español | français London Handel Festival 12-03-2007 20 March to 26 April. The 30th London Handel Festival runs from 20 March to 26 April, with Laurence Cummings as Musical Director and Adrian Butterfield as Associate Director. Each year a significant dimension to this festival is its singing competition, won last year by tenor Nathan Vale. All the finalists from last year’s competition return to this year’s festival, making it a place to catch emerging professional singers. The semi-finals on 16 April, and finals on 23 April, are open to the public. Highlights of the festival include four performances of a fully staged version of Handel’s Poro, re dell’Indie in conjunction with the Benjamin Britten International Opera School. This is the opera’s first modern production in London. On 29 March, Laurence Cummings and violinist Adrian Butterfield are joined by cellist Katherine Sharman for a recital of music written in England by Festing, Gibbs and Babell alongside more familiar music by Handel. Good Friday switches the focus to J. S. Bach, with a performance of the St Matthew Passion. The concert on 14 April brings together music by Handel, Rameau, Lully and Vivaldi. This concert explores the diverse musical fruits of these relationships, with Adrian Butterfield directing the South Bank Sinfonia, joined by soprano Helen Groves and tenor Tom Raskin. In 1707 Handel was enjoying considerable success in Italy. The concert on 17 April takes a selection of works written 300 years ago, including music from Rodrigo, and Il trionfo del Tempo, which Handel later re-worked in English as The Triumph of Time and Truth. The festival closes on 26 April with Handel’s oratorio Solomon from 1749. Laurence Cummings conducts the London Handel orchestra, led by Adrian Butterfield, with sopranos Elizabeth Atherton and Mona Julsrad, countertenor Iestyn Davies, tenor Nathan Vale, and bass Njal Sparbo. One of the great delights of music is encountering interesting works for the first time. That makes it exciting to see C. P. E. Bach’s Sonata Sanguineus und Melancholicus programmed on 20 March, and on 27 March music from Harmonia Artificioso-arioso, Biber’s collection of trio sonatas for two scordatura violins. Laurence Cummings ABOUT US | CONTRIBUTE   web map - home page - cover Legal warning Copyright 2003, Goldberg. info@goldberg-magazine.com