George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence has been nominated for an Olivier Award in the category Best New Opera Production. This darkly dramatic new opera was a major event in contemporary music – the latest collaboration between composer George Benjamin and playwright Martin Crimp. Conducted by Benjamin, the world premiere of Lessons in Love and Violence took place at the Royal Opera House in May 2018 and starred an internationally renowned cast including baritone Stéphane Degout as King Edward II, soprano Barbara Hannigan as Queen Isabel, baritone Gyula Orendt as Gaveston, tenor Peter Hoare as Mortimer and Samuel Boden as Boy / Young...
Following the release of Arcangelo’s latest CD ‘John Blow (1649-1708) – An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell & other works‘ it has been featured as Disc of the Week on Andrew McGregor’s Record Review programme on BBC Radio 3. The original broadcast took place on 21st October 2017 but is available on iPlayer until 30th December 2017.
I am pleased to share the release date of a new Arcangelo CD recording to which I contributed: John Blow (1649-1708) – An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell & other works. It is one of the few occasions when the Ode has been recorded with two high tenors, as Purcell had originally intended, rather than with countertenors, as is more common today. We performed this wonderful and unique piece as part of the Les Arts Florissants’ “Dans Les Jardins de William Christie” festival in Thiré, France in 2014. Directed by Jonathan Cohen, with Thomas Walker and myself...
“Samuel Boden is a strong and even-voiced singer with as good a command of the language as one could wish.” MusicWeb-International.com, 19 October 2016
