Interview by A. He is a musical omnivore interested in almost all types of music, but with a particular love of Italian opera. 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. Miss Fortune moved to London in March 2012, garnering at least two negative reviews. Judith Weir Net Worth & Basic source of earning is being a successful British Musician. Honours for her work include the Critics Circle, South Bank Show, Ivor Novello and Elise L Stoeger awards, a CBE and The Queens Medal for Music. Continue using the site as normal or read our My first pieces were at secondary school. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA. Judith Weir's Miss Fortune at Covent Garden By David Karlin, 13 March 2012 There's usually plenty of hype surrounding a newly written opera performed at Covent Garden, but the carefully placed stories about Judith Weir's Miss Fortune are on the improbable end of the scale, featuring a flying kebab shop and a team of breakdancers. SELECTED WORKS BY shows" JUDITH WEIR "Weir is a creature of the theatre and it FINANCIAL TIMES. On 21 July 2011, her first opera for 17 years, Miss Fortune (Achterbahn), premiered at the Bregenz Festival in Austria. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Whilst there is nothing especially laudable . YouTube Encyclopedic. Miss Fortune. On 30 June 2014, The Guardian stated that her appointment as Master of the Queen's Music,[5] succeeding Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (whose term of office expired in March 2014), would be announced;[6] this was officially confirmed on 21 July. Jamie Hulme Definitions of Judith_Weir, synonyms, antonyms, derivatives of Judith_Weir, analogical dictionary of Judith_Weir (English) . Violin I Where Weirs orchestral writing is full and rich, the vocal parts are for the most part agile and harsh. Never louder than lovely would have been welcome for Weirs contorted vocals lines. After this she spent several years working in schools and adult education in rural southern England; followed by a period based in Scotland, teaching at Glasgow University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. 9 Bavarian Radio Sinfonieorchester/Rattle, GRAMOPHONE Review: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. Paul's Episcopal Church, Burlingame, CaliforniaThe Tree of Peace is by the contemporary English composer Judi. Only Anne-Marie Owens's Donna, who runs a launderette, and Hassan the kebab-van owner, beautifully sung by Noah Stewart (the closest we get to beefcake), show signs of humanity. Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email. Giulia Lussoso By the end of the act, I was finding it all rather wearing, and theres little in the way of flowing vocal lines to lift the heart. Galleries. Aina Miyagi Magnell Ben Upthegrove Jonathan Eyers (28 Feb & 4 Mar), Jack Holton (2 & 7 Mar), Lord Fortune Jacob Harrison 7. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Unsolved problems: (l-r) Kathryn Harries, Alan Ewing and Emma Bell struggle to make an impression at Covent Garden. For more access information, please visit ourAccessibilitysection. Although she has achieved international recognition for her orchestral and chamber works, Weir is best known for her operas and theatrical works. . 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. Get discounted access to unmissable art, See more art, music, film and theatre for less, Log in to access bookings, re-print pdf tickets, update email preferences and check out faster. ABOVE: GSMD, Miss Fortune (c) Helen Murray, Copyright All rights reserved | Theme by, Mixed performances in Menotti and Weir from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. . was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. Secondly and crucially, Weir turns Fate into a very real and live person. Views: 5 180. 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. Public transport What drew me was finding something that would bring my performing friends together. 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. Throughout the opera, in an impressive piece of singing, counter-tenor Andrew Watts sings a discordant overlay over the other music, reminding everyone that he is all-powerful and capricious. Judith Weir was appointed Master of The Queen's Music, in succession to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, in July 2014; and in January 2015 became Associate Composer . It has been a hyperactive week for hubris, schadenfreude and any other not quite correctly used foreign words you care to scatter. Most hurtle down the chute at once, all limbs flailing, and plunge straight into the wheelie bin of oblivion. But when the once wealthy Tina (a self-consciously red-headed but vocally resolute Emma Bell) turns on Fate (a wasted Andrew Watts) and halfway through this short and pointless evening enquires: Was it you who turned my life upside down? we know weve come precisely nowhere very fast. Richard Jones' production is visually all over the place, but in a good way. 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. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Judith Weir Miss FortuneLord Fortune Jacob Harrison, Lady Fortune Amy Holyland, Tina Erin Gwyn Rossington, Fate Kieron-Connor Valentine, Hassan Florian Panzieri, Donna Laura Fleur, Simon Jack Holton; Director Martin Lloyd-Evans, Conductor Dominic Wheeler, Designer Anna Reid, Lighting Anthony Doran, GSMD Orchestra. Iben Bering Srensen Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parents. ), full of truisms and clunky metaphors" and "about as streetwise as a visitor from Venus". Whether were in the initial scene of the casting of our heroines horoscope, the various pieces of mayhem that envelop her or the poetic aubade sung by kebab-shop owner Hassan: the music is overlaid by urgent stridency. Judith Weir's music has been widely recorded, particularly on the NMC and Delphian labels; and is published by Chester Music and Novello & Co. Photograph: Tristram Kenton, as it a plane, a boat or a train? If any does survive, before its next airing it is certain to have been cut, tweaked, titivated or subjected to bold surgery preferably by the composer, for whom performance is the only great lesson in revealing a work's weaknesses. Julian Hepple. Charlie Broad The opera reworks a Sicilian folktale as a contemporary parable. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Commissioned byBregenzFestival and the RoyalOperaHouse and premiered in 2011,Miss Fortuneis a contemporary re-telling of a Sicilian folk story. 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. The Royal Opera promise a feast for the eyes and dont disappoint. Judith Weir. Lydia Haynes 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. Charlotte Antingham The result is closer to a classical myth in which the central message is that theres no point arguing with the gods. The second act has greater pace and vitality: the wise, witty Weir of old is back on form, but too briefly. 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. In 2008, as I began writing, I walked past a sandwich board bearing the headline: "Blind panic as shares crash." Last month, as we reconvened in London to rehearse for this week's UK debut, conductor Paul Daniel considered the problems. The Vanishing Bridegroom and Miss Fortune. Everyone is meaner, more downcast, more jubilant. The work should not have been put on the Royal Opera House stage without rigorous overhaul, especially in a staging so crassly bare and wide open that the voices were left stranded, good singers reduced to reedy insubstantiality, the slim drama robbed of focus. Issy Jordan As resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1990s, she wrote several works for orchestra and chorus (including Forest, Storm and We are Shadows) which were premiered by the orchestras then Music Director, Simon Rattle. Biography. 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. 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. Look out for the paean to the perfectly laundered shirt sung by Simon (the excellent Jacques Imbrailo), which is a moment of pure comic genius. Miss Fortune Operas. If nothing has changed musically, this small staging worked well, at least in dramatic terms with terrific visuals and spot on acting. Silk Street Theatre, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London; Monday 28th February 2022. 559. 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. RGT Birthdays today Yn aml mae . Photo:Judith Weir. Alice Warburton Judith Weir Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. In 2014-15 there were releases of The Vanishing Bridegroom (NMC) and Storm (BBC Singers/Signum). Judith Weir, Miss Fortune, Royal Opera, 12 March 2012 (British premiere) A member of Soul Mavericks Images: Royal Opera/Bill Cooper: Royal Opera House. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. [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. She has composed Concertos for Piano (William Howard) and Oboe (Celia Craig). When the curtain rose on the UK premiere of Judith Weir's Miss Fortune at the Royal Opera House, one thing at least was clear: this bright, coarse staging by Shi-Zheng Chen would flog the living daylights out of the opera's frail, pale construct, inflate it grotesquely beyond its natural size and, by this eye-catching but totally irrelevant visual aeration, render it all but nonsensical. Composed 2000. She studied with . Paula Guerra Hugo Haag, Cello 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. Hui Pang Lee Kosta Popovic She went on to Cambridge University, where her composition teacher was Robin Holloway; and in 1975 attended summer school at Tanglewood, where she worked with Gunther Schuller. It will help us make your newsletter content more useful. 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. [10] In 2018 she was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Eva Gaidoni . Sad to say but Judith Weir's sixth opera is an embarrassment. [2] See something missing? 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. Given the intimacy and physical support of the Linbury Studio (instead of the open wastes of the main auditorium) the work would at least have had a fair hearing, instead of becoming an object of near ridicule. Full marks on all fronts. 28 pages. It was a concept that worked well on paper, but the contrasting styles and libretti of Gian Carlo Menotti and Judith Weir one charming and unpretentious, the other angular and banal felt mismatched musically and made for an uneven night. Oliver Mears' new production of Britten's chamber opera is a visceral reflection on tyranny and sexual violence. Memoirs of an Accidental Film Artist. The score was published by Novello in 1982, and lasts under ten minutes, making it one of the shortest operas, and is possibly unique in having . Christian Morris talks to Judith Weir, whose new opera Miss Fortune will receive its UK premire on 12th March at the Royal Opera House. We must question the ROH artistic management, perhaps caught in a transitional zone between the departure of Elaine Padmore and the arrival of Kasper Holten as director of opera. Our privacy policy was last updated on Friday 31 January 2020, Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 12 March 2012. Also known as Achterbahn (rollercoaster), this apt allegory on fate - and the control we have over our own lives - delivers a timely update on the Italian folk tale Sfortuna. Tell us a little about the opera. She held the post of Composer in Association for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 1998. She was a visiting distinguished research professor in composition at Cardiff University from 2006 to 2009. [8] In May 2015, Weir won The Ivors Classical Music Award at the Ivor Novello Awards. Silk Street Sad to say but Judith Weirs sixth opera is an embarrassment. Jos Hita Garca* In recent years, Judith Weir has considerably expanded her choral catalogue, with regular performance by choirs worldwide of music such as her Christmas carolIlluminare, Jerusalemwritten for Stephen Cleobury and the choir of Kings College Cambridge. Did the huge generic trapezium in the middle of the stage represent the dizzying moral precipice over which we mortals all too often hurl ourselves, especially in the name of making opera? See the CVs for Guildhall School Final Year Production Arts students. A short 90 minutes of music later, Im still not entirely sure what it is Ive just seen. Night AT the Chinese Opera (A) (1987) Operas. 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. BBC Philharmonic/David, GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No 10, Mahler Symphony No 10 Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra/van Zweden, GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. For Guildhall School performances please use the Guildhall School entrance on Silk Street. Miss Fortune in name and deed. So I arrived at Miss Fortune without any real idea of what I was going to get. For Barbican performances, enter through the mainBarbican Centre entrance in Silk Street. The work was made in co-operation with Margaret Williams. Age 14-25? She studied with John Tavener while at the North London Collegiate School[3] and subsequently with Robin Holloway at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1976. I loved the witty set (designer, Anna Reid) a luxury housing development, with a big sign outside promising "No social housing", something I'm all too familiar with as a local resident to the Vauxhall-Nine Elms "transformation". What drew you to composition? Digory Price Firstly, when disaster strikes the family, our heroine leaves home for the mean streets of her own accord (in the original, she is cast out by her superstitious mother). Sad because Weir's folk inspired fables have won many friends, sad because she is a composerly. Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office.[2]. 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. [12], Weir's musical language is fairly conservative, with a "knack of making simple musical ideas appear freshly mysterious". . 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. The banality of the text follows the banality of the narrative, and the music doesn't rise above it. Nonetheless, having written her own libretto as well as the music, she was easy prey. Our heroine is clad in a bright red dress - the Chinese colour for luck - which makes her a constant point of focus through the action. As far as one could tell, Paul Daniel conducted a good performance. The most recent opera is Miss Fortune, premiered at Bregenz in 2011, and then staged at the Royal . And the greatest irony of all Miss Fortune wins the lottery. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Composer Judith Weir tells the story to her latest opera Miss Fortune at a recent Insights event at the Royal Opera House. The most recent opera is Miss Fortune, premiered at Bregenz in 2011, and then staged at the Royal . In London, the tricky proposition of portraying a chaotic cloud has been undertaken by Soul Mavericks, breakdancers with an amazing ability to perform hundreds of complex patterns, often in mid-air. World premiere at the Bregenz Festival on 21st July 2011 at the Festspielhaus, Bregenz, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, with the Prague Philharmonic Chorus (director Lukas Vasilek) and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul Daniel. Bass clarinet Ivelina Ivanova Called Miss Fortune, the story is about money, fate and fortune. 7 Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Petrenko, NOTES FROM LOCKDOWN: Nigel Lilley in Conversation, GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. Are launderettes, kebab vans and bankers really the stuff of opera? Tobias Campos Santinaque To book tickets visit:. Emma Bell, singing the title role perched five metres up on a rocky plinth, only now revealed that she was scared of heights. The opera reworks a Sicilian folktale as a contemporary parable. Years ago, I read an Italian folk tale about a princess who, when her parents lose their money, is forced to live in poverty and make a living: weaving cloth, minding a wine store, washing clothes. Judith Weir. A recording of this production will be available to watch online for free after the performances. Chester Music #MUSCH61126. But when the once wealthy Tina (a self-consciously red-headed but vocally resolute Emma Bell) turns on Fate (a wasted Andrew Watts) and halfway through this short and pointless evening enquires: Was it you who turned my life upside down? we know weve come precisely nowhere very fast. Her struggles are closely shadowed by Fate sung by counter-tenor Kieron-Connor Valentine. 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. Right next to it was the ubiquitous fingers-crossed Lottery sign with its jaunty "Play here!" One of these days someone might actually commission one of the many young composers at the sharp end of musical theatre - creative song writers with their finger on the pulse of contemporary living. Miss Fortune is Birtish composer Judith Weir's first operatic composisition in the last 17 years. 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. But I personally have been feeling thoroughly revived after. Not something you often come across in opera. 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. Published by Chester Music (HL.14035701). The most recent opera is Miss Fortune, premiered at Bregenz in . CONTENTS OPERA Blond Eckbert. In 2005 her opera Armida, an opera for television, was premiered on Channel Four in the United Kingdom). The most recent opera is Miss Fortune, premiered at Bregenz in . 10 Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse/Sokhiev, GRAMOPHONE Review: Sounds of America Jon Manasse, Park Avenue Chamber Orchestra/Bernard, GRAMOPHONE Review: Rachmaninov Symphony No. This new co-production receives its UK premiere in March 2012. 3 - Larsson, Dsseldorfer Symphoniker/Fischer, GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No.