Aida at the Watford Colosseum

Watford Philharmonic Society celebrates its return to the Watford Colosseum at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 9th November 2005 with a blockbusting concert performance of Verdi’s stunning opera, Aida. Set in the time of ancient Egypt, the opera tells the tale of the star-crossed lovers, Aida, the captured princess, and Radames, the heroic young general, returning in triumph from his campaigns. 

The role of Aida will be taken by Tinuke Olafimihan, soprano, with Gaynor Keeble, mezzo-soprano, as her rival Amneris, and Michael Bracegirdle, tenor, as Radames. Andrew Rupp, baritone, takes the role of Aida’s father Amonasro, and, following his successful performance in Watford earlier this year, in Handel’s Messiah, Martin Robson, bass, makes a welcome return as the King. Watford Phil’s choir and orchestra provide the musical backdrop to these solo performances, all under the baton of Conductor, Stuart Dunlop, for whom this will be a particularly nostalgic occasion, as he will be leaving the Society at the end of the year, having recently been appointed Director of Music at Reading University.

Watford Phil has performed at the Watford Colosseum (previously known as Watford Town Hall Assembly Rooms) almost without interruption since the Society was inaugurated in 1935, and we are delighted to be returning there, following our enforced absence during the temporary closure period. Our audiences were wonderfully loyal whilst we were away and we look forward to celebrating our return, with them, on 9th November.

Tickets, priced at £10.50 and £12.50, with children half price, can be obtained from members of Watford Philharmonic Society, or by telephoning our Ticket Secretary on 01923 449458. Tickets will also be on sale at the door on the night of the performance. 

Aida was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 as is often thought, nor was it performed at the opening in the same year of the new Cairo Opera House, Rigoletto being the opera on that occasion. Aida was premiered in Cairo on Christmas Eve in 1871, but was actually ready much earlier. However, the scenery and costumes were delayed in France by the Franco-Prussian War, giving Verdi time to make revisions which may, in part, account for its phenomenal success. The text is based on a French prose libretto by Camille du Locle, from a story by Mariette Bey and translated into Italian verse by Ghislanzoni. Tonight’s concert version is in an English translation by Humphrey Proctor-Gregg.

The story opens in Memphis, where Aida has been enslaved by the Egyptian King and made an attendant on his daughter Amneris. Unknown to them, she is the daughter of Amonasro, King of Ethiopia, who is now marching against Thebes. Radames, a young soldier with whom both Aida and Amneris are in love, is chosen to lead the Egyptian army against the Ethiopians. Radames himself loves Aida and hopes to return victorious and claim her hand.

In Act 2, Amneris tricks Aida into revealing her love for Radames. Aida realises that there is no hope for her with a powerful and jealous princess as her rival. Radames then returns at the head of his victorious army, bearing the spoils of war. Among the prisoners Aida recognises her father, Amonasro. The Egyptian King bids Radames ask for any boon he wishes and Radames asks for the prisoners to be freed. This is granted except for Amonasro who is to be held as a hostage. The King then announces that Radames’ reward is to be the hand of Amneris; she is triumphant and Radames and Aida are left in despair.

Act 3 takes place on a moonlit night on the banks of the Nile by the temple of Isis, where Amneris is praying in preparation for her marriage to Radames. Aida has arranged to meet Radames here, but it is her father who first appears. He persuades her to find out from Radames the route the Egyptian army will take to attack the regrouped Ethiopians so that he can arrange to ambush them. 

Radames arrives and promises Aida that he will ask for her hand as his reward when he returns victorious from his next battle, but Aida knows that Amneris will prevent this and, trying to persuade Radames to escape with her, tricks him into revealing the army’s route. These words are overheard by Amonasro, but also by Amneris. Radames is taken prisoner, while Aida and Amonasro escape.

In Act 4 Amneris, hoping to save the man she loves, pleads with Radames to justify his actions to the Priests, but he, deprived of the love of Aida, would rather die. Condemned as a traitor he is entombed below the temple of Vulcan. As Amneris bewails his fate in the temple above, Aida, who had entered the crypt to await him, appears at his side and they sing their last farewell to earth.

(With acknowledgements to Val Jones)

TINUKE OLAFIMIHAN (Soprano) - Aida

Tinuke Olafimihan was born in London and studied at the British National Opera Studio. She made her debut in Les Huguenots at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She was subsequently invited to give a Young Artists' Recital at Covent Garden and has since returned to Covent Garden as Pamina and Papagena (Die Zauberflote), Ismene (Mitridate) and Clara (Porgy & Bess). Ms Olafimihan’s international engagements include Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro) at Aix-en-Provence and at De Nederlandse Opera, Dido (Dido and Aeneas) at the Opera Comique, Paris and Bess (Porgy and Bess) in Lisbon and Clara (Porgy and Bess) at Theatre Real Madrid. Ms Olafimihan sang Nedda (Pagliacci) for New Sussex Opera and principal roles in La Baltasara and The Indian Queen at the Glasgow International Early Music Festival and the title role in Il Rappresentazione di Anima e Corpo at the London International Opera Festival. She has also sung in the world premières of Param Vir's Snatched By The Gods at De Nederlandse Opera and at the Munich Biennale, Nigel Osbourne's Terrible Mouth at Almeida Opera, London and Michael Levinas's Les Negres at Lyon Opera and Geneva Opera.

On the concert platform, Ms Olafimihan has performed at the Albert Hall, St John's Smith Square, the Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham and the Philharmonic Hall Liverpool, with conductors such as Sir David Willcocks, Carlo Rizzi, Nikolaus Hamoncourt, Andrew Parrot, Robert Shaw, Karl Anton Rickenbacher and Andrew Litton. She has made numerous recital, oratorio and opera broadcasts for BBC Radio and TV, Classic FM, Swiss, French, Brazilian, Turkish, Nigerian and Canadian Radio and TV. Her performances of the Brahms Requiem with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Robert Shaw were broadcast live on BBC Radio Three. Her recordings include Maria (West Side Story) on the JAY label and the Saint-Saens Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for CALA Records. Her recording of Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady) for JAY won The Gramophone’s Award for Best Recording for Music Theatre.

Recent engagements include performances at St John's Smith Square, with the Manchester Camerata, Violetta (La Traviata) at the Coliseu Opporto, a concert tour of the Netherlands, performances at the Opera National de Lyon and the Grand Theatre Geneva Opera and the Messiah (Handel) with the London Mozart Players. 

Future engagements include performances of the Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors, Oxford), Gertrude (Hansel and Gretel, Longborough Festival) Gareth Valentine's Requiem, and the Verdi Requiem. A new recording of Gareth Valentine's Requiem on the JAY label was released last year.

GAYNOR KEEBLE (Mezzo-soprano) - Amneris

Gaynor Keeble won scholarships to the University of Warwick and the Royal Academy of Music. She was awarded a Countess of Munster Award and has been a semi-finalist in both the Kathleen Ferrier and the Belvedere International Opera Competitions. In December 2001 she was the winner of the London Lieder Prize.

On leaving the RAM she joined the Welsh National Opera where she performed and covered many roles including CARMEN, Meg Page (Falstaff), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Berta (Barber of Seville), Marcellina (Marriage of Figaro), Flora and Annina (La Traviata) and Ragonde (Count Ory).

Roles with the English Touring Opera include Marcellina, Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Marchese (Daughter of the Regiment), Baba the Turk (Rake’s Progress), with other roles including Buttercup and Hebe (HMS Pinafore) at the Royal Festival Hall and Kate (Pirates of Penzance) at Queen’s Theatre, West End.

Gaynor has made numerous recordings which have included the Councillor’s Wife (Osud) conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, for EMI, Hebe, Patience, Yeomen of the Guard for TER records and has performed for the Royal Opera House, Opera North, Mid-Wales Opera, European Chamber Opera and Opera Interludes.

Roles elsewhere include Mrs Sedley (Peter Grimes) with the CBSO, Olga (Eugene Onegin), 2nd and 3rd Lady (Magic Flute), Orpheus (Orpheus & Euridice), Mere Jeanne (Dialogue of the Carmelites), Jack (The Wreckers), Priscilla (Silas Marner) by Howard Goodall at Salisbury Festival (World Premier) and Rose Taverner (False Relations) by David Stoll (World Premier).

Having worked with orchestras such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, London Bach Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, The Phiharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and the Vivaldi Concertante, Gaynor’s concert repertoire has included Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Dream of Gerontius and Vivaldi Gloria. She has recently performed in Switzerland, France and Spain, including Madam Popova The Bear for The Opera Project, Berlioz Nuits d’été for the Warwick Festival and Katisha for Carl Rosa in the USA and Rome, Mistress Quickly (Falstaff), Marcellina for Opera Project, Delilah (Samson and Delilah) for Kentish Opera. Future plans include two cruises for Saga Rose, Rossini Petite Messe Solonelle, Amneris (Aida) for Kentish Opera and Mrs Partlett (Sorcerer) for the Gilbert & Sullivan International Festival in Buxton.

MICHAEL BRACEGIRDLE (Tenor) - Radames

A graduate of Durham University, Michael Bracegirdle first trained as a chartered accountant and then worked as a Finance Director in industry. In September 2003, he gave up his career to further his studies in vocal technique and theatrical development at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has undertaken master-classes and coaching with Isobel Flinn, Jean Mallandine, Sir Thomas Allen, Nicholas Carthy, Julius Drake, Stephen Hess, Dennis O’Neill, Michael Pollock and Paul Wynn Griffiths, and is now studying with Ryland Davies.

At the Royal Northern College of Music, he sang Sandy / First Officer The Lighthouse and Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress. He will return to the RNCM later this year to sing Ruggero La rondine. His professional engagements have already included Don José Carmen for Stowe Opera, Rodolfo La bohème for Mananan Festival Opera, Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress for Cambridge University Opera and Alfredo La traviata for Northern Opera.

In June 2005, Michael Bracegirdle made his début with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in “Proms in the Park”. His concert repertoire includes Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Elgar The Dream of Gerontius and The Light of Life, Elijah, the Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater, Schubert Mass in E flat and Stabat Mater, Stainer The Crucifixion and the Verdi Requiem.

Currently, Michael Bracegirdle is singing Don José Carmen for Mid-Wales Opera, and his future engagements include Steva Jenufa and Cavaradossi Tosca for English Touring Opera and Alfredo La traviata for Clonter Opera.

ANDREW RUPP (Baritone) - Amonasro

Born in Canterbury, Andrew Rupp began his musical training as a chorister at the Cathedral there. He read Natural Sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge and is currently studying with Philip Doghan.

He made his operatic debut as The Vicar Albert Herring for British Youth Opera, and has sung since for the Deutsche Staatsoper, English Touring Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, OTC, Dublin, and the Opéra de Lausanne, as well as for The Aldeburgh Foundation and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, in a repertoire including John The Last Supper, The Ferryman and The Traveller Curlew River, The Steward Flight, Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Junius The Rape of Lucretia, Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro, Eisenstein Die Fledermaus, The Musicmaster Ariadne auf Naxos, Melchior Amahl and the Night Visitors, Tomés The Kiss, Don Pantaleone Die drei Pintos and Kilian Der Freischütz.

Andrew Rupp has a wide concert and oratorio repertoire and has performed in the UK, the USA, France, Italy, Japan, Scandinavia and Switzerland. He appeared in the première of John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple at the City of London Festival and in revivals of this work at the Lincoln Center, New York, and the Royal Albert Hall as well as in the première of Tavener’s Hymn of Dawn, broadcast on Radio 3, with the Ulster Orchestra from the Waterfront Hall, Belfast. 

Andrew Rupp recently sang Cecil Maria Stuarda for English Touring Opera, Nathan Byrd in the première of McQueen’s Hollow Hill at the Buxton Festival, The Veil of the Temple at the Holland Festival and A Sea Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. His future engagements include Sharpless Madam Butterfly and Last Night of the Spring Proms 2006 for Raymond Gubbay Ltd, Froila Alfonso und Estrella for University College Opera, the Christmas Oratorio for East Sussex Bach Choir, the St Matthew Passion in Eton College, Dvorak Te Deum for Tonbridge Philharmonic Society, the Nelson Mass in Canterbury Cathedral and Mozart Mass in C Minor at Beverley Minster.

Andrew Rupp appears by kind permission of English National Opera

MARTIN ROBSON (Bass) - King of Egypt

Martin Robson read music at Leeds University before studying singing at the Royal Northern College of Music with Nicholas Powell and April Cantelo. He has also studied with Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge and currently works with Jennifer Caron. 

His operatic engagements have included First Workman Wozzeck, Cardinal of Lorraine Palestrina, Horatio Hamlet, Flemish Deputy Don Carlos and Noble Lohengrin for the Royal Opera, London, Abbott Curlew River for VARA Radio at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Leader of the Pilgrims Curlew River and Azarias The Burning Fiery Furnace for the Opéra National du Rhin, Quince A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Rome Opera, Gloucester in the UK première of Toshio Hosokawa’s Vision of Lear at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Pluto L’Orfeo for the New London Consort, Time / Neptune Il ritorno d’Ulisse at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Fenicio Ermione for Chelsea Opera Group, Wyke Thwaite for Almeida Opera and Xuthus Ion for Music Theatre Wales. 

Concert work has taken him to America, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and Switzerland in addition to performances for choirs and festivals in Britain. He has appeared with many leading orchestras and ensembles including the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Les Arts Florissants, the London Mozart Players, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi. Amongst the conductors he has worked with are Stephen Barlow, Ivor Bolton, William Christie, Mark Elder, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Reinhard Goebel, Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Spivakov and Christian Thielemann.

Martin Robson has recorded for BBC Radio 3, Dutch Radio, Radio France and Westdeutscher Rundfunk a, Radio France and Dutch Radio. His CD credits include Father Trulove on the award-winning CD of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for Deutsche Grammophon with Ian Bostridge, Bryn Terfel, Deborah York, Anne Sofie von Otter and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, and Stravinsky’s Threni with the London Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Robert Craft.

Martin Robson is delighted to be returning to Watford Philharmonic Society, following upon his performance in Messiah earlier this year.