This concert presents a unique opportunity to explore the vocal output of Russian composer Anton Arensky (1861-1906), whose talent was placed incredibly high by Tchaikovsky. Students and graduates of the Guildhall School of music and Drama combine forces with pianists Alina Sorokina and Thomas Ang to present a varied and innovative programme shedding light on the music of this rarely-heard composer. The programme includes Tchaikovsky’s Legend, Op. 54 no. 5, which Arensky used as a theme for his famous Variations, Op. 35a.
This concert is kindly supported by the Nicholas John Trust.
Programme
A. Arensky (1861-1906):
‘I did not Tell you’, Op. 6 no. 4
‘The Dream’, Op. 17 no. 3
‘Last Night’, Op. 29 no. 2
‘The Lily of the Valley’, Op. 38 no. 2
‘All is Quiet in the Bewitching Night’, Op. 45 no. 1
‘The Day has Died’, Op. 49 no. 1
‘The Garden is all in Bloom’, Op. 60 no. 4
‘In the Gardens of Italy’ and ‘Softly the Spirit Flew up to Heaven’ from Op. 64
Five songs, Op. 70
P. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893):
‘The Passion has Passed’, Op. 46 no. 5
‘The Legend’, Op. 54 no. 5
Thomas Ang, piano
Holly Brown, soprano
Joanna Harries, mezzo-soprano
Ariana Kashefi, cello
Laura Peresivana, soprano
Alina Sorokina, piano
Brenton Spiteri, tenor
Premiered online 2 March at 6.00pm GMT and now available to watch on demand until 14 April 2021.
How to watch on demand
Once you have completed your purchase of the concert we will send you a link that will give you on demand access until 14 April 2021.
Biographies
Alina Sorokina trained at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow and at the Opera Course of Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where she was generously supported by Ms. Nicola Thorp of The Leverhulme Trust. Alina has worked as a repetiteur and coach for Cendrillon, Mayakovsky begins (Maimonides State Classical Academy, Moscow); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Aminta e Fillide, Genizah, La Fedeltà Premiata, The Angel Esmeralda, La bella dormente nel bosco, Dido and Aeneas (Guildhall School of Music and Drama). During her studies at the Guildhall Alina also served as a Russian language coach and now runs a “Russian phonetics for beginners” course. Future plans include The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga, The Maid of Pskov (Grange Park opera), Eugene Onegin (West Green Park Opera).
Latvian soprano Laura Lolita Perešivana is currently studying on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under the tutelage of Professor Janice Chapman. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Studies with First Class Honours from Guildhall School. Laura started her operatic career at the Latvian National Opera House where she performed Lauretta Gianni Schicchi. Her recent operatic performances include Zerlina Don Giovanni with British Youth Opera, Musetta La Bohème, Eurydice Orpheus in the Underworld, Anne Truelove Rake’s Progress, Cleopatra Giulio Cesare, Giulietta I Capuleti e i Montecchi. During the past year Laura took part in four virtual opera productions directed by Olivia Fuchs, John Ramster and Stephen Medcalf. Laura is Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto alumna and participated in the 2020 Solti Peretti Repetiteurs' Masterclasses in Venice. She has been fortunate enough to participate in masterclasses in song and opera with Richard Bonynge, Barbara Frittoli, James Vaughan, Tobias Truniger, Elaine Kidd, David Gowland, Jonathan Papp. Last year Laura made her Wigmore Hall debut with the Voiceworks song programme. Currently Lolita is working on her role as Barbarina in Jonathan Dove's The Little Green Swallow (February 2021). Laura is generously supported by the Derek Butler Trust Scholarship.
Praised for her innate musicianship and captivating stage presence, British-Persian cellist Ariana Kashefi is in high demand as a chamber musician and soloist performing in such venues as the Wigmore Hall, Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin Philharmonie and more. After completing her masters at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ in Berlin with professor Claudio Bohorquez Ariana was hand picked by Maestro Barenboim to study at the prestigious Barenboim-Said Akademie where she received an artist diploma under the guidance of Frans Helmerson. She is also a top prize winner in the International Rubinstein cello Competition held in Berlin, a finalist in the Pierre Fournier Award which took place at the Wigmore Hall in London and a ‘Villa Musica’ scholarship recipient where she was also awarded the loan and use of a fine Gagliano cello.
Holly Brown is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she gained her Bachelors and Masters, both with distinction. While studying she collaborated on and premiered Christian Drew’s ‘Dug’ at Wigmore Hall, participated in a masterclass and concert series with Judith Weir and performed Julian Philip’s Cantos do Sonho as part of the composer’s 50th birthday celebrations. She was also a finalist in the school’s Schubert Song Competition and performed a short recital of Russian song at the Barbican Hall for the LSO. She has performed regularly for the LSO Discovery series, most recently in Mahler’s Second Symphony. On the operatic stage, she has performed Clorinda (La Cenerentola) for British Youth Opera, Carolina (Il matrimonio segreto) for Hampstead Garden Opera, and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for Oxford Alternative Orchestra. She was a chorus soloist with West Green House Festival Opera and was contracted to Grange Park Opera for the cancelled 2020 season; she hopes to return in 2021. On the concert platform, she has performed Lieschen in Bach's Coffee Cantata at St Lawrence Jewry Festival, ‘Exsultate, Jubilate’ with the Watford Philharmonic and as a soloist at the Queen Charlotte's Ball for the London Season.
Thomas Ang has won prizes for his performances of Beethoven, Frederick Delius, Arthur Bliss and the contemporary piano repertoire, and has been praised for his thoughtful and critical programming and excellent technique. He has also earned recognition as a specialist in the music of Nikolay Kapustin, having played and conducted premieres of his compositions in the UK, US, Singapore, Australia, and elsewhere. In his chamber groups he maintains a strong interest in contemporary music (Duo Ex Libris) and music written by women composers (Scordatura Collective), as well as obscure and neglected composers of the last two centuries. His performances with various groups have led him to Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Following the footsteps of his teacher Hamish Milne, he has also embarked on a deep exploration of the music of Nikolay Medtner. Off the concert stage, Thomas works as an opera répétiteur and ballet pianist, and is editing Kapustin's music for Schott Music. He sometimes accompanies and improvises for silent film, appearing at various festivals and events. Thomas also plays the violin, and writes poetry and piano transcriptions of songs and symphonies.
Brenton Spiteri currently holds the Gwen Catley Opera Scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he has performed the roles of Beppe in Rita and Renzo in The Little Green Swallow. Prior to this, he spent two seasons in the Young Artist Program at Opéra de Lyon, where his roles included Trac in Le Roi Carotte and Soldato/Mercurio in The Coronation of Poppea. He has performed for the majority of Australia’s state opera companies in roles including Tamino (The Magic Flute), Count Almaviva (The Barber of Seville), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Telemaco (The Return of Ulysees) and Ernesto (Don Pasquale). For the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, he has performed Britten’s Les Illuminations; and for Sydney Chamber Opera, he has created the roles of Oscar Hopkins in Oscar and Lucinda and Ashley in Fly Away Peter to high critical acclaim, as well as performing the role of Aboveground Man in Notes From Underground. He is a core member of Songmakers Australia and won first prize in the Herald Sun Aria in 2012.
Young British/New-Zealand mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries is a versatile and dynamic performer with a repertoire stretching from baroque to contemporary music. She was a choral scholar at Cambridge University and went on to train at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Alexander Gibson Opera Studio).
In opera she has performed with Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Grange Park Opera, Opera Holland Park and British Youth Opera, and her roles stretch from the seventeenth to twenty-first centuries. Upcoming roles include Emerging Artist as Innkeeper’s Wife/The Cunning Little Vixen (Longborough Festival Opera), Lucinda/La forza dell’amor paterno (The Barber Opera) and creating the role of Diana in The Weekend - a new opera version of Michael Palin’s play by composer Scott Stroman. She is also an Emerging Artist for the Royal Opera House’s “Opera Dots” programme for children.
Previous roles include Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Dartington Arts Festival), the title role in Holst’s Sāvitri (Hampstead Garden Opera), the Drummer in Ullmann’s The Emperor of Atlantis in Polly Graham’s site-specific production (Loud Crowd & CHROMA Ensemble), Varvara in Janáček’s Kat’a Kabanova (Fulham Opera), Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Merry Opera Company), Awen (cover) in new opera Gair ar Gnawd (Welsh National Opera), Nun in Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel (Scottish Opera/RCS), Ottone/Agrippina, Jenny Hildebrand/Street Scene, Der Trommler/Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Le Loup/Les Malheurs d’Orphée and Frank Martin’s Le vin herbé chamber opera for 12 singers (all RCS).
As concert soloist, performances include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at Snape Maltings Concert Hall; Macmillan’s Seven Last Words From The Cross with the BBC Philharmonic at Harrogate Royal Hall; Bach’s Easter Oratorio at the Bach Festival Świdnica in Poland; Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Skipton Camerata; Handel’s Messiah at Lincoln Cathedral; Haydn’s Maria Theresa Mass at Chester Cathedral and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 at Sheffield Cathedral.
A keen recitalist, Joanna is a Britten-Pears Young Artist, a Handel House Talent young artist and was awarded the Edith Brass Prize for Lieder at the RCS. She has performed programmes of song and Lieder at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Britten Studio at Snape Maltings, the National Portrait Gallery, and as part of the “Introducing” series at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. In 2015 she was selected to take part in the Oxford Lieder Festival mastercourse.
This concert is co-curated by Alina Sorokina and Thomas Ang.
