Alaric Green Views: 5 180. Judith Weir Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian. 024 IN 2. Much of her music has been recorded, and is available on the NMC, Delphian and Signum labels. Judith Weir is a Honorary Patron for Sound and Music. Weir was appointed a CBE in 1995 Composer Judith Weir CBE is to become the first female Master of the Queen's Music. Intimate reinvention: Guildhall School of Music & Drama reassesses Judith Weir's Miss Fortune in a double bill with Giancarlo Menotti's The Telephone, directed by Martin Lloyd-Evans, conducted by. But I personally have been feeling thoroughly revived after GSMD's energy-giving version of my 2011 opera "Miss Fortune" which opened at the beginning of March. In 2005 her opera Armida, an opera for television, was premiered on Channel Four in the United Kingdom). full of truisms and clunky metaphors and for all its images of deprivation and violent disorder is about as streetwise as a visitor from Venus. From 2015 to 2019 she was Associate Composer to the BBC Singers. WEI. In 2007, she was the third recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music. 3 - Larsson, Dsseldorfer Symphoniker/Fischer, GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. If nothing has changed musically, this small staging worked well, at least in dramatic terms with terrific visuals and spot on acting. Judith Weir | NMC Everyone is meaner, more downcast, more jubilant. Leif Tse, Repetiteurs The most recent opera is Miss Fortune, premiered at Bregenz in . Everything about Miss Fortune is benign and comfortable - even Tom Pyes eye-catching geometric designs are thoroughly alienating, a garment sweatshop spotless and sanitised like the Royal Opera have re-deployed the spinning chorus from their last production of The Flying Dutchman. The Sicilian tale on which the opera is based is a fairly standard story of the virtuous young girl who falls on hard times but whose virtue is ultimately rewarded; Weir changes it in two key ways. Judith Weir CBE HonFRSE (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. But this time round, it seemed even more relevant than to pay onstage attention to this subject. [21] Andrew Clements wrote in The Guardian of "a long two hours in the opera house" with scenes that "follow like cartoonish tableaux, without real characterisation, or confrontation, and without suggesting a dramatic shape", and also criticised the "twee rhyming couplets and inert blank verse" of Weir's libretto. It has been a hyperactive week for hubris, schadenfreude and any other not quite correctly used foreign words you care to scatter. Judith Weir - Minute of Listening Iben Bering Srensen Location Hassan - Noah Stewart The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. In 2014 she was appointed . What drew you to composition? She had taken a hiatus to focus her energies on a host of other endeavours including orchestral composition and leading the BBC's annual composer weekend at the Barbican in 2008. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. What a waste of talent and resources. . Fate Kieron-Connor Valentine Do you remember your first pieces? But Miss Fortune is warm and fuzzy where it should be hard and edgy, its a social fable with contemporary resonances in everything but its words and music, and worst of all its an adult opera which sounds like its spoon feeding amateur philosophy to a child. The four days of programmes ended with a first performance of her new commission, CONCRETE, a choral motet. Eva Gaidoni Our privacy policy was last updated on Friday 31 January 2020, Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 12 March 2012. CONTENTS OPERA Blond Eckbert. Judith Weir CBE HonFRSE (born 11 May 1954)[1] is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Set within Bayview Developments, an exclusive estate agents (where clients are assured of no social housing) we meet the sales girl and chatterbox Lucy, Segomotso Shupinyaneng, and the ever-patient and earnest Ben, Jonathan Eyers. The opera touches on many things relevant to modern life - the banking crisis, unemployment, sweatshop working conditions, the choice between money and love - but it doesnt have anything significant to say about any of them. Frustration, frivolity and humour were all brilliantly served with a ready spontaneity that, with the chamber orchestras crisp playing, made this a delightful hors doeuvres for the darker humour of the evenings main event. Hoodies and drug dealing delineate subsequent reversal of fortune for Tina whose seamstress colleagues (vocally in fine fettle) provided an opportunity for some highly effective choreography. Miku Yasukawa Paul's Episcopal Church, Burlingame, CaliforniaThe Tree of Peace is by the contemporary English composer Judi. Miss Fortune in name and deed. She is the composer of several operas (written for Kent Opera, Scottish Opera, ENO and Bregenz) which have been widely performed. Having now heard the piece, and looked through the score, I would have asked: "Did you intend so many of the vocal lines to have a predominantly descending pattern, giving an impression of aural droop? In 1987, her first half-length opera, A Night at the Chinese Opera, was premiered at Kent Opera. Indeed it has. Tina's wealthy family lose all their possessions overnight and she is thrown into a life of poverty. A short 90 minutes of music later, Im still not entirely sure what it is Ive just seen. Born: 11 May 1954, United Kingdom Died: NA Country most active: United Kingdom Also known as: NA Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. [13] Her first stage work, The Black Spider, was a one-act opera which was premiered in Canterbury in 1985 loosely based on the short novel of the same name by Jeremias Gotthelf. In a face-off between Gabriele Viviani's Scarpia and Malin Bystrms Tosca in this solid revival of Jonathan Kent's 2006 production, there could only be one winner. Ensemble. Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parents. [16], The first public performance of Weir's arrangement of "God Save the Queen" was performed at the reburial of King Richard III at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Based on a Sicilian folk tale, Miss Fortune has some of the elliptical angularity of Weir's successful A Night at the Chinese Opera (1987). Noah Stewart as Hassan and Emma Bell as Tina in the Royal Opera's production of Judith Weir's Miss Fortune directed by Chen Shi-Zheng and conducted. Expressive of face and voice this champagne-quaffing pair fulfilled their roles with suitable vulgarity. Judith Weir - Miss Fortune [Achterbahn] (2011) - YouTube Simon, a wealthy young man Jack Holton (28 Feb & 4 Mar), Jonathan Eyers (2 & 7 Mar), Chorus of sweatshop workers and party guests: Commissioned by Bregenz Festival and the Royal Opera House and premiered in 2011, Miss Fortune is a contemporary re-telling of a Sicilian folk story. And the greatest irony of all - Miss Fortune wins the lottery. Silk Street Dominic Stokes* The helicopter view: Opera Europa's Nicholas Payne, At the helm of the aircraft carrier: The Royal Opera's Oliver Mears, Raising the curtain: Jacquelyn Stucker on building momentum and opera's digital challenge, Meeting the Maestro: in conversation with Fabio Luisi, Spring and summer in Prague: your musical guide, Koen entrances the Rudolfinum with Martin miniatures, Lucid in music and narrative: ENO and Richard Jones, David is a co-founder of Bachtrack. A chance lottery win enables her escape from poverty, and like all good fairy tales, she goes off into the sunset with the handsome prince, Jack Holton whose paean to a freshly laundered shirt made one of the few amusing moments. Tobias Campos Santinaque Miss Fortune in name and deed. Miss Fortune is Birtish composer Judith Weir's first operatic composisition in the last 17 years. Tiago Costa The once-rich little heroine, dogged by cruel Fate, becomes a low-wage earner cue sweatshops, ironing boards, an imploding fast-food van. Miss Fortune is a reinvention of a Sicilian folk tale in which the comfortable life of Tina (Erin Gwyn Rossington), the wealthy daughter of Lord and Lady Fortune (Jacob Harrison and Amy Holyland), nosedives after a financial catastrophe. Yn ogystal, mae'n gyfansoddwr o ddarnau cerddorfaol a lleisiol, gan gynnwys Concerto i'r Piano (1997), The Welcome Arrival of Rain (2001), ac In the Land of Uz (2017). She studied with . 9 Bavarian Radio Sinfonieorchester/Rattle, GRAMOPHONE Review: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. In January 2008, over fifty of her works were performed during 'Telling The Tale', a three-day retrospective of her music, hosted by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre, London. Stamatia Tsaroucha A. Beat Erro Dez, Horn Weir was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 Birthday Honours for services to music. Susan Jane Matthews, organ1929 Skinner OrganSt. Weir is a warmly admired composer, modest in manner but gritty in ambition, as anyone in her field has to be first to achieve, second to survive. Lord Fortune - Alan Ewing. She has written orchestral music for the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras. Benedict Swindells* Julian Hepple. DAME PATRICIA ROUTLEDGE: Facing The Music - A Life in Musical Theatre, Meyerbeer "Robert Le Diable", Royal Opera House (Review), GRAMOPHONE Review: Bartk Duke Bluebeard's Castle - Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Mlkki, GRAMOPHONE Review: Prokofiev Symphonies 1 & 7/Lieutenant Kij Suite - Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Sokhiev, GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. Georgia Lloyd* Aoife Moran Judith Weir's Miss Fortune at Covent Garden | Bachtrack Lisette Oropesa leads strong vocal performances in Handel's madcap tale of love and sorcery. [2] See something missing? Iza Fordham I hope that does not mean more trapeziums, please. Classical. Weir, who succeeds Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, will be appointed for a. Luna De Mol, Violin II Welcome to the rich musical world of Judith Weir | WNO Miss Fortune. Its probably not a good idea to come to Miss Fortune looking either for deep meaning or for authentic folktale. Two outstanding performances by young singers light up a splendidly crafted revival of Caurier and Leiser's colourful production. Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA. Judith Weir's Miss Fortune is an entertaining night out. Its story talks about the difference betweeen being rich and poor, and I was criticised at the time for imagining that this would be a permissable subject for an opera. The clarity of the costume design made the characters instantly knowable, too: a stroppy teenager, a lady from a launderette, a positive-thinking businessman these types look the same anywhere. More information, Don't have an online account? Miss Fortune is Birtish composer Judith Weir's first operatic composisition in the last 17 years. [13], The American premiere of Miss Fortune was originally planned in 2011 by the Santa Fe Opera to be a part of its 2014 season, but it was announced in the summer of 2012 that the opera was to be replaced by the North American premiere of Huang Ruo's Dr. Sun Yat-sen.[22]. In collaboration with director Margaret Williams, Weir has created several opera films, including Scipios Dream, Hello Dolly, and Armida. Both the score and the individual performances [4] She received the Lincoln Center's Stoeger Prize in 1997, the South Bank Show music award in 2001 and the Incorporated Society of Musicians' Distinguished Musician Award in 2010. Continue using the site as normal or read our Please note you may need to update your password. David Karlin reviews the premire of Judith Weir's new opera Miss Fortune at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Nuestra poltica de privacidad se actualiz por ltima vez el viernes 31 enero 2020 Consultar aqu Eliminar Judith Weir Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Judith Weir at 70 by ScoresOnDemand - Issuu Sad to say but Judith Weirs sixth opera is an embarrassment. Christian Morris talks to Judith Weir, whose new opera Miss Fortune will receive its UK premire on 12th March at the Royal Opera House. Issy Jordan Jos Hita Garca* We remain indifferent to Miss Fortune (however persuasively sung by a red-wigged Emma Bell), her vulgar nouveau parents who lose their riches, the sharp-suited romantic interest, Simon (the lovely Jacques Imbrailo). My first pieces were at secondary school. Amongst her priorities in this role are the support of school music teachers, of amateur orchestras and choirs, and of rural festivals. During this time she began to write a series of operas (including, As resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1990s, she wrote several works for orchestra and chorus (including, In recent years, Judith Weir has considerably expanded her choral catalogue, with regular performance by choirs worldwide of music such as her Christmas carol. Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. Nina Lim Judith Weir | Oxford Lieder 1 / 3. But I personally have been feeling thoroughly revived after GSMD's energy-giving version of my 2011 opera "Miss Fortune" which opened at the beginning of March. Biography. Judith Weir CBE (born 1954) [1] is a British composer and the first female Master of the Queen's Music. Find the perfect Judith Weir stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Judith Weir Julia Sanchez Merino Steven van der Linden Miss Fortune mis-fires, Royal Opera House - Opera Today 4 - Julia Kleitner, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Gatti, A Conversation With LIISA RANDALU: Schumann Quartet release 2nd CD, ENCOUNTERS: Edward Seckerson talks to Broadway composer LUCY SIMON, Edward Seckerson talks to RENE FLEMING about The Light in the Piazza, A Conversation With VASILY PETRENKO: RLPO Shostakovich Symphonies, A Conversation With SIR PAUL McCARTNEY: BBC Radio 4 Kaleidoscope, A Conversation With VICTORIA WOOD: New TV drama, Loving Miss Hatto, A Conversation With DAVID McVICAR & SARAH CONNOLLY: Charpentiers Medea, GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. Find Judith Weir stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents a performance of Judith Weir's opera Miss Fortune. Allegra Totaro-Wainwright, Assistant Scenic Artists Barbican The best in live events, streams, reviews and articles recommended by our editors, delivered to your inbox weekly. The role in Bregenz was taken up by the Prague Philharmonic Chorus, who gave touching performances while mastering illogical-looking English spellings like "rough" and "tough". The Vanishing Bridegroom and Miss Fortune. Miss Weir Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Judith Weir's most recent major work is her opera Miss Fortune, which received its first performances on July 21, 2011 at the Bregenz Festival, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng and designed by Tom Pye. Miss Fortune, Royal Opera House - The Independent Judith Weir is brilliant at writing atmospheric, descriptive music, but such music needs something to hang on to, like flesh needs a skeleton (another image of Fate).This libretto is so weak, it's embarrassing. Judith Weir CBE (born 1954) is a British composer and the first female Master of the Queen's Music. She has composed Concertos for Piano (William Howard) and Oboe (Celia Craig). Sad because Weirs folk inspired fables have won many friends, sad because she is a composerly composer whose luminous orchestral backdrops and singable vocal lines display an honest talent that never hides behind overworked technique. Next year, George Benjamin's commission Written on Skin will enter the fray and Harrison Birtwistle's The Minotaur a tale of loneliness with a furious but poetic score which was unquestionably a success is revived. Sad because Weir's folk inspired fables have won many friends, sad because she is a composerly composer whose luminous orchestral backdrops and singable vocal lines display an honest talent that never hides behind overworked technique. Despite the more than merely polite cheers which greeted the final curtain, and which might have persuaded her that, just possibly, she had a success on her hands, within hours Weir was beaten black and blue by a scrum of negative opinion. Miss Fortune is based on a Sicilian folk tale, and Weir's own libretto abstracts the story and creates a sort of moral fable that rather reminded me of Georg Kaiser's From Morning to Midnight and David Sawer's brave attempt to turn it into an opera in 2001 at English National Opera. Richard Jones' production is visually all over the place, but in a good way. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Hui Pang Lee My reworking begins with a financial crash and ends with an unlikely lottery win yet I didn't set out to write a piece about contemporary events. Noah Stewart on Miss Fortune - Interview - YouTube Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office.[2]. Judith Weir "Miss Fortune", Royal Opera House - Edward Seckerson Happy Birthday: Judith Weir, 58 | The Times Miss Fortune in name and deed. Fate - Andrew Watts. Menottis parade of operatic models coloratura showpiece, rage aria and lament were effortlessly pointed up and the rapport between the singers was communicated with both tenderness and impatience. Justin Anderson In collaboration with director . Photograph: Tristram Kenton, as it a plane, a boat or a train? Book Only. MISS FORTUNE is a contemporary re-telling of a Sicilian folk story. Subscribe to our newsletters to hear about upcoming events. Albery's production allows the opera to speak for itself, although sluggish pacing in the pit detract from the musical merits of this revival. Privacy Policy Lady Fortune Amy Holyland (28 Feb & 4 Mar), Laura Fleur (2 & 7 Mar) It will help us make your newsletter content more useful. Mixed performances in Menotti and Weir from the Guildhall School of To book tickets visit:. Where these singers find the energy isn't clear: this week, they are also being wood nymphs, Spanish aristocrats and Italian peasants, in several other operas. Judith Weir's Miss Fortune did not have a favourable reception when it premiered at Covent Garden in 2012, considered by some ill-suited to the Royal Opera House and lacking the musical engagement of her previously melodically rich operas and a decent libretto. The result is closer to a classical myth in which the central message is that theres no point arguing with the gods. Urban dystopia: Guildhall School's double bill of Judith Weir's Miss Full marks on all fronts. The much-publicised breakdancers of Chen Shi-Zengs efficient but actually rudimentary staging only serve to highlight how irrelevant Weirs musical language is to her conception. Night AT the Chinese Opera (A) (1987) Operas. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Watch online from 25 March. But at least all other elements of this colourful staging coalesced into something that intermittently held my attention. At least that was Weirs intention to be relevant and in touch. In spite of all this, the libretto has some decent moments, particularly in the short second act in which Weir lets her hair down a little. She was a visiting distinguished research professor in composition at Cardiff University from 2006 to 2009. Even Fate (countertenor Andrew Watts), with his "cloud" of street dancers, is no more than a mildly creepy stalker. Her struggles are closely shadowed by Fate sung by counter-tenor Kieron-Connor Valentine. Christos Maltezos* Judith Weir Biography Recordings Related Composers Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. In some ways I feel I've seen the piece for the first time, in a staging (by Martin Lloyd-Evans) which very closely expressed my intentions when I first imagined it. And the greatest irony of all Miss Fortune wins the lottery. Gounod's Faust from the Opra Bastille, Paris. Mae Weir wedi ysgrifennu sawl opera llwyddiannus, gan gynnwys The Black Spider (1985), A Night at the Chinese Opera (1987), Blond Eckbert (1994) a Miss Fortune (2011). Claire Nicolas (freelance) By contrast, the premiere production (as often happens) seemed to be aiming at a left-field reimagining of a piece which no-one had yet seen. Judith Weir's music is published by Chester Music and Novello & Co. JUDITH WEIR AT 70 OPERAS. Miss Fortune | Judith Weir - Wise Music Classical Select from premium Judith Weir of the highest quality. Menotti's The Telephone & Judith Weir's Miss Fortune - Guildhall School Kyra Coppini, Production Sound Engineers Members do not pay booking fees. Ben Upthegrove Jonathan Eyers (28 Feb & 4 Mar), Jack Holton (2 & 7 Mar), Lord Fortune Jacob Harrison Was it a plane, a boat or a train? Oliver Mears' new production of Britten's chamber opera is a visceral reflection on tyranny and sexual violence. 7. Judith Weirs orchestral music is drawn from a similarly vivid palette. Caroline Moores, Head of Recording & Audio Visual YouTube Encyclopedic. A first performance of a new opera is the start of a precipitous journey. When her life's course turns from bad to worse, she makes a date with Fate. In fact, I think you should go. Miss Fortune . Beri Valentine, Stage Management Props Supervisor Julia Bermingham, Staff Costume Supervisors A new production of an earlier opera is always welcome news, to its composer at least, and it doesn't feel right to term these "revivals" - implying that resuscitation or even raising from the dead has been necessary. Sad to say but Judith Weirs sixth opera is an embarrassment. Since a central theme of Miss Fortune is the big part accident and chance play in life, I wanted to write a role for Fate, who emerges from the shadows whenever events take a downward or upward turn, accompanied by his own personal cloud of chaos. Queasy chromatic scales rising and falling in the trombones is as close as we get to the dark happenings on the street. PDF Judith Weir at 70 She struggles, wins the lottery, casts aside money and goes off with the handsome prince, in his mercifully clean shirt. It didnt help that the singing from Rossington and Valentine lacked clarity and I had to second guess some of their dialogue. Still, Glowing. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Dominic Wheeler conductorMartin Lloyd-Evans directorAnna Reid designerAnthony Doran lighting designerJoseph Beesley assistant conductorRachel Wise assistant director/movement, Lucy England Segomotso Shupinyaneng (28 Feb & 4 Mar), Ellie Neate (2 & 7 Mar) Queasy chromatic scales rising and falling in the trombones is as close as we get to the dark happenings on the street. Vanessa Lingham, Stage Management Supervisor Guildhall School of Music & Drama . Miss Fortune - Wikipedia During this time she began to write a series of operas (including King Haralds Saga, The Black Spider, A Night at the Chinese Opera, The Vanishing Bridegroom and Blond Eckbert) which have subsequently received many performances in the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA.