Huddersfield Choral Society will be performing Haydn’s Creation later this month.
The performance will be at Huddersfield Town Hall on October 26 at 7.30pm when the choir will be conducted by Laurence
Cummings and accompanied by the Royal Northern Sinfonia.
Haydn’s Creation is an oratorio written between 1797 and 1798 and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the Book of Genesis.
The libretto was written by Gottfried van Swieten. The work is structured in three parts and scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and a symphonic orchestra.
In parts I and II, depicting the creation the soloists represent the archangels Raphael (bass), Uriel (tenor) and Gabriel (soprano). In part III, the bass and soprano represent Adam and Eve.
The Royal Northern Sinfonia, based at Sage in Gateshead, is the UK’s only full-time chamber orchestra and was founded in 1958.
In recent seasons RNS has worked with a host of world class singers including Sally Matthews, Karen Cargill and Elizabeth Watts, and also collaborated with leading popular voices such as Sting, Ben Folds, John Grant and Mercury Rev.
Conductor Laurence Cummings is one of Britain’s most exciting and versatile exponents of historical performance both as a conductor and a harpsichord player. He was an organ scholar at Christ Church Oxford where he graduated with first class honours.
Until 2012 he was Head of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music which led to both baroque and classical orchestras forming part of the established curriculum.
Since 1999 he has been Musical Director of the London Handel Festival. Soloists will include Mary Bevan, Anthony Gregory, Henry Waddington.
In the 2017/18 season Mary débuts at the Teatro Real in Madrid as Rose Maurrant in Weill Street Scene and sings the title role in Turnage’s new opera Coraline for the Royal Opera at the Barbican Centre in London.
Tenor Anthony Gregory is acclaimed for the beauty and quality of his tone, stage presence and musicality and is in demand internationally for baroque to contemporary repertoire.
Highlights in the 2017/18 season include his début for Den Norske Opera as Don Ottavio Don Giovanni, Odoardo Ariodante for Les Arts Florissants and title role in Rameau Dardanus for English Touring Opera.
Bass Henry Waddington studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has sung regularly with all the major UK opera companies.
