Iain Bell (born 1980) is an English composer whose output is predominantly of vocal works, namely
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
, art song or orchestral song.
Life and career
Bell was born in London. His first opera, ''
A Harlot's Progress
''A Harlot's Progress'' (also known as ''The Harlot's Progress'') is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) H ...
'', to a
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by
Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...
, premiered on 13 October 2013 at the in Vienna, conducted by
Mikko Franck
Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist.
Biography
Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 19 ...
and directed by
Jens-Daniel Herzog
Jens-Daniel Herzog (born 12 July 1964) is a German stage director for play and opera, and a theater manager.
Career
Jens-Daniel Herzog was born in Berlin, the son of the actor Peter Herzog. He studied Philosophy at the FU Berlin.
From 1989 Her ...
. The cast included
Marie McLaughlin
Marie McLaughlin (born 2 November 1954) is a Scottish operatic soprano.
A light lyric soprano, McLaughlin is noted for her performances as Susanna and Marcellina (''Le nozze di Figaro''), Zerlina ('' Don Giovanni''), Despina (''Cosi fan tutte'') ...
as Mother Needham and
Nathan Gunn
Nathan T. Gunn (born November 26, 1970, in South Bend, Indiana) is an American operatic baritone who performs regularly around the world. He is an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he is currently a professor of vo ...
as James Dalton. The lead role of Moll Hackabout was created by German coloratura soprano
Diana Damrau
Diana Damrau (; born 31 May 1971) is a German soprano who achieved international fame for her performances, primarily in opera, but also in concert and lieder. She has been successful in coloratura soprano roles since her early career, and gradua ...
for whom the composer has written a great deal of music.
Bell's second opera is an adaptation of
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's own one-man version of his novella ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
'' commissioned by
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at ...
where it received its world premiere in December 2014, directed by the British actor, director and writer
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View (1985 ...
, sung by the American tenor
Jay Hunter Morris
Jay Hunter Morris (born July 3, 1963) is an American operatic tenor. He is best known internationally for the role of Siegfried in the Metropolitan Opera's 2011–12 series of Wagner's '' Ring Cycle'', performances of which were cinecast and radio ...
. The opera was subsequently nominated in the World Premiere category at the 2015
International Opera Awards
The International Opera Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring excellence in opera around the world.
Origins
The International Opera Awards was founded in 2013 by Harry Hyman, a UK businessman, philanthropist and supporter of opera, and ...
and had its UK premiere at
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...
in a new production by Polly Graham in December 2015. Bell's third opera is an adaptation of the 1937 First World War epic poem ''
In Parenthesis
''In Parenthesis'' is an epic poem of the First World War by David Jones first published in England in 1937. Although Jones had been known solely as an engraver and painter prior to its publication, the poem won the Hawthornden Prize and the adm ...
'' by
David Jones. It was commissioned by Welsh National Opera and received its world premiere in May 2016 at the
Wales Millennium Centre
Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...
with further performances at the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
in a production by
David Pountney
Sir David Willoughby Pountney (born 10 September 1947) is a British-Polish theatre and opera director and librettist internationally known for his productions of rarely performed operas and new productions of classic works. He has directed over ...
conducted by
Carlo Rizzi.
Bell's chamber music has been performed internationally at venues including
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
, the
Alte Oper
Alte Oper (Old Opera) is a concert hall in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It is located in the inner city, Innenstadt, within the banking district Bankenviertel. Today's Alte Oper was built in 1880 as the city's opera house, which was destro ...
Frankfurt and
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...
London, the last having commissioned a song cycle from him premiered in June 2014, setting extracts of Shakespeare's fools, entitled ''These Motley Fools''. It was premiered by the American
countertenor
A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...
Lawrence Zazzo
Lawrence Zazzo (born December 15, 1970 in Philadelphia) is an American countertenor. His repertoire includes roles in many Baroque operas and oratorios, as well as works of the 20th century. He lives in England.
Education and background
In h ...
. The
Munich Opera Festival
The Munich Opera Festival (german: Münchner Opernfestspiele) takes place yearly in the Bavarian capital from late June to late July. Preceding on the calendar the two nearby festivals of Bayreuth and Salzburg, which both start in late July, the ...
commissioned Bell's ''A Litany in Time of Plague'' for chamber orchestra and the
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
Tara Erraught
Tara Erraught (born 1986, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish mezzo-soprano, a graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).
Erraught is known for her work with Bavarian State Opera, for which she has been given a ' award. She stepped in on fiv ...
, with whom Bell worked in his first opera ''A Harlot's Progress''.
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
commissioned Bell in 2018 to write the opera ''Stonewall'' to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
in 1969, to be premiered on June 19, 2019, and directed by
Leonard Foglia
Leonard Foglia (born August 24, 1954) is an American theatre director, librettist, and novelist.
Foglia made his Broadway debut as the assistant director of ''The Heidi Chronicles'' in 1989. He also directed revivals of ''Wait Until Dark'' (1998) ...
.
Works (selection)
Operas
* ''
A Harlot's Progress
''A Harlot's Progress'' (also known as ''The Harlot's Progress'') is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) H ...
'' (Vienna, 2013)
* ''A Christmas Carol'' (Houston Grand Opera, 2014)
* ''In Parenthesis'' (
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...
, 2016)
* ''Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel'' (
English National Opera
English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...
and
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and ...
, 2019)
* ''
Stonewall'' (
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
, 2019)
Orchestra
* ''The Hidden Place''
* ''A London Diurne''
* ''A Litany in Time of Plague''
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
* ''The Undying Splendour''
* ''Day Turned into Night''
* ''Cradle Suite''
* ''These Motley Fools''
* ''Daughters of Britannia''
References
External links
*
*
Music sales classicalOpera21 – Interview with composer Iain BellGanz schön verdorben: Die Uraufführung von Iain Bells ''A Harlot's Progress''by Frieder Reininghaus, ''
Neue Musikzeitung'', 14 October 2013
* http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/lawrence-zazzo-countertenor-simon-lepper-piano-33099
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Iain
21st-century classical composers
English classical composers
English opera composers
Male opera composers
English LGBT musicians
LGBT classical composers
LGBT classical musicians
1980 births
Musicians from London
Living people
English male classical composers
21st-century British male musicians