79° Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Opera
Albert Herring
Benjamin Britten
Why not elect a King of May, for once, since none of the candidates seem to fulfill the requirements, suggests the dispotic Lady Bullows? There is a modest boy, son of the greengrocer, that seems perfect for the role: Albert Herring.
Based on the novel by Guy de Maupassant and premiered by Benyamin Britten’s baton on june 20th 1947 at the Glyndebourne Festival, returns to the Flroence after 48 years of absence “the best comic opera of the century” as Svjatoslav Richter defined it.
Albert Herring
Chamber opera in three acts
Music by Benjamin Britten
Libretto by Eric Crozier, based on Le Rosier de Madame Husson by Guy de Maupassant
Sung in English
Surtitles in English and Italian
Artists
Conductor
Jonathan Webb
Director
Alessandro Talevi
Scenes and costumes
Madeleine Boyd
Light design
Matthew Haskins
Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Jonathan Webb
Director
Alessandro Talevi
Scenes and costumes
Madeleine Boyd
Light design
Matthew Haskins
Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Albert Herring
Sam Furness
Lady Billows
Orla Boylan
Nancy
Rachel Kelly
Sid
Philip Smith
Florence Pike
Gabriella Sborgi
Miss Wordsworth
Anna Gillingham
Mr. Upfold
Christopher Lemmings
Mr. Gedge
Zachary Altman
Superintendant Budd
Karl Huml
Mrs. Herring
Manuela Custer
Cis
Bonnie Callaghan
Emmie
Sophie Gallagher
Harry
Nicholas Challier
Sam Furness
Lady Billows
Orla Boylan
Nancy
Rachel Kelly
Sid
Philip Smith
Florence Pike
Gabriella Sborgi
Miss Wordsworth
Anna Gillingham
Mr. Upfold
Christopher Lemmings
Mr. Gedge
Zachary Altman
Superintendant Budd
Karl Huml
Mrs. Herring
Manuela Custer
Cis
Bonnie Callaghan
Emmie
Sophie Gallagher
Harry
Nicholas Challier
Nell’immaginaria cittadina di Loxford, il sindaco, la preside della scuola, il curato e il commissario di polizia si riuniscono a casa di Lady Billows per scegliere, assieme alla governante Florence, la Regina di Maggio. Le candidate proposte, a causa della loro discutibile condotta morale, si rivelano purtroppo inadatte e il commissario Butt suggerisce di eleggere per la prima volta un Re di Maggio, proponendo Albert Herring, il virtuoso figlio di una fruttivendola. Dopo un’iniziale opposizione, il comitato acconsente e si avvia ad annunciare la notizia al ragazzo. Intanto nel negozio di questo il macellaio Sid, scacciati alcuni ragazzi sorpresi a rubare delle mele, canzona Albert per la sua condotta irreprensibile e amoreggia con la panettiera Nancy. Giunge quindi il drappello di Lady Billows; Albert vorrebbe rifiutare la nomina ma la madre, attratta dalle venticinque sterline in premio, lo costringe ad accettare.
ATTO II
Nel giardino della canonica fervono gli ultimi preparativi per la cerimonia. Sid, visto solo da Nancy, versa del rum nella limonata di Albert che, vestito di bianco e incoronato di fiori d’arancio, dà inizio al banchetto. Tornato nel negozio, il ragazzo ripensa alla giornata appena trascorsa e interpreta gli sguardi di Nancy come segno di interesse. Quando però sente la ragazza rivelare a Sid di compatire Albert per la sua troppa remissività, comprende il malinteso e decide di vendicarsi. Intascate quindi le venticinque sterline esce nella notte.
ATTO III
Il pomeriggio seguente ancora non si hanno notizie di Albert e Nancy si sente in colpa per lo scherzo del rum. Quando viene ritrovata la corona di fiori nel fondo di un pozzo, tutti credono che il giovane sia morto. Ma Albert ricompare, sporco e scarmigliato, e rivela di aver rubato una bicicletta e di essersi ubriacato fino a finire in un canale di scolo. Tutti se ne vanno scandalizzati e il ragazzo, fronteggiata finalmente l’eccessiva autorità materna, riceve i complimenti di Sid e Nancy.
Benjamin Edward Britten was born in Lowestoft, England on November 22, 1913. He began to compose as a boy, attending the prestigious Gresham’s School and the Royal College of Music. In 1936 he met the poet W. H. Auden with whom he collaborated on various works, such as the song cycle Our Hunting Fathers and the Hymn to St. Cecilia. The next year he met the tenor Peter Pears, who became his life companion and first interpreter of many of his compositions including Peter Grimes (1954), Billy Budd (1951), Gloriana (1953), The Turn of the Screw (1954) and Death in Venice (1973). In 1962 he conducted the successful premiere of the War Requiem written for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral. He was the first composer to receive the honorary title of life peer, being named Baron of Aldeburgh, the town in Suffolk in which he founded the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and where he died on December 4, 1976.
JONATHAN WEBB
Born in Kent, he studied piano, violin, choral singing and conducting at Manchester, where he made his conducting debut at the age of 21 with West Side Story. He is the Head of Music for Opera Ireland, Chorus Master of the Wexford Festival and Resident Conductor at the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv where he has conducted over forty productions including Così fan tutte,A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Carmen, La traviata, Lucia di Lammermoorand Tosca. Principal Guest Conductor at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos of Lisbon, he has been invited to the Deutsche Oper of Berlin, the Teatro de la Maestranza of Seville, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia and the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. In September 2014 he was nominated Musical Director of the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato.
ALESSANDRO TALEVI
Born in Johannesburg, Alessandro Talevi studied music and history of art at the University of the Witwatersrand and piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Supported by William and Judith Bollinger, Talevi was Artistic Director of Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells, for which he directed The Sofa/The Departure, Orlando, La scala di seta and Pelléas et Mélisande. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Awards include Best Opera Production at the 2012 Manchester Theatre Awards (Don Giovanni) and third prize at the European Opera Directing Award in Wiesbaden in 2007. Talevi’s recent work in opera includes Idomeneo (Teatro La Fenice), Anna Bolena (Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo), Roberto Devereux (Teatro Real, Madrid), Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci (Macerata Festival), Tosca (Opera di Roma), La Traviata (Opera North), Le Nozze di Figaro (Central City Opera, Colorado). In 2014 in Florence his production of L'amour des trois Oranges was the last performed in the Teatro Comunale before his closure.