“With The English Concert pouring forth a luscious feast of baroque music from their on-stage dais.”  The Independent

 

“Flawless and uplifting.”  The Independent

 

The year 2016 is dedicated to William Shakespeare, who died four hundred years ago in 1616. The preeminent poet leaves behind a legendary trove of literature that would inspire generations of artists to ponder on beauty and duty, friendship and love, conscience and evil, and almost every aspect of humanity.

 

The English Concert, in its Hong Kong tour, will perform a Shakespearean programme consisting of England’s best music of the time. Henry Purcell, among the closest composers of the post-Shakespearean era, wrote The Fairy Queen as a restoration of The Bard’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1692 and consisted of his finest theatre music. George Frideric Handel, the Baroque master that conquered 18th century London, wrote Giulio Cesare into a high drama of heroes and love. Although both works are not a direct setting of Shakespeare’s words to music, they offer a glimpse of contemporary audiences, with which these works were highly popular.

 

The English Concert, with Artistic Director Harry Bicket, is one of the most active and refined early music ensembles, renowned for its passion, sophistication and technical mastery.  Welcoming their return to Hong Kong, the orchestra will perform, along with The Fairy Queen and Giulio Cesare, contemporary songs and instrumental music by Purcell, Locke and others, all of whom fell under the spell of the inspirational Shakespeare.

 

Arias and instrumental music from The Fairy Queen (adapted from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) by Purcell, interspersed with songs by Purcell and other contemporary composers inspired by Shakespeare:

 

Purcell	First Music: Prelude Hornpipe Aire Rondeau If Music be the Food of Love ^
Arne	Where the Bee Sucks ^
Purcell	Prelude (from Act II) Bess of Bedlam *
J. Weldon	Take, O Take These Lips Away (from Measure for Measure) ^
Purcell	See, Even Night Herself is Here * Dance for the Followers of the Night If Love’s a Sweet Passion ^ Sweeter than Roses *
R. Johnson	Hark! Hark! The Lark at Heaven's Gate Sings (from Cymbeline) ^
Purcell	Prelude (from Act V) The Plaint * Monkey’s Dance Chaconne They Shall be As Happy #

 

Arias and instrumental music from Giulio Cesare by Handel, interspersed with instrumental music from The Tempest by Locke:

Handel	Overture V’adoro, pupille *
Locke	Galliard and Gavot (from The Tempest)
Handel	Se in fiorito ameno prato ^
Locke	Sarabande and Lilk (from The Tempest)
Handel	Piangerò la sorte mia * Aure, deh per pietà ^
Locke	Rustik Air and Martial Jigge (from The Tempest)
Handel	Da tempeste il legno infranto * Caro! Bella! Più amabile beltà #

 

^* Soprano Solo

^{^} Counter-tenor Solo

^# Soprano and Counter-tenor Duet

 

 

The running time of the performance is approximately 2 hours including an intermission of 15 minutes.

Audience is strongly advised to arrive punctually.  Latecomers will only be admitted during the intermission or at a suitable break.

The presenter reserves the right to change the programme and substitute artists.

The English Concert

Artistic Director / Harpsichord: Harry Bicket

Soprano: Mary Bevan

Counter-tenor: Tim Mead

 

 

The English Concert

With an unsurpassed reputation for inspiring performances of baroque and classical music, The English Concert ranks among the finest chamber orchestras in the world.  Such standing is the result of tireless work on the road and in the studio since 1973, guided by founder Trevor Pinnock, his successor Andrew Manze, and current Artistic Director Harry Bicket.  The English Concert’s award-winning discography of over 100 recordings features masterworks from Bach to Purcell and Handel to Mozart, as well as some of the most renowned artists in recent history.  Lucy Crowe’s debut solo recital Il Caro Sassone, Alison Balsom’s Sound the Trumpet, and Elizabeth Watts’ recent exploration of virtuosic operatic arias by Alessandro Scarlatti are but the latest of their endeavours.

 

The English Concert also enjoys working with several distinguished guest directors, including harpsichordists Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn and violinist Rachel Podger.  In 2016, virtuoso pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout kicks off the New Year with the early classical masters of C. P. E. Bach and Mozart, whilst Christian Curnyn will turn his attention towards the French style with Rameau and Marais in the spring.

 

Ground-breaking collaborations are at the forefront of The English Concert’s thinking and part of their longstanding relationships with exceptional artists and venues.  These include Dominic Dromgoole’s Gabriel at Shakespeare’s Globe with trumpeter Alison Balsom, retracing the footsteps of music historian Dr. Charles Burney at the wonderfully intimate Sam Wanamaker Playhouse with tenor Mark Padmore, and a reinvigorated production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Bristol Old Vic and Buxton Opera House.  Across the Atlantic, Carnegie Hall New York has commissioned a series of annual dramatic Handel productions after the success of Radamisto in 2013.  Theodora and Alcina soon followed in 2014 with Hercules hot on their heels in 2015.  The present season sees Iestyn Davies take on the title role in Orlando whilst Joyce DiDonato returns for Ariodante in 2017.

 

 

Harry Bicket

Artistic Director/Harpsichord

Internationally renowned as an opera and concert conductor of distinction, Harry Bicket is especially noted for his interpretation of baroque and classical repertoire and in 2007 became Artistic Director of The English Concert, one of the finest period orchestras in United Kingdom.  He became Chief Conductor of Santa Fe Opera in 2013 and opened the 2014 season with a critically-acclaimed Fidelio.  Born in Liverpool, he studied at the Royal College of Music and Oxford University and is an accomplished harpsichordist.

 

Plans for the 2016/17 season include his first Carmen with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Alcina with Santa Fe Opera.  Symphonic work includes visits to Cleveland Orchestra including Rameau’s Suite from Les Boréades, and a visit to the Cincinnati May Festival with Bach’s B Minor Mass.  Plans with The English Concert include United Kingdom and international touring within Europe, United States (Handel’s Ariodante featuring Joyce DiDonato, including Carnegie Hall) and the Far East (Wuhan, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong).

 

Highlights of recent seasons include acclaimed productions in the United States and Canada for Houston Grand Opera (Le Nozze di Figaro, Rusalka), Canadian Opera Company (Maometto, Hercules), Atlanta Opera (Gluck’s Orfeo), Santa Fe Opera (Fidelio, La Finta Giardiniera) Metropolitan Opera (Rodelinda, La Clemenza di Tito, Giulio Cesare), Chicago Lyric (Rinaldo) and guest conducting with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, Indianapolis Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Messiah with the New York Philharmonic.

 

Within Europe he has conducted performances at the Liceu Barcelona (Agrippina, Lucio Silla), Bordeaux Opera (Alcina) and Theater an der Wien (Iphigenie en Tauride) and appeared with Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic (St Matthew Passion), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Bayerische Rundfunk, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.  Work with The English Concert includes extensive touring including to Europe, America and the Far East, alongside appearances at the BBC Proms (Samson, B Minor Mass, “Being Both” with Alice Coote) and regular Wigmore Hall and Barbican projects (including with Iestyn Davies and Joyce DiDonato).  Recent work outside of Europe includes his Japanese debut with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra / Ian Bostridge and a visit to Israel Philharmonic.

 

Staged opera has also included Santa Fe Opera (Platée, Radamisto), Minnesota Opera (Croesus), Theater an der Wien (Mitridate, re di Ponto), Opera Australia (Giulio Cesare), Scottish Opera (Gluck’s Orfeo), New York City Opera (Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, La Clemenza di Tito, Rinaldo), Royal Danish Opera (Gluck’s Orfeo), Glimmerglass Festival (Partenope, Agrippina), New Israeli Opera (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Aldeburgh Festival (Purcell’s The Fairy Queen), Edinburgh Festival (La Clemenza di Tito), Spoleto Festival (Il Giasone, Tamerlano, L’ile de Merlin), English National Opera (Orfeo, Ariodante, Semele, Xerxes, Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda), Welsh National Opera (La Clemenza di Tito), Opera North (Radamisto, The Return of Ulysses, Die Zauberflöte, Croesus), Los Angeles Opera (Giulio Cesare, L'Incoronazione di Poppea) and Canadian Opera (Rodelinda, Idomeneo).

 

He made his Glyndebourne Festival debut in 1996 with Peter Sellars’ landmark production of Theodora and returned in 1999 and 2003.  In 2004 his first Metropolitan Opera production (an acclaimed new production of Rodelinda with Renée Fleming and David Daniels) was quickly followed by Giulio Cesare (2006/07) and La Clemenza di Tito (2008) and he is now a regular guest.  He made his debut with the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2000 (Rinaldo, new production) and over the following seven years conducted many performances including Ariodante, Xerxes, Orlando, Orphée et Eurydice, Il Barbieri di Siviglia, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte.  In 2001 his first Barcelona production, Giulio Cesare, earned him the Opera Critics’ Prize for best conductor.  He has since returned for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2005), Ariodante (2006), L’Arbore di Diana (2009) and Agrippina (2013).  In 2003 his debut production for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Handel’s Orlando) received an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Opera Production.  In the same year he conducted Lyric Opera of Chicago for the first time and has since returned regularly.

 

Recordings to date with The English Concert include releases for Virgin Classics, Chandos and Harmonia Mundi featuring Elizabeth Watts, David Daniels, Lucy Crowe, Sarah Connolly and Rosemary Joshua.  Bicket’s discography also includes five recordings with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, including a collection of Handel opera arias with Renée Fleming (Decca Classics) and Ian Bostridge (EMI Classics), as well as selections from Handel’s Theodora, Xerxes, and the cantata La Lucrezia with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Avie), which was nominated for a Grammy Award.  His Gramophone Award-nominated CDs also include Sento Amor with David Daniels featuring arias by Gluck, Handel and Mozart (Virgin Veritas) and Il tenero momento with Susan Graham featuring arias by Mozart and Gluck (Erato).

 

 

Mary Bevan

Soprano

 

 

Hailed by the Telegraph as one of the first-rate young British singers ‘delivering consistently exciting singing’ for her stand out performances on opera and concert platforms, Mary Bevan is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award and Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in music in United Kingdom.

 

In the 2015/16 season, Bevan sings the title role in Luigi Rossi’s Orpheus for the Royal Opera House at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, returns to the English National Opera to sing Yum-Yum in The Mikado, and Elvira in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri at Garsington Opera.  On the concert platform, Bevan sings Silandra in Cesti’s Orontea with La Nuova Musica, Bach’s cantatas with the Dunedin Consort, Messiah with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Royal Northern Sinfonia, baroque programmes with the Academy of Ancient Music and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Fauré’s Requiem with Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla.  She also gives recitals at Wigmore Hall, Leeds Lieder, The Danube Music Festival, and Solent Music Festival.

 

Recent opera highlights included Bevan’s critically acclaimed Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Despina in Così fan tutte at English National Opera and Music/Euridice in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with the Royal Opera House at the Roundhouse.  Previously she has also sung Belinda in Dido and Aeneas with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, Galatea in Acis and Galatea for Iford Arts under Christian Curnyn, Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Garsington Opera, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte for West Green House.  She also created the role of Lila in the world premiere of David Bruce’s The Firework Maker’s Daughter co-commissioned by The Opera Group, Opera North and Royal Opera House.  Currently a Harewood Artist at the English National Orchestra, her other appearances have included Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Second Niece in Peter Grimes, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro and Rebecca in the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys.  A former Associate Artist of Classical Opera, she most recently performed Servilla in La Clemenza di Tito and Gerechtigkeit in Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots.

 

Much in demand on the concert platform, Bevan recently performed Bellezza in Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno with Dunedin Consort, a Handel Residency week with Emmanuelle Haïm at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Bach’s Magnificat with the Britten Sinfonia, Bach’s St John Passion with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Mozart’s Requiem with the English Chamber Orchestra, Fauré’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Southbank Sinfonia.  Other orchestral repertoire includes Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Prague Philharmonia, Britten’s Les Illuminations with the English Chamber Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the English Concert and English Chamber Orchestra, Bach’s B Minor Mass with Ludus Baroque, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Haydn’s Nelson Mass with Hanover Band and a staged version of Haydn’s Creation with Vocal Futures.  She has also appeared at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival and Spitalfields Festival.  In recital Bevan has sung at the Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, St John’s Smith Square and Rhinegold LIVE.

 

Bevan can be heard in such recent recordings as Handel in Italy with London Early Opera for Signum Records, Handel’s Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and Ode for St Cecilia’s Day with Ludus Baroque for Delphian Records, Ludwig Thuille songs with Joseph Middleton, and Mendelssohn complete songs with Malcolm Martineau for Champs Hill Records.  She also appeared in David Starkey’s Music & Monarchy on BBC 4.

 

Bevan trained at the Royal Academy Opera, and read Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic at Trinity College, Cambridge.  She is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.

 

 

Tim Mead

Counter-tenor

Counter-tenor Tim Mead is praised for his elegant and warm tone with faultless projection and stylish interpretations.  His virtuosic performances have drawn much international attention, and he is recognised as one of the finest across the generations of counter-tenors.

 

Engagements in 2015/16 include Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne Festival and at Bergen National Opera; Angel 1 / Boy in the highly anticipated United States stage premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Lincoln Center, followed by an European tour of the work with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; Arsamene in Cavalli’s Xerse with Le Concert d’Astrée at Opéra de Lille, Theater an der Wien, and Theatre de Caen.  In May 2016, Mead sang the leading role in Theater Basel’s new ‘Melancholia’ programme.  Mead also returns to the New York Philharmonic for five performances of Messiah, tour Spain with the Gabrieli Consort, and sings Bach’s B Minor Mass with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie in France and Spain.

 

Last season’s highlights included the world premiere of Theo Loevendie’s Spinoza at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bach’s B Minor Mass with The English Concert, Messiah with the Handel & Haydn Society and the Academy of Ancient Music, a solo recital in Rome, the title role in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten at Opera Vlaanderen, and the title role in Riccardo Primo at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to critical acclaim.

 

Recent operatic highlights include Goffredo and Eustazio in Rinaldo at Glyndebourne Festival, Endimione in La Calisto at Bayerische Staatsoper, Voice of Apollo in Deborah Warner’s production of Death in Venice at English National Opera and De Nederlandse Opera, Angel 1 / Boy in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse and at the Gulbenkian Lisbon and Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare at English National Opera.  Other operatic highlights include Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea at English National Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Dijon and Den Norske Opera, title role in Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne Festival, title role in Orlando at Scottish Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, title role in Admeto at International Händel Festspiele Göttingen and the Edinburgh International Festival, Ottone in Agrippina in Lille and Dijon, Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Paggio in Ercole Amante at De Nederlandse Opera and in concert the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with the Akademie für Alte Musik, Andronico in Tamerlano with Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Rinaldo with Bach Collegium Japan and Bertarido in Rodelinda with Mercury Baroque.

 

On the concert platform, Mead has sung Messiah with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Le Concert d’Astree, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Accademia Bizantina and Concerto Köln, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Les Arts Florissants, Bach’s Magnificat with Le Concert d’Astree, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with London Handel Festival and De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Handel’s Theodora with The English Concert, Handel’s Solomon with Akademie für Alte Musik, Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Handel’s Saul with the Dresdner Barockorchester, Handel’s Joseph and his Brethren at the International Händel Festspiele Göttingen, Handel’s Susanna with the Early Opera Company, Handel’s Esther with the Dunedin Consort and Dusapin’s La Melancholia with the SWR Sinfonieorchester.  He has worked with such leading conductors as Alan Gilbert, Ivor Bolton, William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Alan Curtis, Ottavio Dantone, Paul Goodwin, Emmanuelle Haïm, Vladimir Jurowski, Nicholas McGegan, Marc Minkowski and Masaaki Suzuki.

 

Mead’s already substantial discography includes Bach’s St Matthew Passion and B Minor Mass, the Handel’s oratorios Messiah, Saul, Solomon, Israel in Egypt, and Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, the Handel’s operas Admeto, Flavio, Riccardo Primo and Rinaldo, and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.  He has recorded for EMI Classics, Harmonia Mundi, Opus Arte, Chandos, Linn Records amongst others.

 

Mead read music as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, before winning a number of scholarships to continue his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music.

 

Tickets available from 8 August at URBTIX outlets, on Internet, by Mobile Ticketing App and Credit Card Telephone Booking.

 

‘Great Music’ Package Discount

For each purchase of standard tickets for ‘Shakespeare in Love by The English Concert’, ‘Piano Recital by Murray Perahia’, ‘Les Vents Français’ and ‘Cello Recital by Mischa Maisky’, the following concession applies:

5% off for any 2 programmes; 10% off for any 3 programmes; 15% off for all 4 programmes.

 

‘Shakespeare Year’ Package Discount

10% off for each purchase of standard tickets for both ‘Shakespeare in Love by The English Concert’ and ‘Richard III by Schaubühne Berlin (Germany)’.

 

Group Booking Discount 

10% off for each purchase of 4-9 standard tickets; 15% off for 10-19 standard tickets; 20% off for 20 or more standard tickets.

 

Half-price tickets available for senior citizens aged 60 and above, people with disabilities and the minder, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients. (Limited tickets for full-time students and CSSA recipients available on a first-come-first-served basis.)

Patrons can enjoy only one of the above discount offers. 

 

Programme Enquiries：2268 7321

Ticketing Enquiries：3761 6661

Credit Card Telephone Booking：2111 5999

Internet Booking：www.urbtix.hk

The Musical Shakespeare: From a 17th-Century Point of View

 

 

Speaker: Dennis Wu　

(Music Critic, Composer and Radio Programme Producer)

 

 

Conducted in Cantonese

 

Admission free on a first-come-first-served basis