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Summer Festival 2010

Thoughts on the programme for Artistic Director Mark Padmore

The St Endellion Festival has played  an important part in my musical life since I first sang in the chorus in 1983, so I was delighted to be asked to be artistic director of this summer’s festival. The spirit of the programme is celebratory and forward-looking whilst very much in the mould of inspirational Richard Hickox. The centrepiece will be Tchaikovsky’s wonderfully lyric opera, Eugene Onegin, a work that Richard and I had talked about performing in one of our conversations in the surf at Polzeath. Roderick Williams will be singing the role of Onegin for the first time and the exciting young soprano, Katherine Broderick will sing Tatiana. I will sing Lensky (a personal dream come true) and I have asked Ryan Wigglesworth, a brilliant young conductor, composer and pianist to conduct. Other singers appearing in the opera include Susan Bickley, Pamela Helen Stephen, Valerie Reid, Daniel Norman, Graeme Danby and Matthew Brook.  There will be three performances (sung in English), on Friday 30th July, Sunday 1st and Wednesday 4th August.

The festival will get off to a rousing start on Wednesday 28th July with Poulenc’s Gloria conducted by Aidan Oliver with Rachel Nicholls as the soprano soloist and a chance to hear Gabrielle Painter, our Festival orchestra’s leader, in Prokofiev’s 1st Violin Concerto, conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth. Our annual visit to Truro  (Monday 2nd August) will include a repeat performance of the Poulenc Gloria and also Bach’s Magnificat, which I will direct – both pieces, I hope, will sound wonderful in the generous acoustic of the cathedral. The closing concert on Friday 6th August will feature one of the great works of the orchestral repertoire, Brahms’ First Symphony conducted by Aidan Oliver and a second chance to hear the Bach Magnificat.

Brahms and Bach also feature in the first of our chamber music concerts on Tuesday 3rd August with Brahms’ Songs for Mezzosoprano, Viola and Piano and his Piano Quintet - both featuring renowned pianist and broadcaster Iain Burnside and the festival's principal string players – along with Bach’s beautiful cantata, Ich habe genug, in which I will be joined by the flautist, Daniel Pailthorpe. The other chamber music concert on Thursday 5th August includes Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, continuing our Russian thread and Janacek’s great wind sextet, Mladi. Our Festival chorus will be performing a late night concert, conducted by Eamonn Dougan, as will the Festival brass players – who promise a programme featuring Bernstein and Cole Porter amongst others. There will also be a special late night concert of Stephen Sondheim where we will have the opportunity to hear Pamela Helen Stephen in a repertoire that is close to her heart.

I feel really excited by the prospect of this year’s summer festival – so much great music and so many talented and enthusiastic musicians. There will be many familiar faces and some extraordinary new discoveries to made. I look forward hugely to seeing you in Cornwall and sharing once again the magic of St Endellion.

Mark Padmore