The Medieval Manuscript the 'Chronicles of Mann and Sudreys' mentions various locations, including the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and even places as far away as Norway and Brittany.
Russell Gilmour (trumpet) and David Kilgallon (organ) use melodies from these countries and they merge and fuse these ideas together with their own to create unique compositions for trumpet and organ. The idea behind their musical collaboration is to explore traditional music from these countries and to adapt the music, interpret it and explore it. Chronicles' musical format is slightly unusual in that it combines trumpet and organ - not the instruments you may initially associate with folk music - but it is an approach that has sparked a lot of interest.
Their limited edition EP "Prologue" is a sample of things to come, as the production of a full album is underway. The full album will be Chronicles' musical impression of the Isle of Man's influences and rich history - as documented in the Chronicles of Mann.
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writing on music, photography, travel and life as a freelance professional musician.
Mozart - Così fan tutte - Les Talens Lyriques - Würzburg
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2024, %RThe last few months have been quite a whirlwind—in fact, it’s been incredibly busy since January when we began rehearsing Mozart’s Così fan tutte for a staged production at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. It was great to perform this opera at the Würzburg Mozartfest with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset: we gave performances on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th June 2024 in the Kaisersaal in the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the Würzburg Residence. Christophe Rousset is the ‘Artiste étoile’ (star artist) of this year’s Mozartfest, so we were in this very place just two weeks ago to open the festival with two performances of ‘Mozart and Friends’ with Benjamin Appl. The festival closed with our two concerted performances of Così fan tutte which featured the singers: Galina Averina (Fiordiligi), Emilie Renard (Dorabella), Jeremy Ovenden (Ferrando), Benjamin Appl (Guglielmo), Judith van Wanroij (Despina), Georg Nigl (Don Alfonso), and the small but perfectly-formed Würzburg Festival Choir.
There’s been a lot going on this year since we performed Così fan tutte at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. I have given more than 35 performances in total so far this year, including Handel’s Jephtha in Oslo Cathedral; Salieri’s Cublai gran kan de' Tartari and Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade in Vienna; memorised performances of Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony with Aurora Orchestra; ‘Mozart and Friends’ in Montereau and Würzburg; Jephtha in Namur and Halle; Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks in Halle; and several other smaller projects. To add to all this, I’ve been adding the finishing touches to my natural trumpet book, which is due to be printed on Friday (see www.justnaturaltrumpet.com). When I get home from Würzburg I have a week to finalise the book printing before I return to my alma mater, the Royal Northern College of Music, with the Academy of Ancient Music to coach the RNCM baroque orchestra.
Germany, Les Talens Lyriques, Mozart, Natural Trumpet, The Section, Tour, TouringWe enjoyed two wonderful performances of Così fan tutte in Würzburg, which were recorded by Bayerischer Rundfunk for future radio broadcast.
There’s been a lot going on this year since we performed Così fan tutte at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. I have given more than 35 performances in total so far this year, including Handel’s Jephtha in Oslo Cathedral; Salieri’s Cublai gran kan de' Tartari and Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade in Vienna; memorised performances of Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony with Aurora Orchestra; ‘Mozart and Friends’ in Montereau and Würzburg; Jephtha in Namur and Halle; Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks in Halle; and several other smaller projects. To add to all this, I’ve been adding the finishing touches to my natural trumpet book, which is due to be printed on Friday (see www.justnaturaltrumpet.com). When I get home from Würzburg I have a week to finalise the book printing before I return to my alma mater, the Royal Northern College of Music, with the Academy of Ancient Music to coach the RNCM baroque orchestra.