Programme:

Northampton Bach Choir
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor - Jean-Luc Tingaud
Soprano - Elin Pritchard
Organ - Jonathan Scott

Handel - Zadok the Priest
Saint-Saëns  - Danse Macabre
Poulenc - Gloria
Saint-Saëns  - Symphony No.3, “Organ”

Gloria Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

Commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky and writen between May and December in 1959, Poulenc’s setting of the Gloria was first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in January 1961 conducted by Charles Munch. It was an immediate success in the USA but took a little longer to become an established part of the repertoire in France. The composer considered that the Gloria was the best thing he had ever done and explained to his critics that he had been thinking of “those frescoes where angels stick their tongues out and those grave Benedictine monks I have seen playing football”. It is a tuneful work which draws on a variety of stylistic sources including Gregorian, what might be a brief echo of the music hall in the trombone introduction, and something of Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress in the orchestral accompaniment, the short but very slow and very quiet middle section (Gratias agimus tibi) which might almost have been written by Messiaen in celestial mode.
 

Jean-Luc Tingaud Conductor

After studying the piano and conducting at the Paris National Conservatoire Jean-Luc Tingaud was chosen by Manuel Rosenthal to be his assistant. Rosenthal, himself a pupil of Maurice Ravel, was a formative influence, instilling in the younger man his passion for French music. Opera has always been one of Jean-Luc Tingaud's main interests. He has conducted at the Wexford Festival, at the Opéra National de Lyon and at the Théâtre Mogador in Paris, as well as many other major opera feativals. From 2002 to 2007 he was Associate Conductor of the Opéra Comique. His discography includes several operas and he has recently recorded two further CDs for Naxos with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin, the first, of music by Dukas (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, La péri and Symphony in C) was released in November 2014 to outstanding reviews. The second, of music by Bizet (Roma, Patrie, Jeux d’enfants etc.) was released in March 2015. In 2004 he made his London debut at the Barbican conducting the English Chamber Orchestra with soloists Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. Other orchestras he has worked with include the Ulster Orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North, and many major European orchestras. 2014 included four important debuts: in June he appeared with English National Opera conducting The Pearl Fishers and conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert performance of La bohème at the Salle Pleyel. In August he made his debut at the Arena di Verona conducting Roméo et Juliette with a cast including Vittorio Grigolo and Lana Kos, and in October he conducted La fille du régiment at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Elin Pritchard Soprano

Welsh Soprano Elin Pritchard is a graduate of the Alexander Gibson Opera School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she was awarded a Master of Opera with distinction and a Master of Music, and of London’s National Opera Studio. Her operatic roles have included Micaëla Carmen for Mid Wales Opera, Miss Jessel The Turn of the Screw and Stella I Gioielli della Madonna for Opera Holland Park, Fox The Cunning Little Vixen for the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni for Finnish National Opera, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress and Violetta La traviata for Scottish Opera. Elin Pritchard sings regularly in concert, her repertoire including Bruckner Mass in F Minor, Brahms Requiem, Dvorak Te Deum, Fauré Requiem, Mendelssohn Elijah, Mozart Coronation Mass, Mass in C Minor and Requiem, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater, Rutter Requiem and Verdi Requiem. A Samling Artist, highlights of 2014 / 2015 included Lucia Lucia di Lammermoor at the Buxton Festival, Fiordiligi Così fan tutte for Den Jyske Opera and Giorgetta Il tabarro / Nella Gianni Schicchi for Opera Holland Park. Her current engagements include First Nymph Rusalka for Scottish Opera, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni for Winslow Hall Opera, Musetta La bohème for Opera Holland Park, Kupava The Snow Maiden for Opera North, Haydn St Nicholas Mass with the English Chamber Orchestra, Mahler Symphony No. 4 at the Northern Chords Festival, Poulenc Gloria with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Northampton Bach Choir, Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony with the Brighton Philharmonic, Hathaway – Eight Arias for a Bardic Life at the Buxton Festival and Opera Galas for Clonter Opera and the Samling Foundation.