Tamsin Greig will be joining the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera to pay tribute to the life of the ‘femme fatale’ Alma Mahler at St David’s Hall, Cardiff on 18 January 2013. The Laurence Olivier award-winning actress, best known for her roles in The Archers, Green Wing and Episodes, will read excerpts of Alma Mahler’s diaries during the performance. This concert forms part of WNO’s Free Spirits theme of work this spring.
Alma Mahler was the wife of composer Gustav Mahler and a composer in her own right. She was famous in the Viennese social circles at the turn of the 20th century. With numerous lovers and admirers, including the artist Klimt and composer Alexander Zemlinsky, she broke social boundaries at the time and was a true ‘free spirit’ as her diaries will show in rich and sometimes uncomfortable detail.
WNO’s Music Director, Lothar Koenigs will conduct this concert which will see mezzo Michelle Breedt perform in Alma Mahler’s Four Songs for Middle Voice and in Alexander Zemlinsky’s Maeterlinck Lieder, a song cycle composed long after his love affair with Alma Mahler. WNO Orchestra Leader David Adams is the soloist in Berg’s Violin Concerto which he was moved to compose by the death of Alma Mahler’s daughter. The final piece of the concert will be Gustav Mahler’s Adagio from the 10th Symphony which reflects his wife’s unfaithfulness to him.
Tamsin Greig is no stranger to performing alongside the Orchestra of WNO. In December 2012 she was compere for two WNO concerts where she introduced The Snowman by Raymond Briggs and brought Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf to life by narrating the story with full orchestral accompaniment. She says, “I am delighted to have another opportunity to work with this fantastic orchestra, after our first collaboration at The Barbican and Colston Hall, Bristol. Alma Mahler and her diaries were unknown to me, so this is a very exciting opportunity to discover a little about her life and the music which defined so much of who she was.”
Tickets for the concert are priced between £5 – £42 and are available from St David’s Hall either by phoning 02920 878 444 or visiting stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk. Under 30’s can get best available seats for £3 by simply quoting ‘UP CLOSE’ when booking.
WNO’s Free Spirits season also includes fully-staged productions of Berg’s Lulu and Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen – renowned operatic ‘free spirits’. Take a look at our tumblr site to nominate a free spirit of your choice: http://wnofreespirits.tumblr.com/
