Sunday 29 October at 2.30pm
Ukaria Cultural Centre, Mt Barker
Program
Emma Matthews (soprano), Jacqueline Dark (mezzo soprano) and pianist Tahu Matheson perform a selection of operatic arias and songs including Rossini, Hoffman, Mozart and Handel as well as a music theatre exploration.
Full Program
- Du bist die Ruh – Schubert
- Gretchen am Spinnrade – Schubert
- Morgen – Strauss
- The Letter duet from Figaro – Mozart
- Allerseelen – Strauss
- Traume – Wagner
- 2 Folk Songs – Berio and Britten
- Barcarolle from Hoffmann – Offenbach
- Ah non credea, Ah non giunge from La Sonnambula – Bellini
- Lascia ch’io pianga – Handel
- Lakme Duet – Delibes
- Habanera from Carmen – Bizet
- Vissi d’arte from Tosca – Puccini
- A boy like that / I have a love (Westside Story) – Bernstein
- Barbara Song from The Threepenny Opera – Weil
- Glitter and be Gay from Candide) – Bernstein
- The Cat Duet – Rossini
- Ne me quitte pas – Brel
- All the things you are from Very Warm for May – J.Kern
- You’ll Never Walk Alone from Carousel – Rodgers and Hammerstein
Approximate duration is 120 minutes (including interval)
About the Artists
Emma Matthews, Soprano
Emma Matthews is a highly acclaimed and awarded soprano having received more Helpmann Awards than any other individual artist, nine Green Room Awards, the Mo Award and the Remy Martin Australian Opera Award. She has performed with all the state opera companies and the major Australian symphony orchestras, and at the Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Huntington Festivals, with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marko Letonja, Sir Charles Mackerras and Simone Young.
Emma has sung the title roles in Partenope, Lucia di Lammermoor, Lakmé, The Cunning Little Vixen and Lulu. Other roles have included Leila (The Pearlfishers), Amina (La Sonnambula), Philomele (The Love of the Nightingale) by Richard Mills, Ilia (Idomeneo), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Marie (La Fille du Regiment), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Zdenka (Arabella), the four heroines (The Tales of Hoffmann), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Almirena (Rinaldo), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) and Cunegonde (Candide).
She is equally in demand on the concert platform, embracing a wide repertoire including the Requiems of Mozart, Brahms and Fauré, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, masses by Poulenc, Villa Lobos, Haydn and Mozart, and Handel’s Messiah. Emma has also appeared as a special guest with José Carreras at the Sydney Opera House, and the New Year’s Eve Gala concerts for Opera Australia.
Further career highlights include her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut in the title role of The Cunning Little Vixen under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras, Mahler’s Symphony no. 4 with
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo conducted by Yakov Kreizberg and with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Ismene (Mitridate) for Sydney Festival.
Jacqueline Dark, Mezzo Soprano
Jacqueline Dark is a Helpmann and Green Room Award winning Australian mezzo-soprano, who is currently a principal artist with Opera Australia. Her performance experience encompasses opera, music theatre, cabaret and concert performances and includes the roles of Fricka and Second Norn (Der Ring Des Nibelungen), The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Carmen (Carmen), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), for which she won a Green Room Award for Best Female Performance in a Leading Role, Lady Billows (Albert Herring), Katisha (The Mikado), Dorabella (Così Fan Tutte ), the title role and Tisbe in Cenerentola, for which she won for a Green Room Award, Rosmira (Partenope), and Herodias (Salome), for which she won a Helpmann Award for Best Female Performance in a Supporting Role. Jacqueline created the role of Sally Lowe in the world premiere of Lindy for Opera Australia sang as a soloist in the gala concert to open Melbourne’s Hamer Hall. She has appeared on television as a guest vocalist on So You Think You Can Dance for Channel 10 and as a guest panellist on the popular music quiz show Spicks and Specks for ABC Television.
After completing a Bachelor of Physics degree, Jacqueline attended the Opera Studio at the Victorian College Of The Arts, graduating with first class honours.
Jacqueline was awarded the Vienna State Opera Award by Opera Foundation Australia and sang many roles for the Wiener Staatsoper. She has appeared as a soloist with groups including the Victorian Opera, Melbourne Chorale, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (concert series), Orchestra Victoria, Sydney Philharmonia, The Australian National Academy of Music, The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society and Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and has been a Young Artist with Opera Queensland and Opera Australia.
Tahu Matheson, Piano
Tahu began his piano studies at the age of 5 with his father, international conductor John Matheson. He has studied piano with Kalle Randalu in Germany, and with Oleg Stepanov and Natasha Vlassenko at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where he completed his Master of Music.
In 1995 Tahu won the Queensland Piano Competition and made his professional debut in 1996 with a solo recital at the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. He performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 1997 and was invited to record by Kiwi-Pacific Records. Tahu has also performed widely in Australia, both with the Orchestras and solo, and has toured Australia for Musica Viva. Tahu was also awarded the Hilda Woolmer Prize for Best Piano Accompaniment and is a recipient of the Brisbane Club award for 2000.
Tahu has also toured for Chamber Music New Zealand, and has been broadcast on New Zealand and Australian radio and television.
Tahu is a member of Fusion Piano Duo with Lana Higson.
Background: Studied piano with Kalle Randalu in Germany, and with Oleg Stepanov and Natasha Vlassenko at the Queensland Conservatorium, where he completed his Master of Music. Member of the music staff at Opera Australia since 2007 and is a frequent accompanist for international artists including Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Yvonne Kenny and Emma Matthews
Buy tickets
[ionwp module=”sessions” function=”getSessionTicketList” title=”Emma Matthews and Jacqueline Dark with Tahu Matheson”]