Details
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Rd
South Bank
London
SE1 8XX
England
Programme
Umberto Giordano – Andrea Chénier
Performers
Gianluca Marciano – Conductor
Gwyn Hughes Jones – tenor
Claire Rutter – soprano
Yvonne Howard – mezzo-soprano
Fiona Kimm – mezzo-soprano
Phillip Rhodes – baritone
Peter Bronder – tenor
Thomas D Hopkinson – Bass
Edmund Danon – Bass
Edward Jowle – Bass
Yuriy Yurchuk – baritone
Chelsea Opera Group Orchestra
Chelsea Opera Group Chorus
Programme Note
Andrea Chénier was first performed in 1896, the year that also saw the premiere of La bohème. It was an immediate success and established Giordano, not yet 30, as one of the leaders of the so-called ‘giovane scuola’, the group of young composers seeking to take Italian opera forward after the end of Verdi’s long creative life.
The opera is set during the French Revolution. The librettist, Luigi Illica, took his inspiration not from a literary model but from the real-life figure of André Chénier, a poet and revolutionary who was guillotined in 1794. The music for Chénier and his aristocratic lover Maddalena is powerfully passionate, while Giordano also makes skilful use of revolutionary songs and pastiches of 18th-century music.
The performance will be conducted by Gianluca Marcianò, COG’s Artistic Director, who led us in several great performances earlier in his career. It provides a notable vehicle for a charismatic tenor and we are delighted to welcome Gwyn Hughes Jones as Chénier with a cast that includes Claire Rutter, Yvonne Howard and Fiona Kimm, emerging artists and full orchestra and chorus.
There will be a pre-opera talk for ticket holders 4:45-5:15pm, to be given by Simon Bainbridge.
