SINGERS DIRECT: News Archive

Michael: 2nd Disc issued with third in pipeline

Michael's second CD is now out: chansons by Vierne (see below for news of his first), including a duet with Claire. Containing material never before heard on disc, this is a must-buy for all Francophile musicians, and with Christmas approaching, what better present could there be?

Susanna enjoys Wigmore acoustic and features on YouTube

Susanna had great fun with the Wigmore Hall's magnificent acoustic in a stunning but little known work by JC Bach, Ach, dass ich Wassers, on 24th September, in a concert with the Academy of Ancient Music exploring works by Johann Sebastian's forebears. It was the opening concert in a season of five exploring this little known but glorious repertoire. It was Susanna's fourth visit to the Hall, but the first time she had a real chance to let rip in what has to be one of the greatest buildings in which to sing worldwide. An extract from an earlier rehearsal can now be found on YouTube under Acadofancientmusic.

Andrew returns to the Buxton Festival

Andrew will be back in Buxton this July, for performances of Peter Cornelius' The Barber of Baghdad at the Festival (8th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 20th, 24th). He plays the curmudgeonly old father figure Baba Mustapha, a role for which we are sure his children will say he is to the manner born. In October he will also be at the Royal Opera House, understudying the role of Abbe Chazeuil in Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea. The main cast includes Olga Borodina, Jonas Kauffman and Angela Gheorghiu, so if he does get to go on, he will be in equally distinguished company.

World premiere recording of Widor hits the shelves

Michael is delighted that the waiting is over and his recording for Naxos of Charles Widor's Chansons de Mer and five other previously unrecorded chansons is now out. Accompanied by Jeremy Filsell on the piano, this unknown repertoire is an absolute delight and a must for enthusiasts of French chansons. This CD will be the first in a series. Later discs will include the works of Louis Vierne and Charles Tournemire, when Michael will once again be joined by Jeremy Filsell, Helen Crayford (piano) and Singers Direct's own Claire Seaton, the latter for a charming duet: Dialogue Sacree. Widor disc.jpg

Beckenham concerts saved by SD twice running

Michael was joined by Susanna at somewhat short notice when Beckenham Chorale's mezzo withdrew from their performance of the Verdi Requiem in May owing to illness. Susanna was delighted to step in and prove once again that Singers Direct can prove a salvation when crisis looms. She was following in the footsteps of Andrew, who was able to save the Chorale's Chorus Master, John Nightingale, from a tricky situation when he needed a tenor at short notice for a concert with very unusual repertoire for a concert with his own choir. John was delighted with Andrew's willingness to take on a considerable challenge that included a commission. Make sure you make SD your first call when you are let down by a soloist; if we can't help personally, we are sure to know someone of equal calibre who can, and haven't failed to come up with a singer yet when required!

Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" in the Royal Albert Hall

Claire, Susanna, Debbie and Michael will soon begin building up their vocal chords in anticipation of a mammoth performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony, to take place in the Royal Albert Hall in May 2011. The "Thousand" will be made up of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vivace Chorus, the London Symphony Chorus, the London Chorus, the Romsey Choral Society, Tiffin Boys' Choir and the other soloists: Elisabeth Meister, Helen Neeves, Adrian Thompson and Robert Poulton. Jeremy Backhouse, a good friend of Singers Direct will be wielding the baton. .

Jeremy follows in Christopher's footsteps

Jeremy is to travel to Madrid in February to sing the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion for Adrian Davis and the Madrid Bach Choir. Christopher has also sung for Adrian in the Spanish capital, in a memorable Messiah which you can read about in the news archive section (link to the left of this screen) under the title Christopher Foster and Messiah: 43 Not Out. We hope Jeremy will have a less eventful evening!

Inigo enters the annals

Helen's son Inigo and her second daughter Lily (7) enjoyed his first Christmas enormously. He is clearly as good humoured as his mother! Her third child, Helen finds that pregnancy has given an added richness to her voice and that it is growing as rapidly as her family. Good for the career Helen, but don't take it too far...

'Authentic' Elijah rings the changes

Deborah's performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah in Chichester on June 13th will be slightly different from the norm as it aims to reproduce the first performance of the piece in 1846 conducted by Mendelssohn himself, following which he made various changes to the score leading to the 1847 version most performers use today. Deborah says: "The differences are many. All my recitatives are different, although along the same lines, as the 1847 revised edition and although the arias are the same, the harmonies to O rest in the Lord are quite different and very interesting - there are many more accidentals and creeping harmonies. The lovely unaccompanied trio for ladies is also replaced with a duet for sop and alto." It will be interesting to see how the audience reacts to such well-loved gems not sounding quite as they expect.

Michael takes centre stage

Michael recently took part in the world premiere of Noam Shariff and George Whyte's Golem at the Czech National Opera (Narodni divadlo) on June 29, 2009. Further images and audio clips of the production are available at http://www.ct24.cz/no-comment/59656-norodni-divadlo-uvedlo-kabalitsticke-drama-golem-13/

Workshop debut brings a smile

Susanna was invited by conductor David Gibson and the Croydon Philharmonic Choir to provide vocal coaching for a Saturday workshop they held in the early autumn. This was Susanna's debut in the field, but the choir were generous in both their support and subsequent comments. Needing particular help with French pronunciation before tackling a programme of Faure, they were tickled by some of the tongue twisters Susanna had looked out for them...

Singers Direct: the next generation

Congratulations to both Helen and her husband Daniel on the birth of their son Inigo on 28th July, and Jeremy and his wife Sarah on the arrival of Matilda Jane (see left) on 5th November. Both children should be lulled by terrific lullabies, and grow up knowing every warm-up exercise in the book!

Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks explores both the old and the new

Last year the youthful Andrew found himself challenging both himself and the make-up department at Scottish Opera, when he sang the roles of both Old Peng (see photo) and an Old Mountain Dweller in Judith Weir's A Night at the Chinese Opera.

Springfest brings great reviews for Christopher's Britten

Christopher's recent appearance in Britten's Curlew River at Springfest (the new name for the Hampstead and Highgate Festival) brought excellent reviews for him and fellow cast members Robert Murray and Lynton Black. Michael White in the Daily Telegraph declared the soloists "magnificent", while Robert Matthew-Walker on www.classicalsource.com wrote: "I doubt if this extraordinarily original masterpiece could have been better sung, or vocally characterised in any finer respect that that witnessed on this occasion. From the very beginning it was obvious that George Vass had chosen the cast wisely...".

Tenor Jeremy Budd joins the SD team

The acclaimed young tenor Jeremy Budd joined Singers Direct in January, following the departure of his (and SD's) great friend Nicholas Mulroy.

SINGERS DIRECT makes its debut in Birmingham's fully refurbished Town Hall

Helen, Susanna, Andrew and Christopher will be the first members of SD to grace the platform of the newly restored Birmingham Town Hall, which re-opened in October 2007 after a closure of several years.

Always allow plenty of time...

After studiously checking the postcode of St John's in the Square, Wolverhampton and arriving in the town with well over half an hour to spare, having parked and walked to the nearest church to that postcode still with 15 minutes on his side, Christopher discovered that it was more than a good thing he had allowed plenty of time to get to Wombourne & District Choral Society's concert with the City of Wolverhampton Choir.

Photo: Helena Dixson

Susanna returns to Three Choirs Festival

Susanna is looking forward to returning to the Three Choirs Festival, this year hosted by Hereford. She will be singing Britten's Spring Symphony, to be conducted by Adrian Lucas.

Verdi Requiem in Guildford Cathedral wins plaudits

SD members won particular praise last November for their performance of Verdi's Requiem in Guildford Cathedral.

Stabat Mater In March 2009 will prove both a change and a challenge

Rossini's Stabat Mater is less well known and far less frequently performed than his Petite Messe Solennelle.

Deborah helps choral societies improve their sound

How well is your choir singing? Do you believe it could sing better? Is your choral society producing a focussed quality sound or is the chorus's unfocussed tone not delivering its full potential?

Michael Bundy to take leading role in world première recording

Michael is to sing Dionysus in the world-première recording of Donald Tovey's opera The Bride of Dionysus in May 2009 with the Ulster orchestra conducted by George Vass. This will be the next in a series of recordings by Vass and various artists of the works of Tovey (1875-19490). The recent issue of Tovey's Symphony on disc (on the Toccata label) was a runner up BBC Disc of the Week in 2008.

Norwich Philharmonic and Vaughan Williams' Five Tudor Portraits saved by Susanna

Following her last minute saving of a performance of the Five Tudor Portraits a couple of years ago in Woodstock when the advertised mezzo fell ill, SD member Susanna received a 24 hour emergency call again this autumn from Norwich Philharmonic's conductor David Dunnett.

DMJ to make Wagnerian debut

Deborah will be singing Fricka in a concert performance of Wagner's Das Rheingold in Oxford Town Hall on March 7th. Having always thought of herself as a lyric mezzo, she had not considered Wagner to be her particular bag, but she has found working on it to be a fascinating voyage of discovery, and that it is "just wonderful" to sing.

Christopher Foster & Messiah: 43 not out

Christopher's most recent performance of Messiah (his 43rd) was a tumultuous affair in Madrid last December that caused him to recall his first performance, 20 years earlier.

Susanna gets a surprise at the 2008 Three Choirs Festival

The 2008 Three Choirs Festival found Susanna singing two concerts, one of which was of Vaughan Williams' little known Magnificat, with The Elgar Chorale, conducted by Donald Hunt, in Pershore Abbey.

Claire re-visits the Barbican and also celebrates Mendelssohn's 200th birthday

Claire will be performing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at The Barbican on 7th April, her 4th appearance in the hall. She also has a celebrity concert to look forward to in July. 2009 being the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth, she will be singing in The Chichester Singers' performance of his Elijah, with Sir Willard White in the title role.