September concert

Claire Booth (soprano), Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone), Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano) and Michael Pollock (piano). Brunswick Methodist Church 30th September, 2006, 7.30pm
Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)	Sonata for Piano (Four Hands) – Prélude Rustique Final
Gerald Finzi (1901–1956)	Earth and Air and Rain

Alun Hoddinott (b.1929)	Towy Landscapes (World Premiere) for Soprano, Baritone and Piano Duet
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)	Frauenliebe und Leben

Photo: Sven Arnstein

Claire Booth (soprano)

Claire Booth is rapidly establishing an international reputation as one of the most talented and versatile singers of her generation both in opera and concert. Her repertoire ranges from the operas of Handel and Mozart to complex scores written in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Recent successes include the world premiere of Oliver Knussen’s Requiem for Sue written for her and conducted by the composer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, debuts at the BBC Promenade Concerts, the Edinburgh and Lucerne international festivals, where she performed Knussen Whitman Settings, John Adams The Death of Klinghoffer and Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire conducted by Oliver Knussen, Edward Gardner and Pierre Boulez respectively. Other important appearances have been Birtwistle The Io Passion at the Aldeburgh, Almeida and Bregenz festivals, The Second Mrs Kong at the South Bank Centre conducted by Martyn Brabbins, and Read Thomas In my Sky at Twilight for the Lucerne Festival Academy conducted by Cliff Colnott.

Claire Booth performs regularly for the BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony orchestras, with the London Sinfonietta and Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by Edward Gardner, Zsolt Nagy, Jonathan Nott, Frank Ollu and Pierre-André Valade.

In the field of baroque and classical music she has worked on many of the leading European stages such as the Theatre de Champs Elysees Paris, Musiekgebouw Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall, giving concerts with The King’s Consort, the Early Opera Company under Christian Curnyn and the Classical Opera Company under Ian Page. Opera roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Opera North, Emila in Flavio for Early Opera Company, and while a student at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she sang Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Hero in Berlioz’ Beatrice et Benedict and the title roles of Cavalli’s La Didone and Rossi’s Orfeo. Stage directors with whom she has worked include Rufus Norris, John Copley, Olivia Fuchs, John Fulljames, Netia Jones, Stephen Langridge, Stephen Metcalf, Anthony Nielsen and Daniel Slater.

Recent and future appearances include her debut at the Holland Festival in Birtwistle Nenia on the Death of Orpheus with the Schoenberg Ensemble and Reinbert de Lieuw, Thomas Adès Suite from The Tempest conducted by Marcus Stenz (she also covers the role of Miranda at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden) and the role of Pakriti in the world premiere of Jonathan Harvey’s Wagner Dream for Netherlands Opera. She also sings with Opera North in Peter Grimes conducted by Richard Farnes, Handel Orlando directed by Christian Curnyn and will perform Handel cantatas at the Wigmore Hall with the Early Opera Company. She also gives concerts with the Academy of Ancient Music and Edward Higginbottom, The King’s Consort, London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra and at the Aldeburgh and Cheltenham festivals.

Claire Booth gained a double first in Modern History at Oxford, studied singing with the English National Opera Studio’s Baylis Programme, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the National Opera Studio. She studies with Rudolf Piernay. She is a recipient of various prizes including a Sybil Tutton Award, the Worshipful Company of Musician’s Silver Medal and the Harold Rosenthal Award. She has also been a finalist in both the 2003 Guildhall School of Music and Drama Gold Medal Competition and the 2004 Kathleen Ferrier Awards.

Photo: Nigel Spalding

Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano)

Andrew Matthews-Owen studied at the Royal Academy of Music generously supported by an RAM Trust Bursary, Sir Edward Heath, Coutts Bank and S4CWales Television Scholarships. Before this he gained an M.Mus from Trinity College of Music and a B.Mus from University of Wales, Cardiff. He has since studied privately with Eugene Asti, Christine Croshaw and Roger Vignoles.

Specialising in song accompaniment, Andrew has partnered some of the outstanding singers of his generation in recitals at major venues including the Wigmore Hall, St Martins-in-the-Fields, Brangwyn Hall, Draper’s Hall, Purcell Room, The Warehouse, Bath Pump Rooms, Duke’s Hall and the National Portrait Gallery as well as many music club appearances throughout the UK. He has also performed on the Versailles estate, as far afield as the Middle East and on BBC Television and Radio.

In masterclasses, Andrew has worked with eminent musicians including Robin Bowman, Paul Hamburger, Julius Drake, Rudolf Jansen and Sir Robert Tear.

Competition successes include the coveted Sir Henry Richardson Award for Accompanists (Musician’s Benevolent Fund), John Ireland Trust Prize, Elisabeth Schumann Lieder Award, Ryan Davies Memorial Trust Award and a Rayne Foundation Prize. Andrew recently received an award from the Arts Council of Wales and PRS Foundation for New Music with which he commissioned Alun Hoddinott to write a landmark piece for Soprano, Baritone and Piano Duet with texts by John Dyer.

Recent performances include recitals with clarinetist Luisa Rosina, cellist Oliver Gledhill, tenor Nicky Spence and with Jeremy Huw Williams at this Summer’s Royal National Eisteddfod.

Andrew takes up a position on the vocal coaching faculty at the Royal Welsh College of Music in October.

A natural singer’s pianist

Yan Pascal Tortelier (RAM Wigmore Award)

…in particular the breathtaking accompaniment of Andrew Matthews-Owen in Liszt’s fiery Lorelei. Fine playing in every sense that didn’t dominate, yet wasn’t too sensitive yet was always rich and warm in sound… a wonderful singing tone was also achieved in his playing of the music of Robert and Clara Schumann

Musical Opinion

Michael Pollock (piano)

Michael Pollock began his musical education as a chorister in Rochester Cathedral, where he studied piano, organ and oboe. He later won a music scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford; during his three years there he appeared as accompanist in many concerts, and then went on to the Royal College of Music in London to study vocal accompaniment with Roger Vignoles.

Singers whom Michael has accompanied in recitals both in the UK and around the world include Patricia Bardon, Neal Davies, Dame Anne Evans, Rebecca Evans, Nuccia Focile, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Katarina Karnéus, Juanita Lascarro, Christopher Maltman, John Mitchinson, Dennis O’Neill, Tom Randle, Bryn Terfel, Ailish Tynan, Janice Watson, Willard White and Guang Yang. He has also acted as official accompanist for the Cardiff Singer of the World competition on three occasions. He has frequently broadcast on Radio 3 (including recitals from the Buxton, Cheltenham and Edinburgh festivals) and his recordings include recital discs with Nuccia Focile and Rebecca Evans, together with a world-première recording of chamber pieces by Sir Michael Tippett (due for release soon).

Michael’s experience in working with singers was recognised when he was appointed as Welsh National Opera’s (first-ever) Vocal Consultant; he is also a regular guest tutor in London for the National Opera Studio, the Royal Academy of Music and the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Michael’s future plans include an Asian recital tour with Bryn Terfel, and a recital at St John’s, Smith Square, London with Anthony Michaels-Moore, as well as overseeing the song recital repertoire for the new Cardiff International Academy of Voice which opens in January 2007.

Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone)

The Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams studied at St John's College, Cambridge, at the National Opera Studio, and with April Cantelo. He made his debut with Welsh National Opera as Guglielmo (Così fan tutte) since when he has appeared in fifty operatic roles. He has given performances at major venues in North and South America, Australia, Hong Kong, and most European countries.

His operatic roles include Escamillo (Carmen), Germont (La Traviata) and Marcello (La Boheme) for WNO; Olivier (Capriccio), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), George (Floyd's Of Mice and Men), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Shchelkalov (Boris Godunov) and title role Karetnikov’s Till Eulenspiegel for L'Opéra de Nantes; Serezha (The Electrification of the Soviet Union), Tarquinius (The Rape of Lucretia) and Choregos (Punch and Judy) for Music Theatre Wales; Teddy (The Silver Tassie) for Opera Ireland; the Mayor (Sirius on Earth) for the Almeida Opera; and Ned Keene (Peter Grimes) with the CBSO.

He has given recitals at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, and at many major music festivals. He has appeared with the BBC NOW in Tippett’s King Priam at the Royal Festival Hall, the CBSO in Lambert’s Summer’s Last Will and Testament at Symphony Hall, the Halle in Handel’s Messiah at the Bridgewater Hall, the Philharmonia in Mozart’s Requiem at St David’s Hall, the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Nielsen’s Third Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall during the BBC Proms, the RLPO in Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Philharmonic Hall, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Adams’s The Wound Dresser at City Hall, the BBC Philharmonic in Schubert’s Mass in Ab, the RPO in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the LPO in Watson’s O! Captain, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Mathias’s This Worlde’s Joie at the Three Choirs Festival, the RTE Concert Orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Dublin in Dvorak's Requiem, the Orchestre National de Lyon at the Auditorium de Lyon in Benjamin's Sometime Voices, the BBC Concert Orchestra at Southwark Cathedral in Stainer’s Crucifixion for BBC Radio 2, and the l’Orchestre Léonard de Vinci in Brahms’s Requiem at the opera house in Rouen.

He is renowned as a fine exponent of contemporary music, having commissioned much new music and given premieres of works by Alun Hoddinott, William Mathias, John Tavener, Martin Butler, John Metcalf, Julian Phillips, Edward Dudley Hughes, Ian Wilson, Richard Causton, Edward Rushton and Huw Watkins. He has frequently recorded for BBC Radio 3 (in recital, and with the BBC NOW, CBSO, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and BBC Philharmonic), and has made many commercial recordings, including seven solo discs of songs. He recently appeared as Sebastian in The Tempest (Thomas Ades) for L’Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg and Mulhouse, and Mangus in The Knot Garden for Music Theatre Wales, both co-productions with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. His roles for 2005/06 include the Ferryman in Curlew River at the opera houses of Trento and Pisa, Kovalyov in The Nose with The Opera Group, and Marcello La Boheme with Zomeropera in Belgium. Future operatic plans include the role of the Astrologer in The Burning Fiery Furnace and the Elder Son in The Prodigal Son in Trento.

As a principal singer with Welsh National Opera he appeared at the opening night of the Wales Millennium Centre, Wales’s brand new opera house, and received the inaugural Sir Geraint Evans Award from the Welsh Music Guild, given annually to a person or persons who have made a significant contribution to Welsh music in any one year or recent years: "there has been an unanimous decision that the first award should be made to baritone Jeremy Huw Williams in recognition of not only his performing ability but also for the tremendous support that he has given to Welsh composers and their music in recent years".

ALUN HODDINOTT, CBE (b 1929, Bargoed)

You don't choose music; it chooses you - Alun Hoddinott

In the history of music composed since the Second World War, few British composers of international standing have been as prolific as Alun Hoddinott. He is quite rightly viewed as being amongst the most distinguished British composers of our time with nearly 200 opus numbers cataloging a career that has encompassed nearly all musical genres.

His style combines great diversity with a real sense of purpose. A strong creative urge coupled with a fascination with structure form and colour, his essentially chromatic style can often be recognised through a dark Celtic intensity that manifests itself in slow nocturnal movements. This command of structure, texture, colour and character is evident in even his earliest successful commercial works, including the piece that first brought Hoddinott to national attention.

The Clarinet Concerto No.1 was written whilst he was still a student in Cardiff and was premiered at the 1954 Cheltenham Festival by Gervase de Peyer and the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. Following this success, Hoddinott enjoyed a stream of commissions from the music World's leading performers, orchestras and ensembles that have continued to this day and show no signs of abating.

Yet, however international he may be, and despite many offers from abroad, Hoddinott has always held his native Wales in deep affection and it is here that the composer has chosen to live and work. His immense compositional achievements aside, Hoddinott also held the post of Professor and Head of the Music Department at Cardiff University (1967-1988) during which time he built it to become one the largest and most thriving University centres in the UK. He also founded the Cardiff International Festival of Music and ran it for over 20 years introducing a wealth of new music to the Principality that would otherwise taken many more years to reach us.

Alun Hoddinott is a composer to be celebrated and treasured. His distinguished career has served to allow Wales' historic musical heritage to continue to develop and flourish. His music continues to inspire new generations of composers, singers and instrumentalists alike and will do for many generations to come.

Towy Landscape was commissioned by me in 2005 through an award from the Arts Council of Wales and PRS Foundation for New Music. This set of 5 songs is scored for Soprano, Baritone and Piano Duet. The words are by the Welsh poet John Dyer (1699-1758). The son of a solicitor, Dyer was sent to study at the Westminster School where he was intended for a career in the legal profession. However, on his Father's death, he began painting and travelled around South Wales sketching and occasionally painting portraits. His first poem Gronger Hill appeared in 1726 in a miscellany by the poet Richard Savage. It was a somewhat irregular ode in the Pindaric style and Dyer entirely rewrote it into a loose measure of cadences and printed it separately in 1727. It was an immediate success. Collectively now known as Gronger Hill , the words describe with real freshness and picturesque charm, the view from a hill overlooking the poet's native vale of Towy.

Andrew Matthews-Owen 2006

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856; 150th Anniversary of Death)

Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman's Life and Love )

Robert Schumann wrote Frauenliebe und Leben in 1840, a period during which he composed most of his songs after nearly a decade of writing instrumental music almost exclusively. He had just endured a year long public struggle for permission to marry Clara Wieck, a child prodigy who became one of the great piano virtuosi of her day. Clara's father - and musical mentor and sometime exploiter of her talent for financial gain - forbade the couple to marry on the grounds that Clara's concert career would suffer. He also publicly excoriated Schumann, who was by then gaining considerable repute, by accusing him in print of a range of improprieties, from alcoholism and sexual promiscuity. Only after a lengthy court battle in which Clara's father was found guilty of slander did the couple fulfill their courtship by marrying on September 12, 1840, a day before Clara's 21st birthday.

The eight songs of Frauenliebe und leben depict seminal moments in a woman's life; her first awakening to love, her subsequent marriage and the realisation that she is pregnant. The cycle ends abruptly with the sudden death of her husband. As in most cycles, the audience comes to know the character in Frauenliebe without ever learning her name, or where, when, and how she lives. Instead over the course of eight songs, she reveals her innermost thoughts, offering a vivid emotional outline but leaving the audience to infer the more specific aspects of her life. The songs range in character from poignant expressivity to breathless excitement. Schumann's gift for lyricism and his poetic sensitivity are firmly intact throughout.

It is this gift that allows Chamisso's text to be elevated for the texts themselves are in places mediocre, egotistical even bland. Why would Schumann choose to set these? For all her deference to the God-like love of her life, the final song shows us a steel and independence in this woman's character. Upon hearing of her husband's death, she is not wracked with self pity and loss, she is angry. How could you leave me? It is this revealing emotion, this strength of character that not only helps her through the inevitable grieving but also helps us. We somehow know that she is going to survive. Is this flash of self-belief and toughness a glimpse of the character of Clara Schumann? Just as such an emotion would be seen as inappropriate at the time so too was the professional life of his beloved Clara; a career woman, pianist, composer, devoted mother and wife.

Schumann chose not to set the ninth poem of Chamisso, instead ending here. After an almost recitative-like final outburst, the voice softens as does the supporting harmony and we leave her to her private thoughts and the echo of the melody first heard in the opening bars of the cycle. This moment, with no further words necessary, reassures us that all will be well. Life goes on.

Andrew Matthews-Owen 2006