After All It's Opera
Menaka Singers Opera Ensemble in collaboration
with Barbara Segal Opera will once again bring to you yet another in their series of
‘’After All It’s Opera‘’ at the Russian Centre on Wednesday 21st Nov at 7.30 p.m. Renowned British Baritone Christopher Thorntonholmes will be Guest Artiste. Mr Thornton - Holmes will also be conducting master classes for the singers during his stay in Sri Lanka
The concert is directed by the British opera star Barbara Segal. Menaka De Fonseka Sahabandu
will collaborate on the piano. The unique feature of the performance will be that each aria will be introduced by Barbara with a short synopsis of the the opera from which it is taken and the context in which it is sung. This allows even those new to the genre to appreciate the beauty of opera even though it will be sung in Italian, French or German. Menaka Singers Opera Ensemble was founded in 2008 by Menaka De Fonseka Sahabandu. Menaka’s vision was to create a group that
At the Russian Centre on Wednesday 21st Nov at 7.30 p.m.
would be dedicated solely to bringing one of the world’s most dramatic art forms to Sri Lanka.
Since 2015, Barbara has been working with MSOE holding a series of intensive Masterclasses, helping to identify suitable arias for each individual voice. While the initial classes focused on the basics of voice production, breathing technique etc, as the singers’ technique stabilised, the classes focused more intently on stage presence and interpretation of music. Barbara was able to more easily identify the roles that would suit their vocal fachs, allocating arias for spinto/lyric/ coloratura soprano, coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric tenor, etc.
Barbara also facilitated the singers with the opportunity to work with the acclaimed British conductor and vocal coach Peter Crockford and reknowned Mezzo Soprano Janine Roebuck who was in Sri Lanka, on the finer points of interpretation and technique .
Born in Manchester, Barbara studied with the late Dame Isobel Baillie, and subsequently studied at the Teatro La Scaly, Milan, Italy with maestro Cesare
Alfieri. She made her operatic debut in the role of Musetta in La Boheme at the Santa Magherita Ligure Opera Festival, and her repertoire includes roles such as Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote, Violetta in La Traviata, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor and Marguerite
in Faust. She has taken principal roles in over 23 countries throughout the world. Christopher Thorntonholmes is a graduate of the Royal Northern College
of Music, Manchester, UK where he also obtained the Diploma in Professional Performance. He began his professional career with Glyndebourne Festival, the original home of country house opera. He was invited to join the company of La Scala, Milan, probably the World’s most famous opera house. There he worked for Maestro Riccardo Muti on many notable productions, including
La Traviata, Manon Lescaut, La Vestale.
He also had the chance of working with Carlo
Maria Giulini, singing in the Brahms Requiem, and with many other notable conductors including
Sinopoli, Gavazzeni, Chailly, Ghiergiev and on one occasion Mtsislav
Rostropovich, the great cellist. Since 2004 Chris has been regularly performing with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden under the baton of
Sir Antonio Pappano. He has appeared in a number of opera’s and concerts including ‘Don Pasquale’, ‘Aida’, ‘Turandot’ ‘Fidelio’ ‘Cosi fan tutte’, ‘Romeo and Juliette’ ‘Flying Dutchman’,
‘Tannhauser’ and many others. Chris has, for a long time, been keen to help young singers and has had a number of young singers gain places in leading music colleges. He divides his time now between working in London and his home on a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.
The repertoire for the concert include some of the well loved arias such as Deh vieni alla finestra, The Catalogue Aria from Don Giovanni, Una Parola Adina from Elisir d’amore, Dunque io son from, the Barber of Seville, Voi che Sapete from the Marriage of Figaro, Che Gelida Manina from La Boheme amonst others. The other soloists for the evening are Rachel Halliday (Mezzo Soprano), Samali Liyanage (Sprano), Jehani Gamalathge (Soprano), Hiruni Perera (Mezzo Soprano), Nishantha Warnakulasuriya ( Baritone), Emesh Wijewardena (Tenor) and Ravindu Perera ( Baritone).