Prom 50 - Cummings and the AAM bring the house down with Samson at the Proms

Laurence Cummings conducts the Academy of Ancient Music
© BBC/Sisi Burn

Allan Clayton (Samson)

Jacquelyn Stucker (Dalila)

Joélle Harvey (Israelite Woman)

Jess Dandy (Micah)

Brindley Sherratt (Harapha)

Jonathan Lemalu (Manoa)

Will Pate (Messenger)

Philharmonia Chorus

Academy of Ancient Music

Laurence Cummings (harpsichord/director)

7pm, Wednesday 23 August, 2023

BBC Prom 50

Royal Albert Hall, London

★★★★

Allan Clayton & the Academy of Ancient Music
© BBC/Sisi Burn

Handel, George Frideric (1685-1759): Samson (1741-2, rev. 1743)

'The Philharmonia Chorus’ performance was totally convincing'. 

'Clayton’s Samson was unflinching in rejecting Dalila’s pleas, but showed vulnerability too, never afraid to sing incredibly quietly, lamenting the “Total eclipse” of his sight with heartbreaking pianissimo control on the words “no moon”'.

'Stucker’s Dalila was bright-toned and full of self-righteousness, her “plaintive notes” more wheedling than sensuous, but beautiful nevertheless'. 

Brindley Sherratt & the Academy of Ancient Music
© BBC/Sisi Burn

Dandy:

'When Cummings kept the players back, her rich tone was allowed to shine through, with particular expression of pain in her long-held “griefs” in “Return, oh God of hosts”'.

'Brindley Sherratt was in danger of stealing the show as Harapha, his arresting presence dominating the stage as he strode on, delivering his first recit from memory'.

Jacquelyn Stucker & Joélle Harvey
© BBC/Sisi Burn

Cummings & the AAM:

' consistently energetic presence, he commanded the combined forces with enthusiasm, making for a memorably magnificent performance'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Strong cast lifts Wake-Walker's constrained staging in Glyndebourne Tour's Fidelio

Gertrude Thoma (Estella)
© Richard Hubert Smith

Glyndebourne Tour 2021

Ben Glassberg (conductor)

Frederic Wake-Walker (director)

Anna Jones (designer)

Peter Mumford (lighting designer)

Adam Young, FRAY Studio (projection designer)

Glyndebourne Chorus

Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra

Callum Thorpe (Rocco), Adam Smith (Florestan),
Dorothea Herbert (Leonore)
 & Dingle Yandell (Don Pizarro)
© Richard Hubert Smith

Gertrude Thoma (Estella)

Gavan Ring (Jaquino)

Carrie-Ann Williams (Marzelline)

Callum Thorpe (Rocco)

Dorothea Herbert (Leonore)

Dingle Yandell (Don Pizarro)

Robert Lewis (First Prisoner)

Tom Mole (Second Prisoner)

Adam Smith (Florestan)

Jonathan Lemalu (Don Fernando)

Saturday 16 October 2021

Glyndebourne, East Sussex

★★★

Dorothea Herbert (Leonore) & the Glyndebourne Chorus
© Richard Hubert Smith

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Fidelio

(libretto by Joseph von Sonnleithner, revised by Stephan von Breuning and Georg Friedrich Treitschke)

(new spoken text in this production conceived by Frederic Wake-Walker, written in collaboration with Peter Cant and Gertrude Thoma. Leonore's poem written by Zoë Palmer)

Adam Smith (Florestan)
© Richard Hubert Smith

'Beethoven’s canonic quartet is surely one of the highlights of Act 1, and it certainly did not disappoint here musically, with well-balanced and blended singing from all four singers'. 

'Leonore and Florestan ... finally get the opportunity to engage in Act 2, and Dorothea Herbert and Adam Smith make the most of this, with the most moving singing of the show'.

'Smith’s opening piano high G was incredibly controlled, yet he was not afraid to use the strain of projecting Beethoven’s high tessitura above the orchestra to great effect'.

'Ben Glassberg and the orchestra’s attention to detail was strong, and they avoided the very real possibility in Beethoven’s scoring of drowning out the singers'.

'Wake-Walker’s staging, without the dialogue, leads to a lot of static, ‘stand and deliver’ singing from the key characters, relying on the video projections onto the outside of the cage for interest'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.