Jean de Reszke as Siegfried (c. 1896) |
Wagner: Siegfried; Colin Judson, Brad Cooper, Simon Thorpe, Stephan Loges, Thomas D Hopkinson, Louise Fuller, Harriet Williams, Cara McHardy, conductor: Peter Selwyn; London Opera Company at Sinfonia Smith Square
Reviewed by Tony Cooper, 2 November 2024
London-born conductor, Peter Selwyn, conducted Wagner’s Siegfried in a performance dedicated to Ben Thapa who sang Siegmund in Die Walküre last year. He sadly passed away earlier this year.
A strong and formidable cast witnessed Australian-born tenor, Brad Cooper, in the pivotal role of Siegfried (he’ll be reprising the role for Grange Park Opera’s upcoming new Ring cycle starting in 2026) while Cara McHardy and Simon Thorpe took the roles of Brünnhilde and Der Wanderer with Colin Judson (Mime), Stephan Loges (Alberich), Thomas D Hopkinson (Fafner), Louise Fuller (Der Waldvogel) and Harriet Williams (who sang Fricka in Die Walküre) Erda
A ‘not-for-profit organization’ the London Opera Company (LOC), founded in 2020 to give opportunities to performers who lost work through the pandemic, goes from strength to strength. Therefore, in October of the same year of the company’s formation, LOC presented its inaugural performance: a sold-out and rapturously received chamber performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at The Warehouse in south-west London. Gaining confidence, momentum and strength, they carried on and performed a chamber version of Die Walküre in July 2021 to another delighted audience of Wagner aficionados who filled St John’s, Waterloo, for the performance.
Success breeds success, of course, and come 2022, LOC moved onward and upwards delivering a critically-acclaimed account of Tristan und Isolde at Sinfonia Smith Square (the coming together of two much-loved London-based organizations: Southbank Sinfonia and St John’s Smith Square) featuring Neil Cooper (Tristan) and Cara McHardy (Isolde).
And returning to the same venue in 2023, LOC produced a well-received semi-staged performance of Die Walküre featuring the much-celebrated mezzo-soprano, Sarah Pring (Roßweiße), vocal coach for Sky Arts’ ‘Anyone Can Sing’. She was joined by Ben Thapa as Siegmund and rising soprano, Philippa Boyle, as Sieglinde, conducted by LOC’s extremely talented and trusted music director, Peter Selwyn, who has a strong background in classical music and opera especially when it comes to Wagner. [see Robert's review]