DIRECTOR Alan Privett
MEMBERS BOOKING IS OPEN FOR THE 2013 RING
In preparation since the first performances of Das Rheingold in 2007, Longborough now presents three full cycles of its acclaimed Ring.
16 June Das Rheingold
18 June Die Walküre
20 June Siegfried
22 June Götterdämmerung
26 June Das Rheingold
28 June Die Walküre
30 June Siegfried
2 July Götterdämmerung
6 July Das Rheingold
8 July Die Walküre
10 July Siegfried
12 July Götterdämmerung
All performances of Das Rheingold start at 4.30pm. Afternoon tea will be available before the performance (pre-booked). Dinner will be available (pre-booked) after the performance. All performances of Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung will begin at 3.00 pm with a 30 minute short interval and a 75 minute dining interval.
CAST
Das Rheingold
Alberich – Andrew Greenan
Woglinde – Gail Pearson
Wellgunde – Sara Wallander Ross
Flosshilde – Catherine King
Wotan – Jason Howard
Fricka – Alison Kettlewell
Freia – Lee Bisset
Donner – Julian Tovey
Froh – Stephen Rooke
Loge – Mark Le Brocq
Fasolt – Geoffrey Moses
Fafner – Julian Close
Mime – Richard Roberts (16, 26 Jun)
- Adrian Thompson – (6 Jul)
Erda – Anna Burford
Die Walküre
Siegmund – Andrew Rees
Sieglinde – Lee Bisset
Hunding – Mark Richardson
Wotan – Jason Howard
Brünnhilde – Rachel Nicholls
Fricka – Alison Kettlewell
Gerhilde – Kimberley Myers
Helmwige – Jenufa Gleich
Ortlinde – Meta Powell
Waltraute – Harriet Williams
Rossweisse – Miranda Westcott
Siegrune – Jenny Miller
Grimgerde – Catherine King
Schwertleite – Anna Burford
Siegfried
Siegfried – Hugo Mallet
Mime – Adrian Thompson
Wotan – Phillip Joll
Alberich – Malcolm Rivers
Fafner – Julian Close
Erda – Anna Burford
Waldvogel – Gail Pearson
Brünnhilde – Rachel Nicholls
Götterdämmerung
Brünnhilde – Rachel Nicholls
Siegfried – Jonathan Stoughton
Gunther – Eddie Wade
Hagen – Stuart Pendred
Gutrune – Lee Bisset
Waltraute – Alison Kettlewell
Alberich – Malcolm Rivers
Woglinde – Gail Pearson
Wellgunde – Sara Wallander-Ross
Flosshilde – Catherine King
Rachel Nicholls
Following her “simply sensational” (The Spectator) debut as the Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde at Longborough in 2012, Rachel Nicholls is thrilled to be singing her first Cycles in Wagner’s bicentenary year. She made her professional debut at London’s Royal Opera as Third Flowermaiden Parsifal before establishing herself as a major interpreter of Baroque music singing in concerts and recordings throughout Europe, the Far East and the USA. In opera and concert, she has worked with conductors including Martyn Brabbins, Colin Davis, John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Roger Norrington, Simon Rattle, Stephen Sloane, John Storgårds, Masaaki Suzuki and Ryan Wigglesworth. For The Guardian, “her transformation into a dramatic soprano might itself be the stuff of mythology.” Her current engagements include Leonore / Fidelio for Bergen National Opera, Euridice / Orfeo ed Euridice on tour with the Israel Camerata, Lady Macbeth Macbeth for Northern Ireland Opera, Senta Der fliegende Holländer for Scottish Opera and Eva /Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.
Jason Howard
Described as ‘the Wotan of his generation’, Welsh baritone Jason Howard is quickly establishing
himself as a leading exponent of the German heroic repertoire, with past performances including the title role of Der Fliegende Holländer, Orest Elektra, Jochanaan Salome (in Lisbon and the USA) and Wotan in David McVicars’s acclaimed production of Der Ring des Nibelungen for l’Opéra national du Rhin.
Other highlights include Marcello La Bohème (Royal Opera House and Paris Opera); the South American première of Death in Venice (Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires); Prospero in Thomas Adès’ The Tempest (Opéra national du Rhin); Giorgio Germont La Traviata, Tonio Pagliacci and Alfio Cavalleria Rusticana (all Welsh National Opera); Scarpia Tosca (Oper Frankfurt); Adam Brant Mourning Becomes Electra (Chicago Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera and New York City Opera); Emile de Becque South Pacific (Lincoln Center Theater production); and the baritone roles in Attila, Don Carlos, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Nabucco and Il Trovatore.
Catherine King
CATHERINE KING is a versatile mezzo-soprano and enjoys a varied singing career. Performances range from Verdi Requiem in Symphony Hall Birmingham and Elgar in Warsaw to Dido in Israel, and from Italian Baroque arias in Genoa to contemporary Scottish songs in Warsaw. She performs across the world with recent and forthcoming performances in Munich and Brighton (Kleiberg Requiem), Trondheim (Bach), Aldeburgh (Britten) and Cardiff (Elgar). She sings Filipjevna in Opera Project’s Eugene Onegin in October. She has had many works written for her, including song cycles by Larisa Vrhunc and Tansy Davies. Her numerous CDs include Bach Alto Arias on Linn, Galuppi Forgotten Arias (Gramophone Editor’s Choice) and Airs de Cour (BBC Music Magazine Editor’s Choice). Catherine is delighted to be part of Longborough’s Ring Cycle after appearing previously as Flosshilde, 1st Norn and Grimgerde.
Hugo Mallet
Hugo Mallet was born in London, and studied singing in Manchester at the RNCM and in Rome with Maestro Paolo Silveri. Since 1988 he has studied with Nicolai Gedda (who called him, “mein Meisterstudent”), and since 2012 with Ks. Reiner Goldberg (for the Wagner repertoire). Concert performances include Berlin, London, Moscow, Paris, Lucerne, Singapore und Japan. He has sung roles in opera houses in Paris, Berlin, Cologne, Dresden and Rouen, among others.
Roles include Mozart’s Tamino, Don Ottavio and Belmonte, Alfredo La Traviata, Calaf Turandot, Rodolfo La Bohème and title rôles in Werther and Les contes d’Hoffmann. In 2009 he sang Ygnacio in the German premiere of Eötvös’, Love and other Demons and in the Liszt year 2011 the title rôle Don Sanche ou le chateau d’amour in Weimar and Sondershausen and Canio Pagliacci. Recent and future roles include Wilhelm Arndt in Korngolds Der Ring des Polykrates, and Chenier Andrea Chenier.
Jonathan Stoughton
studied at Benjamin Britten International Opera School, Royal College of Music and National Opera Studio. NOS roles included Don José, Pollione Norma, Idomeneo, Max Freischütz, Werther and Peter Grimes. Other roles Tom Rakewell (Benjamin Britten International Opera School, Aldeburgh) and Pinkerton (Dartington International Summer School). Has worked at Opera North, Welsh National Opera and English National Opera where he appeared as Vitellozzo Lucrezia Borgia and sang Maintop Billy Budd. Made his Glyndebourne on Tour debut as Steva Jenůfa. Repertoire also includes Tamino, Lensky and Pizzaro Leonora (Paer). Concert engagements have taken him to major venues in the UK, Europe and Far East. Repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater. Forthcoming engagements Gala concerts in the Barbican, London and the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and Alwa in American Lulu produced by Jonathan Fulljames for the Bregenz and Edinburgh International Festivals.
Anna Burford
Anna Burford was born in Cornwall, and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Operatic engagements include her USA debut in the title role Giulio Cesare for Seattle Opera, title-role Orfeo ed Euridice and Roswita Heloise et Abelard for Opera National du Rhin, Strasbourg, Roswita Heloise et Abelard for Chatelet, Paris, Olga in Eugene Onegin at Théâtre de Caen, Owl in The Cricket Recovers at Bregenz Festival, Mrs McLean Susannah and Mrs Nolan The Medium for Wexford Festival and Cesare in Giulio Cesare for Opera Ireland. In Britain her roles include Ursule Beatrice and Benedict, Magdalena in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Suzuki Madame Butterfly, Maddalena Rigoletto and Page Salome for Welsh National Opera, Amastris Xerxes, Maddalena, Anna The Trojans and Dresser, Schoolboy,Waiter Lulu for English National Opera.
Concert highlights include Messiah with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Rodelinda with the Gabrieli Consort, Sea Pictures and A Child of our Time with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Serenade to Music with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Beethoven Symphony No 9 with the Hallé Orchestra, Orchestre de Tours, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Richard Roberts
Born in Kansas, Richard Roberts completed a degree in Music at the University of Kansas and studied at the Chautauqua School of Music, New York. Formerly a principal artist with both the Staatstheater Kassel, Germany, and the English National Opera, he has also appeared as Guest at the Theater Kiel, the Theater Krefeld and the Volkstheater Rostock.
Richard Roberts’ recordings include Bardolph Falstaff with English National Opera and The Cockerel The Cunning Little Vixen with the Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra.
Recent and current engagements include The Mayor Albert Herring for English Touring Opera, Kaufmann Jakob Lenz for English National Opera, Goro Madama Butterfly for Dayton Opera, Matteo Arabella for Opera Australia, Storch Intermezzo for Buxton Festival Opera, Steersman Der fliegende Holländer and Young Seaman / Sailor Tristan und Isolde for Grange Park Opera and Mime Das Rheingold / Siegfried for Opera North.
Julian Tovey
Born in North Yorkshire, England and studied at Exeter College, Oxford, the University of St Andrews and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
He has previously sung the role of Donner for the Canadian Opera Company, the Flanders Opera, L’Opéra national du Rhin and the Tyroler Festival, and other companies with whom he has worked include La Scala, Milan, the Theater St Gallen, English National Opera, Garsington Opera, the Israeli Opera, the Netherlands Opera, Opera North and London’s Royal Opera. He also sang Orest in Elektra with Deborah Polaski and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel.
Adrian Thompson
Adrian Thompson trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he is now a professor.
Operatic credits include title role Peter Grimes, Monostatos Die Zauberflöte, Skuratov The House Of The Dead and Canio Pagliacci (Frankfurt); Snout A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Teatro alla Scala); Valzacchi Rosenkavalier (ROH); Rev. Adams Peter Grimes (Geneva); title role The Diary of One who Disappeared (Aix-en-Provence); Mr Upfold Albert Herring, Triquet Eugene Onegin and Eisslinger Die Meistersinger (Glyndebourne).
An experienced recitalist, Adrian has appeared throughout the UK and Europe. His discography includes The Pilgrim’s Progress by Vaughan Williams (Chandos), The Eternal Gospel (Hyperion), Warlock’s The Curlew (Collins Classics) and Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin (Pickwick). Engagements in 2012/13 include Monostatos for ENO and for Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg and his return to Canadian Opera Company for Salome. Subsequent engagements include From the House of the Dead in Strasbourg, Mayor Albert Herring with BBC Symphony and Lilaque Pere Boulevard Solitutude for WNO.
Jenufa Gleich
According La Nazione, Jenufa Gleich is a “rare dramatic soprano that extends with ease and flexibility to an impressive upper register”. La Repubblica recognizes “an outstanding singer with superb technique”.
Recent engagements include Festival Pucciniano/Torre del Lago at Teatro Verdi di Pisa, Opera Orchestra New York at Avery Fisher Hall, Teatro Goldoni Livorno, New York City Opera, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Teatro Puccini Lucca. Highlights of her recital career include concerts at St. Patricks Cathedral and the Vatican. Her roles include Sieglinde and Helmwige in Die Walküre, Third Norn in Götterdämmerung, Turandot, Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser.
Sara Wallander Ross
Born near the Swedish Arctic Circle, Sara studied singing, violin, organ and piano in Sweden, Britain and Hungary. She was chosen as 2009 Bayreuth Bursary finalist and reached the Kiri te Kanawa master classes in Radio 2’s 2010 Opera Competition. Living in Oxford, she enjoys a varied career with repertoire stretching from Mozart to contemporary opera. Roles/concerts include Governess (Turn of the Screw); Freia/Wellgunde (Rheingold); Leonore (Fidelio); Judit (Bluebeard); Lady Billows (Albert Herring); Contessa (Figaro); Strauss, Four Last Songs; Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire.
Sara recently received Oxford Wagner Society’s Bayreuth Bursary and looks forward to attending this year’s Festspiele. She is delighted to return to Longborough.
www.sara-wallander.com
