A composer of ferocious dramatic instincts
— Alex Ross
2020/21 Season
Some production images from the Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier production of Denis & Katya, July 2021. Directed by Ted Huffman, design and lighting by Andrew Lieberman, video by Pierre Martin, music direction by Tim Anderson, sound by Max Hunter. The performers featured in the photos are Chloé Briot and Elliot Madore with the cellists of the Orchestre National de Montpellier. All images taken by Marc Ginot. They can be used for press purposes with the appropriate credit.
Denis & Katya made its french premiere a few weeks ago in a new french-language version at the Opéra National Montpellier. The production featured soprano Chloé Briot and baritone Elliot Madore, and cellists from the Orchestre National Montpellier. Ted Huffman directed the production, based on the Philadelphia production from 2019, with lights and set by Andrew Liebermann, video by Pierre Martin, sound by Max Hunter and music direction by Tim Anderson. Opéra National Montpellier were co-commissioners of the opera, and these performances were postponed from May because of Covid. Luckily, this meant that the performances in July became part of the Radio France Festival Occitanie, and the opera was later broadcast on France Musique.
Reviews in the french press have been very positive. Here are some excerpts, all machine-translated from french:
“In an hour’s time the work is clear, striking and deeply accessible. […] After 4.48 Pyschosis, a brilliant transposition of Sarah Kane’s phantasmagorical play into opera, and this masterpiece capable of bringing together a large audience of all ages, the Philip Venables/Huffman duo sets the tone for a modern and popular way of making lyrical theatre rich in emotion, far from musical chapels.“ — Forum Opera
“Finally, in this opera where the two roles are inseparable vocally and scenically, the complicity and osmosis of the two artists is obvious to the eye and to the ear: the timbres respond to each other during the duets, without any shift despite the complex rhythmic writing. The translation of the other soloist’s singing into spoken voice allows the emotions to be conveyed with power: the incomprehension, the discovery of live performance, the chaotic stage movements are transcribed with depth.” — Olyrix
(photo: Marc Ginot)
Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier have made two little videos taking a peek behind the scenes of the production of Denis & Katya. Episode 1 features interviews with me and Ted about the show (mostly in english) and Episode 2 features interviews with the cast: soprano Chloé Briot and baritone Elliot Madore (mostly in french). Here are the videos:
(photo Marc Ginot)
The performances of Denis & Katya in Montpellier have been postponed due to Covid-19. The opera will now take place on the main stage of the Opéra Comédie on 26th, 28th and 29th July. Tickets are available here. The performances will also form part of the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier. The cast will be Chloé Briot and Elliot Madore.
For the last year I have been collaborating with Ted Huffman and the accordionist Andreas Borregaard on a new piece. This has now come to fruition, and was premiered (virtually) at the Borealis Festival in Bergen on 20th March 2021, in a special film to accompany the piece, made by Pierre Martin and sound recorded by Tommy Kamp Vestergaard.
My Favourite Piece is the Goldberg Variations is based on interviews with Susanne Borregaard (Andreas’ mother). From this interview material, we formed eleven snapshots of a life over seven decades, which is presented in 25 minutes by the accordionist turned storyteller-troubadour. The piece is dedicated to Susanne Borregaard with great appreciation for her contribution. The commission was supported by the Norwegian Academy of Music.
Click here for the premiere video made by Pierre (first in the video stream):
The outstanding contemporary music specialists, The Hermes Experiment, recently gave the world premiere of A Photograph, a new song that I wrote for them over the summer in collaboration with playwright Cordelia Lynn. The song was commissioned by Oxford Lieder Festival with support from The Nicholas John Trust, and was given its first performance last week during the festival, which has been entirely online, completely live. Hats off to artistic director Sholto Kynoch and his team for managing to pull off a great festival in such challenging conditions.
In our early discussions about this song, Cordelia and I decided to collect old photographs to start a process of collaboration. We asked friends for family photos, we asked Héloïse Werner (the singer of The Hermes Experiment), and I collected some from my own family. In the end, Cordelia chose one of my family photos as the starting point for this fictional song. I didn’t tell Cordelia who was in the photo, nor when or what the event was. The photograph was taken in 1967.
A Photograph can still be watched online at the Oxford Lieder Festival website until the end of the month, alongside a range of other concerts and talks.
Semperoper in Dresden have announced more dates next season for their production of 4.48 Psychose. The opera had its german premiere run in Semper Zwei in April/May this year, with sold-out performances. The dates next season will be 7th, 9th, 10th, 13th and 15th September, and tickets can be booked here.
Sempoeroper have made a new video trailer of the production using rehearsal footage, which you can watch, above.