In this program, Andrei Bondarenko has chosen songs by composers who represent two very different national cultures—France and Russia—which, nevertheless, have had something of a love affair with each other. Though they preferred a more extroverted, heart-on-sleeve style in their music than did the more restrained French, the Russians were so in love with French culture in general that they made French the official language of their aristocracy. And French composers and artists visiting Russia were always assured of an enthusiastic welcome.
There is also another cultural exchange running through this program: the passion for the exotic colors and stories of Spain. The French section of this program is bookended with songs by Ibert and Ravel saluting Cervantes’s woeful knight, Don Quixote.
Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko is one of the most exciting young baritones today, having worked extensively with Valery Gergiev, Ivor Bolton, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vasily Petrenko, Enrique Mazzola, Kirill Karabits, Teodor Currentzis, Emmanuel Villaume, Michael Sturminger, Omer Meir Wellber, Alain Altinoglu, Daniele Callegari, and Mikhail Tatarnikov.
The 2017–2018 season includes his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in La bohème; a return to the Bayerische Staatsoper in L’elisir d’amore; and appearances in Così fan tutte, Werther, and L’heure espagnole at Opernhaus Zürich, where he continues as a house resident. On the concert platform, Mr. Bondarenko will appear in The Golden Cockerel at the Concertgebouw under Mr. Petrenko. He will make debuts with the Prague Philharmonia in Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in a performance of Fauré’s Requiem, and embark on a major recital tour with Gary Matthewman, presenting programs at the Oxford Lieder Festival, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Recent performances include new productions of La bohème and Don Pasquale at Opernhaus Zürich; Così fan tutte, Eugene Onegin, and La Cenerentola at Oper Köln; Pelléas et Mélisande at Scottish Opera; Eugene Onegin at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Dallas Opera, and the Mariinsky Theatre; L’elisir d’amore at Steinbruch St. Margarethen; War and Peace in a new production for the Mariinsky Theatre; Le nozze di Figaro at Teatro Real Madrid and Opera Australia; and La bohème at Bayerische Staatsoper. He performed in Iolanta with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and Dallas Opera; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Kindertotenlieder with the Kiev Symphony Orchestra; and Rachmaninoff’s cantata Spring with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his role debut as Billy in the Russian premiere of Britten’s Billy Budd at the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.
Gary Matthewman is one of the UK’s leading song pianists. He regularly appears at London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. He also has performed in Prague, Lucerne, Basel, Lisbon, Toronto, São Paulo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, and Washington, DC. In the UK, he has appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival, Buxton International Festival, Leeds Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera.
Recital partners include Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Thomas Allen, Sumi Jo, Nuccia Focile, Mark Padmore, Ailyn Pérez, Dimitri Platanias, Sylvia Schwartz, Kate Lindsey, Markus Werba, Kate Royal, Louise Alder, Adam Plachetka, Benjamin Appl, Sarah-Jane Brandon, and Roderick Williams. Mr. Matthewman has made numerous live broadcasts and recordings for BBC Radio 3, and his recent recording of Schubert’s Winterreise with Matthew Rose received widespread critical acclaim, including Gramophone’s Recording of the Month and BBC Radio 3’s Disc of the Week.
At vocal contests, Mr. Matthewman has accompanied singers at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Das Lied: International Song Competition in Berlin, and Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo.
In the 2017–2018 season, Mr. Matthewman will perform recitals with Andrei Bondarenko at the Oxford Lieder Festival, London’s Wigmore Hall, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He will also tour to the US with Ms. Pérez and give numerous appearances with Ms. Alder and Sumi Jo. In London, Mr. Matthewman is professor of vocal repertoire at the Royal College of Music and a song coach for the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
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