Tristan Hambleton to perform with Oxford Lieder

Tristan Hambleton (from artist's website)

British barihunk Tristan Hambleton will join Oxford Lieder on February 16th for a performance of Schubert's Schwanengesang. Although not intended by the composer as a cycle, it is a collection of the composer's very last songs that sit together perfectly and have formed a core work of the song repertoire.

Hambleton graduated from the Royal Academy of Music Opera School in 2015  and has performed for Glyndebourne Opera, Nevill Holt Opera, Welsh National Opera and The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as well as at Bridegwater Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Auditorium de Bordeaux and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Tickets are £10 and are available online (and includes coffee and cake).

The songs of Schwanengesang, in the composer's original order, are:

* By Ludwig Rellstab:
o Liebesbotschaft ("Message of love"; the singer invites a stream to convey a message to his beloved)
o Kriegers Ahnung ("Warrior's foreboding"; a soldier encamped with his comrades sings of how he misses his beloved)
o Frühlingssehnsucht ("Longing in spring": the singer is surrounded by natural beauty but feels melancholy and unsatisfied until his beloved can "free the spring in my breast")
o Ständchen (Serenade)
o Aufenthalt ("Dwelling place": the singer is consumed by anguish for reasons we aren't told, and likens his feelings to the river, forest and mountain around him)
o In der Ferne ("In the distance": the singer has fled his home, broken-hearted, and complains of having no friends and no home; he asks the breezes and sunbeams to convey his greetings to the one who broke his heart)
o Abschied ("Farewell": the singer bids a cheery but determined farewell to a town where he has been happy but which he must now leave)
* By Heinrich Heine:
o Der Atlas ("Atlas": the singer, having wished for eternal happiness or eternal wretchedness, has the latter, and blames himself for the weight of sorrow, as heavy as the world, that he now bears)
o Ihr Bild ("Her image": the singer tells his beloved of how he dreamed (daydreamed?) that a portrait of her favoured him with a smile and a tear; but alas, he has lost her)
o Das Fischermädchen ("The fisher-maiden": the singer tries to sweet-talk a fishing girl into a romantic encounter, drawing parallels between his heart and the sea)
o Die Stadt ("The city": the singer is in a boat rowing towards the city where he lost the one he loved; it comes foggily into view)
o Am Meer ("By the sea": the singer tells of how he and his beloved met in silence beside the sea, and she wept; since then he has been consumed with longing — she has poisoned him with her tears)
o Der Doppelgänger ("The double": the singer looks at the house where his beloved once lived, and is horrified to see someone standing outside it in torment — it is, or appears to be, none other than himself, aping his misery of long ago)
* The last song based on a poem written by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804 - 1875).
o Taubenpost ("Pigeon post"; the song that is often considered as a last lied that Schubert ever wrote. The song is included into a cycle by the first editor and is almost always included in modern performances)

Tristan Hambleton to open Opéra de Lille season in Purcell rarity

Tristan Hambleton (from artist's website)

British barihunk Tristan Hambleton will open the Opéra de Lille season in Henry Purcell's rarely performed The Indian Queen. He'll be joined by Anna Dennis, Hugo Hymas, Gareth John, Rowan Pierce and Nick Pritchard under the baton of baroque specialist Emmanuelle Haïm. Tickets are available online.  

Mark Stone sings "I Attempt from Love's Sickness: from The Indian Queen:

The Indian Queen is a largely unfinished semi-opera, which was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, in 1695. The opera is based on John Dryden's 1664 play of the same name. Purcell was commissioned to adapt the play into an opera in 1694, but died the following year having only completed the Prologue and Acts II and III. His brother Daniel completed a masque for Act V.

Despite containing some of Purcell's most beautiful music, the opera is seldomly performed compared to Dido and Aeneas,  King Arthur or The Fairy-Queen, mainly because the piece has been deemed incomplete. The piece was performed in 2016 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève with barihunk Jarrett Ott.

Tristan Hambleton in Haydn's Theresienmesse in London

Tristan Hambleton

Barihunk calendar model Tristan Hambleton will be performing Hayden's Theresienmesse at Cadogan Hall in London on March 23rd. He'll be joined by the City of London Choir, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and soprano Grace Davidson, mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby and tenor Nicholas Pritchard.

The concert is part of an ongoing series at Cadogan Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra pairing the great masses of Haydn with Mozart’s late concertos. The program will include Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, K491 and Tantum Ergo in B flat, K142.

The Theresienmesse is named after Maria Theresa of the Two Sicilies, empress consort of Francis II. The empress herself was the soprano soloist at private performances of both The Creation and The Seasons in May 1801 at the Viennese Court.

The scoring of the mass is a little unusual. Due to a shortage of wind players at Einsenstadt, Austria in 1798 and 1799, the wind section comprises just two clarinets, a bassoon and two trumpets. Haydn skilfully uses this relatively small group to great effect. The mass is a work of marked musical contrasts. Slow, quiet passages, such as the very opening of the Kyrie, are set against vigorous, loud sections like the final pages of the Credo.

Tickets are available online.

Interview with Tristan Hambleton

Tristan Hambleton from the Barihunks Calendar

Barihunks Tristan Hambleton and Kevin Greenlaw will both be performing in the University College Opera's production of Donizetti's La Favorite from March 14-19 at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. It will the first French language performance in the UK this century. You visit their website for additional information.

On March 20th, you can also hear Tristan in Bach's St Matthew Passion at Hampstead Garden Suburb Free Church with the UK-Japan Music Society. You can listen to Tristan Hambleton sing Tchaikovsky's None But the Lonely Heart HERE. 

Hambleton is featured this month in our 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar, so we figured it was a good time to ask him a few questions about his career.

1. What drew you to a career in opera?

I come from a musical family stretching back to Victorian London, with family among the founding members of the LSO and the Philharmonia, I grew up to tales of the great musicians of the past. My dad played on many of the RCA and Decca recordings with the likes of Pavarotti, Sutherland and Milnes and when it came to child care, it meant me sitting in on rehearsals at ENO where my dad was principle clarinet for many years. There was little escape. When I was a boy, I started singing as a treble and was invited to sing with amazing singers like David Daniels and Bryn Terfel. I remember at 11, being in a singer’s apartment in Paris while working with Les Art Florissant and thinking “WOW, this is the life!” It was then that I got bitten by the bug.

2. How did you first find out that you were on Barihunks and what was the response to you being in the calendar?

I think someone tagged me on facebook. Oh and my website went into overdrive. As for the calendar, my mum loves it, particularly as it’s now March.

3. What are your thoughts about singers taking care of their bodies as well as their voices? Do you have a routine to stay in shape?

It is so crucial. Your body is your instrument. I don’t have a routine as such, but I’m always on the go.

Tristan Hambleton as Leporello in 2014 (left) and rehearsing Ariodante

 
4.  Any limits on what you'd do at a stage directors request?

Ha ha – none that I know of. Should I be worried? Or maybe they should be.

5. Are there any roles in particular that you really hope to get to perform someday?

Absolutely. Too many to mention, but pretty much all the Mozart roles. And I think every bass-baritone has a dream of one day being a Hans Sachs. I hope this doesn’t mean I’ve jinxed it!

6. Tell us about your character in La Favorite and the production. This is the first time it's being done in the original French in the U.K.

I play the role of Balthazar, a Catholic Superior who is head of the Monastery at Santiago de Compostela. The story is essentially a love triangle set against a power struggle between church and state. There’s a definite flavour of the Grand Inquisitor from Don Carlos (one of my favourite operas) in Balthazar, except I am a lot more mobile and unlike Hytner’s production I can fully see everything that’s going on. This production is set in the 1930’s using the Edward VIII/Wallis Simpson affair as a sounding board. For over 60 years UCO have put on rarely performed works in the capital using young singers. Previous productions have used some really great singers including heroes of mine Felicity Lott and Robert Lloyd.

Tristan Hambleton in Ariodante (right)

 7. Do you prefer singing standard operatic repertory or newer pieces?

What matters for me is the standard of the music, the story and the character. My last project was a World Premier for Glyndebourne by David Bruce. The opera, called ‘Nothing’, had all three elements in spades, as a result it ranks as one of the highlights of my career thus far. For the same reason, I would happily sing Figaro for the rest of my life.

8. What other passions do you have aside from music?

My Bachelors degree was actually in Art History and I love introducing people to Italy. Something I’ve had the great fortune to do as a Tutor for Art History Abroad.

9. What do you listen to other than opera?

All sorts. According to Spotify my recent plays are: Nick Hakim, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Bach, Major Lazer, Schubert, SBTRKT, Gluck. I believe in the Louis Armstrong philosophy of music.

10. The best advice anyone has ever given you?

Don’t be anyone, but yourself.

11. Tell us something about yourself that has nothing to do with opera.

When I’m at home I wear clogs – like right now.

One month until Chrismas! Have you bought your Barihunks calendar?

Malte Roesner (top), Gianluca Margheri (bottom left) and Eric Stokloßa/David Adam Moore (bottom right)

The 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar is now available for purchase. Now in its fifth edition, the calendar features eighteen of the hottest singers in opera and musical theater hailing from nine different countries.

For each of the last four years, the charity calendar has donated all of the profits to young artists, young artist programs and projects featuring baritones. Some of the previous beneficiaries have included the Portland Resident Young Artist Program, Seagle Music Colony, the production of the West Coast Premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's Green Sneakers featuring Jesse Blumberg, and a concert featuring bass-barihunk Aaron Sørensen and hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock.

Trisatn Hambleton, Seth Carrico & Patrick Egersborg

This year the proceeds will be used to fund the creation of the Foundation for the Advancement of Baritones (F.A.B.), which will fund baritone and bass cash prizes at song competitions, commission music for baritones and basses, and be used to fund other projects featuring low male voices. New York-based composer Clint Borzoni has already been commissioned to write two songs for string quartet and baritone, which will be performed by Marco Vassalli in January.

The singers this year include Cyril Rovery and Romain Dayez from France; Malte Roesner, Eric Stokloßa and Marco Vassalli from Germany; Iurii Samoilov from the Ukraine; Tristan Hambleton from England; Duncan Rock from Australia; Patrick Egersborg from Norway; Jason Forbach, John Paul Huckle, David Adam Moore, Seth Mease Carico and Edward Miskie from the United States; Gianluca Margheri and Vittorio Prato from Italy; and, Iosu Yeregui from Spain. All of the singers are baritones or lower voices, except for Eric Stokloßa, who is the first tenor featured in the calendar (in a photo with baritone David Adam Moore from Peter Eötvös' Paradise reloaded.

Four of the singers were photographed this Summer in the Loire Valley in an official Barihunks photo shoot. 

The Barihunks calendar is available at LULU.com.

Marco Vassalli

Fans of Marco Vassalli can purchase his fundraising calendar, which will help fund his long-awaited US debut in San Francisco this January. Click HERE to purchase the calendar or HERE to learn more about the concert. You can also find additional benefits at his Indiegogo campaign, including his CD of Italian songs or the chance to have a newly commissioned song that he's performing named in your honor. 

Introducing British bass-barihunk Tristan Hambleton

Tristan Hambleton

Tristan Hambleton, who will be competing in the semi-finals of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards competition on April 22nd, is new to this site. The British bass-barihunk is currently a member of the Opera School at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he was awarded the Tom Hammond Opera Prize.  He is an alumnus of St John’s College Cambridgea and Heidelberg Universität, where he pursued his studies in German.

Tristan Hambleton as a bass-baritone and a treble

Hambleton enjoyed considerable success as a treble soloist performing with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Les Arts Florissant in France and at the BBC Proms, at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and with various orchestras in many of the major London venues.

In recent years he has established a career as a recitalist and concert singer appearing with orchestras such as The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Hallé, Devon Baroque, Camerata Viva Tübingen and The London Mozart Players.

On the opera stage he has appeared as Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro for Hampstead Garden Opera, Re di Scozia in Handel’s Ariodante for Royal Academy Opera, Cadmus in Handel's Semele for Jackdaw’s, Bottom in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Edinburgh Fringe for the award-winning Shadwell Opera.

Tristan Hambleton

In Wagner’s bicentenary year. Hambleton was asked by Sir Mark Elder to sing the role of Herman Ortel in the Halle's concert performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Bridgewater Hall and has since been invited back to sing the bass solos in the Mozart Requiem with the orchestra.

On May 10th, he'll be performing Mozart's Mass in C minor, K427 with the Mayfield Festival Choir. This summer, Tristan will be joining the chorus at the Glyndebourne Opera for their festival season.

You can listen to him sing Tchaikovsky's None But the Lonely Heart HERE