<<< previous performance <<< >>> next performance >>>
A Grand Night Out:
A Gala evening to celebrate the life of Susan Chilcott
.25th January 2004, Grand Theatre, Leeds
Director: Phillida Lloyd
Compare: Robin Hart
Opera North
English National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Scottish Opera
With contributions from (in alphabetical order):
Clive Bayley
Josephine Barstow
Susan Bickley
Susan Bullock
Iain Burnside
Paul Daniel
Wyn Davies
Karl Daymond
Jonathan Dimbleby
Richard Farnes
Julian Gavin
Robert Hayward
James Holmes
Simon Keenlyside
Janis Kelly
Linda Kitchen
Frances McCafferty
Anthony Michaels-Moore
Anne-Marie Owens
Susan Parry
Linda Richardson
Eric Roberts
Joan Rodgers
Fiona Shaw
Andrew Shore
Phillip Thomas
Paul Wade
Peter Wedd
.ACT 1
|
Verdi: Aida - Grand March Chorus Conductor: Richard Farnes
Beethoven: Fidelio– “Mir ist so wunderbar” Leonore: Susan Parry Marzelline: Linda Richardson Jaquino: Peter Wedd Rocco: Clive Bayley Conductor: Richard Farnes
Mozart: Don Giovanni– “La ci darem la mano” Zerlina: Joan Rodgers Don Giovanni: Simon Keenlyside Conductor: Richard Farnes
Tchaikovsky: Queen of Spades- Yeletsky's aria Yeletsky: Anthony Michaels-Moore Conductor: Richard Farnes
Britten: Peter Grimes- Sea Interlude: Moonlight Orchestra Conductor: Paul Daniel
Britten: Peter Grimes- Quartet: From the Gutter Ellen: Josephine Barstow 1st Niece: Linda Richardson 2nd Niece: Linda kitchen Auntie: Frances McCafferty Conductor: Paul Daniel
Barber - Sure on this Shining Night Joan Rodgers Piano: Iain Burnside
|
|
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana- Easter Hymn Santuzza: Anne-Marie Owens Chorus Conductor: Paul Daniel
Fast Forward Figaro Janis Kelly Linda Kitchen Wyn Davies
Beethoven: Fidelio– “Jetzt, Alter, jetzt hat es Eile!” Pizarro: Robert Hayward Rocco: Clive Bayley Conductor: Paul Daniel
Adams/Weatherley - The HolyCity Julian Gavin Piano: Phillip Thomas
Rossini - Cats Duet Susan Bullock Anne-Marie Owens Piano: Phillip Thomas
Verdi: La Forza del Destino – “Pace, pace mio dio” Leonora: Josephine Barstow Conductor: Paul Daniel
Puccini: Tosca – “Tre sbirri una carrozza” Scarpia: Robert Hayward Spoletta: Paul Wade Chorus Conductor: Richard Farnes
|
ACT II
.
|
De Curtis: Turna a Surriento Gardillo– “Core’ngrato” Julian Gavin (standing in for Dennis O’Niell) Piano: Phillip Thomas
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutti – “Soave sia il vento” Fiordiligi: Joan Rodgers Dorabella: Susan Bickley Don Alfonso: Andrew Shore Conductor: Wyn Davies
Offenbach: Genevieve de Brabant– Gendarmes Duet Eric Roberts Andrew Shore Piano: James Holmes
Noel Coward: I’ve been to a marvelous party Karl Daymond Cole Porter: Kiss me Kate – I hate men Frances McCafferty Piano: James Holmes
Bolcom: George, Amor Susan Bickley Piano: Iain Burnside
Verdi: Macbetto – “Patha oppressa!” Chorus Conductor: Richard Farnes |
|
Puccini: Turandot – “Nessun Dorma” Julian Gavin (standing in for Dennis O’Niell) Conductor: Wyn Davies
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier – Trio Marshalin: Janis Kelly Sophie: Linda Richardson Octavian: Susan Parry Conductor: Richard Farnes
Verdi: Il Trovatore – Miserere Leonora: Susan Bullock Manrico: Julian Gavin Chorus Conductor: Paul Daniel
Britten – Billy Budd – Billy in the Darbies Billy Budd: Simon Keenlyside Conductor: Paul Daniel
Verdi: Otello – “Era la notte / Mille vite mi donasse iddio” Otello: Julian Gavin (standing in for Dennis O’Niell) Iago: Anthony Michaels-Moore Conductor: Richard Farnes
Bernstein: Candide – Finale “Make our garden grow” Candide: Simon Keenlyside Cunegonde: Janis Kelly Chorus Conductor: James Holmes |
What the critics say
Chilcott memorial.
Rian Evans for The Guardian, Tuesday January 27, 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,,1131918,00.html
Four star rating
”The death of soprano Susan Chilcott last September was as tragic as that of many of the heroines she portrayed so vividly. But this gala to raise funds for her young son - a heartfelt collaboration of four companies whose stages Chilcott had graced, Opera North, English and Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera - was emphatically a celebration of her life and career.”
“But it was Simon Keenlyside's singing of Billy in the Darbies from Billy Budd, with Paul Daniel conducting, that was heart-wrenching. Billy faces death with equanimity, serenity and supreme courage, and the parallels were clear.”
.
First steps and farewells.
Stephen Pritchard for The Observer, Sunday February 1, 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,,1137199,00.html
“But it was the Britten moments that were the most heartrending. Josephine Barstow took Chilcott's role as Ellen Orford in the 'From the Gutter' quartet from Grimes and Simon Keenlyside, reprising his Royal Opera performance as Billy in Billy Budd, sang beautifully and so fittingly about facing death with courage and equanimity.”
· Cheques can be sent to the Hugh Chilcott Trust, c/o Opera North, 46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU
Dazzling tribute to a friend lost just as greatness beckoned.
Rupert Christiansen for The Telegraph, 3rd February 2004.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/02/03/bmchil03.xml
”For sheer artistry, the palm goes to Simon Keenlyside for the "Darbies" scene from Billy Budd.”
“!The evening was billed as a celebration, but it was impossible not to feel a dreadful sense of loss. I never met Susan Chilcott, but, like many others, I was enthralled by her singing. Echoing a message in the programme from Placido Domingo, who performed opposite her in The Queen of Spades at Covent Garden, "it is unbelievable that someone you knew so little can touch you so deeply".”
A Grand Night Out.
David Blewitt for The Stage, 12 February 2004
The soprano Susan Chilcott, who died of cancer aged 40 last September, had already firmly launched an international career but in Britain she was only just taking off. Here Opera North rousingly celebrated her achievements. Some of Britain's finest singers, who knew, worked with, admired and loved her, ensured it was an uplifting occasion, a gleaming setting for her life and career.
The evening might have been one laden with a sense of loss. Instead, after a somewhat serious start, there followed a Victorian ballad, show tunes, songs, arias and ensembles both dramatic and witty, which combined fun and seriousness to reflect Chilcott's energy and. sense of fun, her love of life and dedication to her art .
A packed house, which spoke volumes for the esteem in which she was held, enthusiastically applauded item after item. Highlights for me were Anthony Michaels-Moore's touching delivery of Yeletsky's aria from Queen of Spades, Joan Rodgers, Susan-Bickley and Andrew Shore intently shaping Mozart's ravishing 'Soave sia il vento' and Simon Keenlyside's heart-rending portrayal of Billy in the Darbies (Billy Budd).
On a more intimate level, Janis Kelly, Linda Kitchen and Wyn Davies fast-forwarded Mozart’s Figaro with side-splitting results, while Rossini's Cat Duet found Susan Bullock and Anne-Marie Owens straying hilariously into alien territory.
Karl Daymond rivalled Coward in a pointedly rewritten version of I've Been to a Marvellous Party and Frances McCafferty delivered Cole Porter's I Hate Men with seething venom. In sum, an inspiring and worthy celebration.
.
A Grand Night Out.
Rodney Milnes for Opera, April 2004
An evening of great sadness and equally great warmth: sadness at the senseless waste of so glowing a talent as Susan Chilcott, who died of cancer last September; warmth at the participation in this gala celebration of so many artists who loved her, and at the great good humour of so much that took the stage. There were tributes in the programme from (in alphabetical order) Placido Domingo and Lord Harewood; and Josephine Barstow spoke most movingly of the pleasure of working with her younger colleague before leading the female quartet from Grimes, Ellen Orford being one of Chilcott's key roles. Later, Dame Jo sang 'Pace, pace' with the technical ease of a 30-year-old.
There was a slowish start, but Anne-Marie Owens and the combined choruses of the four companies lamming into Mascagni's Easter Hymn gave the evening a lift from which it never came down. Following this with a side-splitting extract from the Wyn Davies/Janis Kelly/Linda Kitchen 'Fast Forward Figaro' set the tone for an evening of devoted music-making interspersed with really good laughs, including Frances McCafferty in 'I Hate Men' and Karl Daymond in his own, decidedly raunchy version of Coward's 'I've been to a marvellous party' (some of the ruder jokes got even louder laughs than he was expecting). If anyone could make the odious 'Cats' Duet' funny it would be Owens and Susan Bullock; they managed it by singing as beautifully as possible (at least, up to the Carmen and Brünnhilde gags at the end). By delivering Offenbach's 'Gendarmes' Duet' pretty straight, Andrew Shore and Eric Roberts proved yet again that less is nearly always more.
More seriously, lain Burnside accompanied Joan Rodgers in Barber's 'Sure on this shining night' and Susan Bickley in Bolcom's 'George' and 'Amor' - unfamiliar territory I'm ashamed to say, and greatly appreciated. Julian Gavin nobly stood in for an indisposed Dennis O'Neill with a ringing' 'Nessun dorma' and the vengeance duet from Otello (not in his repertory) to Anthony Michaels-Moore's lago. Kelly led the Rosenkavalier Trio; Robert Hayward thundered through the Tosca Te Deum and the Pizarro-Rocco duet with Clive Bayley. Simon Keenlyside strolled on with his jacket over his shoulder, sat on the stage, and created a theatre all of his own to sing Billy in the Darbies; this and the finale of the whole company joining in 'Make our garden grow' from Candide left scarcely a dry eye in the house.
Paul Daniel, Wyn Davies, Richard Farnes and James Holmes shared conducting honours. The evening raised £23,000 for the Hugh Chilcott Trust, set up for Chilcott's young son. Warmth won, tempering great, great sadness.