Past Concerts
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VIVA VERDI! OPERA GALA
choruses and arias by Giuseppe Verdi and his contemporaries.
Sunday June 22 2008, 4.00 pm
Bath Minerva Choir
with Bath Philharmonia
Conductor Gavin Carr
Soprano Gweneth Ann Jeffers
Tenor Robert Gardiner
VIVA VERDI! is the title chosen for this afternoon of operatic excitement.
It's about PASSION! LOVE! DEATH! and MATADORS IN TIGHT PANTS!
The programme includes popular favourites including the anvil chorus, La Donna è mobile and the Matadors’ Chorus.
Programme
| 1. Overture | La Forza del Destino (orchestra) |
| 2. Spuntato ecco il di’ | Don Carlo (chorus) |
| 3. Pace, pace, mio dio! | La Forza del Destino (soprano) |
| 4. Anvil Chorus | Il Trovatore (chorus) |
| 5. La Donna è mobile (tenor) | Rigoletto |
| 6. Va pensiero | Nabucco (chorus) |
| 7. Brindisi | La Traviata (sop+tenor+chorus) |
Interval |
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| 8. Prelude to Act I | La Traviata (orch.) |
| 9. Matadors’ Chorus | La Traviata (chorus) |
| 10. La Vergine degl’i Angeli ) | La Forza del Destino (sop+chorus |
| 11. De miei bollenti spiriti | La Traviata (tenor) |
| 12. Ritorna vincitor | Aida (soprano) |
| 13. Gloria all’Egitto | Aida (chorus) |
Ikons of Serenity: Sacred choral music in the Russian Orthodox tradition,
by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Grechaninov and Sir John Tavener
Saturday 26 th April at 7.30m in Bath Abbey.
A new baton is conducting Bath Minerva Choir. Gavin Carr is leading the team to a new tune and producing a powerful new sound. Their first concert together will feature cellist Tim Hugh.
“IKONS of Serenity” is the title chosen for this largely a capella concert featuring the music of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Tavener. Conductor Gavin Carr says: “I really wanted to choose a programme of music that would help me get to know the choir and that would help this fine choir, with over 100 voices, to work in harmony as a team. The harmonic richness and meditative atmosphere of this kind of music is a perfect vehicle for getting to know one another, and introduces a new era for Bath Minerva Choir in the marvellous setting of Bath Abbey.”
Verdi’s Requiem with the Bristol Schools' Philharmonia
Saturday 1st December 2007 at Bristol Cathedral
Thursday 6th December at
The Forum, Bath
Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem
Giacomo Puccini: La Bohème, closing scene from Act 1.
Lesley-Jane Rogers, Soprano
Jeanette Ager, Alto
Andrew Sritheran, Tenor
Craig Bissex, Bass
Bath Minerva Choir
Bristol Schools' Philharmonia
Jason Thornton Conductor
Mark Finch Conductor
These concerts were supported by a grant from Awards for All, awarding funds from The National Lottery.
Mozart's Requiem at Bath Abbey
Saturday June 9th 2007
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Rehearsing the Mozart Requiem, May 2007 |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem (Süssmayer completion)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
Lesley-Jane Rogers, Soprano
Louise Mott, Alto
Philip O’Brien, Tenor
Benjamin Bevan, Baritone
Bath Philharmonia
Jason Thornton, Conductor
Duruflé’s Requiem at Wilton and Frome
March 2007
Maurice Duruflé : Requiem
Anton Bruckner: Graduals
César Franck: Organ works
Steven Hollas, Organ
Marlene Powell, Soprano
Paul Feldwick, Baritone
Jason Thornton, Conductor
Maurice Duruflé was the organist at St Etienne du Mont in Paris. He is mainly remembered today for his serene and enigmatic setting of the Requiem Mass, with a strong plainchant influence and a flowing and virtuosic organ accompaniment.
An English Christmas at Edington Priory Church
Saturday December 9th, 2006
Gwion Thomas, Baritone
Steven Hollas, Organ
Bath Minerva Choir
Bath Philharmonia Chamber Ensemble
Jason Thornton, Conductor.
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Christmas Carols
George Frideric Handel: Pastoral Symphony from Messiah
George Frideric Handel: Organ Concerto in G Minor
Felix Mendelssohn: Elijah
April 29th 2006 in Bath Abbey
Bath Minerva Choir,
Bath Philharmonia, Conductor: Jason Thornton
Elijah: Sir Willard White
Soprano: Lesley Jane Rogers
Alto: Jeanette Ager
Tenor: Roy Rashbrook
Bass: Stephen Foulkes
We had the privilege of singing this wonderful piece with one of the world’s greatest baritones, in a packed Abbey.
The Bath Chronicle wrote: ‘The augmented choir performed with great spirit, singing with real sparkle and commitment… This was a memorable musical occasion, under Jason Thornton’s inspirational direction’.
Franz Joseph Haydn: The CreationSaturday, October 7th at The Forum, Bath Bath Philharmonia - Conductor Jason Thornton, with with Nicki Kennedy - Soprano, Andrew Yeats - Tenor, Roland Davitt - Bass
After Elijah, another of the most dramatic oratorios ever written. One of the great choral masterpieces of Haydn’s old age, The Creation brings to life the whole story of the creation of the world, from the opening depiction of Chaos and ‘Let there be light’, to the pastoral romance of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. ‘Haydn alone has the secret both of making me smile and of touching my innermost soul’. W A Mozart |
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Bath Minerva Choir