Guinness Choir Forthcoming Concerts

FORTHCOMING CONCERT - APRIL 2008

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SOLOISTS

Martyn Hill is one of the most distinguished international tenors of his generation, known as an opera singer, concert and oratorio soloist, and recitalist. He has sung with many of the world’s leading orchestras and his wide concert repertoire ranges from Messiah and the Evangelist in the Bach Passions, to Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Berlioz’s La Damnation of Faust and Verdi’s Requiem. He regularly performs the works of Benjamin Britten, and performances include War Requiem with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Edo de Waart and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and André Previn, Spring Symphony with the Hallé Orchestra and Kent Nagano, Les Illuminations with l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and James Loughran, and the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Israel Chamber Orchestra and Armin Jordan. He has recorded the Serenade with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Les Illuminations, the Serenade and the Nocturne with the City of London Sinfonia and Richard Hickox.

Opera includes Goro Madama Butterfly, Pong Turandot, Augustin Moser Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Dom Luis in Donizetti’s Dom Sebastian (ROH), title role Peter Grimes (Tel Aviv/Canterbury Festival), Red Whiskers (Genova), Achilles King Priam (BBC Proms), Quint The Turn of the Screw (Scottish Opera), Alessandro Il Re Pastore (Opera North/Radio France), Eumetes Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria (Innsbruck/Tokyo/Athens/Florence/Cremona), Idomeneo (Glyndebourne), Flamand Capriccio (Metz), Admète Alceste (Montpellier), Togni’s Barrabas (Brescia/Cremona), and the title role in Oedipus Rex and Mozart in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri (Royal Festival Hall). In 1998 he created the title role in Sandeep Bhagwati’s Ramanujan at the Munich Biennale. He sung the title role in Peter Maxwell Davies’s Tavener for BBC Radio 3, and General Sir Philip Wingrave in a production for Channel 4 TV of Britten’s Owen Wingrave conducted by Kent Nagano and directed by Margaret Williams.

Recitals include the complete song cycles of Sir Michael Tippett in London’s Wigmore Hall in the presence of the composer on his 90th birthday, followed by a recording of the same repertoire for Hyperion., and Schubert’s three song cycles Die Schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang in London’s St John’s Smith Square on consecutive days. He has given staged performances of Winterreise in Paris, Berlin and London and has performed Hans Zender’s arrangement of the work in Frankfurt with Ensemble Modern.

Martyn Hill is a fine exponent of contemporary music and performances have included Schoenberg’s Von Heute auf Morgen with Boulez and the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Vienna, Lutoslawski’s Paroles Tissées in Wroclaw conducted by the composer, Nono’s Il Canto Sospeso with Metzmacher in Salzburg, Holliger’s Erde und Himmel in Lucerne and Zurich conducted by the composer, Luigi Nono’s Prometeo in Berlin and New York with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado, and Carter’s What Next? with Ensemble Intercontemporain and Kent Nagano in Paris. He gave the world premieres of Elliott Carter’s In sleep, in thunder with the London Sinfonietta and Oliver Knussen, a work he has since performed in Berlin and Vienna with Ensemble Modern, and of Sir John Tavener’s Fall and Resurrection in St Paul’s Cathedral broadcast on BBCTV.

He has recorded for EMI, Hyperion, Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, Erato Disques, Vanguard and Virgin Classics. Recordings include Herbert Howells’ Missa Sabrinensis with the LSO and Rozhdestvensky, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Frank Martin’s In terra pax with the LPO and Matthias Bammert, Stainer’s Crucifixion with the BBC Singers, and songs by Percy Grainger for Chandos Records. He has recorded Stravinsky’s Threni, the title role in Oedipus Rex, and the Fool in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder all conducted by Robert Craft for New World Records. Opera recordings include Emilio in Handel’s Partenope, Noctambule in Charpentier’s Louise, the Teacher in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich, and Red Whiskers Billy Budd conducted by Kent Nagano.

Some recent engagements include Finzi’s Intimations of Immortality in Japan, Die Schöpfung in Norway and Germany, Finzi’s Dies Natalis in Luxembourg, Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and Goehr’s Shadowplay staged in Berlin, Britten’s Les Illuminations in Toulouse, Messiah in Montreal, Mozart Concert Arias in Saarbrücken, St John Passion (Evangelist) with the Hanover Band and Britten’s War Requiem in Metz and Osaka.

Future engagements include the world premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas’s Melancolia at Palais Garnier in Paris, and in Graz and Oslo, and 2nd Jew Salome at the Royal Opera House.

With regret Julie Moffatt is indisposed and cannot take part in tonight's performance (Sunday 13th April)

Charlotte Ellet has kindly agreed to sing at very short notice and The Guinness Choir is delighted to welcome her to Dublin

Charlotte Ellett studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and the National Opera Studio. She began her career at Glyndebourne Festival where her roles included Frasquita Carmen and First BridesmaidLe nozze di Figaro. As an Associate Artist at Welsh National Opera she sang the AngelJephtha, Barbarina and SusannaLe nozze di Figaro, FrasquitaCarmen and KarolkaJenufa which she subsequently recorded for Chandos under Sir Charles Mackerras.

Her other operatic roles include Miss WordsworthAlbert Herring, Pamina Die Zauberflöte,Despina Così fan Tutte,IphisJephtha and Zerlina Don Giovanni, and MusettaLa Boheme.

Charlotte Ellett regularly performs oratorio and recitals. She has sung Mozart’s Requiem at the Bridgewater Hall and Royal Festival Hall, Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall with Sir David Willcocks, Poulenc Stabat Mater at King’s College Cambridge and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Her repertoire also includes Bach St Matthew Passion, Poulenc Gloria, and Rossini Stabat Mater.

She recorded Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied as the Chorus soloist under Kent Nagano, and Rawsthorne’s Second Symphony for the Naxos label. At St David’s Hall, Cardiff, she performed as part of their lunchtime recital series.

Other engagements have included ChairThe Chair in Love by John Metcalf in Montreal with a subsequent tour in the UK.

Among her recent engagements she has performed AmorIl ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, Musetta and Frasquita for Welsh National Opera, Hermia (Fleurette) in Offenbach’s Barbe Bleu at Buxton Festival and with English Touring Opera the leading role of Vespina in Haydn’s Country Matters.. Future engagements include her return to WNO where she will sing KarolkaJenÛfa.

Emma Selway made her operatic debut at English National Opera as Kate Pinkerton Madama Butterfly. Roles have included Charlotte in the UK premiere of Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten, Octavian Der Rosenkavalier, Fox The Cunning Little Vixen and Waltraute The Valkyrie (ENO), Pauline The Queen of Spades (Welsh National Opera), Dorabella (Opera North and Glyndebourne Touring Opera), Sesto La Clemenza di Tito (Glyndebourne Touring Opera), The Musician Manon Lescaut and Cephisa Ermione (Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Idamante (Canadian Opera Company and Opera Northern Ireland), Angelina La Cenerentola (WNO/BP Opera Circuit), Carmen (English Touring Opera), Anna Seven Deadly Sins (Batignano), Madame Popova The Bear (The Opera Group) and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia (Cambridge University Opera Society). In 2001 she sung the role of Judit Duke Bluebeard’s Castle in Cambridge for The Opera Group, and has subsequently covered the role for the Royal Opera, Opéra de Nancy, Scottish Opera and WNO. Most recent performances include the role of Penelope Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria with the Birmingham Opera Company, Mercédès Carmen with the CBSO/Oramo which was also broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and the creation of the role of Wife in Jonathan Dove’s An Old Way to Pay New Debts.

Performances of contemporary opera include the creation of the role of Madame in The Maids with music by John Lunn at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, performances of Alexander Goehr’s Kantan and Damask Drum with Almeida Opera at the Aldeburgh Festival, then in London and Paris, and the creation of the role of Firk Thwaite by Jürgen Simpson for Almeida Opera with performances in London, Dublin and Aldeburgh. She covered the title role in Sophie’s Choice for the ROH.

She has an extensive oratorio repertoire including Messiah, Bach’s Mass in B minor, Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat and St Matthew Passion, Mozart’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in A flat, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater, Verdi’s Requiem, and Elgar’s The Music Makers and The Dream of Gerontius. Concert performances include Le Martyre de St Sébastiane with the Hallé Orchestra/Nagano, Seven Sacraments, a dramatic oratorio by Neil Bartlett, Nicolas Bloomfield and Leah Hausman, at the Brighton Festival, Mahler’s Symphony No 2 with the Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the London Mozart Players, Mahler’s Symphony No 8 with the St Bartholomew’s Hospital Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, the British premiere of Bacalov’s Misa Tango with the Crouch End Festival Chorus at the Barbican Concert Hall, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Eté for the Wagner Society, and Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 for Raymond Gubbay at the Barbican.

Emma Selway studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1989 to 1992 and the National Opera Studio. She won a number of prizes at the RAM including the Opera Prize, the Isabella Lucas Prize and the Tom Hammond Prize. Amici di Verdi supported her study at the NOS. She was a finalist in the 1991 Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Competition. She now studies with Mollie Petri.

The Palestrina Choir was founded through the patronage of Edward Martyn from Tulira, Co Galway, the Choir was formally installed in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in January 1903. Since then it has provided liturgical music at the Pro-Cathedral, singing at the 11.00 Latin Mass each Sunday as well as many weekday liturgies and has contributed to countless Church and State occasions. It has been an invaluable source of music education for generations of boys. Many have gone on to pursue careers in music. The most well known is John Count McCormack.
The Choir's most recent CD, The Bells of the Angelus (hymns and anthems of Ireland), is available on line at www.procathedral.ie and at the Pro-Cathedral shop.