Opera)‚ Amanda in Ligeti’s Le Grand
Macabre (English National Opera)‚ Anne Egerman A Little Night Music‚ Johanna Sweeney Todd‚
Liesl The Sound of Music and Carrie Carousel (Théâtre du Châtelet‚ Paris)‚ Rosmene Imeneo
(Barbican)‚ Semira Artaxerxes and the Maid in Ades’ Powder Her Face at the Linbury Studio.
He has directed revivals for Opera North and English Touring Opera, and worked on
the directing staff at the Royal National Theatre, Edinburgh International Festival,
English National Opera, and Glyndebourne, assisting directors including Deborah Warner, Tom Cairns,
Jonathan Kent, Martin Duncan, David Alden, and Tim Albery. Recent highlights include Between Worlds
(ENO/Barbican), La Traviata (GFO & GOT), Minetti (EIF), Scenes from an Execution (NT), and Death in
Venice (ENO/Amsterdam). He has also directed opera scenes for the Royal College of Music and Trinity
Laban Conservatoire, as well as workshop rehearsals on David Mamet’s rarely performed play, The
Woods, at the National Theatre Studio.
James is passionate about bringing opera to new audiences. In 2012-13 he was creative director of
Opera di Peroni, a year-long touring performance campaign which brought site-specific operatic
performances to unconventional locations in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool,
and Glasgow. This summer he created the premiere staging of a new children’s opera, based on
music by Handel and Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant, for the Opera North Children’s Chorus (Leeds &
Aldborough). His production of L’Italiana in Algiers is currently touring to venues of all shapes-and-sizes
across the UK with Pop-Up Opera.
Nicholas Jenkins
Rebecca has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras‚ and her recordings include Cis
Albert Herring with Richard Hickox and EMI and two Rossini roles for Opera Rara‚ Eurice Adelaide
di Borgognia and Cleone Ermione. She has made appearances in BBC2’s Television documentary
The Genius of Beethoven with the English Chamber Orchestra‚ David Starkey’s Music and Monarchy
and the role of a singer in Steven Poliakoffs acclaimed film Capturing Mary.
William Davies
Recent highlights include Pedrillo Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Pop-up Opera);
Albert Albert Herring (Hampstead Garden Opera); and the title role in a new
staging of Handel’s Belshazzar under Nicholas Kraemer (Trinity Laban Opera).
Other roles include Don Ottavio Don Giovanni (Holbourne Opera); Don Basilio Le nozze di Figaro; Mr
Rushworth Mansfield Park (both Hampstead Garden Opera); Orphée Orphée aux enfers (Trinity Laban
Opera); Aeneas Dido and Aeneas; Damon Acis and Galatea; Eisenstein Die Fledermaus; The Mayor
Albert Herring (all Durham Opera Ensemble); and Monsieur The Dancing Master (Malcolm Arnold
Festival, world premiere).
He has conducted many operas including Cendrillon, Count Ory, Elixir of Love, Eugene Onegin,
Macbeth, Noye’s Fludde (Blackheath Halls), Don Quichotte (La Monnaie), L’Ile de Tulipatan, Der
Jasager (Opéra de Lyon), Turn of the Screw (Dartington Festival), Edgar, L’Étoile, Hugh the Drover,
Idomeneo, Mireille, Oberon, Poisoned Kiss, Die Rheinnixen (New Sussex Opera), as well as a staged
Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle (Berlin, Bregenz Festival, Paris Opéra-Comique).
Future engagements include Remendado Carmen for Young Opera Venture; Ruggiero La liberazione
di Ruggiero dall’isola di Alcina for Ursula’s Arrow; and recitals of chamber music by Schumann,
Brahms and Françaix with the Peacock Ensemble.
William is delighted to return to Blackheath after shoving innocent children up chimneys as Clem in
2014’s The Little Sweep!
Current and upcoming projects include conducting Mesdames de la Halle (Opéra de Lyon),
Mignon (New Sussex Opera); Chorus Master for Aïda (Opera Holland Park), Platée (Paris Opera);
Assistant Conductor to Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic for Der Rosenkavalier and
Tosca (Baden-Baden).
IDOMENEO
Arbace
William Johnston Davies studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and
Dance with Neil Baker, generously supported by the Kathleen Creed Scholarship
and the Savile Club Scholarship. Before beginning his professional training he read
Geography at Hatfield College, Durham University, where he was a choral scholar.
Musical Director
Nicholas Jenkins studied at Merton College, Oxford, Trinity College of Music,
and the GSMD. He is Music Director to New Sussex Opera and the University of
Greenwich, and was recently Interim Chorus Master to Dutch National Opera,
Amsterdam (Die Zauberflöte, La traviata, Armide, L’Étoile). He began his career
as a singer and chorus master, and has trained choirs including Eltham Choral
Society, ENO Chorus (Benvenuto Cellini), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir,
Grange Park Opera Chorus, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Netherlands Radio Choir,
and Philharmonia Chorus. He has regularly assisted conductor Marc Minkowski at Paris Opera,
Théâtre du Châtelet, La Monnaie, Aix-en-Provence Festival and elsewhere, and has also assisted
Sir Mark Elder, David Parry and Sir Simon Rattle.
8
Ilia
IDOMENEO 9
Biographies
Sam Furness
Kirstin Sharpin
Idamante
Welsh tenor Sam Furness first started singing as a chorister in Llandaff
Cathedral at the age of 8.
He went on to be a choral scholar at St John’s College Cambridge and then to
the Royal Academy of Music where he studied on the opera course with his
fellow Welshman Ryland Davies.
Recent engagements include the title role in Weber’s Euryanthe and Ada Die
Feen (Wagner) in concert (Chelsea Opera Group), and Mutter Hänsel und Gretel
(Garsington Young Artists). Other operatic performances include Samaritana
Francesca da Rimini (Opera Holland Park), Helmwige Die Walküre (St Endellion Festival), Donna Anna
Don Giovanni (Regents Opera), Vitellia La Clemenza di Tito (Opus Opera), Angelica Suor Angelica
(Beethoven Ensemble), Magda (cover) La Rondine (British Youth Opera). For the RCS Kirstin sang
Tatyana Eugene Onegin, Fiordiligi Cosí fan Tutte, Nella Gianni Schicchi, and covered Armida Rinaldo.
Since graduating from college two years ago Sam has sung major operatic
roles for English National Opera, Garsington Opera, Toulouse Opera, National Opera of Chile
and Scottish Opera as well as singing many concerts and recitals around the world. Highlights
this year so far have included Steva (Jenufa) for Scottish Opera, Baron Lummer (Intermezzo)
for Garsington Festival Opera and a recital at the Wigmore Hall. Future projects for Sam include
major roles with English Touring Opera and in Finland and Madrid.
Concert and oratorio work ranges from Vivaldi to Poulenc, and includes Vier Letzte Lieder,
Ravel’s Shéhérazade (cond. Denève), Nuits d’été in St Petersburg, and several appearances with
the RSNO, including excerpts from La Voix Humaine.
When he is not singing Sam enjoys playing golf, walking his dog Poppy and living in Peckham. As
well as classical music he is a big fan of 70s disco and Drum and Bass.
Pauls Putnins
Electra
Kirstin read English in New Zealand before returning to her Scottish roots
at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating Master of Opera with
Distinction. Further study followed at the Cardiff International Academy of
Voice with Dennis O’Neill, as an Independent Opera Fellow and Samling Artist.
Kirstin is the Wagner Society of Great Britain’s nominee for the Richard Wagner Stimme
International Competition, and a semi-finalist in the Elizabeth Connell Prize. A childhood career
plan to be the first opera-singing astronaut was scuppered when it dawned that getting an
orchestra into a spaceship would be tricky, and the acoustic could be problematic!
The Voice of Neptune
After studying conducting in Riga and Jerusalem, Latvian-born Pauls
subsequently studied singing at Trinity College of Music where he was
awarded the 1998 Opera Prize. His international opera appearances include
La Bohème (ENO, Opéra de Nancy), Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera Colorado,
Denver and Russian National Orchestra, Moscow), Carmen (New Zealand
Opera), Don Giovanni (Latvian National Opera), Boulevard Solitude (Teatro
Carlo Felice, Genoa and Gran Teatr del Liceu, Barcelona), The Rape of Lucretia
(St Petersburg and Riga), Tannhäuser (Barcelona), I Capuleti e i Montecchi
(Moscow Philharmonic). Opera appearances in UK include Idomeneo and Die Zauberflöte
(Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Fidelio (Garsington), Madama Butterfly and Aida (Royal Albert
Hall), Flavio (Early Opera Company), Ariadne and La Traviata (Birmingham Opera Company).
Mark Wilde
Idomeneo
Born in Scotland, Mark Wilde was a chorister at Dundee Cathedral before
studying at the University of East Anglia and the Royal College of Music.
In opera, he has established a particularly close relationship with English Touring
Opera, and has also appeared with the Netherlands Opera, English National
Opera, Garsington Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera North and Welsh
National Opera.
Pauls also has an international concert and recording career and has sung with orchestras
including the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel, Moscow and Bucharest
Philharmonics and Russian National Orchestra.
Mark Wilde sings regularly in concert, his engagements including performances with the Aalborg
Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, the Britten Sinfonia, the City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Hanover
Band, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony
Orchestra and the Ural Philharmonic.
Most recent engagements include Le nozze di Figaro (Riga), Petite Messe Solennelle (Germany,
France and Bregenz Festival), Tosca and Idomeneo (ENO), Puccini Edgar (New Sussex Opera),
Eugene Onegin (Barbican) and Die Schöpfung (Kanazawa, Japan).
His recordings include Britten Complete Scottish Songs, Corp Country Matters and Handel Ode for St
Cecilia’s Day (Naxos), Pia de’Tolomei, Alesandro nell’Indie, Corrado d’Altamura, Adelaide di Borgogna,
La donna del lago and Rossini Songs (Opera Rara), The Adventures of Pinocchio (Opus Arte Blu Ray
/ DVD), Elgar Songs (Avie), Sullivan The Golden Legend and The Prodigal Son (Hyperion), Ancient
Melodies (Docker Records) and Fame’s Great Trumpet – Songs by Britten and Norris (EM Records).
He lives on Lincoln with his wife and family.
10
IDOMENEO
I D O M E N E O 11
Biographies
Laura Attridge
Laura Rushton
Assistant Director
Laura Attridge is a young director and writer of opera and theatre. Since obtaining
a Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance from the Royal College of Music (RCM) in
2014, following First Class Honours in English Literature from Newcastle University,
Laura has been an Assistant Director for Opera Holland Park, British Youth Opera and
the Royal Academy of Music. She has also directed for a variety of theatre companies
which champion new writing, joining Theatre Renegade for Courting Drama (Southwark Playhouse),
Paperback Pictures for A Foot In The Door (The Arts Theatre) and The Pensive Federation for their
Collective Project (Camden People’s Theatre) and Significant Other Festival (Tristan Bates Theatre).
This summer Laura will be directing La Boheme for Opera Loki’s France/UK tour.
As a writer, Laura collaborates frequently with emerging composers. Her first opera, Now, written with
Glyndebourne Young Composer in Residence, Lewis Murphy, premiered in 2014, in association with
Tête-à-Tête Festival. May 2015 saw a site-specific song cycle of Laura’s, The Avian Eye, performed at
the National Gallery. Laura is also founder and Artistic Director of And So Forth, a new opera and
theatre company dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration, which launched recently to great acclaim.
Laura’s highlights from the last year include working on a tour of Saturday Night Fever (Bath
Theatre Royal), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Royal and Derngate), and The Roof, a dance production for
Fuel Theatre. Most recently she has been working on the live shows for Britain’s Got Talent.
Laura’s opera credits include Werther (Les Azuriales Opera Festival), Barber of Seville and
Rigoletto (Diva Opera).
Ben Pickersgill
Jeremy Cooke
Sasja Ekenberg
Stage Manager
Originally from Denmark, Sasja trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama,
graduating in 2013. Since then she has been riding her pink motorbike to work on all
kinds of productions including the Alan Titchmarsh Show, and the 2013 Royal Variety
Performance, as well as spending the past 8 months with Royal Danish Opera.
After working on The Adventures of Count Ory last year Sasja has been really looking
forward to returning to Blackheath Halls for Idomeneo!
Jean Hally
She is now based primarily in Dublin, often working at venues such as the Abbey
Theatre. Jean particularly enjoys contemporary opera and is about to set off on tour with a
production of The Last Hotel, an exciting new opera presented by Wide Open Opera, and
Landmark Productions.
12 I D O M E N E O
He is currently based in the lighting department at the Royal Shakespeare Company in
Stratford-upon-Avon. Recent projects with the RSC include programming the lighting
for a new play, Oppenheimer, which tells the story of the atomic bomb. The production
was a hit with critics and audiences alike and came to the West End for a limited run in early 2015. He
has also worked with Chichester Festival Theatre on shows such as Singin’ in the Rain, Sweeney Todd
and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.
Ben thoroughly enjoys the Blackheath Halls’ community projects. Idomeneo marks his fourth
production, having lit the Children’s Operas for the past three years; Brundibar (2015), The Little
Sweep (2014) and Noye’s Fludde (2013).
Other recent lighting designs include the musicals Into the Woods and Legally Blonde at the Bridewell
Theatre and Footloose at Watford Palace Theatre. As well as pursuing his own projects, Ben often
works with technical theatre students at Mountview Academy of Performing Arts, mentoring the next
generation of theatre practitioners.
Rachel Szmukler
Designer
Rachel has designed all three of the children’s operas here at Blackheath Halls
(Brundibar, The Little Sweep and Noye’s Fludde), and has been looking forward
to the even bigger challenge of the community opera; i.e. how do you fit over 100
people on stage?!
Deputy Stage Manager
Jean comes from Dublin where she undertook a BA Degree in Philosophy, followed
by a Masters in Directing both at University College Dublin. Intending to pursue
a career in directing, she fell into stage management by accident after moving to
London and hasn’t looked back since!
Lighting Designer
Ben is a lighting designer, programmer and technician for theatre and opera. When not
working, he likes to enjoy the great outdoors and, if it’s raining, play the piano!
Assistant Musical Director
Jeremy Cooke was born in Colchester, Essex. Educated at Oxford University and the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he has subsequently worked extensively in
the world of opera and vocal music generally. He had a wonderful time working on
Count Ory last year and is looking forward to seeing old friends again and getting to
know this marvellous work.
Costume Supervisor
Laura graduated in 2004 with a BA (hons) in Costume for the Performing Arts from
London College of Fashion. Since then she has worked extensively at Shakespeare’s
Globe Theatre, on touring productions such as King John, Hamlet, As You Like
It, King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew, as well as productions including Blue
Stockings on the main stage, and Knight of the Burning Pestle and Thomas Tallis in
the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Further Shakespeare productions include A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, A Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night for the all-male Propeller
Theatre Company.
Rachel trained at the Motley Theatre Design Course in London, and has a first class
degree in Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art. Opera productions include set and costume
design for L’Ospedale (Aldeburgh Music), Semele and Orfeo (Hampstead Garden Opera), The
Cunning Little Vixen (Co-Opera Co), and set design for La Rondine (Go Opera). Design for theatre
includes The Lost Martini (Accidental Theatre), The Kitchen, the Bedroom and the Grave (Baby
Grand, Belfast), Limbo (Citizens, Glasgow), Saturday Night Fever (Old Vic Tunnels/Everyman
Cinema), Oklahoma! (A&O at Opera Holland Park), and costume design for FOG and Blue Surge
(Finborough Theatre).
I D O M E N E O 13
SYNOPSIS
14 I D O M E N E O
SYNOPSIS
I D O M E N E O 15
Greenvale
School
Beecroft
Garden
Teachers
Teachers
Liz Smith
Alison Carter
Carol Murrell
Carla Crosbie
Mulgrave
Primary
School
Teacher
Rob Evans
Sophie Lanfear
Pupils
Tiffany Martin
Year 5 pupils
Becky Simpson
Victoria Abiodun
Jack Clow
Karine Agbodji
Tiffany Farley
Nasradin Ahmed
Samantha Farley
Kasifat Akadi
Charlie Kebell
Ayomide Akinade
Abigail Ayoola
Mudiaga Alawuru
Samuel Amadi
Arena Antonenko
Charlton Park
Academy
Teachers and
Support Staff
Rachel Dunlop
Ben Peters
Katie Toal
Pupils
Ketlin Namaganda
Osio Orororo
Lindsey Tchangoun
Charlie Torrison
Hope Torrison
Ella Williams
Al-Matin Arolwolo
Eloghosa Asemota
Samantha Butler
Gemar Donaldson-Mbolokele
Wintana Gebre-Hannes
Lucy Grund
Jamal Haibe
Brooke Humpherey
Jessyca Ibalet
Miguel Jardim
Vladimira John
Stella Kaerger
Lauretta Lawrence-Ehiemua
Queenette Merenini
Joseph Ojo
Emerine Omoyi Wanya
Ricardo Pereira
Angel Powell
Shari Smith
Stanley Smith
Nathan Spaulding
Priya Thavarasa
16
IDOMENEO
Year 5 pupils
Adrian Amegavie
Daniel Ibironke Alvarez
Adam Orlov
Danielle Corr
Amalia Ewonkem
Albasit Folawiyo
Juste Sadaunikaite
Terri Mitchell
Jerome Mccormack-Mills
Simon Da Silva
Dylan Igbinoba-Boisot
Stephanie Okeke
Jessica Nguyen
Charisma Gurung
Jennifer Iwunze
Joshua Nyaku
Sherif Karatu
Keren-Happuch Agyemang
Nazeem Mohamed
Tharmithan Tharmarasa
Katie Morris
Alix McGuiness
Romeysa Rruci
Emilie Homes
Whitney Nnamani
Abdullahi Ahmed
Connor Pearce
Phi Nguyen
Amy Hoang
Orchestra
First Violin
Aisling Manning
Sarah Fraser
Amy Smith
Valeria Riso
Rosie Judge
Elizabeth Marsen
Katherine Savage
Miriam Carrera
Second Violin
Lucia D’Avanzo-Lewis
Alex Coupe
Philip Smith
Peter Dempsey
Nahum Courona
Sarah Mansfield
Viola
Virginia Slater
Malcolm Sentance
John Strange
Nim de Ricci
Gemma Edwards
Cello
Steffan Rees
Jim Urpeth
Meg Dinkeldein
Marco Russo
Paul Meins
Double Bass
Katy Furmanski
Keith Pinnock
Terry Heard
Flute
Pauline Savage
Penny Gunstone
Oboe
Lydia Brookes
Anne Sykes
Clarinet
Sara Morris
Liz Glasser
Bassoon
Dan Andrei Bosinceanu
Sue Rayner
18
IDOMENEO
French horn
Hannah Key
Lucy Gray
Trumpet
Pete Athans
Deb Browne
Timpani
Nico Metten
Chorus
Soprano
Alice Robinson
Amabel Barlow
Caroline Foster
Carolyn Williamson
Doreen Grandon
Doris Negrier
Fiona Gardiner
Fiona Sanderson
Georgi Thorburn*
Gillian Smith
Helen Warner
Jess Thayer*
Jo Keogh
Kirsty Mclean*
Lara Bullford
Maggie Mullarkey
Marie Stella Polloni-Watson
Patty Kostkova
Phillippa Keogh
Rebecca Swann
Rebekah Smith*
Rosie Taylor
Ruth Devine
Sarah Bulford
Sheila Twitchett
Valerie Grant
Vicky Smith
Alto
Anna Baily
Beatrice Jackson
Elizabeth Goldman
Gill Grant
Helen Rotchell*
Jackie Rice
Jane Cooke
Jane Ferguson
Jay Hassan
Judith Stephenson
Kate Bone
Kate Lomas
Laura Sparkes
Leslee Dryland
Liz King
Lucy Bray*
Lyndsay Thwaites
Maggie Ellis
Milda Fontanetti*
Nina Angelova
Pauline Shimell
Rae Broom
Susan Howe
Suzi Clements
Tenor
Adam Higgs
Alix Adams
Alun Butler
Cherry Potts
Henriette Raison
Richard Whitfield
Susanne Albert
Tom Holland*
Tony Valsamides
Bass
Ben Ellis*
David Culpan
James Lomas*
John Baldwin
John Bell
Martin McHugh
Nicholas Simpson
Robert McKinnon
Simon Phillips
Terence Cowling
Stand Out Soloists
Kirsty Mclean*
Rebeka Smith*
Suzi Clements
Milda Fontanetti*
Alun Butler
Tom Holland*
David Culpan
Ben Ellis*
Costume Support
Robin Brewer
Rita Craft
Jane Ferguson
Set Support
David Culpan
*Vocal Student at Trinity
Laban Conservatoire of
Music and Dance
Idomeneo – Schools Composition Project
A ‘modern take’ on the opera by pupils from Bonus Pastor Catholic
College and Plumstead Manor School.
Inspired by the Blackheath Halls Community Opera’s performance of Mozart’s
Idomeneo, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance has been working closely
with Plumstead Manor School and Bonus Pastor Catholic College to create a new
composition. Led by Creative Director Joe Townsend and Trinity Laban students
Kristin Sofroniou, Aisha Meade, Tom Holland and Kirsty McLean, talented musicians
in years 7-9 from both schools have been exploring the narrative and musical themes
of the opera.
During the 5 week project, comprised of 2 full group sessions and 3 sessions in
each school, participants have responded to the opera through music, drama,
song, poetry and spoken word and have also explored visual techniques involved
in Japanese theatre. Themes drawn from the opera that have inspired their ideas
have included the sea and storms, the Greek Iliad and the impossible love triangle
between Ilia, Electra and Idomante.
20
Bonus Pastor Catholic College
Plumstead Manor School
NameInstrument
NameInstrument
Aloka Simpson
Trumpet
Alyse Appassamy-Brown Guitar
Anthony Noble
Violin
Ciaran Kelly
Trumpet/Guitar
Clarissa Mae Ragrag
Guitar/Voice
Daisy Crisp
Sax
Darren Oppong
Drums
Edgar Bell
Guitar
James Onyema-Matthews Piano
Jasmine Currie
Trumpet/Guitar
Joel Mawejje
Drums
Justice Ezi
Guitar/Voice
Kate Obla
Piano
Kurell Jean
Trumpet
Nathan Williams-Lewis
Cello
Nelson Illori
Voice/Piano
Neoma Okoli
Voice
Olivia Assaindey
Piano
Patrycja BordurkaFrench Horn/
Piano
Tyrese Quintyne
Piano
Ashmita Ale
Emily Hudson
Jaylene Kunaoye
Rihanna Njoteh
Rita Niemba
Rosie Sawyers Rosie Wood
Ruby Safa
Scarlett Callaghan
Sophia Rana
IDOMENEO
Violin
Saxophone
Bass Guitar
Flute
Piano
Flute
Bass Guitar
Piano
Flute
Drum Kit
Blackheath Halls is grateful to the following people and organisations who through
their generous support have made the ninth Blackheath Halls Opera possible.
Organisations who are supporting the 2015 Blackheath Halls Opera:
Arts Council England: Lewisham Main Grants Fund; The Greenwich Community
Arts Fund; The Hearn Foundation; The Samuel Gardner Memorial Trust: The Ingles
Charitable Trust and the Fischer Fund
Sponsors of Blackheath Halls Opera:
In memory of Patrick Orpen; John Baldwin and Barbara Kolator; Geoffrey and Gillian
Chipperfield; Geoffrey Collins; Alex Coupe and William Phillips; Stuart and Laura Fraser,
Alasdair Neil, Anne Storm and Andrew Webster and Krzysztof Drutel.
Benefactors of Blackheath Halls Opera:
Rachel and Ray Adams, Anthony Bevan; David and Georgina Bowers; Anne Burton;
Stephen and Tina Challacombe; Peter and Maureen Cottrell; Richard and
Meg Dinkeldein; Joanna Embling; Gillian Etherton QC; Fiona and Derek Gardiner;
Valerie Gordon-Walker; John and Mary Harman; Jonathan and Yvonne Horsfall Turner;
Patricia Jordan Evans; Tim and Hilary Morgan; Sandra Orpen; Jonathan and
Marjorie Ouvry; Nicolas and Alison Palmer; Mark and Cate Roundtree; Dr Phillip and
Jean Smith, Dr Deborah Stinson, Susan and Roger Taylor.
Patrons of Blackheath Halls Opera:
Tim and Jaqueline Abbott; Helena Bayliss, Hugh and Cathy Bohling; Lydia Brookes;
Tom and Gill Butler; Sonia Ennals, Emil and Jay Hassan; Ian and Mary Nisse; Adam
Pollock; Donal and Diana Quigley, Brian and Jane Sullivan; Robin and Clodagh Woodall.
Supporters of Blackheath Halls Opera:
Harriet Baldwin MP, Cilla Bartlett; Marilla Bartrip; Tony and Robin Brewer; Mike and
Jane Cooke, Margaret Drummond, Janet Dutton; Elizabeth Glasser, Anne Groom;
Dr Linda Hirst; Jocelyn Lewis; Richard Perks, Jennifer Ramsey; Dame Joan Ruddock;
David and Fiona Sanderson; Muriel Seltman; Gerry and Virginia Shoppe;
Marrianne Town Smith; Major P H Williamson MBE and many anonymous donors.
020 8318 3434
1 Cresswell Park
Blackheath SE3 9RD
www.jotownshend.com
I D O M E N E O 23
Grateful thanks to:
•Arts Council England for their continued and generous support of Blackheath Halls
Community Opera.
•The London Borough of Lewisham for their continued support of Blackheath Halls
Community Opera.
•The Hearn Foundation, The Samuel Gardner Memorial Trust, The Ingles Charitable
Trust and The Fischer Fund for their grants to the project.
•Matthew Rose, Charlotte Baptie, Ruby Hughes, Anthony Roth Constanzo,
Nicky Spence, Ashley Riches and Anna Tilbrook for launching the 2015 Blackheath
Halls Community Opera with a fantastic Gala Night on 8th March 2015 which
raised considerable funds for the opera.
•Our Blackheath Halls Community Opera Ambassadors: Helena Bayliss,
Geoffrey Collens, Grant Doyle and Matthew Rose.
•James Hurley and Nicholas Jenkins for their commitment and hard work.
•Mark Wilde, Sam Furness, Rebecca Bottone, Kirstin Sharpin, William Johnston Davies
and Pauls Putnins our wonderful professional opera singers, for their generosity
and commitment.
•The design team for creating this set, costume designs and lighting with such
vision and attention to detail.
•The many enthusiastic members of the local community for taking part in this
project: the community chorus, the Blackheath Halls orchestra, and all the
participating students from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance who
have given so much time and talent to the project.
•Rob Evans, Sanjiv Chapman, Alison Carter, Sophie Lanfear, Carla Crosbie,
Rachel Dunlop and Elizabeth Smith for all their efforts and hard work.
•The children, students, staff and parents from Beecroft Garden Primary School
and Mulgrave Primary School.
•The students, staff and parents from Charlton Park Academy and Greenvale School.
•All the other members of the team for all their support and hard work.
•Joe Townsend and the students of Bonus Pastor Catholic College and Plumstead
Manor School for their work on the composition project.
•All the local businesses mentioned in the programme for their financial contributions.
•Thanks to the Refugee Council for their kind loan of t-shirts for the aid workers in
our production. www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
•Blackheath Halls staff with special mention of Rose Ballantyne the Project Manager.
•To the Friends of Blackheath Halls and other individual donors for supporting the
installation of the fans for this performance.
•Colin Dunlop for designing all the posters, flyers and this programme to support
the project.
•All of you for coming to watch!
24
IDOMENEO