Writing for the Stage
Judith Weir talks to Donald Macleod about the challenges of writing for the stage, focusing on the works A Night at the Chinese Opera, Blond Eckbert and Miss Fortune.
Judith Weir talks about the challenges of writing for the stage, including "A Night at the Chinese Opera", "Blond Eckbert" and her most recent opera "Miss Fortune".
One of our most distinguished composers, in July 2014 Judith Weir succeeded Sir Peter Maxwell Davies as Master of the Queen's Music. It's an honour that joins an already impressive collection of awards, which include a CBE and the Queen's Medal for Music. Born in 1954 into a musical Scottish family, Weir grew up near London. A member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Weir studied composition with John Tavener during her school holidays. More formal studies followed at Cambridge University, including composition with Robin Holloway, and at Tanglewood summer school, where she worked with Gunther Schuller. The possessor of a rich, fertile imagination, Weir draws on a wide variety of sources, notably dark fairytales, folk stories, Chinese philosophy, Indian music and culture, distilling their essence in music of luminous clarity. Her fundamental concern is to tell stories. An articulate communicator, Weir's writing about her music encapsulates the process brilliantly. In this series, Weir offers a personal insight into some of the musical projects which have occupied her since the beginning of the noughties.
Today Judith Weir joins Donald Macleod to discuss her fascination with storytelling, in particular for the theatre. After dipping her toe into operatic waters in her mid-twenties, with "King Harald's Saga", a small-scale treatment of an epic story, "A Night at the Chinese Opera" brought Weir to wider public attention in 1987. Since then she has produced a succession of operas, each of them exploring different musical and dramatic ideas.
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Judith Weir
Songs From The Exotic For Voice And Piano no.3; The Romance of Count Arnaldos
Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Susan Bickley.- SIGNUM : SIGCD-087.
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Judith Weir
A Night At The Chinese Opera - Act 1, Sc 1: Black night, cool breeze
Conductor: Andrew Parrott. Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra.- NMC : D-060.
- NMC.
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Judith Weir
A Night At The Chinese Opera Act 1 scene 3 and 4
Conductor: Andrew Parrott. Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra.- NMC : D-060.
- NMC.
- 1.
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Judith Weir
Blond Eckbert - Opera In 2 Acts - extracts
Singer: Emma Bell. Singer: Andrew Watts. Conductor: Paul Daniel. Orchestra: Royal Swedish Orchestra. -
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Judith Weir
Miss Fortune - Opera extract
Singer: Emma Bell. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Singer: Andrew Watts. Conductor: Paul Daniel. Choir: The Rome Opera Chorus. -
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Judith Weir
The Vanishing Bridegroom - Act 3, The Stranger
Singer: Ailish Tynan. Orchestra: 大象传媒 S O.. Choir: 大象传媒 Singers. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins. Singer: Jonathan Lemalu. Singer: Andrew Tortise.- NMC D196.
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Broadcasts
- Tue 31 Mar 2015 12:00大象传媒 Radio 3
- Tue 31 Mar 2015 18:30大象传媒 Radio 3
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