CD’s
CD’s
include the BBC Singers in the complete a capella works of Sir
Peter Maxwell Davies; the a capella works of Sir John Tavener
[Simon conducted the premiere of Sir John’s ‘Song for Athene’
in concert ]; a CD of a selection of the major choral works of
Malcolm Williamson is in preparation.
In the
last few seasons his own recording choir [the Simon Joly
Chorale] has featured in a series of CD's conducted by Robert
Craft with the Philharmonia Orchestra:
Schoenberg:
' Die Gluckliche Hand' {2000}
Stravinsky
Symphony of Psalms' / 'Les Noces' ; {
2001}
Stravinsky
'Threni' and 'Oedipus Rex' { 2001
}
Schoenberg
'Gurrelieder' { 2001}
Stravinsky
'A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer'{ 2002}
[some
reviews available]
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Conducting the BBC Singers at the
Proms
As
Associate [1981 - 88] and subsequently Principal Conductor of
the BBC Singers between 1989 - 1995, he conducted an enormous
repertoire of choral music on radio, CD, and in concert in
repertoire ranging from Palestrina to premieres of works
by Luciano Berio and Sir John Tavener.
[picture]
BBC
Singers' solo Proms: repertoire include Herbert Howells'
'Requiem'; Stravinsky ' Les Noces'; Steve Reich 'The
Desert Music'; David Bedford ' The Golden Wine is Drunk' ;
Malcolm Williamson 'Symphony for Voices'; Giles Swayne's
'CRY'; Messiaen's 'Cinq Rechants', Copland's 'In the
Beginning'; Brahms' 'Fest und Gedenkspruche';
Schoenberg's 'Friede auf Erden'; and Richard Strauss'
magnificent 'Der Abend'.
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Conducting
the BBC Singers in concert
He has been
at the forefront of the promotion of contemporary
choral music: concert premieres including Luciano
Berio's 'Shofar' with the BBC Singers and BBC Philharmonic
Orchestra at the 1995 Proms, Sir John Tavener's 'Song
for Athene', works by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and major
premieres of works by Gavin Bryars [ with the BBC Singers and
Symphony Orchestra at the RFH], Oliver Knussen , David
Bedford [ 'Of Stars, dreams and Cymbals' premiered at the 1987
Proms, and the 1st Symphony with the BBC S.O. at the RFH] ,
Benedict Mason [ with the BBC Singers, ' Oil or Petrol
Marks …'], Simon Bainbridge, James Dillon , Christoph Delz,
David Sawer ['Songs of Love and War' commissioned for the 1990
Proms] ; Henze's 'Novae de Infinito Laudes' in performances
with the Endymion Ensemble in London and the BBC
Philharmonic in Cologne.
UK
Broadcast premieres include works by Iannis Xenakis [ 'Sea
Nymphs', specially commissioned for the BBC Singers’
70th Birthday concert], Sir Peter Maxwell Davies,
Sir John Tavener, Magnus Lindbergh, James Dillon, Poul
Rouders, Elis Pehkonen, Peter Paul Nash, Jonathan Lloyd,
Andrew Toovey, Christian Cannabich, Anthony Gilbert, Malcolm
Williamson ['Requiem for a Tribe Brother'], Per Norgaard,
Morton Feldman, Pascal Dusapin, and Carl Rutti.
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Works for
chorus and orchestra conducted for BBC R3
Studio
recordings with the BBC Singers and BBC Symphony
Orchestra include Walton’s Christopher Colombus
[Complete Incidental Music] ; Herbert Howells 'A Kent Yeoman's
Wooing Song'; Cesar Franck ''Psyche'; Stravinsky 'Canticum
Sacrum'; Debussy 'La Damoiselle Elue' and 'Le Martyre de St.
Sebastien'
[
complete incidental music].
With the
BBC Singers accompanied by the BBC Concert
Orchestra, works include Mendelssohn’s [Psalm 95,
Psalm 42]; Schumann 'Requiem fur Mignon'; Hans Gal
[
'De Profundis' ]; Poulenc ['Stabat Mater' and 'Sept Repons de
Tenebres']; Edward German
[
various]; Honegger 'Cris du Monde'.
He
conducted the Singers in the BBC's Barbican Birtwistle
Festival with the Endymion Ensemble [ ''..Agm...' ] ; and
conducted them again with the London Sinfonietta at La Scala
Milan in Berio's 'CORO' in 1996 and with the Singers and BBC
Symphony Orchestra conducted Webern’s Cantatas
no.'s 1 and 2, and 'Das Augenlicht' at
the Queen Elizabeth Hall in October 1997
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Festival Concerts with
the BBC Singers
He conducted
the Singers in concerts at the Aldeburgh Festival, in
Cheltenham, Oxford, Helsinki, Brussels and the Warsaw
International Festival of Contemporary Music in October 2001
,which was critically acclaimed as the high spot of the
Festival.
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Other professional
choirs
He has
conducted the French, Finnish and Irish Radio choirs in
concert; and the combined NDR German and WDR radio
choirs with the WDR Symphony Orchestra in a performance of
Verdi's 'Quattro Pezzi Sacri' in Cologne, [as well as
preparing the WDR Chorus in a performance of Berio's 'CORO'
for the composer to conduct] for a fund-raising concert for La
Fenice, Venice.
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Chorus-Mastering
Professional singers
His work with
the BBC Singers gave the opportunity to work with some of the
world's leading conductors, including Pierre Boulez on many
occasions [including preparing the BBC Singers in the
recording of the complete a capella works of Schoenberg]. He
prepared the BBC Singers for Pierre Boulez at the Proms and
the Edinburgh Festival in 2001 and again at the Proms and the
Luzern Festival of 2002 in Boulez' own works. This year [2004]
he will prepare the Singers for the Proms and Edinburgh
Festival performances of Stravinsky ‘Les Noces’.
He has
prepared the BBC Singers for numerous other distinguished
conductors, including the late Sir John Pritchard, Gennadi
Rozhdestvensky, Sir Andrew Davies and David Atherton
.
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Orchestral
Conducting
Orchestral
work includes concerts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ,
the BBC Symphony Orchestra , the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra,
the BBC National orchestra of Wales , the BBC Concert
Orchestra, the Ulster orchestra, the RTE Symphony
orchestra. Radio work includes concerts and programmes for
Radio 3 with the London Sinfonietta, the Bournemouth
Sinfonietta, the City of London Sinfonia, the English Chamber
Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Endymion Ensemble
.
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Opera
Conducting
He has
conducted operas including Kurt Weill 'The Rise and Fall of
the City of Mahagonny'; Busoni's 'Turandot' and Gazzaniga's
'Don Giovanni'; and Nicholas Maw's 'The Rising of the Moon' [
all at the Wexford Festival]; Mozart's 'Cosi fan Tutte' ] and
'Le Nozze di Figaro' [Opera Ireland]; Benjamin Britten's
'Peter Grimes' [Opera Ireland and Royal Danish Opera,
Copenhagen]; Rossini 'The Barber of Seville [Welsh National
Opera]; Smetana 'The Bartered Bride' [English National Opera].
He conducted the latest revival of Steven Pimlott's production
of 'Carmen' in Berlin, with a distinguished cast that
included Jose Carreras and Denyce Graves. And for the
250th anniversary of the Royal Danish Opera, he
conducted Gluck's rarely performed 'La Contesa di Numi' in
Elaine Padmore's production.
Radio opera
that he has conducted includes several rarities: Max Brand's
'Maschinist Hopkins', Wagner-Regeny's 'The Burghers of
Calais'; Weber's youthful 'Peter Schmoll' , Frank Martin's 'Le
Vin Herbe' and Geoffrey Bush's 'Lord Arthur Savile's
Crime'
.
He has
conducted Opera Galas at the Royal Festival Hall for Victor
Hochhauser, in a wide range of excerpts from the popular
operatic repertoire with many distinguished
soloists.
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Conductor of amateur
choruses and choirs
Simon worked
for some years as assistant chorus master of the London
Symphony Chorus. Highspots included conducting the LSC
in their first ever concert in the USA. He was for some
time Conductor of the Alexandra Choir conducting a variety of
repertoire including Durufle 'Requiem', Haydn 'Nelson Mass' ,
and their giant carol concert in the Royal Albert Hall
.
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Chorus –Master of
amateur choruses and choirs
LSC Concerts
and recordings with Claudio Abbado [Beethoven Symphony
no.9; Brahms 'Ein Deutsches Requiem'; Mahler Symphony no.2;
Ravel 'Daphnis and Chloe']; the late Leonard Bernstein [Simon
chorus-mastered the Barbican concert and subsequently prize -
winning CD of 'CANDIDE']; Sir Colin Davis [Mahler Symphony
no.8]; Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos [Orff 'Carmina Burana' and
Mendelssohn 'Elijah']; Michael Tilson Thomas [various
repertoire]; and Gilbert Kaplan's London performances of
Mahler Symphony no.2.
He has worked
with other large London choruses, including the BBC Symphony
Chorus and the Goldsmith's Choral Union.
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