Latest news with #WelshNationalOperaOrchestra
South Wales Argus
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Lost music score for John Osborne's The Entertainer found
More than 50 years after it was last performed with its original musical score, Off Centre Theatre in Monmouth has painstakingly revived the full orchestral score for the play, originally penned by Oscar-winning composer John Addison. Mr Osborne, a notable modern British playwright with family connections in Newport, was passionate about music halls, and this interest is reflected in the play. The original production, which hit the stage in 1957, featured Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright. Mr Osborne crafted the songs, and Mr Addison arranged them, also creating overtures and incidental music for a band, all in the authentic music hall style. However, when Off Centre Theatre's director, Martin Newman, secured the rights to stage the play, he was surprised to receive only the piano score. The full band score had been lost and most performances since then have relied solely on the piano. After discovering that the copyright holders, Samuel French, had no record of the complete score, the diligent search for the music began. Despite thorough research in UK archives and collections yielding no results, the local production team traced part of the composer's own papers to the Brigham Young University library in Utah. Dr. David Day and his team at the university unearthed a long-unopened box labelled 'The Entertainer,' which contained 122 pages of the original manuscript music. The theatre group received the scanned manuscript, which then underwent a complex restoration process. With the expertise of the production's musical director, Ian Russell, a former principal player with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, the faded manuscript pages have been converted into usable parts for a band. The revival of the score has been hailed as an historic achievement for the small-town theatre group. The production will feature a live band playing the authentic music, possibly for the first time in more than half a century. Off Centre Theatre's presentation of The Entertainer will be staged at the Savoy Theatre, Monmouth, for three nights on June 19, 20, and 21, all at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the theatre's website.
Western Telegraph
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
Fishguard Festival of Music programme launched at Senedd
The event, hosted by Preseli Pembrokeshire Senedd Member Paul Davies, set the stage for a major programme of summer concerts. The festival's artistic director, Gillian Green MBE, shared details of the events scheduled across Pembrokeshire from July 18 to July 31. The festival will kick off with a concert by the Welsh National Opera Orchestra at St David's Cathedral. Mr Davies said: "It was a huge honour to welcome everyone to the Senedd again for this year's launch of the Fishguard Festival of Music. "The festival has been running for more than 50 years and has attracted musicians from all over the world. "It's thanks to the hard work and commitment of the festival team that Fishguard has developed a reputation as an international music hotpot. "This year's festival promises to be an excellent one and I'd urge everyone to look at the programme and make sure to book their tickets early." Gillian Green MBE added: "We are immensely grateful to Paul Davies MS for hosting this event at the Senedd again and for speaking so enthusiastically about the festival. "I am very excited about this year's programme which I hope will bring people from far and wide to beautiful Pembrokeshire as well as enabling local people to enjoy world-class music making." Artists performing at this year's festival include Mared Pugh-Evans, the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet, Rebecca Evans CBE, and the Geoff Eales trio.
