Stephen Richardson News
singer
- baritone;bass-baritone;bass
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2024-03-28
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2024-01-09 07:48:00
Aldeburgh Festival at 75: festival regular, Tony Cooper reports
Britten: The Burning Fiery Furnace - Aldeburgh Festival, Orford Church, 1966 (Photo: John Richardson / Britten Pears Arts)Flashing through life, this year’s Aldeburgh Festival notches up its 75th edition and features a stellar line-up of international performers offering a wealth of music across a wholesome 17 days. Festival regular, Tony Cooper, reports.Founded by Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and Eric Crozier in 1948, the Aldeburgh Festival, originally centred on the Borough’s cosy and intimate Jubilee Hall in Crabbe Street with a seating capacity of just 236. However, when Britten and Pears conceived the bright idea of turning the Victorian-built malt-house at Snape, situated about five miles inland from Aldeburgh, into an 832-seat venue, Snape Maltings Concert Hall was born. Officially opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1967, the Snape Maltings Concert Hall suffered serious fire damage two years later, re-opening in time for the Aldeburgh Festival the following year. The larger venue, […]
2023-10-27 07:36:00
Piatti Quartet launches its Rush Hour Lates at Kings Place with Dvorak and Schubert
Piatti Quartet at Kings Place (Photo: Piatti Quartet)The Piatti Quartet (Michael Trainor, Emily Holland, Miguel Sobrinho, Jessie Ann Richardson) is the new quartet in residence at Kings Place and they launched their series of Rush House Late concerts on Wednesday 25 October 2023 with a programme of Schubert's Quartetsatz and Dvorak's String Quartet in F, Op. 96 'American' and future concerts in the series will explore further late Dvorak quartets.Schubert wrote his Quartetsatz in 1820, it is effectively the sole example of his quartet writing between his early works, written before 1817, and his late masterpieces in the genre written a few years later. The quartet exists as a single movement, plus a few bars of an Andante. Like the Unfinished Symphony of 1822, and quite a lot of other works, Schubert seems to have simply broken off writing it. The single movement is a powerful, confident piece of writing though you notice that Schubert […]
2023-09-29 07:02:00
The chance to deep dive into Dvořák's quartets: Michael Trainor of the Piatti Quartet introduces their new residency at Kings Place
The Piatti Quartet - Miguel Sobrinho, Jessie Ann Richardson, Emily Holland, Michael TrainorThe Piatti Quartet (Michael Trainor, Emily Holland, Miguel Sobrinho, Jessie Ann Richardson) starts as Resident Quartet at Kings Place in October with a season of concerts exploring Dvořák's late string quartets alongside more contemporary repertoire. Here Michael Trainor, the quartet's first violin, introduces the new season."The sun is just coming over the horizon and there’s a tangible excitement in the air. All of a sudden a figure on horseback throwing up plumes of dust comes into view, riding with speed and flair.." That's a segment of how we like to introduce Dvořák's 'American' Quartet from the stage just before our performance. It's a fantastic work which conjures up images and narratives like these all the time, the music completely encapsulating something distinctly American. Indeed so much so that it has remained one of the most popular chamber works to […]
2023-09-04 12:54:00
Still banned after all these years: Gay theatre company, Homo Promos has its Wormwood Scrubs performance of an opera about Ivor Novello in prison cancelled at a few days notice
Peter Scott-Presland's gay theatre group Homo Promos was founded in 1988 as a response to Section 28, which forbade councils from ‘intentionally promoting homosexuality’ and the group still marches on. Currently they are in the midst of a long-term project, A Gay Century presenting a cycle of chamber operas about events during the 20th century, with music by Robert Ely. This year's contribution is 1944: Home Fires. It is 1944, Ivor Novello has been banged up for a month for fiddling his petrol coupons. Novello was a combination of matinee idol and Andrew Lloyd-Webber, formidably popular. Now he faces ruin - and a psychotic cell-mate in 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, later to be hitman for the Richardson gang. But his dead mother watches over him...The show is being presented at the Cockpit Theatre and the Tower Theatre, but visit to perform the work at Wormwood Scrubs has been cancelled at a few days notice, despite month's […]
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