One of the highlights of my time at the Guildhall School was our production of The King Goes Forth to France. Finally I bring you, the entrance of The English Archer:
This Sunday is the Premiere of Rigoletto in Karlsruhe, in which I’m singing Marullo (that’s not me in the photo, that’s my colleauge Jaco Venter who is singing Rigoletto).
The production is a re-working of a production from Heidelberg, and Jim Lucassen, the director, has some images from that production on his website, which may be of interest.
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the work. Though I’m familiar with a few of the numbers, I’ve only seen in the theater once before, and I’ve really come to be struck at how dark and cynical the piece really is, not to mention the way the Verdi pushed boundaries dramatically and musically (though some conventions certainly remain). The mens chorus storm effect must have been really groundbreaking at the time.
One of the really neat things is that I’m using my profile at OperAgent.com to feed the data. This means whenever I update my profile there (which is really easy!) my site automatically updates (Big thanks to James Angus and Stephen Gadd for their help with code stuff). I’m also using Google Calendar to run the schedule part.
Today’s Badische Neueste Nachrichten has a review of Sunday’s Wiederaufnahme of La Traviata – a kind of ‘first taste’ report of the new ensemble in many ways.
As the post title gives away, the review said I was a Bo Skovhus* look-alike!
So… here’s a visual comparison for you:
In costume as MarquisBo Skovhus
The review itself was a bit of a back-handed compliment:
Zwar kann bei den Interpreten der mittleren Partien eine endgültige Beurteilung ihrer Leistungsfähigkeit erst nach weiteren – größeren – Auftritten erfolgen, doch lässt sich schon jetzt festhalten…, dass Andrew Finden als Bo-Skovhus-Doppelgänger dem Marquis d’Obigny einen grossen, noch etwas ungeschlacht eingesetzten Baritone lieh.
(roughly translated that means that although it’s too soon to get a proper appraisal of the new ensemble members until we sing bigger parts, he thinks I have a great voice, but was not so subtle… fair enough considering it’s really a bass-baritone part and the solo lines are not exactly melodious)
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* One of my twitter contacts informs me that Bo Skovhus was here last season singing Don Alfonso, so this is a big compliment!
It’s my first performance in my new Theater tonight!
The Theaterfest is kind of like an open day, with a few open rehearsals and fun things like Karaoper (sing a duet with one of the soloists). I’m singing my aria from Alessandro in the ‘Coctail’ concert this evening.
It’s all a fun way to kick of the season – and, hearing the other soloists rehearse yesterday, this is an amazing ensemble. When John Treleaven was singing some Siegfried I had to pinch myself.
Tomorrow night is the first night of our Traviata revival in which I’m singing the Marquis.
The end of the opera season is upon us, and tonight is my last performance in Nürnberg. It’s been a fairly busy season, having done 70 performances: 61 on the mainstage, 5 with the Hoschschule production of Figaro and a handful of concerts.
Just out of interest, my performances on the mainstage of the opera house look like this:
The Wiener Kammer Oper and their Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition has lost 80% of its subsidy and is in dire straights. Please sign this petition to help save it:
I’m off to the Britten mecca of Aldeburgh tomorrow to take part in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme: a masterclass on Schubert’s Schwanengesang with the renowned lieder singer, baritone Matthias Goerne. We then get to watch him tackle the three big Schubert cycles over three nights.
