Judith Weir, Miss Fortune, Royal Opera, 12 March 2012 (British premiere) A member of Soul Mavericks Images: Royal Opera/Bill Cooper: Royal Opera House. Years ago, I read an Italian folk tale about a princess who, when her parents lose their money, is forced to live in poverty and make a living: weaving cloth, minding a wine store, washing clothes. Classical. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. The best in live events, streams, reviews and articles recommended by our editors, delivered to your inbox weekly. Phil Sizer, Staff Production Manager Alan Ewing as Lord Fortune, Emma Bell as Tina and Kathryn Harries as Lady Fortune in the Royal Opera's production of Judith Weir's Miss Fortune. It will help us make your newsletter content more useful. A. Judith Weir (b1954 in Cambridge, England) first studied composition with a few lessons from John Tavener during her schooldays in London. Judith Weir CBE HonFRSE (born 11 May 1954)[1] is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. [2] See something missing? Sad because Weirs folk inspired fables have won many friends, sad because she is a composerly composer whose luminous orchestral backdrops and singable vocal lines display an honest talent that never hides behind overworked technique. Two days after this premiere, the Royal Opera House announced the 2012/2013 new season and defended contemporary work as adventure, not measured by normal standards of success. Much of her music has been recorded, and is available on the NMC, Delphian and Signum labels. Fate Kieron-Connor Valentine The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Miss Fortune in name and deed. Daniel RobinsonAnja Urban. Given the intimacy and physical support of the Linbury Studio (instead of the open wastes of the main auditorium) the work would at least have had a fair hearing, instead of becoming an object of near ridicule. Georgia Lloyd* EC2Y 8DT. Sad because Weirs folk inspired fables have won many friends, sad because she is a composerly composer whose luminous orchestral backdrops and singable vocal lines display an honest talent that never hides behind overworked technique. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian. Molly Hands, Assistant Carpenters Weir, who succeeds Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, will be appointed for a. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Despite the layoff since summer, the staging soon exuded a dance-like motion we hadn't seen before. Judith Weir is a composer who, despite a huge body of work that ranges from grand operas to piano concertos to songs for children, has never sought the limelight. At the time, I was writing a chorus number called We Didn't See It Coming. Manon Ogwen Parry This new co-production receives its UK premiere in March 2012. Judith Weirs Miss Fortune did not have a favourable reception when it premiered at Covent Garden in 2012, considered by some ill-suited to the Royal Opera House and lacking the musical engagement of her previously melodically rich operas and a decent libretto. . But this time round, it seemed even more relevant than to pay onstage attention to this subject. What a waste of talent and resources. Sad because Weir's folk inspired fables have won many friends, sad because she is a composerly. [8] In May 2015, Weir won The Ivors Classical Music Award at the Ivor Novello Awards. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. Nonetheless, having written her own libretto as well as the music, she was easy prey. woman.life.song. Did the huge generic trapezium in the middle of the stage represent the dizzying moral precipice over which we mortals all too often hurl ourselves, especially in the name of making opera? Iben Bering Srensen Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parents. Judith Weir Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images And Im not sure I want to think too hard about the statements it does make: for example, the breakdancing team Soul Mavericks are superb, but theyre cast as stereotypical hoodlums wrecking things with baseball bats. I hope that does not mean more trapeziums, please. Joshua Saunders Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA. During this time she began to write a series of operas (including King Haralds Saga, The Black Spider, A Night at the Chinese Opera, The Vanishing Bridegroom and Blond Eckbert) which have subsequently received many performances in the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA. Judith Weir Sheet Music, Scores & Parts | nkoda Miss Fortune | The Theatre Reviewer Never louder than lovely would have been welcome for Weirs contorted vocals lines. Tobias Campos Santinaque Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA. She studied with . . My reworking begins with a financial crash and ends with an unlikely lottery win yet I didn't set out to write a piece about contemporary events. She went on to Cambridge University, where her composition teacher was Robin Holloway; and in 1975 attended summer school at Tanglewood, where she worked with Gunther Schuller. Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. Welsh National Opera's Youth Opera were due to perform Weir's opera The Black Spider in Spring 2020 but due to unforeseen circumstances, performances were cancelled. Each time her luck seems to take a turn for the better, she is beset by another misfortune until eventually, through a magical stroke of luck, she gains the hand of a prince, in town to collect his laundry. Find the perfect Judith Weir stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Born: 11 May 1954, United Kingdom Died: NA Country most active: United Kingdom Also known as: NA Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. In 2005 her opera Armida, an opera for television, was premiered on Channel Four in the United Kingdom). Honours for her work include the Critics Circle, South Bank Show, Ivor Novello and Elise L Stoeger awards, a CBE and The Queens Medal for Music. On 30 June 2014, The Guardian stated that her appointment as Master of the Queen's Music,[5] succeeding Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (whose term of office expired in March 2014), would be announced;[6] this was officially confirmed on 21 July. Theres usually plenty of hype surrounding a newly written opera performed at Covent Garden, but the carefully placed stories about Judith Weirs Miss Fortune are on the improbable end of the scale, featuring a flying kebab shop and a team of breakdancers. DAME PATRICIA ROUTLEDGE: Facing The Music - A Life in Musical Theatre, Meyerbeer "Robert Le Diable", Royal Opera House (Review), GRAMOPHONE Review: Bartk Duke Bluebeard's Castle - Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Mlkki, GRAMOPHONE Review: Prokofiev Symphonies 1 & 7/Lieutenant Kij Suite - Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Sokhiev, GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. Judith Weir Biography Recordings Related Composers Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. ), full of truisms and clunky metaphors" and "about as streetwise as a visitor from Venus". Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Guildhall Opera Double Bill | Barbican Josephine Lockwood What doesnt change, at least in the 53 minute first act, is her accenting: the music is continually using devices to ratchet up the tension - chromatics, diminished and augmented chords. The subject of this piece was inspired by the Barbican building itself she describes it as 'an imaginary excavation of the Barbican Centre, burrowing through 2,500 years of historical rubble'. a reference to Mozart's great scene where people on a beach are menaced by a sea monster. So I arrived at Miss Fortune without any real idea of what I was going to get. In this role she has written music for national and royal occasions, including the Queens 90th birthday celebrations and the UKs official commemoration of the 1918 Armistice. She was an oboe player, performing with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and studied composition with John Tavener during her schooldays. In the title role, Emma Bell does an admirable job of wrapping her voice around it all, without the audience ever getting a melody or a mood to remember. Judith Weir is brilliant at writing atmospheric, descriptive music, but such music needs something to hang on to, like flesh needs a skeleton (another image of Fate).This libretto is so weak, it's embarrassing. Meet the Artist - Judith Weir, composer - The Cross-Eyed Pianist As resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the 1990s, she wrote several works for orchestra and chorus (including Forest, Storm and We are Shadows) which were premiered by the orchestras then Music Director, Simon Rattle. From 1995 to 2000, she was Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival in London. She has a large catalogue of performed works to her name, which will silence any who doubt her considerable gifts, especially vocal. In places, where the orchestral score was particularly busy, some of the singing felt forced, with students pushing their voices beyond reasonable limits. Judith Weir was born into a Scottish family in 1954, but grew up near London. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. The once-rich little heroine, dogged by cruel Fate,. As Miss Fortune sings of entering the "shadows" and "dark streets" of the real world, she's set upon by six representatives of this rough shadowy place, a gang of bopping black thugs, who go on to destroy the factory she's working for and torch a kebab van she finds herself taking shelter in. Miss Fortune is Birtish composer Judith Weir's first operatic composisition in the last 17 years. Amongst her priorities in this role are the support of school music teachers, of amateur orchestras and choirs, and of rural festivals. Miku Yasukawa After this she spent several years working in schools and adult education in rural southern England; followed by a period based in Scotland, teaching at Glasgow University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. [15] Weir's commissioned works most notably include woman.life.song (2000) for Jessye Norman and We are Shadows (1999) for Simon Rattle. Oliver Mears' new production of Britten's chamber opera is a visceral reflection on tyranny and sexual violence. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Lady Fortune - Kathryn Harries. Judith Weir Wikipedia Republished // WIKI 2