ABOUT THE LONDON OPERA COMPANY

Siegfried Act 3 London Opera Company perform Siegfried Act 3 ,April 23, 2022 in concert. St Giles Cripplegate Church Barbican London. Conductor Peter Selwyn Der Wanderer Simon Thorpe Erda Harriet Williams Siegfried Brian Smith Walters Brünnhilde Cara Mchardy Following the critically acclaimed and sold-out inaugural performance of Tristan und Isolde in 2020 the company went on to perform a semi-staged chamber arrangement of Die Walküre in July 2021 to a delighted audience of Wagner opera lovers. "I have rarely known any performance,even of this opera, to carry such an overwhelming emotional payload.... if this is a taste of their quality, I want to see more of their work,soon" [Wagner News] 'An accomplished and moving company' [Opera Magazine] Many thanks to our sponsors, and the Wagner society for their ongoing support. Our next concert will be Tristan und Isolde at St John's Smith Square on 29th October 2022. Tickets go on sale via St John's Smith Square this July 2022. To register for tickets please email. thelondonoperacompany@gmail.com or visit our web page www.thelondonoperacompany.org or message us via facebook thelondonoperacompany or instagram @thelondonoperacompany

Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre performed at 3pm, Saturday 3rd July 2021 St John’s Church, Waterloo. This is a new chamber version for five instruments, piano and percussion, performed in German with English surtitles. Music Director Peter Selwyn has arranged this version of the opera for piano, percussion and an assortment of instruments, including bass clarinet and bass trumpet. Having assisted on productions of Die Walküre at Bayreuth and Covent Garden, Peter was excited by the challenge of conveying the essence of Wagner’s powerful and beautiful score with a small number of crucial instruments, which bring out important motifs and add weight to the bigger moments, such as the Ride of the Valkyries, yet also bring subtlety and colour to the more beautiful passages. Cara Mchardy Studied at guildhall school of Music and Drama and Conservatoire de Paris. She covered Ortlinde for Royal Opera House in 2018 Ring cycle and sang Brünnhilde for ROH Insight,The Music Of The Ring. She has covered EVA inENOs The Mastersinger Of Nuremburgh, Mad Woman in the Uk premier of Weinberg's the passenger and Australian woman in The Death of Klinghoffer . For Opera North she has covered Helmwige, Ortlinde and Gerhilde. For longborough Festival Opera shas sang the role of Ortlinde and covered the roles of Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer woglinde Helmwige and 3rd Norn in previous Ring Cycles. cara has performed the role of Helmwige and Gutrune and covered all brünnhilde's for Saffron Opera Ring Cycles. For Edinburgh Opera Players she has sang Elizabeth in Tannhauser, Chrysothemis in Electra and Die kaiserin in Die Frau Ohne Schatten. Other roles sang include Leonora, Lady Macbeth, Tosca, Turandot, Desdemona. Robert Gilder Managing Director rgilder@robert-gilder.com Wotan : Simon Thorpe Studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Drama and The National Opera Studio. He sung at the Sydney Opera House, The Royal Opera House in London and in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain. He also works at ENO, WNO, Opera North, Scottish Opera and many other quality, smaller opera companies. as a Heldenbaritone his operatic repertoire centers around Puccini, Verdi and wagner. He recently sang the title role in Der Flieglender Holländer for Longborough Festival Opera company. More info at simonthorpe.net https://www.thelondonoperacompany.org/ The London Opera Company formed in the summer 2020 to give fellow musicians and international opera singers who had lost their work to the Covid pandemic the opportunity to keep performing and to give music lovers a first class treat after a summer devoid of live concerts.

Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre 3pm, Saturday 3rd July 2021 St John’s Church, Waterloo, London Concert performance in 3 acts. Scenes 1 and 2 New chamber version for five instruments, piano and percussion. Sung in German with English surtitles. Peter Selwyn is Music Director for this project. He arranged a version of the opera for piano, percussion and an assortment of instruments, including bass clarinet and bass trumpet. Cast: SIEGLINDE - GWENETH-ANN RAND WOTAN – SIMON THORPE BRÜNNHILDE – CARA MCHARDY FRICKA – HARRIET WILLIAMS GERHILDE – JAQUELINE VARSEY ORTLINDE – PHILIPPA BOYLE HELMWIGE – NATASHA JOUHL WALTRAUTE – HARRIET WILLIAMS SIEGRUNE – CAROLYN DOBBIN ROSSWEISSE - ANGHARAD LYDDON GRIMGERDE – KATHERINE TAYLOR-JONES SCHWERTLEITE – RHONDA BROWNE The London Opera Company formed in the summer 2020 to give fellow musicians and international opera singers who had lost their work to the Covid pandemic the opportunity to keep performing and to give music lovers a first class treat after a summer devoid of live concerts.