Saturday 27th April 2024 7:30pm
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral
St James Road
Liverpool
L1 7AZ
Featured:
Liverpool Welsh Choral, Vivace Chorus from Guildford, Surrey, Cantorion Menai, Liverpool University Chamber Choir, accompanied by the Manchester Camerata Orchestra.
Special Guest Soloists:
Claire Rutter (Soprano), Jess Dandy (Mezzo-Soprano) Gwyn Hughes Jones (Tenor) James Cleverton (Baritone)
A grand night of musical majesty at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.
The audience were transported into a world of sublime musical splendour at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, one of the most iconic and awe-inspiring venues. It became the stage for a magnificent concert which featured an ensemble of no less than four choirs and 300 voices, a renowned orchestra, and four gifted soloists, all coming together to perform Giuseppe Verdi’s timeless masterpiece, the Requiem. These remarkable artists performed one of Verdi’s most operatic and passionate pieces.
Written in memory of his friend, the novelist Manzoni, Requiem was a personal statement of Verdi’s grief and was first performed in Milan in May 1874.
Feedback from an audience member (Darren Niman) received after the sell out concert:
“The standard of singing was beyond excellent, absolutely top shelf material, professional, dignified with a great emphasis on diction, tone and expression. The orchestral playing was absolutely magnificent which is what you would expect from Manchester Camerata.”
More information about the artists that performed:
Liverpool Welsh Choral
Liverpool Welsh Choral is Merseyside’s longest established choir, formed to appear in the National Eisteddfod held in Liverpool in 1900, and celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2025!
Under the enthusiastic and expert direction of Keith Orrell and with their acclaimed accompanist Stephen Hargreaves, the choir have delighted audiences across Liverpool with their varied repertoire and have performed with many other choirs and orchestras in addition to famous singers such as Bryn Terfel and Andrea Bocelli.
Renowned for their hair-raising sound when in full swing, they are still a thriving and dynamic choir of some 100 voices and continue to be one of the leading choirs in the area.
Liverpool Welsh Choral are thrilled to be collaborating with musical artists of such calibre, in a venue of such majesty to perform Verdi’s wonderful masterpiece – Requiem.
Cantorian Menai
Cantorion Menai was founded in 1978 by John Hywel, our first conductor. We have 65 members from Anglesey and Gwynedd and we hold two concerts each year. Over its 45 years the choir has performed may works from the traditional to the modern with a special emphasis on Welsh composers. Recent performances have included: Mathias’s Sant Teilo and This Worlde’s Joie, Schubert’s Mass in G, Mozart’s Requiem and C minor Mass, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Messiah and many shorter works of Welsh music. Future concerts will include Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius. In recent years we have been regular performers at the Beaumaris Festival. We have a policy of engaging local soloists and orchestral players in our concerts. Our Director of Music and principal conductor is Gwyn L Williams and deputy conductor Steven Evans.
Vivace Chorus
Vivace Chorus is a flourishing, ambitious and adventurous choir based in Guildford, Surrey. We enjoy singing traditional choral classics alongside the challenge of contemporary and newly-commissioned music – there’s something for everyone at Vivace!
The choir began in 1946 as the Guildford Philharmonic Choir and was rebranded as Vivace Chorus in 2005. We have an enviable reputation for performing first-class concerts across a wide range of musical repertoire.
University of Liverpool Chamber Choir
The University of Liverpool Chamber Choir is a group of some thirty singers, which draws its members from undergraduates and postgraduates across the University. Its members, who are auditioned annually, can be studying any subject. Louise Ellinson was appointed University Choral Director in 2019, but interruption by the Covid pandemic means that most of the choir’s current membership only joined after rehearsals restarted in Autumn 2021.
The choir performed with a full orchestra at the Tung Auditorium’s inaugural event in a concert of Vivaldi as well as some contemporary repertoire. In the Tung’s Gala Concert, the choir sang the world premiere of One World by Shirley J. Thompson, scored for the Chamber Choir. As part of the University’s first ever schools’ concert, LUCC were joined by 150 local children. The choir has performed in venues in the wider City region, singing more Christmas carols than they care to remember!
Claire Rutter (Soprano)
Claire Rutter is well known for the “rich dramatic flair” [The Dallas Examiner] of her performances of the major Italian and Germanic dramatic roles. She has appeared internationally in houses including Opera Australia, Florida Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra National de Montpellier, Opéra National du Rhin, Theater Basel, Flemish National Opera, Finnish National Opera and Den Norske Opera.
This season, Claire’s highlights include the role of Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes at Theater Erfurt in Germany, and Brahms Requiem and Amy Beach’s Canticle of the Sun at the Royal Festival Hall with The Bach Choir.
On the concert platform in 2022/23, Claire sang Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Barbican, which she performed previously at the Royal Festival Hall and with the Oxford Philharmonic, and Verdi’s Requiem with the Halle Orchestra, which she also recently performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recent operatic highlights include the role of Amelia Un Ballo in Maschera and Sieglinde Die Walküre for Grange Park Opera, Tosca for Icelandic Opera and Welsh National Opera, Leonora La Forza del Destino (also for Welsh National Opera), the title role in Vanessa for Wexford Festival Opera, Abigaille Nabucco for Dorset Opera, Fidelia Edgar and Mother L’Enfant Prodigue for Scottish Opera, the title role in La Gioconda for Malmö Opera, and Maddalena Andrea Chénier with Chelsea Opera Group.
Claire has performed diverse repertoire with the all the UK’s top orchestras and many leading international orchestras. She has collaborated with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Jane Glover, Sir Richard Armstrong, Paolo Arrivabeni, Stephen Barlow, Carl Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Michael Güttler, David Hill, Gianluca Marcianò, Timothy Myers, David Parry, Vassily Petrenko, Stefano Ranzani, and Tobias Ringborg.
Gwyn Hughes Jones (Tenor)
Welsh tenor Gwyn Huges Jones has sung leading roles at many of the world’s major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and Opera national de Paris.
In the 2022/23 season he sings Manrico Il trovatore with Washington National Opera, Cavarodossi Tosca at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tristan Tristan und Isolde at Opera national de Paris followed by Grange Park Opera.
His operatic highlights include title role Otello (Grange Park Opera); title role Andrea Chenier (Chelsea Opera Group); Radames Aida (English National Opera); Walther von Stolzing Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (Royal opera House); Calaf Turandot (Opera national de Paris, English National Opera); Cavarodossi Tosca (Trondheim Symfoniorkester, English National Opera, Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Scottis Opera, Welsh National Opera); Pinkerton Madama Butterfly (Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, English National Opera, Festival Lirico Internacional de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, Welsh National Opera); Rodolfo La boheme (San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and English National Opera); Don Jose Carmen (Norwegian National Opera and Welsh National Opera); Ismaele Nabucco (Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera national de Paris); Chevalier des Grieux Manon Lescaut (Savonlinna Festival and Welsh National Opera); Manrico Il trovatore (Metropolitan Opera and Welsh National Opera); Fenton Falstaff (Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Theatre de la Monnaie, Burssels); Camille de Rossillon Die Lustige Witwe (Opera national de Paris); Macduff Macbeth (Royal Opera House); and Riccardo Un ballo in maschera, Canio Pagliacci, Turiddu Cavalleria Rusticana, Duco Rigoletto and the title role of Gounod’s Faust (all for Welsh National Opera).
Jones has appeared with orchestras including the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Trondheim Symfoniorkester, Israel Philarmonic Orchestra, Royal Flanders Philarmonic Orchestra, London Philarmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Royal Philarmonic Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In 2011 he took part in opera galas in Sweden to mark the 100th Anniversary of Jussi Bjorling’s birth. His extensive concert repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.
Also an acoomplished recitalist, he recorded the first ever televised recital from the Wigmore hall, and has appeared in recital at the St. Olaf Festival in Trondheim, Musashino Civic Cultural Hall in Tokyo, Purcell Room, London and the Auditorium du Louvre, Paris. His recordings include Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth (Chandos).
Manchester Camerata
Manchester Camerata prides itself on an original combination of craft and courage. With 5 star reviews from The Independent, as well as the accolade of being hailed ‘Britain’s most adventurous orchestra’ (The Times), Camerata is as comfortable opening Glastonbury Festival as it is recording Mozart at the highest level. They are passionate about the traditional craft of an orchestra and how it is evolving. By excelling artistically and having the courage to prioritise bold, compelling and diverse projects, Camerata makes a positive difference not only to their audiences but to the health and wellbeing of their communities as well.
To achieve this artistic excellence and forward-thinking ethos, collaboration is at the heart of everything Camerata does. Led by its visionary Music Director, Gábor Takács-Nagy (who considers music to be ‘spiritual medicine'), the orchestra collaborates with diverse international artists, from Martha Argerich to New Order and Aziz Ibrahim to Lewis Capaldi. Their long-standing artistic partnerships with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Jess Gillam and AMC Gospel Choir sit alongside performances and tours with eminent artists such as Pinchas Zuckerman, Arvo Pärt, Yefim Bronfman, Javier Perianes, Istvan Vardai and Leticia Moreno amongst others.
With its live performances, Camerata plays music with no boundaries. From an orchestral rave performed in isolation to over one million people during the Covid-19 pandemic, to touring Mozart in the most beautifully intimate concert halls, or re-imagining classical music with electronic producers at the top of their game, they believe great music is great music and present this to you at the highest level.
Manchester Camerata believes in the transformative power of music and wants to share these moments with you.
Jess Dandy (Mezzo Soprano)
Cumbrian born Jess Dandy is the foremost British contralto of her generation and has been praised for her instrument of velvety plangent timbre, and her artistic remarkable immediacy. Jess studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Trinity College, Cambridge and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, and is an alumna and Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
This 2023/24 season Jess sings Elgar Sea Pictures with Tokyo Symphony, Mozart Requiem with Tampere Philharmonic,
Handel’s Messiah with Hallé Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, The Glyndebourne Sinfonia and Il Gardellino, multiple concerts with the BBC Philharmonic and will appear at both the London Handel Festival and Spoleto Festival USA.
Recent highlights have included Micah in Handel’s Samson at the BBC Proms with the Academy of Ancient Music, Bach’s Heilig ist Gott with the Dunedin Consort at the BBC Proms, the world premiere of a new opera All Seas by Josephine Stephenson at Opéra Grand Avignon, a new commission Spell of Creation by Alissa Firsova with the BBC Philharmonic, Bach’s Weinachtsoratorium with Salzburg Kulturvereinigung and Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Dunedin Consort.
Jess has appeared on the concert platform with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, The English Concert, The Academy of Ancient Music, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Orchestre révolutionnaire et romantique, Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra,Salzburg Kulturvereinigung, BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, BBC Welsh National Opera, BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Dunedin Consort, Les Arts Florissant, Opera Settecento, Hallé Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; collaborating with conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Harry Bicket, Laurence Cummings, Osmo Vänskä, Trevor Pinnock, Gemma New, John Butt William Christie, Kristian Bezuidenhout and Stephen Layton.
In 2021, Jess was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the category of Young Artist. She is a multi-faceted artist with a keen interest in ecology, body psychology and spirituality. She is the co-founder of SongPath, a mental health initiative creating musical walking trails in nature for better mental health. With composer Alex Mills, she developed the Music & Being Collective, an open laboratory space exploring music and our sense of self through interdisciplinary dialogue.
James Cleverton (Baritone)
James Cleverton studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Zürich Opera’s International Opera Studio.
In 2022/23 season James appeared as Johann in Werther at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Marco in Gianni Schicchi for Scottish Opera, Baron Douphol in La Traviata for Opera North and as Daedalus in the world premiere of Raising Icarus by Michael Zev Gordon. In the current season James is appearing with WNO as Marco, Gianni Schicchi and also baritone soloist in their Opera Favourites; Mathieu, Andrea Chenier for the Royal Opera House; Smirnov The Bear with the Rehearsal Orchestra and as Leonid, in Joe Cutler’s Sonata For Broken Fingers with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Concert performances include the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Festival Chorus, Fauré Requiem at the Cadogan Hall with the RPO and his Spanish debut singing Roberto Sierra’s Missa Latina with the Coro y Orquesta Nacional in Madrid. Previous seasons’ highlights include Alberich in Das Rheingold at the ROH, Papageno in the Magic Flute for Scottish Opera, Frank in Die Fledermaus for Welsh National Opera and Kallenbach in Satyagraha, Horemhab in Akhnaten and Aristaeus the Man in The Mask of Orpheus for ENO.
James has performed many of the major Gilbert and Sullivan baritone roles for both The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and the International Gilbert and Sullivan Company most notably appearing as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance at the Savoy Theatre