i Spiritu gentil
ii O mio Fernando
La favorita (‘The Favourite’) is a grand opera in four acts to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play Le comte de Comminges by Baculard d’Arnaud. It premiered on 2 December 1840 at the Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique in Paris, France. Leonora, the beautiful, mysterious lady who so completely captures the heart of the monk, Fernando, that he forsakes his calling to defeat the Moors in battle to win her hand. Alas, she is the mistress of the king, who is so besotted with her he is determined to defy the pope himself to make Leonora his queen. It’s a tragic opera, so no one wins—except the audience.
i Im Treibhaus
ii Schmerzen
Wagner set five poems by Mathilde Wesendonck while he was working on his opera Tristan und Isolde. The songs, together with the Siegfried Idyll, are the two non-operatic works by Wagner most regularly performed. Mathilde Wesendonck was the wife of Otto Wesendonck, one of his patrons, whom Wagner met in Zürich, where he had fled on his escape from Saxony after the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849. For a time, Wagner and his wife Minna lived together in the Asyl (sanctuary), a small cottage on the Wesendonck estate. It is sometimes claimed that Wagner and Mathilde had a love affair; in any case, the situation and mutual infatuation certainly contributed to the intensity in the conception of Tristan und Isolde.
i Donde lieta usci
ii Sole e Amore
La bohème is an opera in four acts, composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger. The story is set in Paris around 1830 and shows the Bohemian lifestyle (known in French as "la bohème") of a poor seamstress and her artist friends.
i Allons! il le faut!
Manon is Massenet’s most popular and enduring opera and, having “quickly conquered the world’s stages”, it has maintained an important place in the repertory since its creation. It is the quintessential example of the charm and vitality of the music and culture of the Parisian Belle Époque. ‘Adieu, notre petite table’, Manon’s aria from Act II of Manon begins Allons! Il le faut! Manon has been told by a nobleman that her love Des Grieux will soon be kidnapped by his father’s men in order to get him away from her. She knows that the happy days they have spent in Des Grieux’s apartment will soon be at an end and takes the opportunity to bid adieu to the table at which she and her love ate many meals together.
Non pianger, mia compagna
Don Carlos is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien (Don Carlos, Infante of Spain) by Friedrich Schiller and several incidents from Eugène Cormon's 1846 play Philippe II, Roi d'Espagne.
Dei miei bollenti spiriti
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas fils, which he adapted from his own 1848 novel. The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at La Fenice opera house in Venice.
i O figli miei!
ii Perfidi! All’anglo contro me v’unite!
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Written for the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Macbeth was Verdi's tenth opera and premiered on 14 March 1847. It was the first Shakespeare play that Verdi adapted for the operatic stage. Almost twenty years later, Macbeth was revised and expanded into a French version and given in Paris on 21 April 1865.
Un dì, se ben rammentomi
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time, the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851.
Aylesbury Opera (Vocal ensemble)
Aylesbury Opera has been mounting opera productions and concerts in Aylesbury and the surrounding area for over 40 years.
Lizzie Ryder
Elizabeth Ryder is a spinto soprano with a deep and growing passion for the music of Giuseppe Verdi. She is currently exploring arias from Simon Boccanegra and La traviata, drawn to Verdi’s ability to combine vocal drama with lyrical elegance. Her voice, with its rich middle and expansive top, finds a natural home in this repertoire. She has performed in Rigoletto with Nevill Holt Opera and recently appeared as a soloist with the Hallé Orchestra in a gala concert at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall for 2,000 audience members, singing Song to the Moon, the Flower Duet, and Evening Prayer
Chiara Carbone
Chiara trained at the Conservatoire in Lecce, Puglia and then at the Accademia Lirica di Osimo studying with William Matteuzzi and Harriet Lawson amongst others. She followed this with a masterclass in 2019 at the “Wales International Academy of Voice “studying with Dennis O’Neill and Della Jones.
Tom Lidgley
Tom is a young British tenor who is currently a masters student, at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under Adrian Thompson at both the Royal Academy and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he completed his BMus (Hons) Degree.
Max Catalano
Maximilian Catalano is currently studying for a Vocal Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Max played the bassoon as his primary instrument growing up, discovering a passion for singing later. He graduated from Cardiff University with a politics degree and decided to take a year out to develop his vocal technique and make the leap towards being a professional singer. During this year he sang solos for both Tring and Chorleywood Choral societies and began vocal training with David Pollard.
Harriet Lawson
Harriet studied the piano, harpsichord and voice at the Royal College of Music and as a post graduate répétiteur at the RCM Opera School. Her career was based in Italy, working as a répétiteur at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Teatro Piccolo in Milan. She collaborated with Giorgio Strehler on his last production, Cosí fan tutte, touring in China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Spain. She worked for six years at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as Maestro di sala e al cembalo, collaborated with Théâtre de l’Opéra de Bordeaux, L’Orchestra Verdi Milano, Glyndebourne Festival, with Radio France and with Radio Suisse.
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