Proms on Afternoon Concert 4 (23.07.20): Tippett - The Midsummer Marriage

[bluestateprommer]

'Proms Opera Matinee: Hannah French introduces Michael Tippett's masterpiece The Midsummer Marriage from the BBC SO, BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus conducted by Andrew Davis - an acclaimed performance from the 2013 BBC Proms. Tippett asked T S Eliot to write the libretto for his first opera, but Eliot recommended the composer to try it himself. The result is one of the most unusual but haunting operas ever written, a kind of 1950s Magic Flute. Its three acts are filled with some of the most beautiful operatic music composed since the Second World War, from the chorus's opening hymn to the sun and Mark's rapturous love song to Jenifer through the famous Ritual Dances of Act 2 to the deeply moving aria for the oracle Sosostris at the heart of the final act.

Michael Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage
Mark ….. Paul Groves (tenor)
Jenifer, his fiancée ….. Erin Wall (soprano)
King Fisher, her father, a rich businessman ….. David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
Bella, his secretary ….. Ailish Tynan (soprano)
Jack, her mechanic boyfriend ….. Allan Clayton (tenor)
Sosostris ….. Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)
He-Ancient ….. David Soar (bass)
She-Ancient ….. Madeleine Shaw (mezzo-soprano)

BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor, Sir Andrew Davis"

BBC R3 programme link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000l2v7

Past R3 Forum comment thread: http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...ummer-Marriage

[bluestateprommer]

While I haven't listened to this re-broadcast, I did listen to the opening commentary, and fast-forward to the inter-act commentaries, by Hannah French. Warning; she does slip twice and accidentally refer to the opera as "The Midsummer Wedding" [sic], after Acts I and III. However, to give her credit, she does read the synopsis with a straight face, AFAICT. (I'm not sure that I could have done the same.)

At the very start, Sir Andrew Davis recalls being at Maida Vale for a studio performance of TMM, with Janet Baker singing Sosostris' aria. I tracked down BBC Genome data on that studio performance, which only mentions Act 1, for whatever reason (one assumes that the whole opera was given at Maida Vale at the time):

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a4f76930ccaa4241a87402f3f4cec81e

[LeMartinPecheur]

Warning; she does slip twice and accidentally refer to the opera as "The Midsummer Wedding" [sic], after Acts I and III.

Perhaps the poor lady has been confused for years by having to call a certain well-known opera 'The Marriage of Figaro' instead of 'Figaro's Wedding'??

[leaky14]

I wonder if Sir Andrew's memory is playing him false. I first heard this remarkable voice singing Sorostris' aria as a one off in a lunchtime braodcast in 1955 during the 3rd test against South Africa (7-12 July) . Her voice sounded much deeper than the voice in which she sang for most of her career but even then was startlingly arresting. Just heard her live at 88 speaking about her career. Fascinating.
The 1955 broadcast was of the COvent Garden premiere (or based on it) and certainly did not include Baker.
She made a lot of broadcasts for the BBC in 1955 but usuually of odd songs or arias, such as the one I caught.