At a time when opportunities seem to be dwindling, Opera Rara continue to give a chance to emerging artists to share their talent with the world through our internationally acclaimed recordings and performances. These artists leave a lasting legacy through their inspiring performances of rare and forgotten operas while learning from the best conductors, musicologists, language coaches and renowned singers in a professional studio setting.
Since 1970, Opera Rara have championed the careers of emerging artists, giving them their studio recording debuts and bringing them to an international stage. We restore rare and forgotten operas, providing unique opportunities to artists, and we need your support to champion exceptional talent.
Situation Starting a career is challenging. Starting a career as a world-class opera singer is a super-human feat. Artists are facing new and continued difficulties with fewer opportunities, lessening their chances of achieving a rewarding, robust career. Even through challenging times for our sector, Opera Rara continues to support emerging artists’ debuts, helping to form their reputation in the music world. But, creating world-class recording and performance opportunities is a costly endeavour.
Solution We continue to facilitate debut studio recordings with exciting emerging international singers. We have expanded this work by launching a Salon Concerts series and by providing further opportunities for international exposure through our online events. In the recording studio, our emerging artists leave a lasting artistic legacy and learn from the best conductors, musicologists, linguists, and coaches in a professional studio setting. This is reflected in their highly acclaimed performances.
Campaign Aims Provide performance and recording opportunities for emerging artists.
Continue programming our Salon Concerts for our emerging artists, providing the opportunity to work in venues across London and beyond.
Finance our production costs to continue providing the rare opportunity for artists to be a part of a truly unique studio recording experience.
Champion emerging artists in increased exposure, international features, reviews, broadcasts and streaming.
Provide an artistic legacy for emerging artists through their recordings.
Only with your support will we be able to continue to champion emerging artists and create unique opportunities to showcase exciting talent.
Opera Rara’s recording of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde has received international praise, garnering accolades and critical acclaim. It has already received a Diamant d’Opéra in Opéra Magazine, has been included in Presto’s Top 25 for two months in a row, received 5-stars in BBC Music Magazine and has been selected as Editor’s Choice in both Gramophone and Limelight. Gramophone also selected it as recording of the month in its latest issue. Read more about its recent successes here:
They all inhabit their characters; and they all sing warmly and phrase with lightly worn style. At the centre of it all, Anne-Catherine Gillet (Zanetta) and Virginie Verrez (Raphaël) are as likeable a pair of lovebirds as you could ask for, Gillet sparkling brightly (but never too sweetly) over her livelier numbers while Verrez brings a lovely, plangent wistfulness to Raphaël’s gentler, more bittersweet arias. The aim, as so often with Offenbach, is to find just enough emotional truth to make you care for these characters, before returning to the laughter refreshed. In company like this, no lover of 19th-century opera could be blamed for succumbing to the charms of this – very much alive – Princesse de Trébizonde.Gramophone
Paul Daniel gets the style just right, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra – a real luxury in operetta – plays with equal measures of gusto and affection. The finales, in particular, sparkle with fun, and the hunting chorus, in which Offenbach channels Weber, bristles with rustic charm… As a bonus, the release includes seven numbers cut between Baden-Baden and the Paris premiere, all worth hearing. Smartly recorded, and with Opera Rara’s beautifully illustrated booklet and informative notes, this is definitely one for the collection.Limelight
Yet the hero of this splendid set is Paul Daniel, who knows exactly how to take risks with Offenbach’s tempos, the final galop leaving you completely winded. Daniel and the LPO remind us of how skilled an orchestrator Offenbach was, knowing how to pass a winning tune around the orchestra in a manner that keeps you on your toes.BBC Music Magazine
The English label Opera Rara is best known for its attention to 19th-century Italian bel canto, but from the start the French repertoire also received considerable attention, in particular the lesser-known repertoire of Jacques Offenbach. While this initially happened in performances with predominantly British soloists, the recordings now mainly aim for the most French-speaking line-up as possible, which mainly benefits the dialogues and thus the atmosphere. And let me immediately add that conductor Paul Daniel and Opera Rara have once again created a sparkling whole. The hilarious moments tumble over each other, but are alternated with the right touch of slightly sentimental lyricism in which Offenbach’s oeuvre also excels.Opus Klassiek
The major bonus on this recording is that the main cast are perfectly French-speaking and familiar with this repertoire. Under the direction of Paul Daniel, the music-making is always playful and never heavy with Anne-Catherine Gillet, Virginie Verrez and their colleagues succeeding in capturing the spirit of the travelling circus. Good humour and musical seriousness sit side by side in perfect symbiosis.Opéra magazine
Conductor Paul Daniel is excellent at the head of the formidable London Philharmonic Orchestra which adorns itself in its most beautiful colours to make the spirit of this music shine… The cast is masterful in their French pronunciation, comedy, style, and wit… As always with Opera Rara, the editorial work is exemplary with an exhaustive booklet…. This boxset is truly a gold mine of completeness… and yet another immense musical, artistic and technical success. How wonderful to be able to immerse oneself in this lively and jubilant work, rich in twists and turns and comedy of all kinds in these dark times!Crescendo
Lucky for us, Opera Rara has given us a complete recording of this Offenbach work. The company cannot be commended enough for its continued efforts in bringing Offenbach’s music back to life through its dazzling recordings. At the head of the formidable London Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Daniel brings panache and rhythmic precision to the great act endings. Amongst the cast, all very well balanced and theatrically engaging, one can’t help but highlight the fabulous singing of Anne-Catherine Gillet, bringing unquestionable style and a smile to our faces whilst listening to this operetta full of pure joy and emotion.El Mundo
The casting is luxurious, all singing in exemplary French. Before focusing on the soloists, it is essential to underline the role of the choir, in all its forms… Frequently interacting with the soloists, these Opera Rara singers show exceptional commitment, precision, balance and colour… The London Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Paul Daniel, finds the tempi, flexibility, and rhythms essential to the life of the work. It does justice to the most authentic colours, as well as to the expression, from the languid tenderness of the solo violin to the ringing sounds of the hunt. The difficult and complex lottery scene is magnificently constructed. As for the spirit, it is omnipresent, from the winks to the crazy onomatopoeia. From the lightness to the final, wild twist, indifference is impossible.Forum Opéra
In this recording, Offenbach’s buffo opera proves highly enjoyable. Conductor Paul Daniel has a fine feel for the music and, without any exaggeration and with tempos that are always appropriate, provides a constant, very smooth musical flow so that the piece never slackens despite two hours of music. The main cast, all excellent, and the chorus are fully integrated into the orchestral sound. There is plenty for the chorus to do, and the Opera Rara Chorus is on fire. Text intelligibility is high, and anyone who can speak French will be able to follow the action effortlessly.Pizzicato
The performance sparkles. French-speaking singers dominate the cast, led by the gleaming mezzo of Virginie Verrez, who has fun with Prince Raphael’s bogus toothache, and Anne-Catherine Gillet’s attractively voiced Zanetta. The conductor, Paul Daniel, keeps the London Philharmonic Orchestra on its toes and the spoken dialogue, always a risky area, is very brief, animated and in French. Financial Times
With a sweetly absurd libretto and playful score, the work was created with a lot of care… the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Paul Daniel takes audible pleasure in the music and the cast, almost-exclusively French speaking, are top notch, led by Virginie Verrez and Anne-Catherine Gillet. La Libre Belgique
Last night, Opera Rara won its fourth International Opera Award for best Complete Opera Recording for its studio release of Mercadante’s Il proscritto (ORC62). Representing the company in Warsaw was Opera Rara’s Chief Executive Henry Little, who said: ‘Our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi, currently conducting at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, has been the champion and driving force behind this project from the very beginning when he discovered Mercadante’s original autograph score in the Naples Conservatory Library during the pandemic. Our profound thanks to Carlo for his leadership.’
To celebrate this achievement, the recording is now available at 25% off on the Opera Rara website with the code IOA2023 until midnight, Monday 13 November.
Set in Edinburgh at the time of Oliver Cromwell, Il proscritto had not been performed since its premiere in Naples in 1842. Rizzi galvanised Opera Rara to undertake the full restoration of the score in 2020, and two years later, with Ramón Vargas, Iván Ayón-Rivas, Irene Roberts and Elizabeth DeShong singing the four principal roles, Rizzi and Opera Rara, together with Britten Sinfonia, recorded the work in the studio and presented it at London’s Barbican. Opera Rara released the first ever recording of Il proscritto in April 2023 which was voted Critics’ Choice by an array of international publications including The Guardian, Opera News, BBC Music Magazine, Oper!, Presto Music and Opéra magazine:
‘Chief honours go to Carlo Rizzi who leads a lovingly detailed reading with plenty of orchestral pizazz provided by the Britten Sinfonia. Not only does he tease out the score’s numerous colors (Mercadante’s woodwind writing is especially memorable throughout), his sense of rubato and his supple way of ensuring that singers have expressive wiggle room is first-class. The chorus-writing is rewarding too, with the Opera Rara men splendid as disgruntled Royalist exiles in a nocturnal clifftop scene… the whole thing has been beautifully recorded with impressive depth to the sound and voices perfectly framed against the orchestra. With sleeve notes up to Opera Rara’s usual high standard, this is a thoroughly recommendable rediscovery.’ Opera News
Opera Rara remain record holders in the Complete Opera Recording category having won three times in the past for Offenbach’s Offenbach’s Fantasio (ORC51) in 2015, Donizetti’s Les Martyrs (ORC52) in 2016 and Rossini’s Semiramide (ORC57) in 2019.
In September, Opera Rara begins its three-year Donizetti Song Project, an ambitious initiative which will see the recording and performance of nearly 200 solo songs by the composer. The project is launched by world-renowned bel canto specialist, tenor Lawrence Brownlee, in concert with Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi at London’s Wigmore Hall on 9 September at 1:00PM. Originally planned as a duo recital with baritone Etienne Dupuis, Brownlee will now present a solo programme featuring works by Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini, Verdi and Schubert.
Italian baritone Nicola Alaimo replaces Dupuis in the recording of the baritone songs in the Donizetti Song Project, returning after his performance earlier this year as Murena in Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma. The Times called his performance “enthralling … idiomatic in Donizetti’s songful lines.” A recital with Alaimo will be announced at a later date.
The programme for Lawrence Brownlee and Carlo Rizzi’s recital on 9 September is:
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) “Lungi ne vai” “Non v’è piu barbaro” “Malvina” “Non giova il sospirar” “Sovra il remo” “O anime” (unfinished)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Vier Canzonen, D.688 “Non t’accostar all’urna” “Guarda che bianca luna” “Da quel sembiante” “Mio ben ricordati”
Gaetano Donizetti “Ella riposa” “Lamento” “V’era un dì” “Me voglio fà ‘na casa”
Donizetti’s Contemporaries Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) La lontananza Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) Ricordanza Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Lo spazzacamino Brindisi
Gaetano Donizetti “L’ora del ritrovo” “Tu porgesti” Il sospiro “Corri destrier”
Tickets for the recital can be found at www.wigmore-hall.org.uk. For those who have already purchased tickets to the recital with Lawrence Brownlee, Etienne Dupuis and Carlo Rizzi, these are still valid. If you no longer wish to attend, please contact the box office to arrange an exchange or refund (boxoffice@wigmore-hall.org.uk / 020 7935 2141).
Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde Available on 22 September, pre-order from 25 August Pre-release track 1: Raphael and Zanetta’s duet, ‘La voila!’ – available 25 August Pre-release track 2: Act 3, Ronde des pages, ‘Faisons notre ronde’ – available 8 September
On Friday 22 September, Opera Rara release Jacques Offenbach’s comic operetta La Princesse de Trébizonde with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) conducted by French opera specialist Paul Daniel. This latest release marks the premiere studio recording of musicologist Jean-Christophe Keck’s new critical edition of the three-act Paris version from December 1869. It also includes previously unpublished extracts from the original two-act Baden-Baden version first heard in July 1869 which were found fortuitously by Keck in one ‘magic wardrobe’ within the Offenbach family estate.
Whilst regarded as the father of the operetta, most famous for writing the ever-popular Galop infernal immortalized as the French Cancan from Orpheus in the Underwold and the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann, Keck’s tireless unearthing of Offenbach rarities for Boosey & Hawkes’ complete ‘Offenbach Edition Keck’, has helped reposition the composer’s legacy as more than just one of fun and frivolity. Offenbach’s prolific output and mastery of his craft showed how mass appeal could go hand in hand with high-quality music making; and beneath the surface of even the silliest of plots could be reflections both philosophical and political. The travelling circus community of La Princesse de Trébizonde attain great wealth and status over-night yet rather than happiness associated with this social mobility, boredom quickly sets in followed by a yearning for their former life of simple play and entertainment.
Opera Rara, best known for its restoration and revival of bel canto operas, has also been a champion of Offenbach’s works since its founding in 1970. In February, the company brought out its latest Classics boxset: Celebrating Offenbach (ORB3) featuring remastered studio recordings of Robinson Crusoe (ORC7) and Vert-Vert (ORC41), alongside Entre Nous (ORR243), a selection of rare arias, duets and ensembles from more than twenty of the composer’s lesser-known works. Further Opera Rara recordings of Offenbach include Christopher Columbus (ORC2) and Fantasio (ORC51) which won an International Opera Award in 2015.
The LPO, Paul Daniel and a hand-picked cast of singers came together in September 2022 to give a one-off performance of La Princesse de Trébizonde at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall following a week in the recording studio. For both the performance and recording, Offenbach’s original dialogue was edited by Jeremy Sams: ‘Paul Daniel brought it all to iridescent life with elastic phrasing and masterly control of rubato that made room for moments of dreamy romance amidst the musical mayhem. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, a real luxury in comic operetta, was on magnificent form… A scintillating concert, then, and one that whets the appetite for Opera Rara’s recording of the work’ (Musical America).
Continuing its year-long celebration of Donizetti’s 225th birthday, on Saturday 9 September, Opera Rara launch its Donizetti Song Project at Wigmore Hall. Led by Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi, the multi-year initiative will see Donizetti’s entire corpus of songs – nearly 200 in total of which many have never been heard before – brought to life through performances and recordings. In May, Opera Rara presented L’esule di Roma, the 27th complete opera by Donizetti to be revived by the company at Cadogan Hall led by Rizzi with Britten Sinfonia.
West Green House Opera brings to life Offenbach’s 1867 version of Robinson Crusoe in a concert staging by Thomas Guthrie. Sung in English in a translation by Opera Rara co-founder Don White and loosely based on Daniel Defoe’s classic, Robinson Crusoe is the tale of a hopeless romantic who runs away to sea only to be shipwrecked. The performance is one night only Friday 28th July 2023 at West Green House’s Theatre on the Lake. More information can be found at www.westgreenhouseopera.co.uk.
Robinson Crusoe is one of three features on Opera Rara’s latest Classics release, Celebrating Offenbach. Although he wrote over 100 operas during his extraordinary career, only a fraction of Offenbach’s output is regularly performed today.
This boxset provides an introduction to more than twenty of the composer’s lesser-known works, including the complete studio recordings of Vert-Vert and Robinson Crusoe, as well as a selection from some of his finest works, all performed by an impressive group of international stars including Jennifer Larmore, Toby Spence, Loïc Félix and Laura Claycomb.
Remastered to the best audio quality and featuring a specially commissioned essay by specialist Marco Ladd, these recordings will enchant Offenbach fans with their subtle charm and humor.
Opera Rara’s acclaimed recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto will be broadcast as part of the Chicago network’s prestigious Opera Series, and syndicated across the USA.
For the first time, Opera Rara will be featured in a prestigious North American radio series that broadcasts operas from the world’s finest stages. The WFMT Opera Series, which regularly features performances from New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and Vienna State Opera, will broadcast Opera Rara’s performance of the bel canto rarity, Mercadante’s Il proscritto, on Saturday 8 July. Featuring interviews with Opera Rara’s Artistic Director, Carlo Rizzi, as well as musicologist Roger Parker and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, the broadcast will be syndicated to over 60 radio stations across the USA and heard in over 350 markets, bringing Opera Rara’s performance to nearly 500,000 people.
The Chicago-based classical music radio station, WFMT, is accessible via broadcast at 98.7FM (in the Chicago area), streaming live worldwide at wfmt.com, and on the WFMT app. The recording, which has been critically acclaimed in the UK and across Europe, features Carlo Rizzi conducting Britten Sinfonia, the Opera Rara Chorus and an outstanding cast including Ramón Vargas, Iván Ayón-Rivas, Irene Roberts, Elizabeth DeShong, Sally Matthews, Goderdzi Janelidze, Alessandro Fisher, Susana Gaspar and Niall Anderson.
Estlin Usher, Director of WFMT comments: “We at the WFMT Network are absolutely thrilled to feature Opera Rara’s stunning Il proscritto in this year’s WFMT Opera Series. Opera Rara’s mission of bringing to light unknown, recently-rediscovered works is such an important service to the opera repertoire, and we are privileged to champion their hard work and to bring their talent and ambition to opera listeners across the United States. I am certain after these broadcasts there will be new fans of Mercadante and Opera Rara in the near future!”
Henry Little, Chief Executive of Opera Rara adds: “Our mission at Opera Rara is to search for lost or unjustly forgotten operas, to restore them through new performing editions and to present them to the world through studio recordings and live performances. Mercadante’s Il proscritto was only performed a few times in 1842 after its premiere in Naples, following which it remained overlooked and forgotten in the Naples Conservatory library. What we found through the restoration process was a gem of an opera that had been lost due to time and circumstance. For this work to be received so well by modern audiences and to be heard by hundreds of thousands of listeners in the US and worldwide honours the brilliance of this opera and the commitment and effort which the Opera Rara team, led by Maestro Carlo Rizzi, have invested to give Il proscritto the place we feel it deserves in the opera repertory of 2023 and beyond.”
When the world shut down in March 2020, the discovery online of Mercadante’s original autograph score of Il proscritto in the Naples Conservatory Library proved a lifeline for Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi. Set in Edinburgh at the time of Oliver Cromwell, Il proscritto had not been performed since its première in Naples in 1842. Rizzi galvanised Opera Rara to undertake the full restoration of the score and, two years later, he conducted Il proscritto in London.
As Musical Americacommented: “This unearthed gem proves that Mercadante is well worth investigating… Rizzi, a doyen of Italian conductors, was in his element, leading the excellent Britten Sinfonia in a thoroughly involving account of the score. In a graceful and detailed reading, he teased out Mercadante’s often ravishing orchestral colours, while ensuring the music never lacked for fire in its belly. The outstanding cast was up to Opera Rara’s usual high standard.”
Edited by Opera Rara’s Artistic Dramaturg Roger Parker in collaboration with Ian Schofield, Il proscritto is the fourth opera by Mercadante – following Orazi e Curiazi (ORC12), Emma d’Antiochia (ORC26) and Virginia (ORC39) – to be restored by Opera Rara. The new performing edition is now available worldwide through Casa Ricordi, distributor of Opera Rara’s editorial catalogue of more than 30 complete operas. The performance of Il proscritto was realised with Britten Sinfonia with whom Opera Rara previously collaborated on a concert and recording of Donizetti’s Il Paria (ORC60) in 2019.
The US Broadcast of Mercadante’s Il proscritto is generously made possibly by support from Islée Oliva Salinas and Michael Buckley.
Set in Edinburgh against the backdrop of Oliver Cromwell’s rule, Il proscritto saw a marked return to melody by Mercadante who retained the harmonic experiments and orchestral richness of his “reform” operas but restored aspects of bel canto lyricism. Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas (as Giorgio Argyll) sings opposite young Peruvian tenor Iván Ayón-Rivas, winner of 2021 Operalia competition, as his rival Arturo Murray. Their mutual love interest is Malvina Douglas played by American mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts. The cast is completed by Elizabeth DeShong, Sally Matthews, Goderdzi Janelidze, Susana Gaspar, Niall Anderson and Alessandro Fisher.
“Mercadante is no faithful follower of fashion, as Carlo Rizzi, who rediscovered the opera in the Naples Conservatory archives, demonstrates in a vivid performance… Peruvian tenor Ivan Ayon-Rivas is at the top of his game. As is Irene Robert’s Malvina with lush tone and real heartache in the remarkable finale to the last act, where the composer let his three principals rule the stage. As the metaphorical curtain falls Malvina is dead, but Rizzi and Opera Rara have indeed brought her opera back to life.” BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE – 5 stars
“Opera Rara’s indefatigable work has truly helped in the restoration of Mercadante’s reputation… Rizzi leads with a firm yet sensitive hand and his cast is excellent. Warring tenors Ramón Vargas and Iván Ayón-Rivas are well-contrasted, the former darker-toned, the former darker-toned, the latter brighter. The object of their affections is the soft-grained mezzo Irene Roberts, contrasting with the brighter thrust of Elizabeth DeShong’s voice – she sings the travesti role (and slays the big number). As ever, orchestra and chorus are top notch, and Opera Rara’s presentation both information and stylish.” OPERA NOW – 4 stars
“The key performer is conductor Carlo Rizzi, who heats up the drama, and probably the fine Britten Sinfonia, to boiling point… Il proscritto deserves its rediscovery.” FINANCIAL TIMES – 4 stars
“Opera Rara’s disinterring of forgotten works continues with this uneven gem by Saverio Mercadante, unheard for nearly two centuries but lifted from the Naples Conservatory archives by Carlo Rizzi, who conducts with pace and conviction… Malvina, an unusually complex heroine [is] beautifully sung here by Irene Roberts, her mellow mezzo-soprano drawing the ear… with another mezzo as her loyal brother Odoardo, a role with virtuoso passages that Elizabeth DeShong dispatches impressively.” THE GUARDIAN – 4 stars
“A good connoisseur of this repertoire, the Italian conductor [Carlo Rizzi] knows how, with as much science as taste, to give a constant dynamic to this intrigue… The characters are excellently highlighted, and the scenes follow one another with an intensity that does not weaken. The recording benefits from a team of singers who are often very similar in tone color, which results in remarkable duets between Giorgio and Arturo, or Malvina and Odoardo. The Mexican Ramon Vargas embodies the first with intact vocal dignity and ardor, after forty years of career. Facing him, as Arturo, the Peruvian Ivan Ayon-Rivas, winner of the “Operalia” Competition in 2021, is a revelation. In his loose, inventive, light-bearing song, we recognize the influence of his masters, Juan Diego Florez and Luigi Alva. The American Irene Roberts lets Malvina’s own energy and turmoil shine through perfectly, drawing an endearing portrait of her. As for her compatriot Elizabeth DeShong, she lends Odoardo a refined tone, with beautiful copper colors. His air “Ahi! del giorno sanguinoso”… is one of the highlights of the disc.” OPÉRA MAGAZINE – Diamond Rating
“Irene Roberts endows the courted Malvina with elegance and cool detachment, which in turn stands in pleasant contrast to Elizabeth DeShong’s powerful bravura singing. Between the arias, the Opera Rara Chorus really heats up the eerie romantic story; the supporting roles are cast just as carefully as the main parts. The Opera Rara label once again proves that Saverio Mercadante is much more than a musicological footnote.” OPER MAGAZIN – Disc of the month
“Lots to enjoy both vocally and orchestrally on the world premiere recording of this shamelessly melodramatic 1842 opera about political and romantic conflicts in Cromwellian Scotland, not least the rare opportunity to hear two tenors and two mezzos going head-to-head in a couple of rip-roaring duets. Ramón Vargas spars thrillingly with impressive newcomer Iván Ayón-Rivas in their big Act II face-off, whilst DeShong and Roberts are beautifully contrasted as the Douglas siblings – and Rizzi conducts like he believes in every bar.” PRESTO MUSIC
“With their new release, Opera Rara delivers a near-perfect rendition of “Il Proscritto.” Carlo Rizzi, at the helm of the orchestral forces of Britten Sinfonia, conducts with verve and dramatic intuition, yet also with a keen sense for the score’s more descriptive passages…” OPERA WIRE
“Rizzi by and large makes a strong case for it, conducting with care and considerable verve throughout, and, with the Britten Sinfonia on fine form, places due emphasis on Mercadante’s striking orchestration, all oily clarinets, melancholy horns and churning strings. As Giorgio, Ramón Vargas, mature-sounding and slightly gritty in tone, broods, obsesses and threatens magnificently, while Iván Ayón-Rivas’s Arturo in contrast is altogether more youthful and elegant in his bewilderment, despair and passion. Their big confrontation is spectacularly good, as is Elizabeth DeShong in Odoardo’s aria, thrillingly sung and admirably secure over a massive vocal range.” GRAMOPHONE
Treasures from The Foyle Opera Rara Collection at The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama on public display for the first time
Performances with emerging artists: mezzo-soprano Kezia Bienek and tenor Julian Henao Gonzalez in recital with pianist James Southall
EXHIBITION: Sat. 10 – Sun. 18 June 2023, Foyle Opera Rara Room, Raymond Edwards Building GUIDED TOURS: Tue. 13, Wed. 14 & Thu. 15 June 2023 at 12.15pm, 2.30pm and 3.15pm LUNCHTIME CONCERTS: Tue. 13 & Wed. 14 June 2023 at 1.15pm, Dora Stoutzker Hall
The ongoing partnership between Opera Rara and The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama [RWCMD] finds new voice in June with an exhibition that delves into The Foyle Opera Rara Collection, one of the finest collections of manuscripts, letters and memorabilia relating to 19th century Italian bel canto opera (10-18 June). Two lunchtime concerts by mezzo-soprano Kezia Bienek (13 June), tenor Julian Henao Gonzalez (14 June) and pianist James Southall, Interim Music Director of the David Seligman Opera School at RWCMD, include restorations of Donizetti songs from the collection. The concerts and exhibition are part of RWCMD’s programme of fringe events complementing the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
Henry Little, Opera Rara’s Chief Executive states: “Opera Rara thrives because of its partnerships. Following the relocation of our archive to the College in 2018, where it is now the Foyle Opera Rara Collection, we have continued to find connections between our two institutions. Whether that is in presenting the College’s alumni in our series of salon concerts or in our recording projects – giving them their studio recording debut – or by finding new ways to promote the Collection, such as we are doing with the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World fringe events, we look forward to working with the College to provide unique and special opportunities for their students.”
Tim Rhys-Evans MBE, RWCMD’s Director of Music added: “The partnership between RWCMD and Opera Rara is very special because it is as multi-layered as it is meaningful. Housing the Foyle Opera Rara Collection here at the College gives our staff, students, and the wider community, access to some incredible original source material from such an important period in the history of opera. Several of our students have gone on to sing at Opera Rara performances and on Opera Rara recordings, unearthing long-forgotten opera gems and delivering work of the highest quality with our International Chair in Conducting, and Opera Rara Artistic Director, Carlo Rizzi.
2023 Janet Price Prize winner Weiying Sim with Janet Price and the Prize judges
This year saw the partnership develop to include Opera Rara Chief Executive, Henry Little join the panel for RWCMD’s Janet Price Opera Prize which celebrates bel canto opera, and this year offers the winner an Opera Rara recital at a London venue. Lastly, for the first time this year, as part of the Cardiff Singer of the World programme of events, Opera Rara will present two recitals at RWCMD, celebrating undiscovered bel canto treasures. The Opera Rara/RWCMD partnership creates fantastic opportunities for our current students, career development for our alumni, and is a big draw to students applying to be part of the David Seligman Opera School.”
The events put the spotlight on the relationship between the College and Opera Rara which began with the purchase of The Foyle Opera Rara Collection in 2018 – now at the centre of the college’s specialist collections – and has continued with a focus on Opera Rara providing professional development opportunities for students and alumni of the David Seligman Opera School. These include the chance to work alongside the world’s finest bel canto singers on stage and in the recording studio; RWCMD alumni, baritone Lluís Calvet i Pey and tenor André Henriques made their debuts in Opera Rara’s recent performance and recording of Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma, and RWCMD alumni will continue to feature in Opera Rara mainstage performances in coming seasons. The winner of the Janet Price Prize at RWCMD, named in honour of the great Welsh soprano who featured in Opera Rara’s first ever recording*, will be presented in recital as part of Opera Rara’s salon concert series (the 2020 prize winner, soprano Elena Zamudio, will give a salon concert recital with pianist James Southall this November).
The close partnership also continues through conductor Carlo Rizzi, who as well as being Artistic Director of Opera Rara, is RWCMD International Chair in Conducting. He comments: “The partnership between Opera Rara and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is something very close to my heart. As both Opera Rara’s Artistic Director and the College’s International Chair in Conducting, I am able to see first-hand the impact this makes on students, whether they are exploring the Foyle Opera Rara Collection in search of rare new works to perform, seeing an original manuscript of a revered composer, or preparing for their future life as a professional in the industry. With the Collection at the College, we hope in time that this partnership will enhance the world-class education students receive and continue to provide professional opportunities for alumni.”
* Donizetti’s Ugo, conte di Parigi
EXHIBITION Sat. 10 – Sun. 18 June 2023, Foyle Opera Rara Room, Raymond Edwards Building GUIDED TOURS: Tue. 13, Wed. 14 & Thu. 15 June 2023 at 12.15pm, 2.30pm and 3.15pm
Carlo Rizzi and soprano Joyce El-Khoury explore the Foyle Opera Rara Collection c. Kirsten McTernan
In the year that Opera Rara marks the 225th anniversary of the birth of Donizetti, there’s a strong focus on the composer in the first public exhibition from the RWCMD Foyle Opera Rara Collection, with letters and signed manuscripts by the composer. The autograph manuscripts in the collection offer captivating glimpses into Donizetti’s creative process, revealing how apprentices worked alongside him and how revision and rewriting were part of his musical practice. The show includes the only known autographed manuscript of Donizetti’s intriguing alternate ending for the final opera staged in his lifetime, Caterina Cornaro, written following the work’s muted reception at its premiere in Naples in 1844.
The exhibition also puts the spotlight on the wider operatic community in the 19th century and the lives and creative practices of its influential musicians, in their own words, in the first public display of a selection of letters (from the hundreds held in the Collection) between composers and librettists, and composers and publishers – alongside watercolour caricatures from the period by artist Frederick Chalon (a firm favourite of Queen Victoria). An ongoing research project at the RWCMD aims to uncover and make more widely accessible the stories behind the letters. The exhibition also outlines the history of The Foyle Opera Rara Collection at RWCMD, some of the fascinating paper conservation work undertaken on key items and ways in which students and academics engage with it in performance and studies. Judith Dray, RWCMD Head of Library Services, will lead three days of tours of the exhibition in the dedicated Foyle Opera Rara Collection Room at RWCMD Raymond Edwards Building (13-15 June).
ABOUT THE FOYLE OPERA RARA COLLECTION
Carlo Rizzi and Joyce El-Khoury at the Foyle Opera Rara Collection c. Kirsten McTernan
At the centre of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama’s special collections, the Foyle Opera Rara Collection is free to access and open to everyone. Reflecting the interests of Patric Schmid and Don White who founded Opera Rara in 1970, the collection focuses on the great Italian bel canto tradition and features a wealth of material which provides a unique insight into opera production in the nineteenth century.
It includes an extensive collection of operatic manuscripts – many handwritten by the composers themselves, first and early editions of nineteenth-century opera scores, letters written by composers and singers, and a large array of other opera-related archival resources such as pictures, postcards, programmes, playbills, costume designs and press cuttings.
Carlo Rizzi and Joyce El-Khoury with Judith Dray, RWCMD Head of Library Services c. Kirsten McTernan
The collection was largely amassed by the founders of Opera Rara who travelled through Europe, scouring music shops and book shops, collecting items they thought were interesting. Because of this, the collection is extremely varied. It includes: early and first edition scores of nineteenth century operas; autograph manuscripts in the hands of Donizetti, Mercadante, Mayr, Pacini and others; early manuscript copies of whole scores and individual numbers; handwritten letters by nineteenth-century composers and singers; early libretti; artwork relating to opera; other opera-related memorabilia; Opera Rara’s own archives including performing scores and designs.
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama was able to acquire the Opera Rara Collection, now named the Foyle Opera Rara Collection, following a major grant from the Foyle Foundation. The Foyle Foundation also generously funded the relocation of the collection and the employment of an archivist for the first year of the collection being in Cardiff. RWCMD is also grateful to the Colwinston Charitable Trust, which has funded work on the Collection, including its storage, cataloguing and care, as well as employing an archivist for a further year. Manuscripts from the Collection have been conserved thanks to a grant from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust, supported by the Welsh Government.
OPERA RARA LUNCHTIME CONCERTS AT DORA STOUTZKER HALL Tue. 13 June at 1.15pm: Kezia Bienek and James Southall Wed. 14 June at 1.15pm: Julian Henao Gonzalez and James Southall TICKETS: £10-£12
As part of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, two Opera Rara lunchtime concerts feature emerging artists, mezzo-soprano Kezia Bienek (who recently sung the role of Leontina in Opera Rara’s performance and recording of L’esule di Roma) and tenor Julian Henao Gonzalez, making his Opera Rara performance debut, with pianist James Southall, Interim Music Director of the David Seligman Opera School at RWCMD. Featuring undiscovered bel canto treasures from the Foyle Opera Rara Collection, curated and introduced by Opera Rara’s music consultant Roger Parker, the recitals feature songs and operatic excerpts by Donizetti and contemporaries including Bellini, Rossini and Verdi, mixing well-known repertoire with rarely performed songs from the archive. Both singers will feature in Opera Rara’s Salon Recital Series in London later this year: Julian Henao Gonzalez with pianist Anna Tilbrook on 21 June, and Kezia Bienek with James Southall on 5 October.
PROGRAMMES Tue. 13 June | 1.15pm Kezia Bienek, mezzo-soprano James Southall, piano
Bei labbri by Gaetano Donizetti Che non mi disse by Gaetano Donizetti Occhio nero by Gaetano Donizetti Sull’onda by Gaetano Donizetti La conocchia by Gaetano Donizetti La Fiancée by Gaetano Donizetti Ne me plaignis pas by Gaetano Donizetti La folle by Saverio Mercadante La primavera by Saverio Mercadante La folle by Gaetano Donizetti “Cruda sorte” from L’italiana in Algeri by Gioachino Rossini
Odi Elisa: questa è l’ora by Gaetano Donizetti Mi lagnerò tacendo by Gioachino Rossini Sovra il remo sta curvando by Gaetano Donizetti “Fra poco a me ricovero ” from Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti Vanne o rosa by Vincenzo Bellini D’ogni più sacro impegno”, from L’occasione fa il ladro by Gioachino Rossini Morte! Et pourtant hier by Gaetano Donizetti Oh! ne me chasse pas by Gaetano Donizetti Il tramonto by Giuseppe Verdi “Una furtiva lagrima” from L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti
With two ground-breaking performances of bel canto rarities, three new highly-anticipated recording releases, a revelatory Wigmore Hall concert and a series of engaging events, our forthcoming season of live operatic archaeology celebrates the past made new and features the biggest names in opera alongside exciting emerging talent.
We return to the recording studio in May for one of Donizetti’s experimental Neapolitan works, L’esule di Roma. Our 47th restoration project, the new critical edition was recently completed by Roger Parker and Ian Schofield and will be our 27th Donizetti revival. Conducted by our Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi and in partnership with Britten Sinfonia, we will present a concert performance of this milestone opera on 11 May 2023 at Cadogan Hall. The recording and performance features Albina Shagimuratova, Nicola Alaimo and Sergey Romanovsky.
Continuing our exploration of Donizetti’s lesser-known works, in September we will begin a multi-year project to record and perform all of Donizetti’s solo songs. The Donizetti Song Project, under the artistic leadership of Carlo Rizzi and curated by internationally recognised Donizetti scholar Roger Parker, will bring to light the nearly 200 songs by the composer who was the main source of inspiration for Opera Rara’s founders over 53 years ago. With eight new recital recordings by some of the world’s greatest bel canto specialists, the project will also include performances at London’s Wigmore Hall as well as a salon series showcasing exciting emerging talent. Lost to time and circumstance, many of these songs will receive their first performance in modern times.
Tenor Lawrence Brownlee and baritone Etienne Dupuis are joined by Carlo Rizzi at the piano on 9 September 2023 for the first of our Donizetti & Friends concerts at Wigmore Hall. Opera Rara’s Artist Ambassadors Ermonela Jaho and Michael Spyres will each record their own recital albums in 2024, and the recordings and performances will continue through the 2025/26 season. Over the course of the project, we aim to record and perform his entire solo song output, expanding the song repertoire for current and future generations. The Donizetti Song Project is generously supported by the Colwinston Charitable Trust, the Cockayne Grants for the Arts of The London Community Foundation and Opera Rara’s Donizetti Syndicate.
We are pleased to welcome H.E. Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the UK, as Opera Rara’s Donizetti Patron, a new patronage created in the 225th anniversary year of the composer’s birth. With the intention of further strengthening our relationship with the UK’s vibrant Anglo-Italian community, from 2023 to 2026 Ambassador Lambertini will champion our work of restoring, performing and recording the lost and forgotten masterpieces of one of Italy’s best-known composers.
Ambassador Lambertini states: “I am honored to be named Opera Rara’s Donizetti Patron, particularly in this special year that marks the 225th anniversary of Donizetti’s birth. As the Italian Ambassador to the UK, and an opera lover myself, I am passionate about fostering closer cultural ties between our two countries. Opera Rara’s work to revive and promote the forgotten operatic gems of Donizetti – and of many other outstanding Italian authors – is an important part of that. I look forward to championing their efforts over the next four years and sharing the beauty and richness of Donizetti’s music with the large and passionate UK’s Anglo-Italian community.”
The 2023/24 season sees the releases of three complete opera recordings. The first is the highly-anticipated recording of Mercadante’s Il proscritto. Restored from the autograph manuscript and recorded for the first time ever, it will be released worldwide on 14 April 2023, and features performances by Ramón Vargas, Iván Ayón-Rivas, Irene Roberts, and Elizabeth DeShong with the Britten Sinfonia conducted by Carlo Rizzi. In autumn 2023 we will release our recording of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde, the first recording of Jean-Christophe Keck’s critical edition. Anne-Catherine Gillet and Virginie Verrez lead the ensemble cast with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel. The recording of Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma will be released in spring 2024.
Adding to our year of operatic restorations, we are pleased to continue our Salon Concert and Opera Insider series as well as our online events. In June 2023, we partner with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the BBCCardiff Singer of the World Competition to present a set of lunchtime concerts exploring undiscovered bel canto treasures from the Foyle Opera Rara Collection held at the College. Mezzo-soprano Kezia Bienek and tenor Julian Henao Gonzalez are joined by pianist James Southall for concerts in the College’s Dora Stoutzker Hall. This will be paired with an exhibition and public tours of the Collection. Bienek, Henao Gonzalez and Southall will also feature in our London salon concert series later in the year alongside other artists.
Later in 2024, we once again partner with the Hallé for another ground-breaking recording and performance in Manchester. Opera Rara’s former Artistic Director Sir Mark Elder returns to conduct this exciting project. We look forward to sharing information on this and many more discoveries with you throughout the year. We invite you to explore our season and the many ways you can join us on a journey of operatic discovery.
