St Endellion Summer Festival 2011 - Chairman’s report
It was a summer of firsts, most notably our delivery of Cornwall’s first ever performances
of Die Walküre and the first festival making use of our strikingly converted Stone
Barn, which bulged at the seams with all the extra players required by Wagner’s orchestration.
Conducted by Martyn Brabbins and headed by Susan Bullock’s Brünnhilde, Robert Hayward’s
Wotan and Richard Berkeley-Steele’s Siegmund, the opera also featured the notable
festival debut of Sarah Fulgoni as Fricka alongside a revelatory Sieglinde from festival
regular, Rachel Nicholls. Andrew Slater was a chillingly brutish Hunding. Far from
being far too loud in the church’s intimate acoustic, as some naysayers had predicted,
the performances illustrated the score’s many intimate and introspective moments
in ways that would not have been possible in an opera house. Quite apart from the
thrill of total-immersion Wagner, with the action – directed by actress, Victoria
Newlyn – played out in the church aisles as well as on a small stage, what many audience
members commented on was the way the orchestra, heroically led by Gabrielle Painter,
became such an integral part of the drama.
As was to be expected in a festival whose guest artistic director, Iain Burnside,
is such a song-connoisseur, the eight young Valkyries were not simply used in Act
3 Scene 1 but reappeared elsewhere in the fortnight, variously performing in Susan
Bullock’s fascinating masterclass and in some ravishing Hahn and Fauré songs. Both
Mark Padmore and Roderick Williams gave song recitals, as did that rising star in
the baritone firmament, Marcus Farnsworth, who follows in the fine Padmore tradition
of having started his festival career in our chorus!
Keeping the chorus happily occupied and shown off to full advantage was a challenge
we knew we must meet head-on the moment a chorus-less opera was programmed. The challenge
was met delightfully in both a lively evening of choruses from Hollywood musicals,
masterminded by Tony Castro, and in a striking, candlelit Rachmaninoff Vespers, conducted
by Old Slavonic specialist, Aidan Oliver which rounded off an evening of Russian
chamber music. It was hugely pleasing to see these two concerts just as packed out
as the operas nights.
As well as the Russian night, Iain had devised evenings of Viennese and French chamber
music. These provided the occasion for another notable festival debut, by Charles
Owen, a pianist whose playing in the great Faure C minor piano quartet was just as
exciting as his Fauré recordings had led us to expect. We have every hope he will
be back.
Wagner is rich and demanding food it would not do to serve every year but Die Walküre
was a tremendous adventure for everyone involved and it was a delight to see so many
converts made among both festival children and our regular supporters, not least
when we mounted a performance at Truro’s Hall for Cornwall. I could not have chosen
to retire with the festival on a higher note. This became especially the case on
our last night when a crisis – Robert Hayward losing his voice – was turned into
a much Facebooked event with none other than Sir John Tomlinson flying in as luxury
substitute, complete with a kindly loaned Civil War spear!
It’s with great satisfaction that I hand over the chairmanship to the late Richard
Hickox’s eldest son, Tom. As both a notable singer-songwriter and someone who grew
up in both festivals, he could not be better qualified for the post. Alongside him
the festival now boasts Mark Padmore as its artistic director for the next five years,
so could not be in safer hands. Watch this space for news of next summer’s programme.
I, for one, can hardly wait…
Patrick Gale
