Details
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Rd
London
SE1 8XX
England
Programme
Anton Rubinstein – The Demon
Performers
Oliver Zeffman – Conductor
Andrei Kymach – baritone
Angela Simkin – mezzo-soprano
Anush Hovhannisyan – soprano
Barnaby Rea – Bass
Giorgi Sturua – Tenor
Graeme Broadbent – Bass
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Programme Note
Enjoy a rare chance to hear Anton Rubinstein's opera The Demon in a concert performance by the chorus and orchestra of Chelsea Opera Group under the baton of Oliver Zeffman. A cast of international soloists join conductor, orchestra and chorus for the performance.
Rubinstein was one of the greatest pianists of the 19th century, a conductor and a prolific composer, and became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.
The Demon, an opera in three acts (six scenes), was composed in 1871 to a libretto by Pavel Viskovatov, based on the poem of the same name by Mikhail Lermontov. The Demon contains some of his best music, with striking pre-echos of his pupil Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. The Demon boasts rich choral writing and a fiery libretto. The work vividly depicts the isolation and despair of a fallen angel doomed to eternal damnation. All is upended by a chance encounter with the princess Tamara with whom he falls desperately in love and he defies heaven and nature to possess her. Tamara’s attempts to resist him and her eventual submission end in her death and salvation, while the Demon is denied his hoped-for redemption through her love. The opera will be sung in Russian, with English surtitles.
Andrei Kymach baritone, The Demon
Angela Simkin mezzo-soprano, The Angel
Anush Hovhannisyan soprano, Tamara
Barnaby Rea bass, Prince Gudal
Giorgi Sturua tenor, Prince Sinodal
Graeme Broadbent bass, Old Servant
Chelsea Opera Group Orchestra & Chorus
Oliver Zeffman was the Classical Music nominee for The Times Breakthrough Artist Award at the 2018 South Bank Sky Arts Awards. Andrei Kymach competes in the 2019 Cardiff Singer of the World for Ukraine. Anush Hovhannisyan returns to sing for COG after singing Amaltea in last season’s Mose in Egitto. Georgian tenor Giorgi Sturua is a member of the Young Artistis Programme at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. Angela Simkin is a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House.