Tag Archives: Golda Schultz

BBC Proms 2023 – Glyndebourne Festival Opera, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Robin Ticciati – Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites

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Prom 30 – Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites

Blanche de la Force Sally Matthews (soprano), Madame de Croissy (Old Prioress) Katarina Dalayman (mezzo-soprano), Madame Lidoine (New Prioress) Golda Schultz (soprano), Mother Marie of the Incarnation Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano), Sister Constance of St Denis Florie Valiquette (soprano), Mother Jeanne of the Child Jesus Fiona Kimm (mezzo-soprano), Marquis de la Force Paul Gay (bass-baritone), Chevalier de la Force Valentin Thill (bass-baritone), Father Confessor Vincent Ordonneau (tenor, Jailer Theodore Platt (baritone), First Commissary Gavan Ring (tenor), Second Commissary Michael Ronan (bass-baritone), Thierry (a footman) Jamie Woollard (bass), M. Javelinot (a physician) Matthew Nuttall (baritone), Sister Mathilde Jade Moffatt (mezzo-soprano), Officer Michael Lafferty (baritone), The Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Robin Ticciati

Directed at the Proms by Donna Stirrup

Royal Albert Hall, London
Monday 7 August 2023

by John Earls photos by Sisi Burn / BBC; John Earls (panorama pic)

Semi-staged performances of operas can be tricky. Especially if given in the cavernous space that is the Royal Albert Hall.

Glyndebourne Opera’s production of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites (Dialogues of the Carmelites) this summer had already received some excellent reviews so it was with some excitement and nervousness that I approached this Proms performance directed by Donna Stirrup, based on Barrie Kosky‘s Glyndebourne production.

It was a breathtaking evening combining sensitive and thoughtful staging, outstanding playing of the magnificent score by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Robin Ticciati, and some stunning individual performances.

Poulenc’s 1957 opera is a fictionalised version of the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne, Carmelite nuns who, in 1794 during the closing days of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, were guillotined in Paris for refusing to renounce their vocation. Whilst rooted in this harrowing story this production also touches on the theme of persecution more generally.

There were a number of outstanding solo performances. Sally Matthews (Blanche), Katarina Dalayman (Madame de Croissy, Old Prioress, above), Golda Schultz (Madame Lidoine, New Prioress), and Karen Cargill (Mother Marie of the Incarnation). But I was particularly taken with Florie Valiquette whose portrayal of Sister Constance of St Denis was gripping throughout and singing incredibly moving – “We die not for ourselves alone, but for one another, or sometimes even instead of each other” (it was good to have surtitles of George Bernanos’ impressive text).

But if the solo performances were captivating, the playing of the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robin Ticciati was exceptional. The range in colours and timing was just enthralling with Ticciati measuring silences to magical effect.

The concluding march to the scaffold and Salve Regina with accompanying guillotine-drops were affecting and unforgettable. This was a remarkable performance of a remarkable piece.

This concert is available on BBC Sounds until early October. For more on the 2023 BBC Proms, visit the festival’s website at the BBC

John Earls is Director of Research at Unite the Union and tweets at @john_earls

Wigmore Mondays: Golda Schultz & Jonathan Ware – Mozart, Schubert, Amy Beach & John Carter

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Golda Schultz (soprano, above) and Jonathan Ware (piano, below – credit Kaupo Kikkas)

Mozart An Chloe, K524; Das Lied der Trennung, K519 (both 1787)
Schubert Heimliches Lieben, D922 (1827); Romanze (Rosamunde, D797 No 3b) (1823); Suleika I, D720; Suleika II, D717 (both 1821)
Amy Beach Three Browning Songs, Op 44 (1900)
John Carter Cantata (1964) (40:33-53:30)

Wigmore Hall, London; Monday 5 February 2018

You can listen to the BBC Radio 3 broadcast by clicking here

Written by Ben Hogwood

It is always welcome to see a singer make their debut at a venue like the Wigmore Hall with a less than usual recital programme in tow. South African soprano Golda Schultz did just that, giving with pianist Jonathan Ware a concert ranging some 200 years and crossing from Europe to North America as it progressed.

Europe first, and two songs from Mozart. While known as a vocal composer, Mozart’s songs are relatively rarely heard in the concert hall, and it was nice to hear two substantial, more mature examples, from around the time of Le Nozze di Figaro. An Chloe made a relatively graceful start, Schultz exhibiting a full voice with a lovely bright top end to the soprano voice, but the more substantial Das Lied der Trennung (6:49-11:30) told a story of greater angst.

The Schubert selection (from 19:32-29:28) was a quartet of the composer’s settings of women poets, beginning with the late (for him, anyway!) song Heimliches Lieben. Written when the composer was still only 29, it is a deeply passionate affair, and Schultz involved herself completely. Then we heard the lovely Romanze (16:20), with its deep longing, persuasively phrased in accompaniment by Ware.

Both Suleika songs followed, often wrongly attributed to Goethe but with words by Marianne von Willemer. The first, initially an edgy affair (19:32), was described by Brahms as ‘the loveliest song ever written’, and here benefited from Schultz’s poise and Ware’s telling shifts from major to minor key before evening out for a radiant coda. The second (25:16) included the same shifts, but danced lightly on its feet.

Amy Beach was one of the first women composers to really make a lasting impression in classical music, terrible as that sentence sounds. Some of her songs are well known, in particular these three short settings of poetry by Robert Browning (31:02-33:50 on the broadcast). The first, The Year’s at the Spring! (31:02), was a rapturous picture postcard with which to throw open the doors, while Ah, Love, but a Day! (32:13) grew gradually higher in range, Schultz making the most of this with an exquisitely floated delivery. Finally I Send My Heart Up To Thee (33:50) was a joyful ray of light.

Ending the program was a real curiosity, the Cantata by little-known Afro-American composer John Carter (1932-c1981). Written for and premiered by Leontyne Price in 1964, it is based on settings of Negro spirituals, but adds some particularly vivid descriptions in the piano part, heroically played here by Jonathan Ware. His Prelude (40:33) set out an impressive stature for the piece, which Schultz built on with Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells (41:23). This developed into a tour de force, increasingly fervent with peals of bells in the right hand and a soaring top B flat from Schultz, brilliantly delivered.

After this a step backwards was needed – and found – in Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child (45:12), a solemn utterance, before the contemplative Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees (48:02). From the silence came a tumultuous final movement (51:22), the Toccata Ride On King Jesus. Both performers gave it everything, capturing the mysterious power of Carter’s music.

There were two encores – an affectionate account of Somewhere Over The Rainbow (54:48), vibrato beautifully controlled, and then, closer to home for Schultz, an Afrikaan song entitled Homesickness (1:00:28).

Further listening

You can watch an intriguing interview with Golda Schutz below, in which she candidly discusses her own stage fright – which certainly was not on show at the Wigmore Hall!

Meanwhile to hear recordings of the music from this concert you can use the Spotify playlist below:

Listening to the John Carter Cantata I was reminded of Copland’s Old American Songs – and you can hear them in their choral versions below, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas: