Grange Park Opera 2004 Programme

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supporting Grange Park Opera 2004

Hotel du VinV &VV Bistro

Hotel du Vin

1 0 A N N I V E R S A I R E 1 9 9 4 – 2 0 0 4

grange park opera

2004

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9 June – 13 July 2004 The 7th Festival at The Grange, Hampshire ‡

The 2nd Festival at Nevill Holt, Leicestershire

Grange Park Opera Gioacchino Rossini

La Cenerentola Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky

Leonard Bernstein

The Enchantress ‡ Wonderful Town Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Così fan tutte

Grange Park Opera, 12 St Thomas Street, Winchester so23 9hf tel: 01962 86 86 00 info@grangeparkopera.co.uk www.grangeparkopera.co.uk

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Patron’s Foreword

The approach to each season follows the same inexorable pattern.

Critical paths are missed and then are mysteriously regained while the curve of activity rises with everincreasing steepness until nine times as much remains to be done as there is time available before dress-rehearsals start. Each season so far has seen Wasfi (Houdini) Kani spring this trap before her admiring public so that the curtain rises or, more correctly, is drawn on another delightful season and, sometimes, calm summer evenings. Chaos has been largely unfelt by the audience, though those on the other side of the curtain could sometimes describe the experience in rather different words.

I have by now given up being surprised as season succeeds season, bringing us this year to our seventh. Perfect recall is a myth and memories of each season, let alone each production, inevitably become blurred. Some of the productions which proved slow sellers were easily anticipated though have been nonetheless rightly undertaken in a festival like this, whereas others were to be surprising. Ticket sales of The Mikado, for example, which I would have thought sure fire, did not take off until after the first couple of performances when word got around that it was superb and it sold out.

I welcome the injection of musicals into the repertoire but then my memories of Oklahoma, Kiss Me Kate, South Pacific and others in the early postwar years are extremely vivid.

Those of us brought up during the war had not realised what musicals could be like and the sheer attack of this American genre was breath-taking. So I look forward enormously to Wonderful Town.

There will be five performances at Nevill Holt in Leicestershire this year, after the season here in Hampshire, and, though there were enthusiastic audiences there last year, their sustainability is still not absolutely certain. The productions there this year will be of Cenerentola and a new production of Così fan tutte. Così is being undertaken by a talented team of younger singers and they will go on to tour theatres in the autumn subject to Arts Council support.

This year sees the effective completion of the wing between the old house and the orangery, which is now as Smirke designed it around 1820.

It will be fascinating to watch over the coming few years the development of the colour of its render.

Will it tend more to that of the old house or that of the orangery? After several years it is very good not to see scaffolding anywhere and the fine detailing of the cement render is worth a look – a great credit yet again to our builder, Martin Smith, and Terry and Adrian Ede, the master plasterers who did the work.

The theatre is all paid for but it would be nice if the Endowment Fund was likewise as complete as we were hoping. Its principal objectives are to present operas that we could not normally afford, to promote touring and educational work and to fund expenditure helpful to the development of the festival.

Another £200,000 should fulfil our original target of £2 million. We would be enormously grateful for help towards this from any of you who feel enthusiastic about our activities.

Finally, what of the future? We have put in for planning permission to put on up to a further ten performances each year and hope very much to learn that this has been approved shortly after the festival.

The increase would not be sudden but we would be feeling our way forward with three to four extra nights over say three or four years as the

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demand for seats is demonstrated. It could be a few years before 30 is achieved.

Whether or not more performances of three different productions would be better than the introduction of a fourth production is still the subject of unfinished board discussions; and what of the idea of first class ballet or dance for a few nights? Not easy, but I would certainly welcome it.

Enjoy yourselves and I know you appreciate how lucky we are that Wasfi and her team provide us all with such remarkable festivals.

ashburton 3

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Another season, another show . . . .

At the end of each festival we make lists of the ways in which we might improve The Grange for the next season – both facilities and productions.

We never get it all done and before we know it, no matter how industriously we plan, the new season is rushing at us – and one of the locomotives of our train set is still lying on its side.

Sound in the theatre has been the priority this past year and we have made progress. We have replaced the baggy netting (which was absorbing sound) with a more chic, taut net and over the orchestra pit we have built a reflective shield. Only when the audience is in place and we have a show on the stage can we figure out where to put further reflective panels. The Glass Ceiling Society (page 9) has contributed towards this on-going project and the entire audience will benefit from its generosity. We have also cut off the edge of the stage and raised the violin, viola and cello sections, thus allowing more orchestra sound to well up (Lord Sainsbury did tell me to do this three years ago). The overall effect will, we hope, be noticeable.

Raymonde Jay, with her family, has donated a new surtitle machine in memory of her late husband Ian. They had already been generous donors to the new theatre. Last summer Ian, with his usual gentle insistence, had me researching the possibilities of a better machine. He died unexpectedly in the autumn before I had completed my research and his family The rear stalls of the old Grange Park theatre 1998–2001

4

very kindly said I should go ahead with the project.

The new machine is bigger with clearer lettering.

Michael Moody’s shopping list of technical improvements included a front of house bar. This bar is not for refreshment but, positioned directly above the orchestra pit, is for hanging scenery – the picture frame in the Enchantress, for instance – and so get the performance closer to the audience. Michael also extended the lighting bridge to give better positions for the follow-spot operators. The old lighting bridge required the operator to climb up to it by ladder from the Grand Tier. Of course he couldn’t do this in front of the audience, so he had to get to his position a good 45 minutes before the show started. One evening he nodded off during the wait and we had no means of waking him. Now he has his own entrance.

To enlarge the underground world of the performers and ever more demanding wardrobe needs of our burgeoning chorus, we have burrowed under the portico of the main house. In fact, there was already an enormous void there with elaborate brick foundations designed to support 12 rather than the existing 8 columns of the massive Doric portico of the champagne bar. It won’t collapse – promise!

There was great sadness when Antony Rowe, one of our original supporters, died. Lord Ashburton had been his brother-in-law (and in earlier days, his fag at Eton) and as soon as we started The Grange, Antony became involved – encouraging, criticising, amusing us. A second mentor died around the same time: Sir Stephen Tumim. Stephen was a radical and reforming Chief Inspector of Prisons who believed that if you systematically humiliate a man while he is in prison he is hardly likely to emerge a useful member of society. He was instrumental in ending the barbaric custom of slopping out. Strangely, the Victorian jails had all been built with lavatories and they had been removed in more modern times.

Stephen was a great supporter of Pimlico’s staging of operas in prison and we shall miss him.

We were in prison in February at Ashwell in Rutland. Many Nevill Holt devotees came along for Sondheim’s Assassins supported by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. Fi Smith Bingham, who

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turned her hand to just about every task imagineable in prison, deserves parole and thanks. We plan to take the same show to Coldingley prison near Guildford in March 2005 and will be looking for your help.

To this year’s festival at The Grange we welcome, and are honoured to have, three cutting edge directors who, with a few others, are known as the Balls Pond Road School (page 84). They are all at the peak of their profession and are welcomed in the expectation of a very contemporary “take”.

Antony McDonald is directing the musical Wonderful Town. In the past we have received some less than enthusiastic comments from the critics for putting on musicals, such as Anything Goes, rather than pioneering new or forgotten operas. Then earlier this year the Royal Opera House put on its first musical. It is becoming more and more common – the musical in the opera house – and this is undoubtedly because the genre, as it evolved at the beginning of the last century and split apart from opera, took with it many of the best items of the wardrobe. Now the two are meeting up as they should. Donald Kahn, our largest donor, is a walking encyclopaedia on the musical and tells us about it on page 74.

Only one Grange Park production, Cenerentola, goes to Nevill Holt. The other production there is Così with a cast of six brilliant young singers. They will tour the show in the autumn to 17 theatres as far afield as Derry in Northern Ireland. We are greatful to the Arts Council for supporting this. We have succeeded in garnering a posse of support for Nevill Holt. I do hope that more of you will decide

to support the opera at Nevill Holt in these crucial early days. It is a magnificent setting and a terrific extension to our Hampshire season.

Now for my litany of thanks. Top billing goes to my board, with Sir David Davies at the helm, steadying us through tempests. Recently I discussed with them the fact that, in 1990, country house opera was focused on Glyndebourne whose annual audience was probably around 60,000 people. This figure has grown three-fold, although Mr Gubbay (whom I greatly admire – he manages to make money out of opera), with his Savoy Opera, was a bridge too far. I am clear that opera is not a competitive sport (though critics might like to present it as such). We each have our different version of the elaborate event.

John and Sally Ashburton continue to be miracles of kindness, wisdom, tolerance and generosity. We all adore being with them.

James and Beatrice Lupton donated the beautifully shabby yellow silk curtains that hang on the stairs up to the Grand Tier.

For 2005, we have for you Don Giovanni, Maria Stuarda – Donizetti has Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I slugging it out at Fotheringay near Nevill Holt – and in South Pacific we have cheery nurses and sailors.

Private and corporate donors to the festivals, new and old, are our life blood. You cannot be thanked too often.

WASFI KANI obe

May 2004

My friend Sue Chilcott also died last summer at just 40 years old.

Many of you would have seen her as Desdemona in Otello at Glyndebourne and opposite Domingo at Covent Garden in Queen of Spades.

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DONORS TO THE GRANGE PARK OPERA APPEAL major donor

Donald Kahn & family ‡

Ronnie Frost & family Lydia & Miles d’Arcy-Irvine The Carphone Warehouse The Clore Duffield Foundation Lord Harris of Peckham John & Anya Sainsbury Simon & Virginia Robertson ‡

Anonymous James Cave David & Amanda Leathers Sir David & Lady Davies EFG Private Bank William Garrett Corus ‡ Mark Andrews Mr & Dr J Beechey The Bulldog Trust David & Elizabeth Challen Mr & Mrs William Charnley Mr & Mrs Peter Dicks Simon Freakley David Gilgrist & Bobbie du Bois Philip Gwyn Mrs Ian Jay James & Béatrice Lupton Donald & Jill Mackenzie Nigel & Anna McNair Scott P F Charitable Trust The Hon & Mrs Richard Sharp Richard & Cynthia Thompson Anne Veeder The Band Trust

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Mr & Mrs Gerald Acher Mr & Mrs David Anderson Mr & Mrs R Atkinson-Willes Anonymous Tom & Gay Bartlam Rupert T Bentley Kevin & Corinne Bespolka William & Judith Bollinger Douglas Guest Bollinger James Philip Bollinger Sarah & Tony Bolton Mr & Mrs Paul Brewer Bernard Cayser Trust Mr & Mrs Tony Bugg Sir Euan Calthorpe Bt Christopher & Katie Cardona Nigel & Elisabeth Carrington Sir Peter & Lady Cazalet Mr & Mrs Bernard Cazenove Hayden Trust Pam Clarke Alastair Collett Oliver & Cynthia Colman Michael Cuthbert Peter & Annette Dart Mr Peter Davidson Mr & Mrs Geoffrey de Jager Sandra & Damon de Laszlo Mr & Mrs Lionel de Rothschild Anonymous Alun & Bridget Evans Iain R Evans Mr & Mrs James fforde Mr & Mrs T Floyd Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Peter & Judith Foy Mr Mark N Franks Reita Gadkari Janet & John Gaymer Jacqueline & Michael Gee Trust Enrique Biel Gleeson Lady Shauna Gosling Mr & Mrs George Goulding Sir Ronald Grierson Nigel & Diana Grimwood William Gronow Davis Barbara & Michael Gwinnell Mr & Mrs Charles Haddon-Cave QC Mr & Mrs R A Henley Malcolm Herring

Mr & Mrs John Hewett John & Catherine Hickman Dr Jonathan Holliday & Dr Gwen Lewis George & Janette Hollingbery Anonymous Dr & Mrs Peter Honey Nicholas & Jeremy Hunter Mr & Mrs David Hunter Mr & Mrs M J Isaac Hannah Jacobs Mr & Mrs David Jervis Mr & Mrs J Jervoise Neil & Elizabeth Johnson Andrew and Caroline Joy Mr & Mrs Colin Keogh Dr R Hubert Laeng-Danner Rufford Foundation T Landon Barbara Yu Larsson Mr & Mrs Malcolm Le May Peter Leaver & Thomas Sharpe Mr & Mrs Adam Lee Jeremy Gardner Lewis Susie Lintott & Louisa Church Joe & Minnie MacHale Charles & Ann-Marie Mackay Mr & Mrs Michael Mackenzie Tessa & John Manser J P Marland Charitable Trust Wendy & Michael Max Anonymous Mr & Mrs Peter May Harvey McGregor QC Martin & Caroline Moore Elizabeth Morison Dr & Mrs Julian Muir Mr & Mrs Jay A Nawrocki The O’Hea family Sue & Peter Paice The Stevenson Trust Alexia Paterson Mark & Rachel Pearson Nigel Perfect & Peter Tilley The Lord and Lady Phillimore Sir David & Lady Plastow Jan & Michael Potter Bruce & Lizzie Powell Mark & Veronica Powell Benjamin Pritchett-Brown

Mr and Mrs Gary Ralfe Mr & Mrs Christopher Reeves David & Alex Rhodes Ros & Ken Rokison Mrs Faanya Rose Mrs Antony Rowe Mr & Mrs John Salkeld Mr & Mrs Anthony Salz Christopher & Anne Saul Mr & Mrs Richard Scopes Mr & Mrs Roderick Selkirk Mrs Christopher Sheridan Aram Shishmaniam Lord & Lady Simon of Highbury Edward M Siskind Paul & Rita Skinner Mr & Mrs Martin St Quinton Nicholas Stanley Donald and Rachael Stearns The Steel Charitable Trust John & Lesley Stuttard Mr & Mrs R H Sutton Mrs Timothy Syder Anonymous Mr & Mrs Bernard Taylor Gordon & Sue Thorburn The Titchmarsh Family Nigel Perfect & Peter Tilley Mr & Mrs Anthony Townsend Wendy & John Trueman Adair Turner & Orna Ni-Chionna The Hon Lucy & Michael Vaughan Lady Jane Wallop John & Carol Wates Miss Clare Williams Hamish & Elisabeth Williams Mark & Jane Williams The Hon Geoffrey & Mrs Wilson Mr & Mrs C H R Wunderly Caroline Wyld

7 Natasha Marsh (The Governess) in The Turn of the Screw Grange Park Opera 2002

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Sponsors 2004 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Icap plc The Carphone Warehouse

‡ Alfred McAlpine Construction Ltd Birmingham Midshires ‡ National Express UBS Wealth Management ‡ CSFB ‡ DLA ‡ Corporate Synergy Hotel du Vin Clemmow Hornby Inge Rolls Royce ‡ Clyde & Co Royal Bank of Scotland The Learning Point Presentation School Simon Morray Jones Architects SBJ Group Withers

‡ Allied Irish Bank ‡ Baring Asset Management ‡ Laurent Perrier C J Coleman ‡ Reed Elsevier

‡ E F G Private Bank ‡ Elite Hotels ‡ G A M ‡ Greenhill ‡ I N G ‡ Kroll ‡ Saffery Champness Bang & Olufson ‡ Cazenove ‡ Eversheds ‡ The Goldmiths Company ‡ J P Morgan ‡ Linklaters Pickett Fine Leathers ‡ Rathbones ‡ Schroders ‡ Thornhill Investment Management Addleshaw Goddard ‡ Chewton Glen ‡ John Armit Wines ‡ Lainston House

‡ generous contributions were received from Mrs Ian Jay & family ‡ The Golden Bottle ‡ Lord Neill of Bladon ‡ David Laing Foundation The Dyers Company ‡ Anonymous Hildon Water ‡ Capital International ‡ Steel Charitable Trust ‡ The Jerwood Foundation

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The Glass Ceiling Society A group of individuals are contributing towards an on-going project to improve the sound in the theatre by suspending a number of reflective shields.

We are most grateful for their generosity

The dining rooms at Grange Park

Anonymous Anonymous Rupert T Bentley Mrs Toby Blackwell Jenny Bland Dr Douglas & Mrs Susan Bridgewater Mr Christopher Clarke QC Ian Clarkson & Richard Morris Richard & Corin Cotton Mr Nick Crean S G Gaunt Liz Hewitt Mr Anthony Johnson Mr & Mrs Andrew E Law Mr & Mrs Richard Morse The Countess of Portsmouth Simon & Virginia Robertson Mr & Mrs John Salkeld Peter and Jan Scott John & Carol Wates Abu Khamis

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Supporting The Cunard Set

Nevill Holt

Anonymous Anonymous Mr & Mrs Robin Bowie

In 2003 we held our first opera festival at Nevill Holt in Leicestershire, an area that has never before had its own opera company.

Following that we began to build a Midlands membership to support future events.

This is progressing well. ‥ The cost of staging opera to the highest artistic standard cannot be met by box office revenues alone.

We are keen to recruit more members; their support is vital to the future of opera at Nevill Holt.

We are immensely grateful to the generous individuals who have contributed to the 2004 festival.

Patrick & Julia Carter Dr & Mrs Mark Cecil Mr Peter Fenwick OBE Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Colin & Sarah Forsyth Martin George Esq Mr William Guinness The Hardingham Trust Ron Haylock Richard & Victoria Heyman Mr & Mrs Michael Learoyd Mrs Sam Lloyd Sir Bruce & Lady MacPhail Sir Richard & Lady Morris Mr & Mrs Robin Murray-Philipson Mr & Mrs E H D Peppiatt Mr & Mrs Jim Peschek Mr & Mrs Roger Sharpley Mark & Lesley Shaw Mr & Mrs Raymond I Skilling Sir James & Lady Spooner Mr Maurice Thompson Mike Thrower & Gill Lungley Fred Vinton The Hon Mrs Louise Ward R W B Williams Colin Williams

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Stowaways Mrs Robin Abbott

Mr David Phillips

Lady Alment

Mrs Angela Pollard

Anonymous

Mr & Mrs R Rust

Anonymous

Mr & Mrs Christopher Simpson

Stanley Bates

Mr & Mrs Brian Spoor

David Beatty

Peter & Joan Stephens

Michael Butterfield

Brian Stokes

Mrs R Cazenove

P J Stokes

Mrs Mark Charnock

Mr Nick Straker

Mr & Mrs Peter de Mille

Mr David Thomas

Dr & Mrs Stephen Fleet

Mrs Margaret Thompson

Mrs Margaret Gammell

Mr Richard Wheeler-Bennett

The Rev Simon Godfrey TD

Mr Matthew Williams

Lady Gretton Mrs Maria T Harvey Mr & Mrs Michael Heaton Lady Heseltine Tim Hutton Edwina & Tony Johnson Tom & Grete Lawson Mr C P McKay

Clipper Class

Mrs Timothy Milward Pieter & Patricia Mommersteeg Mr Ian Pasley-Tyler

Mr & Mrs J D Abell Mr W H Baker & Miss S G Mahaffy Mr & Mrs Jeremy Brown Barry Cheeseman Paul Hyde-Thomson CBE Walia Kani Philip & Emer Kirwan Mrs Ann Lees Ian McAlpine OBE DL Mr Christopher Parker Bill Pickering Mr & Mrs James Saunders Watson Prof & Mrs M F G Stevens Mr & Mrs Edward Strange Mr & Mrs Robert Whitehead

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Supporting Grange Park Opera The Schools of Hippocrates, Archimedes and Plato support Grange Park on an annual basis. Without their donations, the festival simply could not happen – ticket revenues alone cannot meet the cost of productions. We now plan an increase in the number of performances, and are therefore able to re–open all categories to new members.

Your support is very important to us.

Grange Park Opera, 12 St Thomas Street, Winchester so23 9hf

tel: 01962 868600 info@grangeparkopera.co.uk

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The School of Hippocrates ‥ Brian Abbs Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Veira & Andrew Bailey Mrs Michael Beresford-West Mr & Mrs Michael Bolton Adrian Bott Jan Bowlus Mr & Mrs Roy Brown Anthony Bunker Mr & Mrs Peter Clarke Sir Anthony & Lady Cleaver Sally Coryn Mr Peter J Costain David & Nikki Cowley Mr Carl Cullingford Kathrine Davies Mr & Mrs John Dear Michael & Rachel Dickson Michael C A Eaton Mr & Mrs Graham Elliott Mrs Stuart Errington Mr & Mrs Nicholas Ferguson Niall Fitzgerald KBE Mr & Mrs Mark D Fleming

Mr & Mrs G W Fuller Mr & Mrs David Gamble Mr David Gawler Marc & Melanie Gillespie Elizabeth Gloster QC Mrs Manuela Granziol Keith Hann Mr Patrick Harrison & Mr Roger Birtles Liz Hewitt Lord & Lady Holme Lucy Holmes & Alex Wood Dr Peter & Mrs Judith Iredale Noelle & Ian Irvine Rowan Jarvis Martin Jay CBE DL Mr Derek Johns Mrs Hilary Jones Liz & Roger Kramers Lady Lever Dan & Ros Levin Mr & Mrs Andrew E Low Mr & Mrs Alistair Mackintosh Sarah B Mason Mr & Mrs William Massey William & Felicity Mather Mr & Mrs Ian McIsaac Mr & Mrs B Money-Coutts Mr & Mrs Peter Morgan Mr & Mrs Ian Morrison

2004 Colin Murray Richard Murray Bett Mr & Mrs Peter Nathan Pierre & Beatrice Natural Lt Col The Hon Guy Norrie Princess Paul Odescalchi Stephen & Isobel Parkinson Mr Michael Pearl Mr Anthony Pitt-Rivers Mr Charles Purle Mr & Mrs Nigel Reavley Mrs Eric Robinson Mr Andrew Rome Barry & Anne Rourke Mrs Marveen Smith Mr & Mrs Andrew Soundy Geoff Squire OBE Mr Murray Stuart CBE Denis K Tinsley John & Louise Verrill Nick Viner & Victoria Boyarsky Mr Anthony Vlasto Chris & Miranda Ward Mr & Mrs Philip Warner Mr John L P Whiter Philip Williams Nigel Williams Nicholas & Penny Wilson Mr & Mrs David Wootton

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The School of Archimedes ‥ Ann & Martin Adeney Janet & Michael Aidin R A Aisher Mr & Mrs Christopher Aldous John & Jackie Alexander Lady Allan Genie Allenby Mr & Mrs David Anderson Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Jenny & Paul Aynsley Mr & Mrs Roger Backhouse Mr & Mrs Nicholas Backhouse Mr & Mrs J Balfour Mrs Isla Baring Mr Nicholas Barker Mr Charles Bartholomew Stanley Bates Mr & Mrs Julian Benson Mr & Mrs Mark Benson The Hon Mrs Julian Berry Mr & Mrs D Betancor Lord & Lady Bittleston Dr & Mrs T J Black Halldora Blair Elisabeth & Bob Boas Anthony Bodie Lisa Bolgar Smith Mr & Mrs E Boost Mr John A H Bootes Mr Edward Bostock CBE Anthony Boswood Mr Barry Bramley David & Tessa Brewer Robin & Jill Broadley Mr & Mrs James Bromhead Dorothy & John Brook Consuelo & Anthony Brooke Mr & Mrs Antony Brooking Mr & Mrs Charles H Brown Mrs Sue Brown Mr Christopher Brown Anthony & Monique Browne Mr & Mrs Nicholas Browne Mr & Mrs Robin Buchanan Mr & Mrs Thomas Buckley Mr & Mrs Nicholas Buckworth Mr & Mrs D M Bullough Mr & Mrs Keith Burgoine Richard Butler Adams Mr & Mrs David Butler Nick & Libby Callinan Mr & Mrs Peter Carden David Carrow

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Andrew & Jacquie Cartwright Peter & Di Cawdron Mr Shane Chichester Lord Chorley Tim & Maria Church Mrs Anthony Clark Ann Clarke Michael & Angela Clayton Mrs Susie Clegg John Coke Mr & Mrs Richard Collin Mrs Jane Colwell Mrs Carolyn Conlan Dr Neville Conway Mr & Mrs Andrew Cooper Robert & Morella Cottam Richard Cowen Mr J G Curtis William Dacombe Dr & Mrs Christopher Davenport-Jones Mr & Mrs Douglas de Lavison Mr & Mrs John de Trafford Michael & Anthea Del Mar Krystyna Deuss Mr & Mrs Lindsay Dibden Caroline Doggart Miss Helen Dorey Mrs Jennifer Duffett Mr R Dutton-Forshaw The Hon Mark Dyer Mr & Mrs Kenneth Eckett Mr & Mrs Symon Elliott Mr & Mrs Peter Ellis Mr & Mrs Peter Evans Mr Alan Evans Morfydd Evans Mr & Mrs Jeremy Farr Mrs Noel Faulkner Mrs Basil de Ferranti Richard Findlater & Mairi Eastwood Ms Sian Fisher Mr & Mrs Nick Fisher Mr & Mrs James Fisher Mrs L J Fleming Dr T H & Dr J M Foley Michael & Margaret Fowle Mr & Mrs Robin Fox Dr H J Freeman Mr Hideki Fujihara Chris & Mei Gant Lindsey Gardener Sir Mark & Lady Garthwaite Bamber & Christina Gascoigne Mr & Mrs Wyatt Gates John George David & Stephanie Gibbons David & Anne Giles Ian & Edwina Gilroy Mrs & Mrs Bruce Ginsberg Mr & Mrs James Glancy

2004

Cassandra Goad Mr Brian Goater Suzanne Graham-Dixon Nigel & Gill Graham-Maw Mr Peter Granger Mr & Mrs Richard Grant Mrs Quintin Greatrex The Hon Mrs Jane Green Mick & Denise Green Alistair & Sally Gregory-Smith Mr Kingsley Griffiths Mr Marcus Grubb Max & Catherine Hadfield Mrs David Hagan A M Haigh Mrs Peter Hall Susan Hall & Neil Addison Louise Hallett Mrs Robin Hambro Tim & Jenny Hamilton Mr Eben Hamilton QC John Hammond Mr & Mrs Richard Hardman Mr Benjamin Hargreaves Mr & Mrs David Harris Jocelin & Cherry Harris Marie & Alan Harrison Lady Hawkings Paul & Kay Henderson Mr Philip Henstock Mr & Mrs Martin Herbert Lady Heseltine Peter J Hewett Mr & Mrs Michael Hewett Mr John Heywood John & Catherine Hickman Mr & Mrs M N Higgin Mr Christopher Holdsworth Hunt Sir Trevor & Lady Holdsworth Mr David Holland Mrs Alexandra Homan David & Mal Hope-Mason Mr & Mrs Richard Howorth Mrs Max Hunt Mrs Marie-Josee Hunter Peter & Susan Hutson Howard & Anne Hyman Mr Charles & Lady Iona Ind Mr & Mrs Tim Ingram Mr Charles Irby Mr Peter F James John Jarvis QC David Jeffers Mr & Mrs Michael Jodrell Dr I C Johnson Sally Johnston Mr & Mrs Owen Jonathan Mr Alan Jones Dr Alan Jordan Jonathan & Clarinda Kane

Vincent & Amanda Keaveny Judith Kelley Mr & Mrs G N Kennedy Andrew Kennedy & Lindsay Cornish Joachim Kerfack Mrs James Kiernan Charles Kirwan-Taylor Mr Kevin Kissane Mrs Patricia Latham The Hon Isabelle Laurent Mr & Mrs Bill Lawes Mr & Mrs Nicholas Lazenby-Taylor Mr Charles Lea Belinda Leathes Paul & Elisabeth Lee Hilary & James Leek Judy Lever Mrs Brian Levy James Lewin Mr & Mrs Gareth Lewis John Liddell Roger & Tess Liddiard Jamie & Laura Lonsdale Mr Henry Lumley Luttman-Johnson Family Trust Mrs Nicholas Lyons Mr Robin Mackenzie Mr & Hon Mrs Ian MacNabb Mr & Mrs JJ Macnamara Bill & Sue Main Mr & Mrs David Maitland Tim Martin Mr & Mrs Nicholas Mason J Masterton Brian Matthews Esq Mr & Mrs A Mayhook-Walker Mr & Mrs Douglas McGregor Mr & Mrs Cliff Middleton Mr & Mrs Richard Millett QC Brigid & Freddie Monkhouse Mr & Mrs R Monro-Davies Mr & Mrs J Moreton Mr & Mrs G Morfey Mrs Roger Morris Cameron & Heike Munro Christopher & Annie Newell Bruce & Pamela Noble The Lord & Lady Northbrook Peter Nutting SP.DL Mr Barry O'Brien Mr & Mrs J Ogilvie Thompson Victoria O'Keeffe Mrs Richard Oliver Mr & Mrs Michael Orr Robert Ottley Nick & Lavinia Owen Mr & Mrs Robert Page Mrs A Pakenham George & Christine Palmer

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Mr & Mrs James Palmer Mrs Charles Parker Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust Ms M Parsons & Mr T Siebens Nigel & Liz Peace Mr & Mrs Donald Pearse Mrs June Pearson Peter & Charlotte Peddie Ron & Lyn Peet Mr & Mrs Peter Peirse-Duncombe Mr Erik Penser Mr & Mrs Robin Petherick Jonathan & Gillian Pickering Roger Pincham CBE Matthew Pintus Judge & Mrs David Pitman Mr & Mrs John Platt Mrs Sally Posgate Mrs Jane Poulter Mr & Mrs Julien Prevett Mr & Mrs Andrew Pucher Mr Anthony Pullinger Mr & Mrs Grant Radcliffe Mr John Rank Neil & Julie Record

Mr John Redmill Hilary Reid Evans Mr & Mrs D J W Reynolds Mike & Jessamy Reynolds Mr Clive Richards OBE Mrs Sarah Rickett Mr & Mrs Andrew Robb Mr & Mrs James Roberts Nigel & Viv Robson Alexander & Caroline Roe Mr & Mrs E J M Ross Hilke Roundell & Simon Fisher Mr & Mrs James Roundell Mr & Mrs Michael K Sandberg Mr & Mrs Peter Scoble Sir James & Lady Scott Mr & Mrs Gordon Scutt Elizabeth & Jonathan Selzer Tony Shearer Mrs Christopher Shepherd-Barron Mr & Mrs Mark Silver Martin & Elise Smith Fiona Smith-Bingham Crispin & Joanna Southgate Mrs Charles Speke

Mr & Mrs C D Spooner Nigel & Johanna Stapleton Mr Brian Stevens Mrs Christopher Stone Alastair Storey Mr & Mrs Tom Sweet-Escott Mrs Timothy Syder Caroline & Phillip Sykes Mr Len Tanner Mr David Taylor Nigel Teare Thalassa Trust Mrs James Thorp Simon Thorp Mr & Mrs Max Thum Prof Glyn M Tonge Sir Alan Traill GBE QSO Rosy & David Walker Mrs Denise Wallace Admirer of Charles Wallach Mrs Malcolm Wallis Lady Walters Mr & Mrs Richard Walton Raye & Simon Ward Ms Johanna Waterous

Mr & Mrs Tim Watkins Dr Kenneth Watters Mr & Mrs Richard Westcott Mr & Mrs G Westwell Mr & Mrs Max Wildsmith Mr & Mrs Christopher Wilkins Mr & Mrs Howard Wilkinson Mrs Helen Wilkinson Mrs Charles Williams Prof Roger Williams CBE Mr & Mrs Owain Williams Mr & Mrs Patrick J Willis Jeremy Willoughby OBE Peter Wilmot-Sitwell Mr & Mrs Olof Winkler von Stiernhielm Lady Muir Wood Mr Richard Woolnough Mr Peter Wrangham Ian Wylie & Sian Griffiths OBE Richard Youell Rt Hon Lord Young of Graffham DL

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The School of Plato ‡ Tim & Philippa Abell Mrs Tikki Adorian Mrs Peter Ainsley Mr & Mrs James Airy Mrs Rosemary Alexander Mrs Jilly Allenby-Ryan Professor B G Allison M P Almond Mr Jeremy Amos Mrs Angela Anderson Mr Christopher Anderson John Andrews Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Sir Edward & Lady Ashmore Dr Pamela Ashurst Mr & Mrs Robert Atkin Jane & Robert Avery Felicity Bagenal Mrs N Bagshawe Mrs Grenfell Bailey Margaret Bailey Richard & Delia Baker Richard & Jean Baldwin Mrs A Balfour-Fraser Mrs George Band Lady Emma Barnard Mrs H V Baron-Cohen Mr Simon R Barrow Mrs Caroline Barton Howard Baveystock Richard Bayley Jeremy & Mary Bayliss Mr Nigel Beale Lord & Lady Beaumont Mr Rupert Beaumont Baron C von Bechtolsheim Nicholas Bedford Mr Peter Bell Christopher Bellew Christina Benn Sheila Lady Bernard Mrs J Bevan Mrs Christopher Bevan Mr & Mrs Peter B P Bevan Mr Robert Bickerdike Roger W Binns William & Lis Bishop Mrs Alastair Black Mr & Mrs Charles Blackmore Tricia & Michael Blakstad Mrs Margaret Bolam Mr A G Bompas Mrs D C Bonsall Mr & Mrs Edward Booth Clibborn Mr & Mrs W Neville Bowen Julian Bower The Hon Robert Boyle Mr & Mrs David Briggs Charles & Patricia Brims Dr Amanda Britton Robin & Penny Broadhurst Adam & Sarah Broke Mr Charles Bromfield Mr & Mrs Simon Brooks Mrs Jonathan Brown Finn Bruce Mr & Mrs Geoffrey Burnand Mr & Mrs Martin Burton Mr Clive Butler Mr & Mrs Murray Bywater Donald Campbell Mr A J Carruthers Patrick & Julia Carter Denis & Ronda Cassidy Clifford & Judy Catt

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Mr Graham Cawsey The Hon Mrs A R Cecil Dr & Mrs Dominic Cheetham Lord & Lady Chesham Ann Chillingworth Mrs Justin Clark Diana Clarkson Mr & Mrs Henry Clay Adam Cleal Esq Mr Tim Cockroft Mrs Laurence Colchester Dr Mavis Conway Mary & Roger Cooke Prof R C Cookson Mr George Cooper Liz & Mike Cooper-Mitchell Mr Stuart Corbyn Matthew & Bianca Cosans Mr David A Cowan Mr & Mrs Alan L Craft David Craig Mr Colin J Craig OBE Dr D N Croft Tom Cross Brown Mr David Crowe Mrs A A Dales Mrs Elizabeth & Mr Rene Dalucas Mr Mervyn Davies CBE Mike & Suzette Davis Toby De Lotbiniere Mr Robert Dean Bonnie Dean Mr & Mrs T C B Dehn Mr & Mrs James Denham Mr Patrick Despard Mr Adrian Dewey Dr Michael Dingle Mr & Mrs Robert Dixon Mr & Mrs Matthew Dobbs Christine Douse Prof T A & Mrs B Downes Mrs Patrick Drew Captain & Mrs Spencer Drummond Mr & Mrs R Drury Jamie Dundas Mrs Dickie Dutton Mr J M Dyson Eleri Ebenezer Mr & Mrs W L Eddlestone Louise Edge Malcolm Edwards Ms Lee MacCormick Edwards PhD Mrs Jeffrey Eldredge Vernon & Hazel Ellis Mr Michael Evans Mr Roger Facer CB Steven F G Fachada Mr & Mrs Edward Farquharson Mr & Mrs Martin Farr Miss Clare M Ferguson Mr & Mrs R Fitzalan Howard Mr & Mrs M J Fitzgerald Mr & Mrs Brian Fitzpatrick Mr & Mrs L H Fletcher J A Floyd Charitable Set’ment Michael Forrest Jerome Foster & Suzy Powling Patrick & Anne Foster Mrs Jane Fraser Mrs Joyce Fuller Pam Garside & Simon Carter Mrs A D Gavin Mr & Mrs Robert Gayner Jacqueline & Jonathan Gestetner Roger Gifford Lt Col D R Gilbert Keith Gilham & Christine Cutler Mr & Mrs Martin Gillie Georgia Ginsberg

2004

Mr & Mrs Tim Goad The Rev Simon Godfrey TD Mr Stuart Goldsmith Dr & Mrs S Goodison Colin & Letts Goodwin John & Tanny Gordon Mr & Mrs Chris Gordon John Gordon Mr Robert B Gray Mr & Mrs A M Green David & Barbara Greggains John & Ann Grieves Mr & Mrs Edmund Grower Mrs Gerard Guerrini The Hon F B Guinness Mrs Allyson Hall Mrs J Hall David & Judith Hankinson Richard & Janet Hanna Lorna Harper Giles Harrap Mr R W Harris Wendell & Andrea Harris Mr & Mrs Julian Harvey Dr Fred Haslam Mr & Mrs Roy Hatch Mr & Mrs Brian Haughton N G Hebditch Basil Henley Jane Henry Mr & Mrs Alan Herring Dr & Mrs M Hession Dr & Mrs G R Hext R Hinds Howell Mrs P M Hingston Mr & Mrs P R Hinton Marianne Hinton Mr & Mrs Peter Hobbs Mr & Mrs I F Hodgson Mr R E Hofer John Hollier Mr & Mrs J R Holmes Roger & Kate Holmes Mr & Mrs C J Hopkinson Elaine & Nigel Horder Barbara Hosking Mr & Mrs John Houston Mr & Mrs W N J Howard Mr Steven Howarth John Howkins Mrs William Hughes Robert Hugill & David Hughes Siu Fun Hui Mr & Mrs C D Hunt Mr & Mrs Andrew Hunter Johnston Mrs June Hurst-Brown Colonel & Mrs Colin Huxley Mrs Madeleine Hyde Mrs E Hyde Lord & Lady Inchyra Dr Stuart Ingram Sir Barry & Lady Jackson Mr C Jackson Jane & Jimmy James Mr & Mrs Allan James Mr & Mrs C J Jamieson Eileen C Jamieson Mr & Mrs David Jamieson Mrs Julian Jeffs Countess Jellicoe Michael F G Johnson Mr & Mrs Nicholas Jonas Avril Jones Russell Jones CIM Prof Heather Joshi OBE John Gordon Jowett Lord & Lady Judd H M Kellie Mr & Mrs Christopher Kinder Mr & Mrs Oliver Kinsey Mrs C Kirkham Mr & Mrs Martin Knight

Mr & Mrs N Korban Count & Countess Labia Mrs Henry Labram Mr Brian Lanaghan Toby Landau & Nudrat Majeed Rear Admiral John Lang Mrs B Langevad Mr & Mrs D E Laurillard John Learmonth Mrs N J Lee John & Jill Leek Jan Leigh & Jan Rynkiewicz Mrs Jeremy Lewis Eric Leyns Esq Mr & Mrs Adrian Lightfoot Mr & Mrs Anthony Littlejohn Mr & Mrs David Livermore Anne Longden Brigadier Desmond Longfield Mrs Simon Loup Mrs Charlotte W Lulham Mr James Macdonald-Buchanan Bruce & Maggie Macfarlane Mr James Mackintosh Sir Nevil Macready BT CBE David & Mary Male Tom & Sarah Manners Mrs C A Marston Mr & Mrs Bruce Mauleverer Mr & Mrs C McCann Rosalind McCarthy Philippa McGeough Dr V U McHardy Mr & Mrs Christopher McLaren The Hon Michael & Mrs McLaren Ian & Caroline McNeil Mrs Jane McVittie William Merton Dr Bryan Middle William Middleton-Smith Dr & Mrs Patrick Mill Dr John Millbank Peter Miller Mr & Mrs Hallam Mills Lady Milne Mr Charles Mitchell Dr D B & J B Mitchell Mr Patrick Mitford Slade Pieter & Patricia Mommersteeg Vivienne Alexandra Monk Lord Montagu of Beaulieu Mrs Jonathan Moore Evelyn Morgner & Ian G L Hogg Mr & Mrs Ian Morrison Clive & Sue Mortimer Alastair & Sara Morton Tom & Brenda Muir Dr Douglas Munro-Faure Mrs R R L Munro-Ferguson Mrs John Nangle Sir Paul & Lady Neave Mr & Mrs Pedro Neuhaus Jeremy & Elizabeth Nicholson Sir Edwin Nixon CBE DL Mike & Adeline Nolan Mr M Norris John & Dianne Norton Mr & Mrs Francis Norton Mr & Mrs D Novakovic Father John Offord Anthony & Lorraine Ogden Mrs John Oldacre Charles & Ro Orange Mrs Colin Osmer John Paine Mrs Charles Palmer-Tomkinson Mrs Roderick Parker Mrs Blake Parker Clive & Deborah Parritt Paul & Vicky Pattinson Mr & Mrs Donald Payne

Drs N & J Pearce Mr & Mrs Scott Pearman John & Jacqui Pearson Ann & Nigel Pearson Mr & Mrs Alexander Pease Mr & Mrs Timothy Peat Mr & Mrs Anthony Peck Claudia Pendred Max & Julia Perrin Mr Charles Petre Mr R B Petre Mr & Mrs Anthony Pinsent Richard Plummer Mr & Mrs David Potter Mrs Caro Poulter Richard & Nicole Pound Mrs C H Powell Mr & Mrs Dominic Powell Mr & Mrs Michael Pragnell Richard R Price Judith Prickett & Raymond Sutton Jennifer Priestley Judith & David Pritchard Peter & Sally Procopis Mr & Mrs Stephen Proctor Libby Purves Mrs Rosalind Quaife Mrs Chris Quayle Mr & Mrs Gerald Raingold Sir Peter & Lady Ramsbotham Mr Denzil Rankine Mr & Mrs John Rees Mr David Reid Scott The Hon.Philip Remnant Mr & Mrs Anthony Richmond-Watson Mrs Anthony Rimell Jill Ritblat Mr & Mrs Christopher Road Mr & Mrs Miles Roberts Mrs Denise Roberts Mrs A A Robertson Mr & Mrs D A Robins Cdr Keith Rogerson RN Rtd. Mr Michael Rogerson T D Mr Alan Roxburgh Joan & Lewis Rudd Ken & Lesley Rushton Prof & Mrs D L Russell-Jones Mr & Mrs William Saunders Mr Peter Saverys Mrs P Sawdy Mr John Schofield Sebastian & Lindsey Scotney Mr & Mrs Charles Scott Mr & Mrs Alistair Scott Mr & Mrs Colin Scott-Malden Mr & Mrs C J Sehmer Mr George Seligman Mrs Simon Shaw Mrs K A Shaw Mr & Mrs C Silver Professor David & Mrs Gillian Silverman Andrew H Simon OBE Mr & Mrs Peter Simor Mr & Mrs Mark Simpson Ian Skeet Sir Jock Slater Mr & Mrs Anthony Slingsby Mr & Mrs N Smallwood Col MCB Smart MBE Russell A Smart Mr & Mrs Robin Smeeton Mr & Mrs T H Snagge Pippa & Ian Southward Mr & Mrs Jeremy Spencer Mr J G Stanford Mr & Mrs C O Stenderup Mr Peter Stevens Christopher & Tineke Stewart Mr & Mrs Hugh Stewart

The Hon Henry Stewart Mr David Stileman Mr & Mrs Roger Stiles The Countess of Strafford Mr & Mrs Ian Streat Mr & Mrs Toby Stubbs Major John Sturgis MC Mrs A P Sutcliffe Mr & Mrs Richard Sykes Mr & Mrs Tim Sykes Mr & Mrs John Taylor Mrs P M Taylor Mr & Mrs Simon Taylor Mrs Fleur Taylor Jeremy & Marika Taylor Mr & Mrs P M Thomas Mr & Mrs Anthony Thompson Mr Anthony John Thompson Mr & Mrs John Thompson-Ashby Mrs A J Thorman Mr & Mrs R Tickner Mrs C G Tillie Mr & Mrs G W Tindley Jill & Michael Todd Mrs Anna Tognetti Mr J D Tremlett Alexander & Veronique Trotter Eric & Penelope Tudor Michael Tudor-Craig CBE Lady Tumim OBE Leonard & Elizabeth van Geest Mrs Tomas van Tienhoven Christian van Tienhoven L C Varnavides Mano Vayis Brigadier & Mrs H R W Vernon Katharine Verrill Mr & Mrs Hugo Vickers X N C Villers Maj Gen Charles Vyvyan CB CBE Mrs S R S Walker Sir Tim & Lady Walker Anthony Walker Jane Wallace George & Pat Wallace Dr Sarah Wallis Graham & Margaret Walsh Kevin & Sonia Watson Colin & Suzy Webster Mr Simon Wedgwood Mr Niels Weise Christian Wells Miss M Wells Mr & Mrs Graham J West Mrs J M Weston Mr & Mrs Julian Whately Mrs Geoffrey Wheating Mrs A Wheeler Mr & Mrs Robert Whitaker Mr & Mrs Harvey White Antonia Whitley Sue Whitley David Wills Michael & Alyson Wilson Christopher Wilson Mr W S Witts David & Vivienne Woolf Jonathan & Candida Woolley David & Vicky Wormsley Richard Worthington Tim Wright Mr R B Yearsley Christian & Toril Zenoff Mrs Paul Zisman Zsalya

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La Cenerentola is the fifth production at Grange Park to have been generously supported by

The Sir Christopher Ondaatje Foundation previous productions supported by the foundation La Bohème 2003 La Traviata 2002 I Capuleti e I Montecchi 2001 Eugene Onegin 2000

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dramma giocosa in two acts Gioacchino Rossini (1792 – 1868) to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti Sung in Italian with surtitles by Brian FitzGerald, by arrangement with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden First performance Teatro Valle, Rome January 25 1817 Performances at The Grange June 9, 11, 12, 24, July 1, 5 2004 Performances at Nevill Holt July 9, 11 2004 Co-production from Theater Basel

Sergio La Stella Conductor

Nigel Lowery Director / Designer

Wolfgang Goebbel Lighting Designer

don magnifico baron clorinda his daughter tisbe his daughter his step–daughter angelina known as cenerentola alidoro a philosopher and tutor to don ramiro prince dandini his valet a well–wisher

Robert Poulton Elena Ferrari Juliette Pochin Deanne Meek Wyn Pencarreg Fredrik Strid Franck Lopez Victoria Ward

Subjects of Don Ramiro

the orchestra of grange park

Leader Andrew Court

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La Cenerentola Rossini wrote La Cenerentola in 1817, in just over three weeks, when he was 25. Based on an ages–old folk–tale, it opens in the shabby home of the socially–ambitious Don Magnifico, whose two daughters despise their step–sister Cenerentola (Cinderella) whom they use as a servant. Prince Ramiro has to choose a bride and sends his tutor, Alidoro, incognito to find one. The prince and his valet Dandini reverse roles and the prince falls in love with Cenerentola. At a ball in his palace, Ramiro proposes marriage to her, but she hastily departs leaving him a token so that he can find her again if his love is true. Now back in his role as prince, Ramiro organises a search party and finds Cenerentola being reviled by her step–sisters. He proclaims her queen and all ends happily.

act one

Don Magnifico’s house Clorinda and Tisbe, daughters of the destitute Don Magnifico, fancy their charms in winning men (No, no, no: non v’è, non v’è). Their step–sister, Cenerentola, dreams of an unmarried king (Una volta c’era un re).

An argument breaks out which is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger, Alidoro, tutor of prince Ramiro.

Cenerentola is rebuked for offering him food and drink.

A crowd announces the imminent arrival of Prince Ramiro, who is in the area in order to invite eligible brides to a party (O figlie amabili). Tisbe and Clorinda scream for help from Cenerentola to prepare themselves for the interview (Cenerentola, vien qua).

All this activity wakes their father, who proceeds to interpret his unfinished dream as a sign of change in his social standing (Miei rampolli femminini). They hurry to receive the guest.

Alone, Ramiro, disguised as his own valet, Dandini, is troubled. His father’s decree states that he must find a bride quickly or face disinheritance and he is worried at the prospect of a loveless marriage.

Suddenly he sees Cenerentola, who suspects his true identity (Tutto è deserto). He is fascinated by her but their intimacy is broken by the cries of the sisters.

Dandini, disguised as his master, enters with his subjects (Scegli la sposa) and is reminded of the urgency of the situation. Clorinda and Tisbe compete for his favour.

Cenerentola implores her stepfather to invite her to the party (Signor, una parola) but Don Magnifico responds violently, to the indignation of both the

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“prince” and the “valet”. Alidoro, now clearly belonging to the royal guests, appears with a registry listing a third absent daughter. Don Magnifico announces that she died. When Cenerentola contradicts him he threatens to kill her. Alidoro invites the abandoned Cenerentola to the ball (Sì. Tutto cangierà).

Ramiro’s palace Don Magnifico has been in the prince’s wine cellars.

Clorinda and Tisbe offer themselves as bride to the “prince” and Don Magnifico returns celebrating his believed promotion to chief sommelier. The “prince” explains to the horrifed sisters that, since he cannot marry both of them, one should take his “valet”. The party is interrupted by the arrival of an unknown beauty. All are spellbound, except for the sisters and Magnifico, who are horrified by her likeness to Cenerentola. Chaos ensues.

* dinner interval (100 minutes) *

act two

Ramiro’s palace Don Magnifico's projection of a prosperous future becomes suffocating (Sia qualunque delle figlie).

Dandini, still in disguise, pursues the unknown beauty who confesses to him her preference for the “valet”. Alidoro, the tutor, is satisfied. Ramiro offers Cenerentola his hand in marriage but she hastily departs leaving him a token by which he may find her again (“E allor ... se non ti spiaccio...”). Ramiro resumes his role as prince and assembles a search party.

Dandini is again a valet. He tortures Don Magnifico by revealing his true identity (Un segreto d’importanza).

Don Magnifico’s house Cenerentola is still dreaming of the unmarried king (Una volta c’era un Re). Back home, Don Magnifico and his daughters vent their spleen on her. Ramiro and Dandini enter. Revealing his true identity, the prince recognises Cenerentola as the runaway beauty (Siete voi?). All except Alidoro puzzle over the proceedings. Cenerentola is insulted by her jealous family but Ramiro proclaims her as his chosen queen.

Now for the Finale: the bride and groom appear before a festive gathering. Cenerentola rejoices in her ascent to the throne (Nacqui all’affanno, e al pianto).

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How ugly is your sister? Cinderella & the Cinderella Myth The ancient Chinese, the Algonquin Indians, the Kashmiris, the people of many African tribes, of almost all cultures, have a story which is recognisable in one of our most popular Christmas pantomimes, Cinderella. Despite the variants in these folk-stories, they all present not just fantasy, but fantasy with a purpose – teaching us the joy of escape, deliverance from catastrophe or simply teaching children how to cope with step-parents. Michael Fontes throws in some less well-known childrens’ tales for good measure.

Once upon a time

there was a Brahmin who said to his wife that she was not to eat anything while he was out of the house lest she turn into a she-goat.

Most of us have preferred just to run the risk. People all over the world tell something approaching the Cinderella story: the story of the Brahmin and his wife is the Kashmiri version. Many English people would find our own story just as unfamiliar; in Tattercoats, the fairy godmother is a young fluteplaying goat boy and the stepmother a grieving father. The familiar story, with the glass slipper, the pumpkin turning into an elegant carriage, the fairy godmother and the ugly sisters, derives from Charles Perrault's Tales of Mother Goose of 1697. French courtiers despised peasants and country life, yet Perrault preserved much of the earthy vigour of the stories. His version passed into our folklore, rather than, say, an Italian story, like La Gatta Cenerentola of Basile (1674), probably because it was the first to be translated into English, and also because the whole

package was attractive; it contained Puss in Boots, Tom Thumb, Bluebeard, Little Red Riding Hood and many other stories from the European tradition of oral story telling. Perrault employed a peasant wetnurse for his son.

These European stories developed in a less affluent society than most English early tales and rhymes. Iona and Peter Opie can date only 12% of our nursery rhymes pre–1700 with confidence. Old Mother Hubbard is an Elizabethan character but no record of the famous rhyme has been found pre–1804.

Like the folk stories, however, nursery rhymes have proved wonderfully catchy and enduring: children in Saxony repeat a rhyme

Henry Baerlein tells us that on Anholt, a Danish island in the Kattegat, the children still sing what is to them a meaningless jingle

Two Mice Eating Cheese by Daniel Sherrin (fl.1895-1915) © Bridgeman Art Library

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– a relic of British occupation of the island in the Napoleonic wars.

The French stories derive from an early (pre–1700) peasant culture; they reek of the dunghill and reflect hard times. In one version of Cinderella, Donkeyskin, the wicked stepmother, is replaced by a father with incestuous designs on Cinders. Wealth often simply meant having food on your plate, particularly meat. Thus the forester of The Ridiculous Wishes, told he has three wishes, wishes for a sausage.

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His wife then bullies him, so he wishes she had the sausage in the middle of her face. He doesn't fancy her like that, so he wishes that the sausage be removed, and thus they return to their original pitiable state. Little Red Riding Hood readily agrees to eat the plate of meat offered by the wolf, and thereby unwittingly cannibalises her own grandmother.

Peasant humour predominates; there is much farting, peeing, crapping, delousing and what Rabelais calls “frotting of the bacon”. The shepherd boy of The Three Wishes asks to be able to hit any bird with his bow, to make anyone dance to his pipe and to cause his wicked stepmother to fart whenever he says “atchoo”. The story acquires an anticlerical slant when he says “atchoo” repeatedly in church: the farts rock the building. He escapes retribution by making the court dance uncontrollably to his piping; the judges set him free.

The stories present a world in which it pays to be sly and also to be on your guard, distrustful of your neighbours. The simple girl of The Biting Doll fails to follow this important rule, but has a lucky escape. She finds that a doll which she buys from a tinker craps gold into white linen. Her neighbours suspect the source of her wealth and steal the doll, but when they spread the white linen, it craps particularly smelly real crap, to their great amazement and disappointment.

The king comes by and needs a crap, in the middle of which the doll jumps up and bites him in the bottom.

The girl is summoned. The doll recognises her immediately and leaps into her arms. The king, grateful at his happy release, asks the girl to marry him.

Cinderella belongs to a cycle of interlocking stories.

The similarity between them may have confused the peasant storytellers, or maybe they all derived from the same source. Perrault’s version amalgamates three early stories: Cinderella, Donkeyskin, and One-Eye Two-Eyes Three-Eyes. Perrault includes a formal version of Donkeyskin in his collection, but does not give the third story. Cinderella, itself, falls naturally into four sections, which often take different forms in the different geographical versions: the persecuted heroine, the arrival of magic help, the meeting with the prince and the identification test and marriage.

In Donkeyskin, the fairy godmother tells the girl to say to her father that she will submit to his incestuous lust if he gives her magical presents: a self-operating

Still Life by James Lynch (Living Artist) © Bridgeman Art Library

spinning wheel, three dresses, bright as the stars, bright as the moon, bright as the sun, and a coach drawn by four rats which goes fast as the wind. The father with great difficulty does obtain for her each of these presents in turn, so the godmother tells her to bundle her magical presents into the coach and do a bunk in it, fast as the wind. She adds that she should buy a donkey and dress herself in its skin. The girl does this and finds herself a job as a turkey-girl (une dindonnière) with some peasants. The peasant children go off to a ball. The girl is too unimportant to be invited, but, unknown to them, goes nevertheless, in one of her magic dresses, driving in her coach. She makes a powerful impression on everyone and, luckily, the peasant’s children fail to recognise her. The next day the children sing the praises of the beautiful girl at the ball. “No more beautiful than me,” says Donkeyskin. The following week the same thing happens. The third week Donkeyskin, in her dress bright as the sun this time, entrances the King’s son who happens to be at the ball. He follows her as she leaves and observes her change back into her donkey skin. The King’s son falls sick with love and says that nothing will cure him but a cake cooked by the peasant girl at the farm, so she comes to the palace and bakes a cake, artfully leaving a ring inside it. The Prince tastes the cake, is cured immediately, and says he will marry the girl whose finger fits the ring. All

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Red Boots, 1995 Lincoln Seligman (Living Artist) © Bridgeman Art Library

the rich girls of the town try the ring in vain. Forward comes the little girl in her donkey skin; the ring fits her finger. The donkey skin falls away, revealing the dress bright as the sun. The Prince and the little girl are married. “And I’ve just come from the wedding”, added the old woman from Mesves-sur-Loire who gave this version in 1885.

Many of the peasant versions of Cinderella send her to the mass, rather than to a ball; peasants didn’t go to many balls, even in their imagination. Perrault’s Cinderella specifies two visits only to a ball, a common variant. Mice pull the carriage in Perrault’s version – one rat drives – but in no other common version of Cinderella, though rats for horses are the norm in Donkeyskin. The fairy godmother is standard in the French Cinderella; in other countries, aid comes either from a helpful animal (in the ninth century Chinese version, for instance, a fish), or, as in Basile and Grimm, from a magic tree.

Both an animal and a tree feature in One-Eye Two-Eyes Three-Eyes, a story which concentrates on the way the family discovers what Cinders is up to.

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Little Annette is starved by her stepmother and sisters – ugly and nasty, in many versions. The Virgin Mary gives her a black sheep which magically produces a laden table every time Annette touches it. The stepmother wonders what is saving Annette from starvation and sends her daughters into the fields to spy on her. Annette lulls the first two, One-Eye and Two-Eyes, to sleep with her singing, but does not know that the third daughter, Three-Eyes, misleadingly called Lise, has an eye in the back of her head.

The stepmother rumbles Annette’s secret, and kills the black sheep. As they eat it, they give the liver, a despised portion apparently, to Annette.

On higher instructions, she buries the liver, and from the spot leaps up a very tall tree with wonderful fruit. Nobody can pick the fruit but Annette, for the tree lowers its branches for her alone. The King’s son comes by. He sees the fruit and his mouth waters. He will marry whoever can pick the fruit for him to taste.

The ugly sisters try to pick the fruit in vain, but Annette wins the King’s son and they live happily ever after.

We should resist the temptation to identify national characteristics in the turn these stories take in their different national variants. But the peasant raconteurs do give the same stories distinctive twists: the French often opt for the bawdy, the humorous and the down-to-earth; the Italian for the rusy and the burlesque; the German for the supernatural, the exotic and the violent. The French stepmother and ugly sisters are often forgiven, and not punished in any of the common versions. In the Grimms’ Aschenputtel, the ugly sisters cut off toes and heels to try to fit the slipper, and, at the end, have eyes plucked out by pigeons. The English, whose folk tradition is more recent, and hence, perhaps, more literary, frequently veer in the direction of whimsy and the world of Queen Mab and Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the English Cinderella, the grieving father “turned his back, and sat by his window looking out over the sea, weeping great tears for his lost daughter, till his white hair and beard grew down over his shoulders and twined round his chair and crept into

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the chinks of the floor, and his tears, dropping on to the window-ledge, wore a channel through the stone, and ran away in a little river to the great sea”.

Tom Thumb is dressed by the fairies in “a hat made of an oak-leaf, a shirt of spiders’ web, jacket of thistledown and trousers of feathers. His stockings were of apple-rind, tied with one of his mother’s eyelashes, and his shoes of mouse-skin, with the hair inside”.

His French counterpart, Le Petit Poucet, has no time for such niceties. He struggles to survive in a harsh peasant world where he is eaten by a wolf and has to protect his family from robbers and the village priest.

Folk stories provide us with fantasy, but fantasy which palpably confronts human problems – children need to know how to deal with step-parents: in Britain today a child with a step-parent is seven times more likely to suffer abuse than a child being brought up by its natural parents. The fantastic rewards us with the joy of escape, not just from the banalities of our lives, but, through empathy with the heroes, from the catastrophes that befall them. Without the catastrophe, the deliverance would not be possible.

Some say, and this may be true of much literature too, that by making us experience the joy of deliverance, these stories help give us the emotional means to confront our own final catastrophe, to come to terms with the human condition.

So we should not be surprised at the universal appeal of these stories. We wonder at the idea that the tales which amused humble people in the time of Solomon, or Nebuchanessar, that were told round the camp-fire by the soldiers of Alexander the Great, endured in the oral tradition, in much the same form all over the world, until the advent of high levels of literacy.

We live in times very different to those of the early peasant story tellers, in a society so removed from country life that many of us don’t know that eggs come from chickens, times in which many people can read, even though 15% of British people are unable to look up a plumber in the yellow pages.

In Western societies, story-telling as entertainment has been replaced by the book, television, the PC and, as I see in rural France, the bingo hall.

The stories now sometimes take literary forms, are subsumed into novels or plays, or pantomimes,

Two Pears, 1990 by Euan Uglow (1932-2000) © Bridgeman Art Library

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The Enchantress is very generously supported by

previous grange park productions supported by the carphone warehouse Iolanthe 2003 The Turn of the Screw 2002 CosĂŹ fan tutte 2001 The Mikado 2000

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opera in four acts

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) to a libretto by Shpazhinsky Sung in Russian with surtitles First performance Marinsky Theatre, St Petersburg 20 October 1887 First UK performance in Russian Performances at The Grange June 10, 13, 25, July 2, 4, 6 2004

The Enchantress

David Lloyd–Jones Conductor

David Fielding Director / Designer

Wolfgang Goebbel Lighting Designer

Stee Billingsley Choreographer

nastasia known as kuma proprietress of a brothel foka her uncle potap the barman polia Kuma’s friend ( paisii Kuma’s clients ( balakin ( lukash ( kichiga nikita kurliatev local supremo evpraksia his wife yuri their son ivan zhuran Yuri’s associate mamirov Nikita’s right–hand man nenila Mamirov’s sister & secretary to the Kurliatevs

the orchestra of grange park

Janis Kelly Lynton Black Deryck Hamon Joanna Gamble Andrew Friedhoff Andrew Morton Matthew Smith Martin Nelson Vassily Savenko Carole Wilson Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts Dan Jordan Stephen Richardson Harriet Williams

Leader Andrew Court

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The Enchantress Kuma (Nastasia) is the charming owner of a brothel which Yuri, son of the local supremo Nikita, begins to frequent. Yuri’s mother Evpraksia is persuaded by the scheming Mamirov that her husband is also a regular at the brothel and is having an affair with Kuma. Yuri promises to avenge his mother’s honour. He confronts Kuma, who confesses it is he that she loves and has rejected all his father’s attempts to seduce her. Mamirov, driven by greed and bitterness, now lays an elaborate plot to wreak his revenge on Kuma and on the family – with devastating effect.

act one Kuma’s brothel Nastasia, known by the locals as Kuma, is the owner of a brothel close to the river Oka on the outskirts of Nizhny-Novgorod. Here, with her uncle Foka, barman Potap, Polia and the rest of the girls, she has a thriving business which she runs with great charm.

Amongst the many regulars are Paisii, a drunkard and self-styled priest; Kichiga, a loud-mouthed prizefighter; Lukash, darling of the girls and small-time drug dealer; and Balakin, a manic-depressive who foresees a sad end for Kuma if Nikita Kurlyatev, local supremo, and his henchman Mamirov, ever get their hands on her den of vice. This can’t be far off given that Yuri, Nikita’s son, has taken to dropping by with his friend Ivan Zhuran.

Kuma does not seem particularly concerned and secretly she has taken quite a shine to Yuri. So when Balakin’s prediction becomes a reality, Kuma is quick to outsmart Mamirov and his threats have no effect.

Mamirov is furious and turns to Nikita for support but Nikita simply sits and drinks with Kuma. Kuma playfully suggests that Nikita should force Mamirov to dance for them all. Nikita does and thus utterly humiliates Mamirov.

Entr’acte

act two

Nikita Kurlyatev’s Office Evpraksia, Nikita’s wife, has spent a sleepless night.

Of late she has been suspicious of her husband’s prolonged absences and his excuses. Mamirov’s sister, Nenila, knows the cause but dares not speak out. Her vengeful brother, still smarting, reveals that Nikita is carrying on an affair with Kuma. Evpraksia is hysterical and demands that Mamirov report back on whatever the two get up to. Yuri arrives, and his mother struggles to regain her composure, but he senses something is amiss.

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Paisii has located Nikita’s office and demands money from Yuri. Mamirov intervenes, taking Paisii aside to engage him to spy on Kuma.

Nikita returns but does not wish to discuss business with Mamirov today. He sends him off to fetch Evpraksia so that they can discuss the marriage deal planned for Yuri with the Sherstnev family. In no mood to play at happy–families, she turns the subject to Kuma and they quarrel.

There are gunshots and a mob breaks into the room. Mamirov’s men have killed one of Lukash’s dealers and Kichiga’s gang has come to his aid.

Mamirov is accused of sheltering him and the fighting continues. Yuri, intervening on Kichiga’s behalf, calms the situation and the angry crowd disperses.

Yuri is very satisfied with the way he handled the situation and wonders if his father will approve. Paisii and Nenila, encouraged by Mamirov, reveal that Nikita is far too pre-occupied down at Kuma’s to care. The cat is out of the bag and Yuri swears to his mother that to save her marriage he will, if need be, dispose of Kuma.

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* dinner interval (100 minutes) *

act three

Kuma’s bedroom As Yuri prepares to pay Kuma a visit, his father is again trying to seduce her. She feels sorry for him but knows that things are becoming unacceptably compromising for them both. She simply does not love him and tells him that, in fact, she is in love with someone else. The news is too much for him. He tries to force the situation but she threatens to slit her own throat rather than submit to his advances. Saying he will not give her up, he storms out.

She has barely recovered when Polia and Foka burst in with news that Yuri is threatening to kill her.

To their bewilderment she rejects their advice to escape but prepares simply to confront him. She leaves the room. Yuri and Ivan arrive and find the room is empty and in darkness. When Kuma appears looking radiant, Yuri pulls back. He orders Ivan to leave and demands an explanation from her. She justifies her actions and finally confesses that it has always been Yuri that she loved. His initial anger gives way to an infatuation he had not recognised. He too loves Kuma.

Entr’acte

act four At night by the River Oka Tonight Yuri and Kuma will leave Nizhny-Novgorod for good. Mamirov has convinced Evpraksia she must visit Kudma, who supplies spells and poisons, and buy some to murder Kuma. Knowing that Nikita’s wife is prepared to pay a vast sum to achieve her goal, Mamirov will disguise himself as this same Kudma and wreak revenge on both family and Kuma alike.

Yuri and Ivan prepare the escape and Kuma bids an emotional farewell to Kichiga, Lukash and Potap.

Evpraksia returns opportunely, finding Kuma alone.

They chat and Kuma is offered a drink – in which there is poison. Yuri reappears and, as the lovers excitedly greet one another, the poison takes effect and Kuma dies in Yuri’s arms.

Evpraksia gloats ecstatically over the body and, while Yuri is distracted, she orders Kudma to dispose of it into the river. But her vengeance is short-lived.

Nikita, arriving to forestall the elopement, confronts Yuri who insists that Kuma is dead. Nikita does not believe him and in a jealous rage he kills his son.

Evpraksia faints and the unmasked Mamirov emerges in triumph to reveal the lifeless body of Kuma, the Enchantress. note Kuma = godmother Kudma = spellbinder

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How did Tchaikovsky die?

Cholera or arsenic?

Six years after writing The Enchantress, Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) was dead – in shady circumstances.

Did he fall or was he pushed? Michael Fontes investigates.

Look at the 1980 grove dictionary

on Tchaikovsky's death: “That he committed suicide cannot be doubted”. Look at the latest edition (2001): “We do not know how Tchaikovsky died.” What provoked this striking change?

The antagonists agree that Tchaikovsky, a charming, shy, famously fastidious Russian composer of fifty-three, arrived in St Petersburg on Sunday, 10th /22nd (Russian Old Style/Western European calendar) October 1893 to prepare for and conduct the first performance of his Sixth Symphony, The Pathétique.

He was disappointed with the reception it received from the orchestra at rehearsals, and then from the public at the performance, the following SATURDAY. Three days later, TUESDAY, he went to Anton Rubinstein’s opera Die Makkabäer. The next day, WEDNESDAY, he had lunch with a friend and in the evening went to see Ostrovky’s play The Passionate Heart, before dining with friends and relatives at Leitner’s restaurant, one of the best in the city. He became ill the following day, THURSDAY, and never again left the flat of his brother Modest. His death was reported on MONDAY, 25th October/6th November. The body lay in an open coffin in the flat for anyone to visit – a great many did – throughout MONDAY; requiems were sung, and the coffin sealed at 9pm. Eight thousand people crowded into St Petersburg’s Kazan Cathedral for the funeral the following THURSDAY. Crowds lined the route of the funeral procession.

There are two main theories: that he died of cholera, perhaps as a result of drinking unboiled water; and that he committed suicide with arsenic. A third theory, that he committed suicide by drinking unboiled water, I am including in the first category.

The big issue is cholera or arsenic.

We need to look first at the family’s story: the story put out by Modest.

Modest details the horrible progress of the

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disease, the summoning of doctors, the diagnosis of cholera, the moments of hope towards the end when the spasms seemed to have abated, the arrival of friends and family and the final swift decline and death. Four doctors took turns; two of them were brothers, Vassily Bertenson, the Tchaikovksys’ friend and doctor, and Lev Bertenson, a specialist, whose help Vassily invoked when he realised how grave the case was. All observers at the sick room agree about the symptoms: terrible spasmodic diarrhoea and vomiting followed by other serious symptoms including urine retention provoked by kidney failure.

On Monday, the day after the death, the Novosti i Berzhevaya Gazeta of St Petersburg carried an editorial comment which ran: “the most contradictory stories are afloat in the city with regard both to the causes of P.I.Tchaikovsky’s illness and to his death”. The rumour began to spread that he had been forced to commit suicide with arsenic because of a scandal associated with his homosexual private life.

These rumours took their most precise form in the West when Alexandra Orlova, former archivist at the Tchaikovsky museum at Klin, emigrated to America in 1979. She said that the composer had been paying romantic attention to Alexander, the 18-year-old nephew of Duke

The f

uner

al

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Stenbock-Fermor. The Duke had written a letter of complaint to the Tsar, to be transmitted through Nicolai Jakobi, the chief prosecutor of the Russian Senate. Jakobi had been a classmate of Tchaikovsky at the St Petersburg School of Jurisprudence, and, to prevent a scandal which would have tarnished the reputation of the famous school, he had convened a “court of honour” with seven other classmates. Tchaikovsky was summoned to appear before this court, probably on the Tuesday of the week of his death, and ordered to take poison, which would be provided by a member of the court. The following morning, WEDNESDAY, one of the court, perhaps the barrister Auguste Gerke, called on Tchaikovsky, ostensibly on musical matters, but probably to deliver the poison – Modest does not record this visit in his account. The cholera story was invented to hide the truth – the incubation period of cholera is one to three days and the symptoms are strikingly similar to those of arsenic poisoning.

Mrs Orlova presented a number of confirmatory stories. Dr Vassily Bertenson himself, shortly before his death in 1933, had told her husband, Georgy Orlov, that Tchaikovsky had poisoned himself.

Alexander Voitov, a museum curator and an old boy of the School of Jurisprudence, with an intense interest in the school’s history, had come forward with further details: Jakobi’s wife had told him, in 1913, that she was outside the courtroom during the

The block containing Modest’s apartment where Peter died

Graduates of the St Petersburg School of Jurisprudence, 1859.

Detail with Tchaikowsky, aged 19, on the right

five-hour trial and had been sworn to secrecy by her husband. Voitov had told Mrs Orlova in 1966. The news confirmed suspicions Mrs Orlova and her husband had already formed from Bertenson’s admission and from their work on the Tchaikovsky archives in the late 30s.

When Mrs Orlova’s account was published, in the Russian-language journal Kontinent, an exotically distant member of the Tchaikovsky family, Natalia Kuznetsova-Vladimova, granddaughter of the younger sister of the wife of Tchaikovsky’s elder brother Nikolay, wrote a significant letter to Mrs Orlova. She explained that her grandmother would say that her elder sister told exactly the same story, often referring to Jakobi “very aggressively”, and that in 1952 she had corrected Yury Slonimsky, the author of some books on ballet, when he said that Tchaikovsky’s suicide had been caused by his paying improper attention to the heir to the throne: “No, it was to the nephew of Count Stenbock and not to the heir.” The old lady (the elder sister) would have been 94 in 1952.

Mrs Orlova went on to attack the cholera story: Tchaikovsky initially forbade Modest to send for a doctor, to give the poison time to work; the house was

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not quarantined; a large number of friends visited the dying composer; the body was not sealed in a zinc coffin but laid out to public view – Rimsky-Korsakov in his autobiography recalls his surprise that official regulations were not being followed and says he saw Verzhbilovich, the cellist, drunk, kiss the body on the head and face. The accounts of Modest, 6 Aged 1 the doctors and other visitors, about the progress of the disease, do not tally.

Moreover, Tchaikovsky had a history of mental instability and was already in despair. Suicide would not necessarily have been unattractive to him.

He was deeply remorseful of his promiscuous homosexual life; he had married in the 70s, to prevent further gossip. The marriage had failed disastrously and immediately. At the height of that crisis he had tried to kill himself and then suffered a nervous collapse – he fell into a coma for 48 hours.

The last movement of the Pathétique symphony, the gloomy Adagio Lamentoso, was not only an extraordinary way to end a symphony but proof of the despair which gripped the composer.

Mrs Orlova’s account inspired a play, The Assassins, produced in Los Angeles, and an opera staged in Holland. The gay lobby had quickly identified an interest in the arsenic theory: here was another case of a great man destroyed by the establishment because of his sexual “deviance”.

By doing so, they provided support for the great defender of the cholera theory, another Russian émigré, Alexander Polzansky. He explained that Tchikovsky had become by 1893 not just famous but a sort of national treasure. His homosexuality was well known. His sudden death would inevitably spawn conspiracy theories of this kind – just as Diana’s death has done – and over time, these would collect a varnish of circumstantial evidence, as a public monument collects pigeon-droppings; people forget, or only half-remember and embellish. Some think they gain kudos by presenting themselves as players in an important public drama, or having privileged access to information. Mrs Orlova had

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produced no documentary evidence, failing even to ask Voitov to sign his account of the story. Voitov would have been 17 in 1913, so his interest in the history of the School of Jurisprudence then could only have been fledgling, and, anyway, why should Mrs Jakobi, in her old age, have unburdened herself to someone so young?

Polzansky attacks the arsenic theory in pulverising detail: Tchaikovsky’s attitude to his own homosexuality had altered since the time of his marriage, sixteen

Aged 37, with his wife (1877)

years earlier. He had been conscious of his orientation from an early age. He had formed intimate friendships with other boys at the famous St Petersburg School of Jurisprudence, which he attended between the ages of twelve and eighteen. For a time afterwards, he had lived in an openly homosexual ménage with his school friend Alexey Akputin, the poet.

We learn a lot about him from his letters to his younger brothers. His mother had died when he was 14 and he had largely taken upon himself responsibility for the twin boys, Anatoly and Modest, ten years younger than him. He was remarkably tender and affectionate, a brilliant elder brother.

He remained extremely close to the twins: his letters to both of them are frank about his feelings.

Modest, who became a playwright – he wrote the libretto of The Queen of Spades – was also homosexual; Tchaikovsky’s letters to him are particularly candid: “my damned pederasty does form an unbridgeable

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abyss between me and most people. It imparts to my character an aloofness, a fear of people, an excessive shyness, in short a thousand qualities which make me grow more and more unsociable”. These letters reveal that the composer would occasionally become infatuated with young men from his own social stratum – the most famous late example of this was his passion for his young nephew, Vladimir (“Bob”) Davydov, which developed while he was staying with his sister, Sasha, in the mid to late 80s. But for the frequent and often entirely casual sexual relations he seemed to need, he relied on less affluent people, emancipated serfs, coachmen, male prostitutes. His devoted servant, Alexey Sofronov, became his lover and intimate friend – when Sofronov married he asked Tchaikovsky to be godfather to his son. The casual encounters with prostitutes were often followed by remorse, but remorse dominated by an almost With “Bob”

Aged

23

Dostoyevskian pity for his sexual partners: “this young man has much good at the root of his soul. But, my God, how pitiable is he, how thoroughly debauched! And instead of helping him to better himself, I only contributed to his further going down”.

That young man was lucky enough to find a client with the generosity to give him the price of a rail ticket to Lyons, to visit his family. To make casual advances to a young aristocrat lay outside Tchaikovsky’s pattern. Of course, Soviet censorship decreed that no such details could be published for

much of the twentieth century, and this has added to the confusion and to the climate of rumour.

By the early 1890s, Tchaikovsky had come to an accommodation with his nature: the letters depict no vulnerable neurotic with a guilty secret. His homosexuality was well known. The great Russian pianist, Alexander Siloti, tells us: “everybody knew about it. His continuous urge for solitude, his reserve, his secretiveness, contrasted with his genuine love of people, we used to explain by this pathological abnormality of his. Thereby we pitied and loved him even more.”

Tchaikovsky would not have had much to fear from exposure, either. The law against muzhelozhstvo specified deprivation of rights and exile to Siberia, but there was no case of its being applied in the courts to prominent people during the whole of the century.

The Tsar loved Eugene Onegin, the opera, and had given its composer a pension. To bring action against Tchaikovsky would obliquely be to criticise the Tsar, who had selected him for special honour and favours. Anyway, the Tsar was indulgent of homosexuals: his own brother, Grand Duke Sergey Aleksandrovich, lived openly with his adjutant, Martynov. When Prince Meshchersky, another of Tchaikovsky’s schoolmates, was accused of seducing a trumpet-boy in the Guard’s infantry battalion, Alexander III took his side and had the scandal suppressed. Also, had Count Stenbock – there were no Dukes in tsarist Russia – wanted to complain about Tchaikovsky he would, as an equerry, have had easy access to the Tsar, and no need for an intermediary like Jakobi.

The details of Tchaikovsky’s schedule leave no time for the supposed “court of honour”.

Tuesday seems to have been chosen because we know 1875 (left to right) Modest, a friend N. D. Kondratiev, Anatoly, Modest’s twin, and Peter (aged 35) sitting on the right.

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waist and stayed there until I could endure no longer the bodily ache produced by the cold”. He did not, however, contract the pneumonia he thought might carry him off; “my health showed itself to be so sound that the icy bath had no consequences for me”. We are very far here from Virginia Woolf filling her pockets with pebbles

Aged 51

Aged 49, taken by a street photographer in Geneva 1889

enough of how he spent the time on all the other days to preclude them. Voitov specified that the “court” took place at Jakobi’s house in Tsarskoe Selo, Mrs Jakobi sitting outside the room with her needlework. But the trip to Tsarskoe Selo and back would have taken four hours at least, which, together with the five hours which the court is supposed to have lasted, means that Tchaikovsky needed to be away from St Petersburg for nine hours consecutively.

Tuesday was a regular business day. We know that he went to the opera in the evening and in the afternoon was visited in Modest’s apartment by the management of an opera company. Unless the court was convened in the small hours, which someone surely would have mentioned, they could not have found sufficient time for it that day – even had such prominent lawyers and civil servants been able to neglect their duties. The private papers of Auguste Gerke, the supposed provider of the arsenic, reveal his desperate anxiety about his friend’s illness and conviction that it was cholera.

Tchaikovsky’s so-called suicide attempt of 1877 shows the extent of his unhappiness living with his wife – it took place two months after the marriage – but it does not carry the stamp of true intent. “I could not bring myself to explicit, open suicide for fear of inflicting a too cruel blow upon my aged father, and also upon my brothers”. “One night I came to the deserted bank of the River Moscow, and there entered my head the thought that it would be possible to kill myself by contracting a chill. To this end, unseen in the darkness, I entered the water almost up to my

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Aged 53, the year of his death

and walking into the Ouse.

And so on. Psychologists tell us that we each react to crises in ways that are specific to us; Tchaikovsky habitually chose to run away, rather than to resolve matters by action. Tchaikovsky had confidence in the long-term popularity of the Pathétique. The sense of irretrievable doom in the finale cannot indicate his mood in 1893 because the slow last movement was planned two years earlier: he stole the idea from his abandoned Life symphony. In the weeks before his death, Tchaikovsky was working on his Third Piano

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Concerto, a work not dominated by black depression.

Pateticheskaya – the soubriquet was the composer’s own choice – in Russian means “impassioned”; it does not carry the undertones of suffering present in the English or the French word. In September the composer wrote to the Polish composer, Sigismund Stojowski, to say that he would perform Stojowski’s suite at a concert in January 1894, adding that he felt “very well, pleased with the completion of the new symphony”. Modest records his brother’s mood on arrival in St Petersburg: “He liked everything about our new apartment, and his good mood stayed with him, especially during the first few days, while his arrival was not yet known in the city and he could still dispose of his time freely”.

Cholera was not difficult to catch and not always fatal. The brothers knew all about it: their mother had died from it; their father had recovered from his attack. Not only water, but also infected foodstuffs can carry it; the bacillus can live in butter for a month.

It was not exclusively a disease of the poor. An inquiry after Tchaikovsky’s death found that St Petersburg restaurants habitually mixed unboiled with the boiled water to be served to guests – Leitner’s lost custom in consequence. Scientific studies had shown the disease to be less contagious than originally thought; official regulations had been changed in early 1893, and were met to the letter in Tchaikovsky’s case. RimskyKorsakov’s remark merely illustrates his ignorance of these changes.

The arsenic theorists do, however, produce some telling points: Simon Karlinsky has shown that “courts of honour” were occasionally set up in Russia at the time, though usually they demanded nothing more than resignations – Chekov’s editor was brought before one. Arsenic does not always kill immediately: the first symptoms are a metallic taste in the mouth, excessive saliva production and problems swallowing; then diarrhoea and vomiting coupled with garlic–like breath, stomach cramps and heavy sweating. “As the poison’s effects progress, the patient will suffer seizures and go into shock, dying within a few hours. If death does not occur at this stage, it will happen a few days later when the kidneys fail.”

The bbc Horizon programme in November 1993, which interviewed Mrs Orlova, Karlinsky, Polzansky,

and other experts, found largely in favour of arsenic.

Dr John Henry of Guy’s Hospital, with experience at the British National Poison Unit, said that all the reported symptoms of Tchaikovsky’s illness “fit very closely with arsenic poisoning”. But then Dr P.C. Majumdar of Calcutta, a doctor with great experience of dealing with cholera, in “Cholera – its curative treatment”, his instructions to doctors, warns of arsenic that “its pathogenetic symptoms are so much like cholera symptoms that an arsenical poisoning case may be mistaken for a genuine cholera case”.

The arsenic theory needs to explain a gigantic conspiracy of deceit, between the family, the friends, and the doctors, highly respected professional men whose reputations were on the line. For me, the most telling evidence against the arsenic theory lies in private papers never intended for publication, letters and telegrams between the people who were in Modest’s flat at the end. For instance, in July 1898, Bob Davydov and Modest, Tchaikovsky’s closest friends, both present throughout the final days, were writing to each other in some detail about the composer’s health. Had Tchaikovky taken arsenic Bob could not have said he suspected the composer was particularly vulnerable to cholera, and that he thought his recurrent stomach catarrh the main reason why he caught it.

So I go for cholera. But the conspiracy theorists must have their fun. We have to put up with operas and plays and maybe soon, I gather, a film, depicting Tchaikovsky taking arsenic. Pratt’s opera even depicts a love-crazed Alexander Stenbock-Fermor shooting Jakobi. Sensationalism makes money. The truth is often just too boring.

Tchaikovsky’s hat and gloves

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Generously sponsored by

dancers Matthew Alan, Dayna Arrowsmith, Danielle Hewitt, Caroline Lynn, Gerrard Martin, Laura Riazuelo Araujo, Sebastian Rose, Kirsty Simmonds, Damian Winter-Higgins, Limor Ziv

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musical in two acts

Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990) Book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov based on their play My Sister Eileen Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green by permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers First performed in the Winter Garden, New York, 25 February 1953 Performances at The Grange June 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 2004

WONDERFUL TOWN Richard Balcombe Conductor

Antony McDonald Director / Designer

Philippe Giraudeau Choreographer

Wolfgang Goebbel Lighting Designer

bob baker eileen ruth officer lonigan the wreck tour guide mr appopolous frank lippencott & other roles

Sarah Bird

chick clark

Casting Consultant

& other roles

editors Trevor Conner, Magnus Vigilius, Andrew Friedhoff, Matthew Smith, Nathaniel Gibbs, Andrew Rivera

speedy valenti mallory & other roles mrs wade helen delivery boy

policemen James Geer, Simon McEnery, Stephen Lloyd-Morgan, Brandon Verlade, Trevor Conner, Kris Belligh, James Bobby, Andrew Young, Andrew Morton

Graham Bickley Sophie Daneman Mary King Paul Featherstone Mark Meadows Nathaniel Gibbs David Freedman Derek Hagen David Curtiz Andrew Dennis David Bauckham Joanna Gamble Victoria Ward Patrick Baring Naval cadets, guests, hepcats, villagers & tourists

the orchestra of grange park Leader Andrew Court

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Wonderful Town Ruth McKenney’s autobiographical stories appeared in the 1930s in the New Yorker Magazine. The stories were soon made into a play and a film but the musical took longer in coming. Eventually producer George Abbott bought the rights, and commissioned a score which, five weeks before rehearsals, he ditched for one on offer from Leonard Bernstein, wunderkind of the 1944 hit On the Town .

christopher street A guide points out to some tourists the wonders of the bohemian cradle that is Greenwich Village.

the studio Sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, the former a writer, the latter an aspiring actress, are newly arrived from Columbus, Ohio. Exhausted, they succumb to artist-landlord Appopolous’s entreaties and rent his squalid basement studio apartment on a trial basis. No sooner have they given Appopolous a month’s rent than they discover that they are living directly over the blasting that is taking place for the new subway system. Not only that, they are virtually sleeping in the street. Ruth and Eileen begin to wonder if they were wise to leave their cozy Columbus home.

Ohio

new york

ConqueringNew York back on christopher street A few weeks later, Ruth’s manuscripts have met with nothing but rejection, while Eileen has received propositions, but not for her acting talents. Ruth marvels at her sister’s ability to cultivate helpful young men; as for herself, Ruth claims to be the world’s leading expert on how to discourage men.

AHundred Easy Ways

baker’s office At the office of the Manhatter magazine, editor Robert Baker tells Ruth she is but one of many talents who are headed for disillusionment in their attempt to conquer the city. What a waste Mr Baker flicks through some of Ruth’s work, which is remarkably vivid but melodramatic Ruth’s stories

christopher street Eileen charms and is charmed by both the drugstore manager Frank Lippencourt A little bitinlove and editor Baker, who has come to talk to Ruth about her stories. To complicate matters, a burly young man in training known as The Wreck – football professional out of season – is temporarily quartered in the girls’ studio while the mother of his live-in lady love is in town.

the backyard The Wreck reminisces about his glory days on the campus. Pass that football. That evening, Ruth and Eileen play host to Lippencott, Baker and Chick Clark, a newspaperman acquaintance of Eileen’s. The members of this dinner group find they have little in common Conversation Piece. When Ruth and Baker get a minute alone, he tells her that she is talented but that she should write stories about things she’s actually experienced. When Ruth defends her stories by telling him that she puts herself into every character, Baker concludes that she must be respressed or inhibited. Ruth is deeply offended and an argument ensues. Baker, alone, envisions the kind of girl he would, just once, like to meet A Quiet Girl. The lecherous Clark, who has been trying to get Eileen alone all evening, tricks Ruth into running off to the

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Brooklyn Navy Yard to interview a boatload of newly arrived Brazilian cadets.

the navy yard Ruth is determined to get a story, but the cadets only wish to learn the steps of a certain dance craze Conga! Unable to shake them off, Ruth is followed home by the cadets. Eileen tries also to get rid of them and a near-riot ensues. Eileen is dragged off by the police.

* dinner interval (100 minutes) the jail

the new neat look

–

Eileen is detained, but soon has the members of the New York City Police Department eating out of her hand. My Darling Eileen

a village street

the studio

Ruth has stayed up all night writing about something she knows – her adventure with the cadets. Baker agrees to read her new story and Ruth goes off to her new job: open-air advertising for the local nightspot knows as The Village Vortex. Swing

Ruth discovers that, because of the incident of the previous night, she and Eileen are about to be evicted from their quarters. It appears the sisters have no choice but to go back to Ohio. Reprise Ohio Baker arrives, tells Ruth he loves the Navy Yard story and intends to fight his boss to get it published. When he goes, Ruth admits to Eileen that she is attracted to Baker, but it appears to be too late now for anything to come of it. Because of the publicity surrounding Eileen’s arrest, the manager of the Vortex offers Eileen an audition at his club.

street near the vortex Baker has lost his own job going to bat for Ruth’s story and he admits to Eileen that Ruth’s attraction to him is mutual It’s Love.

the village vortex A tightly packed crowd dances a slow jitterbug.

Ballet at the Vortex. A nervous Eileen is joined

by Ruth in an old Columbus favourite Wrong Note Rag and Eileen is a big hit. Chick Clark comes through with a press card and a job for Ruth. Eileen performs an encore. Baker finds Ruth and admits his feelings for her. New York is, after all, a

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On Broadway: a lifetime in love with the

American Musical

Donald kahn has spent a “Broke, was a word often on his lips, lifetime in love with American but I never saw him living poor,” he musical theatre. He saw his says with a fond grin. He was first musical on Broadway close to L Stanley who loved in 1935 and his latest was nothing better than to drag his probably last week. He saw young son to a good stage show. his first Gershwin (Ira) in 1936, His mother was the daughter of a Rodgers & Hart in 1937, Kurt well-to-do publisher and one of the Weill in 1938 and Irving Berlin in seven legendary sisters of Walter H 1940. He remembers every composer, Annenberg, the American businessJimmy Durante with lyricist, director and particularly the man who was probably, after Joe one of the newer fellas, Frank Sinatra in 1945 performers of almost every producKennedy, the best-known US tion he has been to, and when he doesn’t it is because ambassador to the Court of St James (1969–74). they probably aren’t worth remembering.

Both his parents and grandparents were fascinated He has seen Fred Astaire, Gertrude Lawrence, by Broadway and the New York theatre world and Jimmy Durante, Ethel Merman, Eve Arden, Jackie took their young children along from the earliest Gleason, Beatrice Lillie and Bob Hope all perform days. His father in particular, whatever the state of live on the New York stage – and there were many, Wall Street, was an inveterate theatre-goer, preferring many more. the straight stage but responding enthusiastically when His favourite musicals, he says looking back on his young son fell in love with the musical version. almost 70 years of avid theatre-going, date from the Donald grew up in the extraordinary, golden era golden era of 1935–47, notably the great Rodgers & of the Broadway musical which produced the songs Hart productions (Jumbo, On Your Toes, Babes in Arms and lyrics that generations later (and as sung by Sinatra, and, of course, Pal Joey), Weill’s Knickerbocker Ella Fitzgerald and so many others) have become the Holiday, Berlin’s This is the Army (Mr Jones), Jerome great classics of our time. He discovered Broadway as it Kern and of course Cole Porter who “anytime he had was bouncing back from the Depression and before a weak tune put it in the Beguine rhythm”. He was the greater glitz of Hollywood upstaged it. The lucky enough to hit a period of unparalleled musical Depression and the advent of the talking picture had talent which simply poured on to Broadway during brought havoc to the New York stage, with 77% that magical dozen years. But he has loved of all Broadway shows proving financial faillater musicals too: My Fair Lady he regards ures in the 1931–32 season, a figure which as one of the best shows of all time and he jumped to 83% the following year. Then is intrigued by Bombay Dreams, all the came Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the more so because it has been so badly end of Prohibition, and the musical treated by the London critics. which almost single-handedly caused Donald came from a well-off New Broadway to burst back into song with a York family, the son of a Stock Exchange passion unequalled before or since: trader, L Stanley Kahn (b 1898), who Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, which made it out of his native Bronx to Wall opened in 1934, starring Ethel Merman.

Street in his mid-twenties. In 1928 he was In the Depression era, Broadway worth a million – on paper, that is to say. musicals were aimed at a privileged group Cole Porter (1891–1964) After October 1929, quite substantially less. His Anything Goes revived of cognoscenti who went to the same Broadway in 1934

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George Gershwin (1898–1937, left) and Irving Berlin (1888–1989) in 1936

night-spots, spent weekends on each other’s estates and where everybody knew everyone else.

By the time Donald was old enough for his first show, that was just changing – and the new musicals reflected it. In 1935, aged ten, he was taken to see the Arthur Schwartz/Howard Dietz revue At Home Abroad, starring Beatrice Lillie, the great singer/ actress who, according to the legend, needed “no more than the raise of an eyebrow or the curl of a lip to start her audience laughing”.

“I’m sorry to report my recollection of it is limited to Miss Lillie’s tongue-twister monologue ordering ‘two dozen double damask dinner napkins’,” says Donald now.

But he remembers more clearly his first Rodgers & Hart: Jumbo, which starred, alongside Jimmy Durante’s nose, a real elephant; the bandleader, George Whiteman, entered the enormous stage at the Hippodrome on a large white horse. That show gave the world The Most Beautiful Girl in the World and Little Girl Blue and thrilled the young Kahn.

From then on Richard Rodgers was his favourite composer and he was intrigued when his eldest aunt claimed acquaintance with him in the 1920s. But

there was no lack of competition: in 1936 he was taken to see the Ziegfeld Follies (music by Vernon Duke, lyrics by Ira Gershwin), featuring Bob Hope and Eve Arden who sang the musical’s most memorable I Can’t Get Started With You. Donald still knows every word of it.

Spring of 1937 brought another Rodgers & Hart hit, Babes in Arms, which opened with the wonderful Where or When and featured the grown-up child star Mitzi Green singing The Lady is a Tramp – but also brought My Funny Valentine and Johnny One Note, classic songs which would be played on millions of gramophones in the years that followed. Donald discovered years later that it cost just $55,000 to put on, and made a fortune. “Those were the good old days.”

The following year he was at Rodgers & Hart’s The Boys from Syracuse, adapted from Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, which gave us the numbers Falling in Love with Love and This Can’t be Love (because I feel so well!). Then in 1939 Rodgers & Hart produced their best yet: the great Pal Joey (Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered and of course the everlasting I Could Write a Book) which was to give Kurt Weill Gene Kelly his first leading role. Donald, by wrote the haunting now 14, desperately wanted to see it and took September Song it for granted he would be there. Innocently he asked his grandmother would she mind calling Little Willie, a ticket broker or “scalper”, to order a ticket and was taken aback when she demurred. “Oh Donald, I’m not sure that’s a proper show for you to see”. The theme of course was infidelity, betrayal and night-clubs, utterly tame for today’s theatre but considered daring in 1940. Donald had to wait until the 1955 revival to see it.

There were failures as well as hits of course – Broadway had far more of them, often with some memorable songs which would later become perennials. For instance in October 1938 he was taken to see the great Kurt Weill’s Knickerbocker Holiday which featured the dramatic actor and non-singer Walter Huston talking his way through September

Bob Hope (1903–2003) stars with Ethel Merman (1908–1984) in the Broadway stage play Red, Hot and Blue. 1936

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Jerome Kern, widely regarded as the true genius of modern American music

Song, a song that comfortably outlasted the stage production. It was a financial flop and was taken off after 21 weeks, “just another reason I was glad I was there.”

World War II brought a new genre of musicals, notably Irving Berlin’s This is the Army. Most musical historians, including Jerome Kern, saw Berlin as the true genius of American music and although Donald would always put Rodgers & Hart above him, he loved Berlin who appeared in First World War uniform and croaked rather than sang the words (actually from a revue written a generation before): Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning. Donald recalls it as “one of my most treasured memories”.

In 1943 Donald was sent off to Boston to University where he started a degree in chemical engineering at MIT. The more successful Broadway shows toured there, and some even tried out on the Boston stage, but it was back home in the vacation that he saw another Porter-Merman collaboration, Something for the Boys, which produced no memorable songs – although Porter would put that right a few years later with his classic Kiss Me Kate (Another Op’nin’, Another Show, So in Love and Always True to You Darling in My Fashion).

One day in 1943 he bought a ticket in Boston for the new Broadway-bound musical Away We Go, expecting another Rodgers & Hart “flesh-fest” and was taken aback when instead a cowboy strolled on stage and began singing Oh What a Beautiful Morning.

“I was so disgruntled and only recovered on hearing the marvellous lyric Surrey with the Fringe on Top. I became accustomed then to the new lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II, who had his points and much more.” It was a try-out for what would later develop into the hit musical Oklahoma and a new career for the talent of Rodgers. Lorenz Hart, his bittersweet, witty lyricist who he had worked with since 1919, died that year. The new partnership was to go on to do even greater things which Donald took full advantage of: Carousel, which Rodgers & Hammerstein thought was their best, South Pacific, The King & I and, of course, The Sound of Music. The

list is truly astounding.

In 1944 another enormous talent came into his life: Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town opened on Broadway to huge acclaim. It was directed by a man who Donald already admired greatly and whom he holds up as one of the best of all time: George Abbott directed five Rodgers & Hart shows between 1935 and 1940 and Donald saw all of them. He was hugely impressed with Abbott’s considerable energy and drive which could – and often did – make all the difference between a flop or runaway success.

“I was fortunate enough to meet Mr Abbott in his Florida retirement (at age over 100) and saw a try-out of a musical he was trying to put together, subject Frankenstein. Not successfully, and he knew it before anyone else. What a man!”

All this time Donald was pursuing his own career well away from the music world. He did a stint in the US Navy, still in wartime, finished his degree at Columbia University in New York and then went into the Annenberg family business in Philadelphia.

Uncle Walter, a business giant of his day, was rapidly expanding to include a number of television stations and, most importantly, a magazine called TV Guide, which was already growing into the most profitable magazine in publishing history. The business, Triangle Publications Inc, was an exciting place to be if you enjoyed the world of magazines and television but Donald nestled uneasily in the family environment.

He stayed ten years but by the early 1960s, “when they couldn’t stand me any more”, he had had enough and left to left to join the computer software trade in Washington, writing applications and software for government departments. He job-hopped his way to

George Abbott, producer and director extraordinaire

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executive status and from there moved to Florida, with his wife Jeanne and their son, Stephen, where from 1983 to 1991 he ran his own computer type-setting business.

In 1988, Annenberg, by now 80 years old and back in the US after his stint in London, sensed the time was right to sell Triangle and approached Rupert Murdoch with the irresistible proposition: “Rupert, I’ve been keeping this business just for you because you’re the only one I trust to run it.”

Murdoch, flattered by the exceptionally persuasive Uncle Walter, fell for it and bought Triangle for $3 billion, which most of Wall Street (and some of Murdoch’s bankers) concluded was at least $1 billion more than it was worth. It very nearly bankrupted Murdoch but was a wonderful bonus for the seven Annenberg sisters and their children.

“I wouldn’t be sitting here in Salzburg dispensing money if it weren’t for the Murdoch deal. Uncle Walter really ate Rupert’s lunch. He also set an example in his own charities that was inspiring to me and all my cousins” says Donald.

Donald had become a supporter of the musical arts when he moved to Florida. He was president of the Miami Chamber Symphony when, for a few years, it was Miami’s only orchestra. And he was a significant art collector, building a collection of Australian aboriginal paintings which toured Europe and was exhibited at the Barbican Centre in 1997. It now hangs in the Patrons’ Lounge in Salzburg which is named after him.

In 1994 he and Jeanne left Florida to spend their days in Salzburg and London (“much livelier than South Florida, you can believe it”) and began putting Murdoch’s money to serious use: the Great Court at the British Museum bears his name in stone in recognition of his support, and he has also made major donations to orchestras (the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, English Chamber, London Symphony) as well as generous contributions to the Wigmore Hall, Sadler’s Wells and, in honour of Jeanne, he endowed Gallery V at the Royal Academy.

But most importantly of all, at least from our point of view, he made a £500,000 donation to the building of the new theatre at the Grange, our biggest single donation.

My all-time greats Reminiscing in his house in Salzburg, Donald Kahn lists his favourite Broadway composers:

‘

✰ My unparalleled favourite is Richard Rodgers who had successful collaborations with both Hart and Hammerstein, two entirely disparate lyricists, and had a way of choosing capable associates (George Abbott as producer and director) ✰ Next is Kurt Weill, whose name would send me to the box office without delay. September Song and Speak Low are two of the most haunting ballads ever written ✰ Jerome Kern was a great genius, but did little on Broadway after Showboat; I know his work mostly from films and he was as good as it gets ✰ Likewise, Irving Berlin, a great lyricist as well as composer. Also a wry wit: asked whether White Christmas was a better song than Easter Parade, he replied “Absolutely”, adding “much bigger royalties!” ✰ Cole Porter was a brave man, writing hits for 20 years while suffering tortures as a result of a riding accident. His songs benefited from the great delivery by Merman on stage and Ella in the recorded songbook.

These are the men whose music could get me to the ticket window, and the pleasures they brought me will persist until my last day.

’

Thank you, Donald 77

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CosĂŹ fan tutte is supported by a donation from

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dramma giocoso in two acts

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) to a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte English version by Jeremy Sams First performance Burgtheater, Vienna, 26 January 1790 First performance in England Haymarket Theatre, London, 8 May 1811 Performances at Nevill Holt July 10, 12, 13 2004 before touring to 18 venues from ... to ...

CosĂŹ fan tutte Martin Handley Conductor

Ptolemy Christie Director

Adrian Linford Designer

fiordiligi dorabella her sister ferrando her fiancĂŠ guglielmo, engaged to Fiordiligi don alfonso despina maid to the two girls

Lee Bisset Karina Lucas Benjamin Hulett John Lofthouse Henry Grant Kerswell Andrea Palk

Jon Clark Lighting Designer

continuo

Jeremy Cooke

the orchestra of nevill holt Leader Joanna West

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Così fan tutte Guglielmo and Ferrando are cajoled by Alfonso, a cynical family friend, into accepting a challenge to test the faithfulness of two sisters whom they love. The boys pretend to join up with the Italian army but, in fact, reappear in disguise to pay court to the opposite women. At first Dorabella and Fiordiligi are indignant and resist their advances, but soon each falls in love with the other’s loved one. When the deception is revealed, the sisters are amazed by their own behaviour – as well as the boys’. All are punished and a lesson has been learned.

act one Guglielmo and Ferrando boast about the constancy of the two sisters whom they love. A family friend, Alfonso, challenges the fidelity of all women – a faithful woman is as rare as the Arabian phoenix, he says. The boys protest their fiancées’ innocence and devotion and take on the challenge to disprove his claim.

The two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, are led to believe that their lovers have been called up for war. Alfonso then bribes Despina, the housekeeper, to help him introduce the girls to two young friends of his. Despina promises to help persuade the sisters to console themselves in some mild flirtation.

The ‘friends’ are, of course, Guglielmo and Ferrando in disguises so convincing that not even Despina recognises them. Ferrando and Guglielmo make advances and declarations of love to the opposite women – the sisters are appalled at this behaviour, indignantly refusing to listen.

Despina suggests a plan to win the sisters’ sympathy. In despair at the rejection, the men pretend to take poison and drown, and a doctor – Despina in disguise – requires the sisters to nurse them as they recover. Dorabella and Fiordiligi, however, steadfastly refuse to humour their demands for a kiss.

* dinner interval (100 minutes)

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act two Later that day Despina explains her unscrupulous ways of dealing with men. Dorabella suggests to her sister that there is little harm in amusing themselves with the strangers.

Ferrando and Guglielmo participate in the evening’s entertainment by serenading the women. This new approach calls for Despina and Alfonso to demonstrate the next stage in the wooing. Dorabella soon yields to Guglielmo’s seduction and they exchange gifts. Fiordiligi dismisses Ferrando, painfully admitting, however, that her heart has also been won.

Praying for strength, she resolves to join Guglielmo disguised as a man. With renewed ardour, Ferrando declares his love and, while Guglielmo listens helplessly, she finally capitulates.

Alfonso begs them not to judge the girls too harshly – they are women.

Despina goes to find someone to officiate the pre-nuptial contracts. Just as they are signed, it is announced that the men are returning and, in no time, their true identities are revealed.

The two sisters and Despina are amazed at the extent of the deception.

Alfonso has guided the young lovers through this harsh initiation into the realm of learning and compassion.

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The conjuring arts of Mozart Così is the most perfectly formed of Mozart’s three da Ponte operas. It allowed Mozart to indulge his mastery of the subtle art of dramatic irony, which he had used to perfection in Figaro. In Così he warns us at the start of what to expect – but yet, writes Michael Fontes, he still manages to surprise us.

Da ponte’s libretto for Così is loosely based, we are told, on the legend of Cephalus and Procris.

Cephalus and Procris were happily married until Eos, the goddess of dawn, fell for Cephalus. Procris, to whom Artemis had given a dog called Laelaps (‘Storm’) and a spear that never missed its aim, became suspicious of her husband. Foolishly perhaps, she gave the dog and the spear to Cephalus, but remained jealous because he had been heard talking affectionately to someone (actually he was in the dangerous habit of saying when he lay down in the heat of the day: ‘Come, sweet breeze, come and fan me; you know how I love you! You make the groves and my solitary rambles delightful’). Hiding in a bush, Procris spied on her husband while he was out hunting, to discover who he was talking to, and witnessed this absurd rigmarole. Cephalus, thinking he could hear an animal in the bush, flung the spear and fatally wounded Procris, who died in his arms begging

The Italian invasion of Abyssinia by an Ethiopian artist © Bridgeman Art Library

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him not to have more dealings with that vile Breeze.

The story lacks the anti-feminist flavour of Così and has really rather little in common with da Ponte’s libretto: there’s quite a difference between spying on a lover and actively testing her by impersonating an Albanian and laying siege to her virtue. More pertinent perhaps is the fact that Salieri, four years earlier, had been very successful with an opera, La Grotta di Trofonio: two loving couples are transformed by their passage through a mysterious grotto and swap partners; they are returned to their proper identities and partners by traversing the grotto again in the opposite direction guided by the magician Trofonio. In Così the device for effecting the change of partners is more subtle and more interesting morally, in that the swap is the conscious choice of the men.

Così is also the most perfectly formed of the three da Ponte operas (Don Giovanni and Figaro) and the most classical in its observation of the unities, particularly unity of action: da Ponte needed no sort of sub–plot; the initial conceit provides the complete mainspring of the story. Così benefits from the symmetry of its casting: three men, three women; two pairs of lovers, a pair of bystanders to give impulse to the plot; a prolonged trick within which Mozart and da Ponte can impose graceful little asymmetries, as in the marquetry on a Reisener commode; Guglielmo’s triumph over Dorabella is almost too easy – (infelice Ferrando!) – while Fiordiligi puts up much more determined resistance to her feelings.

The feminists will disapprove of Così. It’s such an unkind trick, after all, and why are such tricks funnier if played on girls? Had Fiordiligi and Dorabella said they were going away briefly on a course in information technology and come back disguised as female politicians wouldn’t the men have fallen in just the same way? Why isn’t the opera called Così fan tutti? We just have to accept the 18th century’s odd views about the inequality of the sexes.

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But that is not all: da Ponte is suggesting that men can easily set about seducing women for a bet, and sound sincere, and be successful; but isn’t he also suggesting that Ferrando and Guglielmo do actually fall for each others’ girls in the process? Alfonso returns each to his original girl the moment the men have taken the joke to the point of marriage, but the nasty suspicion lingers that, not only are the women taken in by the trick, the men fall for it too. ‘Volgi a me pietoso il ciglio.

In me sol trovar tu puoi sposo, amante e più, se vuoi. Idol mio, più non tardar’ sings Ferrando, to the most seductive single phrase in all opera, and she doesn’t tardar any longer at all: ‘Merciful heaven! Cruel man, you’ve won! Do with me what you will’ – (infelice Guglielmo!).

This most moving moment of the opera raises the question: can Ferrando really be having us on? Surely such sublime music cannot lie. He must be sincere.

Ferrando has really fallen for Fiordiligi, and there lies the horror perhaps. The immorality which, we are assured, so shocked the Victorians lay not in the artifice of Don Alfonso’s plan, nor in the fact that the girls fall for it, but in the fact that the men themselves become enamoured. It isn’t just the girls who like it: we all, it seems, enjoy wife–swapping.

But what about De vieni non tardar, Susanna’s song in the last act of Figaro? Figaro, in this respect like Procris, is hiding in a bush to see if Susanna is going to be unfaithful to him with the Count; it is dark and we are in a garden. Susanna knows he is there and why and sings to the bush the most perfect and passionate love song even Mozart could conceive.

She sings it to Figaro, knowing that he thinks she is singing to someone else: it sharpens his jealousy, of course, and merits his unforgettable reaction: ‘Perfida!’. The scene provided Mozart with a chance to use what was to become one of his favourite operatic devices, irony of a very particular sort. We know that Susanna is aware of Figaro in the bush; we know that she both means the song – she loves Figaro – and knows that Figaro will take it as intended for another.

The obvious sincerity of the music adds to the joke on Figaro, and to our delight in the whole device. Mozart was quite ready to write sublime music for people to express simulated emotion, and the trick takes the breath away.

Così provided Mozart with several opportunities

The Italian Empire in 1937 © Bridgeman Art Library

to indulge this most subtle sort of dramatic irony, and, as we might expect, they provide the high points of the opera. The first act farewell quintet, Di scrivermi ogni giorno (you’ll write to me every day), owes its combination of comedy and heart–wrenching pathos to the fact that we know that Guglielmo and Ferrando don’t mean a word they are saying. In the quintet Alfonso laughs behind his hand but he plays a similar part in the deceit in the next number, the hardly less heavenly trio, Soave sia il vento. ‘Non son cattivo comico’ (I’m not a bad actor) Alfonso says immediately, almost in case you have been carried away by the music into thinking he means what he has just been singing.

Even if we had forgotten the trick in Figaro, he warns us unequivocally at the start of Così and we must be prepared for anything after that. The whole performance is so stylish and exquisite and evocative of Dresden china and Sachertorte that it’s easy to forget, of course; Mozart is like a skilful conjuror who can surprise you with a trick even though he reminds you to expect it.

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When Wasfi & Michael dialled 999 David Fielding, Antony McDonald and Nigel Lowery are all both directors and designers – unusual in the world of opera. Ten years ago the talented trio became known as the Balls Pond Road School, after the road in East London where Fielding lived. Today, their influence is felt throughout Europe and as far afield as Japan. This year at The Grange, the famous trio come together in one festival for the first time. Tom Sutcliffe tells us about them.

Grange park opera has always recognised, employed and enjoyed the skills of British designers and directors. Designers who also stage their own productions like Stewart Laing and David Fielding are familiar Grange names. This year’s three directors, Fielding, Nigel Lowery and Antony McDonald, were all originally best known as designers, though each one of them has “come out” and demonstrated his fitness as a director. Covent Garden’s new Tempest was staged by another of their number, director/designer Tom Cairns.

Their views and approval are sought anxiously by their fellow professionals who have been known to refer to them as the “opera police”.

Sometimes designers who have become directors and who continue to design their own shows give up designing for another director altogether – as Lowery has very determinedly done. Sometimes as directors they will employ other designers for their productions, as Fielding occasionally has done. McDonald has shared credit as “director & designer” with Richard Jones on a number of occasions: that certainly suggests a profound identity of vision and an overlapping approach to the business of interpretation. In practice, designers are more often than not chosen by their directors – that is part of what it means being a director. The producer or impresario may also put in a bid to get the team he wants, though usually the producer will be happy to know that the director has assembled a viable group of collaborators, a team that works happily together.

But, of course, the director (as the word suggests) is where the buck stops – though it is composer and librettist who are fundamental in supplying what is being performed and interpreted. The designs you see on stage are as they are because the director wants them like that, and the producer who is backing the whole show has been prepared to invest in the team’s proposal. The question of who does what in this respect is rather like the relationship between archi84

tect and builder and client. Just who should really get the credit (or debit) for the final result? A builder realises an architect’s concept, or perhaps may just do his own thing following a traditional, well-tried lay-out. In an important sense the architect of an opera production is the stage designer, who creates the contextual environment against which is being expressed the interpretative concept that the designer and director have developed collaboratively, perhaps with the help of a dramaturg.

Yet somebody has to call the shots in the theatrical preparation. The old days on Broadway – when producers sat at the back of the stalls puffing fat cigars, cutting numbers and demanding rewrites up to the last minute – are not entirely vanished in the world of musicals. But that sort of thing doesn’t happen in opera where, historically, it was the composer or the singers who usually were in charge. These days, operatic works being staged are seldom either new or unknown. The director David Pountney has suggested it might be better for opera if there were a bit more interference from producers, now that he has become one in Bregenz himself. However, the nearest thing to that sort of second-guessing, or critical assessment in advance, that you are likely to find in England is the model presentation when the designer and director unveil to the producer or company management what they are hoping to be able to do, using a scale model of the set. On the continent, the model is less important and there is a “bauprobe” or “building rehearsal” where a rough set is erected actually on the stage to assess not only sight-lines but how it sits in the space. And that really is the last moment in opera when it is practical for the investors to stop the bus leaving on its way to the first night. After that point, any too blunt interference in an opera staging by the producer or investors will simply risk demoralising the team. In the worst instance it may lead to resignations and the cobbling-together of a half-baked result,

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which could even lose more money – or worse still affect audience goodwill in future seasons. This is especially true for festivals, where tickets are sold well in advance to purchasers who are trusting the institution and buying sight unseen.

In any event, the buck stops with the director, and it is the director’s artistry that turns the whole operation into a practical expression, building the production up through rehearsals with the performers on stage – who sing and speak and move and emote.

They, the human performers, are the real bricks and mortar. The artistic team are all engaged in bringing to vibrant theatrical life a work that exists originally only in words and music. They are not just telling the story. They are trying to show the audience in a variety of oblique and more direct visual ways what buried themes and truths it contains, what ideas it carries, and what the whole experience can add up to in terms of its meaning for us today.

There is a practical reason why the jobs of director and designer are usually distinct. Rehearsing takes up

all a director’s time once rehearsals are under way.

The designer doesn’t make the costumes or paint the sets, though occasionally some will get busy with their hands. Yet there are still going to be costume fittings and sets being painted, which will need to be vetted and approved and sometimes changed. There will be effects to be recalculated – not to mention the stage machinery, which can often be a headache. While a director is busy with people, the designer needs to be available to see how everything fits together. But what engages the designer’s enthusiasm is the same as what makes a director passionate – to show off the skill of the human performers and bring the opera to glowing life. So we should not be surprised if designers, especially when they have a strong individual vision, often end up wanting to be in charge. Fielding used to say he started wanting to direct because he got fed up with directors not embracing the concept of his productions. But Stefanos Lazaridis, another famous designer who tried directing but on the whole has always stuck to design, claims he always designs sets

Xerxes at ENO Director Nicholas Hytner Designer David Fielding photo Donald Southern

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in such a way that they can only (he would say) be used one way – correctly.

From the point of view of a producer or impresario like Grange Park, employing a director/designer has the advantage that two jobs are being done by one person, though there will generally still be two fees involved that have to be negotiated. It can avoid the tension you may find between director and designer if budget is a problem. The experienced director/ designer can delegate supervision of the later stages of set-building and costume-fitting to an assistant.

Directing opera is different from directing spoken theatre, because most elements in opera staging have to be decided in advance and there is very little time for indecision or extemporisation. Give and take between director and performers, discovering how best to communicate motivation or how to move and relate dramatically and convincingly, must conform to a tight timetable and preconceived parameters. Opera direction is like a strategically planned military campaign, where spoken theatre direction can resemble an intense but unplanned reconnaissance trip. Opera singers usually turn up having learnt all their music note perfect, and often having sung their roles already in other productions – while actors in spoken plays tend to arrive blank at rehearsals, generally preferring to learn their words in the context of rehearsing with other actors in the production.

In the opera business, designers and directors learn their trade by working excessive hours for little pay as jobbing assistants. Every new assignment is a battle won or lost. Like comrades in arms, designers rise through the lower echelons of their profession with a particular group of colleagues – so it is no surprise if they come to share similar artistic objectives and styles.

This year’s Grange Park directors are in the vanguard of the British theatre artists who have broken through into the big-time abroad, and especially in Germany. We need to remember that Germany has 100 more or less full-time opera companies, whereas the English-speaking world in the British Isles, Canada, the USA, South Africa and Australasia can boast only a few more than a dozen. So this German welcome for British talent means something significant. Glyndebourne (which provided the model for

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Grange Park Opera) would never have got going in the Thirties without the work of Ebert and Busch, driven out of Germany by Hitler. But now Britain is paying back. Both Fielding and McDonald were influenced by German opera and theatre productions when they were young. “We are all magpies”, says Fielding. “Theatre is theft and imitation.” His own interest in German theatre design and direction was fed by the award of a Schiller Stiftung bursary thanks to the actor Paul Scofield, as a result of which he spent a lot of time in Hamburg and Berlin. When McDonald started collaborating with the director Tim Albery, they both went to a festival of world theatre in Hamburg which he describes as “a week of mind–blowing experiences”. That was when he first saw sets by Karl–Ernst Herrmann, working for Peter Stein, and became aware of the influential German designer Erich Wonder.

Grange Park Opera is employing designer/director talents that are becoming famous in Germany. The Bavarian State Opera in Munich has been going through a golden era since 1993, thanks to its English boss Sir Peter Jonas and the productions he has commissioned from David Alden, Richard Jones, Tim Albery, Tom Cairns, Nigel Lowery and Martin Duncan. ENO productions of Pelléas et Mélisande (directed by Richard Jones, designed by Antony McDonald) and The Rape of Lucretia (directed by David McVicar) are jewels in the crown of this July’s Munich opera festival. Meanwhile in Bregenz, on Lake Constance in Austria, the popular and commercially successful opera festival is now being run by Jonas’s former ENO colleague David Pountney, after a long period of triumphantly epic British productions of Verdi, Wagner and Beethoven on the lake stage there, costing usually around £2 million of investment each. Pountney’s lake stage productions with Stefanos Lazaridis as designer set a continuing fashion for Brits, which later led to Richard Jones and designer Antony McDonald collaborating on both the design and the direction of Masked Ball and Bohème – highly distinctive and memorable shows that won huge acclaim in Europe. But these shows were not just arty. They had wide appeal to new audiences made up of long-distance trippers who were not regular operagoers. The town can recoup its massive investment because the stagings on the lake customarily run for

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two consecutive years with around 26 performances annually from mid July into August, drawing audiences of 6,000 a night with three alternative casts and skilful amplification of voices and orchestra.

Fielding was designer in 1985 of one of the most famous and popular of all the so–called “Power House” productions at English National Opera: Handel’s Xerxes, though that was not his first collaboration with Nicholas Hytner as director. Hytner provided his own brilliant period–sensitive translation of the text for the performers to sing. Many of the best jokes in the show were visual and dependent on Fielding’s designs – yet few reviews gave credit to the designer. One of the jokes – the clipping of an extremely high hedge at the back of the stage, which always got a big laugh because the hedges were of course not growing and it was a great opportunity for “business” and eavesdropping – was suggested by Fielding’s design assistant on the production, Nigel Lowery. Antony McDonald also once worked for Fielding as an assistant – on a play with Alfred Molina at the Deptford Albany.

Fielding, at 56 the oldest of the three, has been a very influential designer, his work characterised by a specific shift away from naturalism towards a much more conceptual approach. He learnt from various trends in German theatre, and then the eclectic visual approach that he pioneered in Britain was exported back to Germany and gratefully welcomed there. At one time when Fielding had a house in the Balls Pond Road his “school” was jokingly referred to by the name of the road.

Fielding started early, following a pre– diploma course in Ashton-under-Lyme near his grammar school in Hyde, Cheshire with three years at the Central School of Art and Design in London (now Central St Martin’s). At 22 he won an Arts Council bursary to go to the Nottingham Playhouse for nine months, where Stuart Burge was artistic director and where he designed Clive Donner’s production of The Homecoming. At Central, Sue Blane and Maria Bjornson were fellow students. Fielding also met Pountney at that time, through Ralph Koltai who taught them all. He designed a Magic Flute for Scottish Opera with Bjornson doing the costumes, but he didn’t decamp to Glasgow along with Bjornson and Blane and instead worked as an assistant to

Timothy O’Brien, Tazeena Firth, John Bury and Michael Knight on a range of shows. His big break came when Pountney (a very youthful Director of Productions at Scottish Opera) invited him to meet David Alden and design sets for Alden’s Rigoletto.

That led to much controversial work – at ENO as well as at Scottish Opera, and with Nicholas Hytner too (who got in touch with him around the same time). The operas included Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa

Un Ballo in Maschera on the lake at Bregenz Joint Director / Designer Antony McDonald and Richard Jones photo Roderick Langsford

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notorious for a chainsaw massacre below stage, Rienzi, Boccanegra, and Ballo in Maschera. There were also operas Fielding designed for Pountney, who initially would not let him design costumes as well as sets – Clarissa (the world premiere of Robin Holloway’s opera) and Don Carlos.The vein of ENO’s Xerxes was further explored in Giulio Cesare at the Paris Opera.

It was Fielding working with Alden, and also Lazaridis working with Pountney, who really established a new British style of conceptual operatic staging. What does conceptual mean, as against naturalistic? In Xerxes, many scenes took place in a kind of gentleman’s club where the chorus, dressed like clones of Handel’s famous Westminster Abbey statue, were seen reading newspapers and drinking cups of tea – and the conspiratorial conversations of characters plotting against Xerxes could be comically shushed by the entire assembly. The Persian desert was later evoked with a lot of giant cactuses in pots, against a distant small-scale model of the ruins of Persepolis. It was buoyant, surrealistic stuff and great fun, but not the court of an emperor some centuries bc. The approach employed the whimsy of Blackadder rather than the historical circumstances of a story from the dim recesses of history. In Ballo in Maschera, Fielding used a giant hourglass and a madly whirling clock to suggest that King Gustav was obsessed with time and fame. Antony McDonald’s memorable set for the same opera in Bregenz was dominated by a vast skeleton, the floor of the stage looking like a huge book of death. The gallows (under which Amelia was supposed to pick a herb at midnight to cure her obsessive love for Gustav) rose for McDonald like a terrible haunting from the depths of the lake. Nigel Lowery’s costume for Wotan in the Royal Opera’s Ring presented him as a lollipop man carrying a road sign rather than a spear – ambiguously reflecting Wotan’s dubious status as a lawgiver and chief god who regarded morality as no more binding for himself than a speed limit.

Fielding always had a flair for the visual side of theatre – and his career as a designer has never given way entirely to his wish to direct and design. Among other unusual work, he once took visual charge of a whole Pet Shop Boys tour – after they had seen and fallen in love with his ENO production designs. Since the late 1980s he has regularly worked as a director in

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theatre and opera, initially at Wexford and at the Sheffield Crucible (plays by Racine and Botho Strauss) and then for Opera North, in Dusseldorf, and above all for Garsington and Grange Park. He designed Patience at the Komische Oper in Berlin for Pountney. He and Alden often visited Frankfurt to check out pace-setting work there in the 1980s. It was German actors and companies that revived his appetite for spoken theatre – especially Thomas Bernhard’s plays, which he has translated. He was impressed by Elijah Moshinsky’s staging of Force of Habit at the National Theatre in 1976. At the Gate Theatre he directed a couple of Bernhard’s plays, including Queen Elizabeth II, and a stream of theatre work as director has continued ever since – recently Back to Methuselah at Stratford. He has just completed the designs of Keith Warner’s Ring in Tokyo.

McDonald in fact started out as a director and turned to designing because he thought it was more fun, compared to the work he had to do in Theatre in Education in Cardiff. He is one of the few British designers who has done plays, opera and dance. Three years younger than Fielding, he trained as a drama teacher at the Central School of Speech and Drama and then took a directing course in Manchester where fellow students were Julie Walters and Tim Albery.

His staging of Stoppard’s After Magritte gave him a first taste of a truly horrendous review. His first job in 1974 was in Cardiff. He directed a project with children about town–planning called Newtopia. He played Tom Gradgrind in a production of Hard Times. He went to India for three months – planting trees, digging drains and surviving amoebic dysentery in Rajasthan – then took the Motley design course.

(Motley was the name used by three famous women designers working as a team from the 1930s to the 1960s). He worked for the props department at ENO and was an usher in the dress circle at the Coliseum.

He wrote to Siobhann Davies and asked her to look at his portfolio – and ended up doing a lot of work for her dance company. He also worked for Ian Spink’s Second Stride dance company, getting a lot of attention with Heaven Ablaze in Her Breast (about Schubert).

He collaborated with the designer Tom Cairns, whom he had taught when Cairns was doing the Motley course. Cairns is more painterly in his approach, more abstract and less conceptual. The pair

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formed a trio, with Tim Albery as director, generating admired productions of Tippett’s Midsummer Marriage and Berlioz’s Trojans for Opera North.

McDonald also worked on Scottish Opera’s Orlando with Christopher Fettes and staged Berenice at the National with Albery. Then he stepped back into directing with a production of Pinter’s Birthday Party at the Citizens’ Theatre in Glasgow and he has continued to mix designing and directing. His most famed collaborations are with Richard Jones, including Martinu’s Julietta and a double bill of Ravel’s L’enfant and Zemlinsky’s Dwarf at the Paris Opera. Future projects include designing The Cunning Little Vixen for Richard Jones in Amsterdam in 2006 (where they already staged Jenufa together). He also is to direct Tippett’s The Knot Garden for Scottish Opera (2005) and Manon for the Dutch touring opera (2006).

Nigel Lowery may perhaps be the best painter of the three. Lowery’s visual style on paper or canvas has an instantly recognisable signature – yet his work is also strongly conceptual. The images of people and animals that are sometimes incorporated into Lowery’s painted front-cloths (most impressively in The Ring at Covent Garden with Richard Jones and Blond Ekbert at ENO with Tim Hopkins – during the 1990s) are an adult’s version of children’s art with a sidelong glance across the world at aboriginal art in Australia. Lowery’s principle is that it is always better for the audience “to show clues rather than hand it to them on a plate”. He also says, “I never like being funny for the sake of being funny, but I do see tragedy in comedy and vice versa. I think if one can get that edge, so much the better.”

Coming from Greenwich in London, he is 10 years younger than McDonald and was at the Central School of Art and Design (now Central-St Martin’s) from 1979 to 1982. His first design was Arms and the Man at the Guildhall School. He won the Arts Council design award when he finished and was placed at the Bristol Old Vic. He lasted three months.

“It was a disaster really. I thought it would be a hothouse of artistic activity and it was deadly – like an office job, with no enthusiasm, though the rep there was not that bad, a mix of classics and new writing.” He designed Stephen Poliakoff’s American Days. He was given his first break when David Fielding, whom he was assisting, recommended him to design Mozart’s

Europeras 1-5 by John Cage at Staatsoper Hannover Director / Designer Nigel Lowery photo Sebastian Hoppe

juvenile Apollo & Hyacinth at Adam Pollock’s little Battignano festival in Italy – with Richard Jones directing. In 1987 there followed his extraordinary, unforgettable Macbeth for Jones with Scottish Opera Go Round (piano-accompanied and touring small halls). All sorts of work followed, often with Jones or Tim Hopkins, including Corneille’s Comic Illusion in Jonathan Miller’s far-sighted Old Vic theatre seasons.

Lowery became a director by simply refusing to undertake any more work as a designer. He says the experience of not quite being able to resolve Götterdämmerung at Covent Garden, with Jones directing, was the moment of truth. It was an easy decision because it had been so long coming.

Fortunately, Nicholas Payne stuck his neck out and commissioned him to direct for the first time a new Barber of Seville – at the Shaftesbury Theatre while the Royal Opera was being rebuilt. Payne had already

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demonstrated his faith in Lowery with The Ring. One thing led to another. Since Lowery was already designing for Basel (Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda with Tim Hopkins), Albrecht Puhlmann who was running the opera programme there asked what he was doing next and, on learning about Barber, without further ado offered him Lohengrin to direct and design – a brilliantly accomplished Wagner production by Lowery, as it turned out, which in a way picked up where the Covent Garden Ring had left off. In fact, his first show at Basel was Hansel & Gretel, an inherited project, followed by Cenerentola which Grange Park Opera is presenting this season. So he had done two productions even before he did Lohengrin.

A dramaturg from Stuttgart saw Cenerentola and, as a result, Lowery was invited to stage Figaro there.

The Stuttgart Figaro got seven weeks’ rehearsal – “seven weeks of heaven listening to it” Lowery says. He talks about seeking spontaneity in the rehearsal room.

“But again the nature of the beast is such that you must have a skeleton or framework to flesh out. It’s a basic given that all the old classics will have to be reinterpreted.

I approach a piece intuitively in the first instance, sensing what it suggests in its words and music, its given timescale and its colours. I let all of that filter through and something grows out of it. But also the parallel way to create the skeleton is through dramaturgical analysis, which means having a rough idea what is going to happen which will dictate what you need in terms of space, objects and

qualities.” He loves using dancing when possible – and has collaborated enthusiastically with Amir Hosseinpour. He met the Iranian choreographer when Hosseinpour was dancing in Richard Jones’s Carmen for Opera North. All three worked together on Lowery and Jones’s famous Munich Giulio Cesare in 1994 – a huge hit with the Munich public which became virtually the signature show of Jonas’s new regime there. In October 2003, Hosseinpour choregraphed Lowery’s extraordinary production of Orphée et Eurydice in Munich (which, until he withdrew from the assignment, Jones was to have staged).

Lowery’s only work in the UK as director and designer, so far has been his Royal Opera Barber seven years ago. One influential British critic remains unwaveringly hostile. But it might almost be proof of Lowery’s distinction that he rouses antipathy and enthusiasm in equal measure. He’s used to being criticised. He sets out quite simply just to do the job as he sees it. “I am upset when people think my work facile or a joke. I’d like to think everything I’ve done is done in a thought–out way. I am happiest when it’s multi–layered – and the richness of an idea blossoms.”

Designers who want to direct do so because they can see where their ideas are going. Grange Park this year puts its faith in some of the most highly regarded and remarkable figures in a fertile and brilliant generation of British artists.

The Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold at Covent Garden Director Richard Jones Designer Nigel Lowery photo Alastair Muir

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Founders

who contributed to the first opera festival at Grange Park in 1998

Olympians & Titans Mr Mark Andrews Mr Felix Appelbe BSc FRSA Mr Peter Arengo-Jones OBE Mr David Buchler Mr William F Charnley Professor Ian Craft

Lydia & Miles d'Arcy-Irvine Sir David & Lady Davies Mr Peter Foy Mr Simon Freakley Mr William Gronow Davis Mr Michael Hoare

Mr & Mrs Donald Kahn Mr T Landon James & Béatrice Lupton Mr & Mrs Charles Mackay Mr Harvey McGregor QC Greg & Gail Melgaard

Mr & Mrs Hugh Peppiatt Mrs Lucinda Stevens Mr & Mrs Anthony Townsend Mr & Mrs Max Ulfane Mrs Marie Veeder Mr & Mrs Graham John West

Argonauts, Pythagoreans & Arcadians Mr & Mrs Gerald Acher Richard & Delia Baker Mr & Mrs Nicholas Baring Mr & Mrs Tom Bartlam Dori Bateson Mr Peter Bedford Mr & Mrs Robin Behar Mr Alan Bell Mr Keith Benham Mrs M Bennett Sir Christopher & Lady Bland Mrs Gerald Bland Mr & Mrs Simon Borrows Mr Graham Bourne Mr Peter Braunwalder Mr & Mrs Keith Bromley Mr Robin W T Buchanan Mr & Mrs Mark Burch Mrs James Butler Sir Euan Calthorpe Bt Mr & Mrs Michael Campbell Mr Maximilian Carter Sir Peter & Lady Cazalet David & Elizabeth Challen Mr Oliver Colman Cynthia Colman Dr P M de Z Cooke Mr & Mrs Brian Cornish Mr Peter Davidson Guy Boney & Bente Dawkins Mr Peter Dicks Mr & Mrs Malcolm Edwards Austin & Ragna Erwin Mr T Alun Evans CMG Alastair & Robina Farley

Mr & Mrs J fforde Mr & Mrs Roger Fidgen Hamish & Sophie Forsyth Mr & Mrs Robin Fox Mr Andrew Frost Mr Stephen Frost Mr Nicholas R Gold Lady Shauna Gosling Mr & Mrs George Goulding Mr Verne Grinstead Mr Michael Gwinnell Mr Philip Gwyn Mr & Mrs Charles Haddon-Cave QC Mr & Mrs Philip Hallett Mr Clifford Hampton Mr Alan H Harrison Angela & David Harvey The Bulldog Trust Dr & Mrs James F Hill Mr & Mrs Hansgeorg Hofmann Mr Peter Holland Dr Jonathan Holliday Mr J P Hungerford Robin & Pat Ilbert The Countess of Iveagh Mr & Mrs Evan James Mr Martin Jay Mr & Mrs David Jervis Mr J T L Jervoise Neil & Elizabeth Johnson Mr & Mrs A N Joy Ms Walia Kani Mr Vincent Keaveny Maureen & Jim Kelly Mr Joachim Kerfack

Mr & Mrs David Leathers Mr & Mrs Adam Lee David & Linda Lloyd Jones Mr Simon Lofthouse Dr Peter Lyndon-Skeggs Mrs Stuart Macnaghten The Hon Dwight Makins Mr & Mrs Charles Marriott Mr John Marden Mr William Mather Wendy & Michael Max Mr & Mrs P N J May Mr & Mrs T McMaddy Mr Nigel McNair Scott Mr & Mrs A S McWhirter Mr James Meade Leni Lady Miller Mr & Mrs Patrick Mitford Slade Miss Charlotte Moore Elizabeth Morison Mr Michael J Morley Dr & Mrs Julian Muir Lord Neill of Bladen QC Sir Charles Nicholson Bt John & Dianne Norton John Julius Norwich Mr & Mrs Michael Orr Major General & Mrs Simon Pack Mark & Rachel Pearson Ron & Lyn Peet Mr & Mrs Nicholas Phelps-Brown The Countess of Portsmouth Mr & Mrs David Potter Bruce & Lizzie Powell Mark & Veronica Powell

Mr & Mrs Richard Priestley Mrs Barbara Rait Sir Peter & Lady Ramsbotham Mr Myrddin Rees MS FRCS Mr David Reid Scott Anonymous Mrs Eric Robinson Clare Rowland Mr & Mrs James Sabben-Clare Sir Timothy Sainsbury Mrs John Salkeld Lady Salomon Mr Richard Scopes The Countess of Selborne Mr & Mrs Mark Silver Mr Paul Skinner Mrs David Smith The Hon & Mrs Jeremy Soames Mr J G Stanford Mrs Donald Stearns Mr R Kirk Stephenson Mr & Mrs Richard H Sykes Mr Anthony John Thompson Professor & Mrs G M Tonge Adair Turner & Orna Ni-Chionna Mr & Mrs David Vaughan The Hon Mrs Lucy Vaughan Mrs Peter Vey Caroline Vroom Mr Hady Wakefield Lady Jane Wallop Dr & Mrs Oliver Wethered M Whalley & K Goldie-Morrison Mr F E B Witts Mr Charles Young

BT Alex Brown International Hays plc Wilde Sapte Barclays Private Banking

Catering & Allied Coutts & Co Biddle Denton Hall

Houston & Church Knight Frank (Winchester) Leopold de Rothschild Trust Well Marine Reinsurance Brokers

Corporate Founders Systems Union Group Ltd Ashe Park Mineral Water Baring Asset Management British Steel Distribution

Athenians Mr & Mrs James Airy John & Jackie Alexander Mr & Mrs R Atkinson-Willes Miss Anne Beckwith-Smith Mr & Dr J Beechey Sheila Lady Bernard Mr Robert Bickerdike Mrs M R Bonsall Mrs Cherida Cannon Mr Patrick Carter Mr & Mrs Bernard Cazenove Mrs Justin Clark

Mr & Mrs M Cooper-Mitchell Mr & Mrs R G Cottam Mr David Crowe Mr Nicholas de Zoete Ms K Deuss Gillian Devas Mr Anthony Doggart Robyn Durie Mr & Mrs W L Eddlestone Stuart & Anne Fowler Archie & Henrietta Fraser Gen Sir David Fraser GCB OBE

Mr & Mrs Wyatt Gates Lt Col David R Gilbert His Honour Judge Martin Graham QC Mr Robert B Gray Mr & Mrs J C Green Mr John Hammond Mr & Mrs Peter Hobbs Mr & Mrs G Hollingbery Mr Charles Irby Mr & Mrs Malcolm Isaac Mr Barry Jackson

Mrs Julian Jeffs Mrs Lynette G Joly JP Mrs Z L Kelton Mr John Learmonth Mr Gerald Levin Mr & Mrs Mark Lomas Mr & Mrs David Maitland Anonymous Gordon & Julia Medcalf Lord Montagu of Beaulieu Mrs Jonathan Moore Mr Barry O’Brien

Mr Laurence O’Mara Mrs Deidre Pegg Miss Mahtab Pouria Mrs C H Powell Mrs Joan L Prior Mrs Thomas Redfern Mr John A Rickards Dr Janet Ritterman Mrs Martin St Quinton Mr Anthony Salz Anne Lady Scott Mr & Mrs Philip Snuggs

Mr David F M Stileman Mr & Mrs Ian Streat Mr R H Sutton Mr Peter Tilley The Hon Mrs W Tufnell K Sandberg & T Watkins Mr & Mrs T Wightman Andrew & Emma Wilson Olivia Winterton Dr Nicholas Wright Mr Tim Wright Mrs Paul Zisman

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“If you have a mobile phone ....”

David Ross, co-founder of The Carphone Warehouse, is the owner of Nevill Holt, the 700-year-old house in Leicestershire which now also houses Grange Park Opera productions. Last year GPO staged two performances of La Bohème at Nevill Holt and this year the programme is for a more ambitious five performances of Così fan tutte and Cenerentola. He talks to Ivan Fallon.

“For 14 years, every moment of every day was spent working,” says 39-year-old Ross. “It still is – but now I have some other interests too, including the restoration of Nevill Holt and of course the opera.

They are increasingly important to me.”

The story of how Ross and his partner Charles Dunstone started The Carphone Warehouse, one of the most successful new businesses of the 1990s, is a well-trodden one, but there are elements to it which are not so well known. The two met at Uppingham School, a few miles from Nevill Holt, (then a feeder prep for Uppingham), when they were 13 and they have been close friends ever since. David came from a well-to-do family from Grimsby, where his father still lives, and where his grandfather Carl founded Ross Foods in the 1930s. David too was born in Grimsby, “which is something you are never likely to forget”, and after Uppingham studied law at Nottingham before joining Arthur Andersen where he qualified as an accountant. He quickly grew bored of auditing and volunteered for the more exciting insolvency side where his immediate boss was Simon Freakley, now a director of Grange Park Opera. “From the age of 13 I had always wanted to be involved in an entrepreneurial business,” says Ross, “which is after all what my family had done for four or five generations. Working in insolvency involved me in immediate decisions and sharpened my desire.”

He had been at Andersen for 18 months when Dunstone, then 25, reappeared in his life. Dunstone had rejected a business degree course in Liverpool to become a computer salesman at NEC where he soon discovered the mobile phone division. He quickly worked out that, while the corporate clients buying mobile phones were well catered for, “small businesses, the self-employed and Joe Public, for whom mobile phones were the most useful, were forced to go to some tacky car stereo shop under the arches.”

Dunstone visualised a huge emerging industry when the day would come when the mobile phone

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was more popular than the ubiquitous landline. But there was great ignorance and confusion among a public which couldn’t navigate its way through the complex deals offered by the operators of whom they were highly suspicious. He registered his new company in 1990, offering “simple, impartial advice from experts” and asked his old friend to join him. Ross, equally enthusiastic about the vision, took little persuasion and went along to Freakley, his boss, to announce his resignation. “I don’t think he had heard of anyone leaving Andersen to work in a corner shop before,” says Ross. Andersen offered to keep his job open, reckoning he would be back before long.

Interestingly enough, it is Andersen that has gone, the major casualty of the Enron scandal, while the corner shop business has thrived. In 1991 Nokia entered the market with its first handheld device and every new model or innovation after that expanded the market dramatically. New operators emerged too, Cell Net and Orange, causing growth to accelerate to unprecedented levels for any industry, and soon the Carphone team was running flat-out to open on every high street.

By that stage they had moved from a small, entrepreneurial and highly-personalised business to a serious company, with all that meant: proper systems of control and accounting and a structure which, whilst maintaining the values of caring for staff, could accommodate acquisition. By 1998 the business was ready for its company transforming deal: the acquisition of Tandy with 250 stores. It more than doubled Carphone’s size but more importantly they found a hidden gem in the business: they bought Tandy for £3m but sold its stock for £15m cash. The more recent launch of their cheap-rate fixed-line Talk Talk service has added another major arm to the business. Today CPW has 500 stores in the UK and another 700 overseas. And the deregulation of telecommunications across Europe opens up huge opportunities for expanding the fixed line operation

(Picture right) Chinese among Thais by Platon-Alexis Hadjimichalis Exhibited Derek Johns Ltd Private Collection, London photography Matthew Hollow

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Both Ross and Dunstone now have the wealth to indulge their interests and also a bit more time to enjoy it. While Dunstone has pursued his love of sailing and exploration, Ross has chosen other outlets for his considerable energy. He is a non-executive director of National Express (where he is chairman), Big Yellow Group and Trinity Mirror and is on the main board of the English Sports Council and of Wembley National Stadium. Shortly before the flotation

of Carphone in 2000, which valued the company at £1.7 billion and Ross’s 25% stake at £425m, he bought the 700-year-old Nevill Holt in Leicestershire and embarked on one of the largest and most expensive renovations of a grand house in modern times.

This season he will share the house and garden with opera-goers in two productions, but he has ambitions of doing even more. There are, he reckons, worse ways of spending his money.

population in millions source UN / OECD ITALY

RUSSIA

UK

US

CHINA

1500

10.5

17

4

2

133

1820

20

55

21

10

381

1950

47

102

50

152

547

2003

58

144.5

60

290

1,297

2050

45

101.5

66

409

1,395

the original setting for the Enchantress

around when Cenerentola was written

around when Wonderful Town was written

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Did Paxton copy the Grange when he designed Crystal Palace?

“Paxton’s conservatory work was perhaps not quite so original as is generally assumed: in the autumn of 1824 an iron and glass conservatory designed by Cockerell with three barrel-vaulted aisles separated from each other by ridge and furrow roofs was made in Birmingham and transported to Grange Park in Hampshire.”

I found this comment in a book describing Joseph Paxton’s famous Crystal Palace in its second manifestation at Sydenham. Could this be? Could the conservatory constructed here at The Grange in 1825 and the very building in which, albeit after many transformations, opera is now performed be the precursor of the great Crystal Palace itself?

The statement in the Piggott book is referenced to David Watkin’s book on C R Cockerell. Here, in describing The Grange conservatory he states: “This entrance portico concealed the large conservatory which, remarkably, had been manufactured entirely from iron and glass in Birmingham and then, transported to Hampshire, had been reassembled on the spot in the autumn of 1824 as though in a trial run for the Crystal Palace”, and later: “Three barrel-vaulted aisles,

anticipatory of Paxton’s great transept at the Crystal Palace, were separated from each other by two ridge and furrow roofs”.

“As though”, “anticipatory” do not suggest a certainty of one being consequent on the other, but could there be a direct line of influence and design development between the two buildings?

C R Cockerell regarded his work at Grange Park as being of his finest. So much so that five years after its completion he incorporated a visit to it with his new wife on their honeymoon. Part of his interest in the commission from Alexander Baring, who had recently purchased the house from Henry Drummond, was the opportunity to become involved in working on a building, even then, of considerable history. It was believed at that time that Cockerell’s idol, Inigo Jones, not William Samwell, had been responsible for the original house. Cockerell was critical of much of William Wilkins’ work but considered his essay in Greek Revivalism at Northington to be his masterpiece. Robert Smirke, Cockerell’s predecessor working at Grange Park,

1825 Interior of the Cockerell conservatory, the same volume which now houses the stalls and balcony of the opera house.

An extensive undercroft accommodating the heating and irrigation installations lay beneath the floor

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The 52 outside male staff on the south side of the conservatory c1870 Winchester Museum

might have recommended him to Mr Baring. Here was a country seat, then, of complex, unique and notable architecture to which he was being invited to make a significant new contribution. This was just the sort of challenge that Cockerell would relish and he clearly looked forward to realising the project with anticipation and excitement (175 years later I had the same experience).

The intellectual challenge was one thing, the romance and beauty of the setting was another.

Cockerell is transported into paroxysms when contemplating it: “Arrived at abo: twelve o’clock at Grange. clear beautiful day. blue sunshine serene with a few cotton clouds, freshness in the air, verdure, flowers, tranquillity most exhilarating, a day in which one blessed oneself . . . strolled abo: in the garden, a steady sunshine upon the building as clear a sky the lights & shades & reflections as in Greece. the rooks & jackdaws in the lime tree avenue sailing & cawing in the air brought home the recollections of the acropolis. the buzzing of the blue flies & the flowers something of the aromatic scent of thyme. nothing more satisfactory than the line of terrace building terminated by the two great piers, the gravel walk beneath the sloping bank, the inclination to the water & the tufted trees finer & more luxuriant than ever grew on the banks of Ilissus. the depth of the portico gives a

density to the shade which is most happy & assists the clear expression & ever just & satisfactory effect of the cols & their entablature. the strength yet lightness, the robust yet fine, colossal like the Hercules & yet with traits delicate & elevated shewing a mind within elegant & refine, in the great pilasters this character is most visible, . . . the variety of ground abo. affords points of view which remind one of the Villa d’ Este & the ornamental character of that villa should be had in view in decorating this. Mr B wants persuading of its charms . . .”.

Cockerell proposed two schemes for Baring.

Firstly, the duplication of the west end of the house of Wilkins’ great portico. Secondly, the replacement of Smirke’s wing by a larger addition containing the dining-room, conservatory and extra bedrooms which Baring desired. Baring chose the more functional second option. However, Cockerell still considered that “It is well in offering design to propose the noblest and most magnificent as well as that which is more practicable and economic. It makes a show of genius and people like to talk of fine design. Many will content themselves more with this privilege than with the enjoyment of a noble design in execution. This I did at The Grange”.

In August 1823, Cockerell set to work in earnest on the designs for the dining room, having, apparently, decided that Smirke’s wing should stay. The

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The blotting paper sketch of Paxton’s 1851 idea for the Crystal Palace.

The ridge and furrow roof is clearly in evidence. .

dining room design is described in some detail in Watkins’ book. The conservatory design was first drawn up in June 1823. Cockerell’s delicate tetra-style Ionic portico, through which today you enter the opera house, concealed a large conservatory. This, remarkably, had been manufactured entirely from cast iron and glass by a firm of metallic hot house manufacturers in Birmingham and then transported to Hampshire, where it had been re-assembled behind the portico. Cockerell had spent two days in December 1823 discussing the design of the conservatory with Mr Jones, coproprietor with Mr Clarke, of the company. Cockerell found Jones a “coxcombe but having jud’ m’ t and taste”.

The conservatory was the subject of much comment.

It was believed at the time, probably correctly, that it was “not surpassed by anything of the kind in the United Kingdom”. This suggests that, firstly, the building was well publicised and, secondly, that it was a unique one-off design, not something ordered off-the-shelf.

It appears that Cockerell and Jones’ two-day meeting was a genuine collaboration which produced a singular design. The conservatory comprised a rectangle, 81 foot 10 inches long, 48 foot 7 inches wide and 18 foot 10 inches high. It was constructed entirely from castiron framing with sashes of rolled iron and copper sash-bars. The frames of the side lights and doors were of mahogany filled with British sheet glass. The cast iron columns supporting the roofs were hollow and thus ingeniously served as drain-pipes, conveying rainwater into a large subterranean reservoir for the supply of the house.

It should be noted, however, that the firm of Jones & Clark, founded in 1818, had already produced numerous metallic conservatories and forcing houses and in fifty-odd years would provide over 250 country

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houses with such structures. It seems clear that in the five years between 1818 and 1823 the company must have at least developed techniques for their construction in some detail, including the ridge and furrow roof design employed at Grange Park and subsequently at the Crystal Palace.

While Cockerell was designing for Baring at Grange Park, Paxton was gaining horticultural experience at the newly-opened gardens of the Horticultural Society adjoining Chiswick House, which was leased from the sixth Duke of Devonshire.

It was not until 1826 that he started work at Chatsworth, and not until 1828 that he seriously started work on the construction of conservatories there when he commenced a long series of experiments in glasshouse design.

By his own account, the ridge and furrow idea occurred to him in 1831–32 and yet this form of conservatory roof had been conceived many years earlier and constructed throughout the country. It was utilised, as we have seen, at Grange Park and John Claudius Loudon, Paxton’s predecessor at Chatsworth, had quite clearly set out the principles in a pamphlet published in 1817. It is difficult to believe Paxton had not read and studied this. It is also difficult to believe he was not aware of the revolutionary Grange Park design since it caused such a stir in country estate circles when it was built. However, both the Loudon design (which he was never in a position to realise) and that at Grange Park were relatively crude compared to the designs Paxton was developing and it may have been that he was laying claim to the sophisticated constructional design for which he later obtained a patent, rather than the roof form itself. From these studies, Paxton went on to design the Great Stove conservatory at Chatsworth and ultimately the Crystal Palace, shown opposite.

Paxton secured the Crystal Palace commission almost by default, although he did not hold back in putting his case forward after the Royal Commission could not agree on a competition winner and had subsequently lost confidence in their own alternative design. Looking at his Crystal Palace design, the similarities in detailed approach between it and The Grange Park conservatory are remarkable: columns, roof structure and fenestration of both are constructed

of cast iron, both utilise hollow cast iron columns to take the rainwater away and both employ the flat ridge and furrow roof profile in conjunction with barrel vaults. So was there a conscious line of development between the two buildings, or was it two masters independently picking up on the potential of new technologies and arriving at similar solutions?

I believe the former is the most likely. The country estate circle was small, the aristocratic owners were tightly connected through blood, institutions and society, and the horticultural community was also small and tight. They were well connected through a range of societies, groups and publications. Paxton, who had a wide circle of friends and contacts in the building and civil engineering field, would almost certainly have been aware of current glass house design and of the conservatory at The Grange. It is also, perhaps, worth noting that C R Cockerell was a member of the Building Committee of the Royal Commission, the body which promoted and appointed Joseph Paxton to design the Crystal Palace.

David Lloyd Jones was the architect for the new opera house at Grange Park. He is a founding director of Studio E Architects. Last May he completed the first commercial carbon-neutral building.

Last year an aerial photograph was discovered in an archive showing the outlines of garden-like features stretching from the portico of the Grange towards the lake. Alison Deveson and her team carried out a resistivity survey and amazingly, despite years of cultivation, the remains have survived only a short depth below the surface.

These gardens could belong to the 1670 Samwell house or an even earlier Cobbe house. Until now, the pre-Samwell history of The Grange has been shrouded in mystery Alec Cobbe, the great to the tenth grandson of Michael Cobbe of The Grange, writes “Cobbe records prior to the mid c16th century relate solely to the lands of Swarraton which, before the Dissolution, they held from the Abbott of Waverley. In 1567, Thomas Cobbe purchased the Manor of Swarraton and around 2,000 acres from Viscount Montague. Thomas’s son, Michael, who married an heiress, Joan Welborne, built what was possibly the first house on the site of The Grange.

From then on, the Cobbes are referred to as ‘of The Grange’. It is the 1594 will of Michael's younger brother, John Cobbe of Northington, which states ‘allso my brother Mr Myghell owethe me for all the glasse of the New House . . .’ thus confirming that the house had been completed by that date.”

‘Aeronautical’ view of the 1851 Crystal Palace in its setting in Hyde Park.

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The Orchestra at Grange Park VIOLIN

VIOLA

FLUTE

HORN

Tim Palmer timpani

Andrew Court (leader)

Steve Wright

Alison Hayhurst

Richard Berry

Joanne May percussion

Joanna West (leader Nevill Holt)

Angela Bonetti

Janna Hueneke piccolo

Peter Merry Tim Ball

Donna Maria Landowski

Miles Hewitt

Rob Millett kit

Anna Bradley Nicolette Brown

Martin Fenn Justin Ward

OBOE

Lesley Wynne

Andrew Knights

Fiona Chesterman Zoe Davies Vernon Dean Matthew Fairman Jenny Gibbs Peter Hembrough Carole Howat Nicki Hutchings

Judith Allen cor anglais

Helen Pitstow Megan Pound Frances Richards

Tony Cross

CELLO

Lionel Handy

CLARINET

Clare Duncan

Jo Easthope

Mark Simmons

David Ward

Andrew Fuller

Mark Lacey

Miles McGuire

Paul Brunner

BASSOON

TROMBONE

Brian Mullan

Julia Staniforth

Rob Workman

Rebecca Menday

Richard Ward

HARP

Gabriella Dall Olio ORCHESTRA MANAGER

Mark Lacey

Matthew Forbes

Chris Koh Alain Petitclerc

TRUMPET

Paul Lambert

DOUBLE BASS

Caroline Harding Antonia Bakewell Dawn Baker

REEDS (Wonderful Town)

Tim Holmes

Catherine Smart

Emma Fowler

Jayne Spencer

Mark Lacey Duncan Lamont

THE ORCHESTRA AT NEVILL HOLT TUBA

Jonathan Riches

‥ We welcome new players whose names were not available at the time we went to press

Dai Pritchard

The hanging of Guiteau from Assassins in Ashwell Prison 2004 Director Ptolemy Christie Designer Adrian Linford

GPO_Prog_2K4_Pt_3_3:Page_98-99 18/05/2011 15:16 Page 99

PATRON The Rt Hon Lord Ashburton KG BOARD Sir David Davies (Chairman) The Rt Hon Lord Ashburton KG Iain Burnside Simon Freakley William Garrett Wasfi Kani OBE The Hon Mary-Ann Sheehy CHIEF EXECUTIVE Wasfi Kani OBE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Michael Moody FINANCE DIRECTOR Carol Butler MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING Rachel Pearson PRODUCTION MANAGER Alison Ritchie ADMINISTRATOR Stephanie Burrett HOUSE MANAGER Judith Becher COMPANY MANAGER Paula Johnson ORCHESTRA MANAGER Mark Lacey

THANKS TO HETRE OF ALRESFORD Mytrainers, Covent Garden Lever Faberge (washing powder) Rawlings Opticians of Alresford Beers of Russia

Iain Burnside Gerald Martin Moore Michael Pollock Hamish McRae Lynne Ross

THE THERMOI AT THE GRANGE provide invaluable help before and during the Festival

Wimex Kazakh Vodka Honeyrose Products Ltd Wallers Menswear NEVILL HOLT

Penny Ackroyd Jean Amos Nikki Barker Sue Bristow Sue Brown Virginia Collett Louise Cox Pru & Douglas de Lavison

Andrea Harris Lizzie Holmes Inge Hunter Charmian Jones Angela Larard Susie Lintott Sue Paice Lucy Pease

Jo Seligman Mike & Ann Smart Sarah Tillie The Hon Gina Tufnell Don & Barbara Woods Louise Woods

Judy Bennion, Elise Alliston Edwina Johnson, Juliet Mortimer Chris & Helen Roberts Sarah Sharpley, Penny Allan Anne Elliott, Penny Polito Victoria Heyman

HOUSE & TENT KEEPER Lorna Clive

THE RESTAURANT Anthony Lane & Heidi Coles

Assisted by Victoria Hargreaves, June Brunton Tracy Freeman, David Gollins Rosie Kingsford, Kim Nutley, Sarah Stevens, Karen Wheeler, Kenneth Nash

Food by Kaye Thomson Champagne Laurent Perrier Water Hildon

THE GRANGE & GROUNDS James Jenner (Head of Dept) Richard Loader Ian Conduct Douglas de Lavison John & Victoria Salkeld

NEVILL HOLT Fi Smith Bingham (event co-ordinator) Phil Oldham (gardens) Susan Phurland (housekeeper)

Ushers Stevie Kavanagh, Ben Cross Stephanie Burrett, Jill Hardy

NEVILL HOLT ADVISORY COMMITTEE The Duchess of Rutland William Guinness Tim Hart

Lady Heseltine Michelle Lineker Lady Sarah McCorquodale

Sir Bruce McPhail Mrs Robin Murray–Philipson David Phillips

David Ross Fi Smith–Bingham Sir James Spooner

Rehearsal répétiteurs Jeremy Cooke (Enchantress / Cosi) John Beswick (Cenerentola) Jonathan Williams (W Town)

Assistant Lighting Designer Jon Clarke

Festival Costume Supervisor Sarah Bowern

Chief Electrician Rachael McCutcheon Andy Morrell (Nevill Holt)

Assistant Costume Designer Gabrielle Dalton (W Town)

Stage Managers David Marsland Julia Crammer Bo Barton Fiona Greenhill

BOX OFFICE MANAGER Anna Burrows PRESS & PUBLICITY Jill Franklin Franklin Rae Communications GRANGE PARK OPERA The Coach House 12 St Thomas Street Winchester SO23 9HF Tel. 01962 86 86 00 Charity no 1068046 VAT no 710241984

Technical Stage Manager Declan Costello Deputy Tech Stage Manager Frank Crossley Stage technicians Steve Herbert Anthony Bobb–Semple Martin Pettifer Oliver Wiser Alan Tippetts AT NEVILL HOLT Head of Stage Nigel Vincent Deputy Head of Stage Adam Perkins Stage technicians Martin Byrne Rachel Frith Simon Mahoney Scott Masterson

Deputy Electrician Adam Howard Andy Turner Richard Mence Mim Spencer Set construction & painting Enchantress Set-Up Scenery (build) Scene & Theme (floor painting) Cenerentola Bower Wood Scenery (build) Wonderful Town Scena (build) Scene & Theme (painting) Così Visual Scene

Deputy Costume Supervisor Gayle Woodsend Costume Cutter Martin Roberts Wardrobe Mistress Alyson Fielden Amanda Brothwell (assistant) Jinnette Hanna (Nevill Holt) Costume Makers Chloe Simcox (milliner) Amanda Brothwell Elsa Threadgold Alan Selzer Judith Ward

Deputy Stage Manager Caroline Weavis Natalie Coury Iain Mackenzie-Humphreys Assistant Stage Managers Melanie Wing Jessica Ashmore Short Amy Almond Trevor A Toussaint Student Placements Henrietta Plint Vicky Jackson Jenny Green

Costume hire Angels (Richard Green)

‡

‡

‡

Lighting by White Light

Technical Improvements Stage Electrics (bridge) Clearwater (motors)

Video monitors Photon (TG) Ltd Light Relief

Programme Sutchinda Thompson (design) Wasfi Kani Carol Butler Rachel Pearson

Printed by Earle & Ludlow Philip Ellis

Images Bridgeman Art Library John Salkeld Julian Sturdy Morton

Solicitors FARRER & CO Alistair Collett

Accountants WILKINSON LATHAM Sophie Holborn

Planning Consultants NATHANIEL LICHFIELD Iain Rhind

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders. In some cases this has proved impossible. We would be pleased to hear from any copyright holder not contacted.

Insurance Broker Richard Walton

Grange Park Opera is a registered charity. Its Directors are the Charity Trustees . Lord Ashburton and his family own the site; they placed The Grange in the guardianship of English Heritage in 1975 and have extended the term of the lease until 2018

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