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FULL THE HIDDEN VALLEY (Richard Barnard) London 2013 Laura Pooley, Owen Webb, Meilir Jones
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: The Hidden Valley
- Composer: Barnard Richard
- Libretto: Alan Harris Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Riverside Studios, London, UK
- Recorded: August 18, 2013
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Laura Pooley, Owen Webb, Meilir Jones, Tom Lowe, Alexei Winter, Michael Lowe
- Conductor:
- Orchestra: Instrumental Ensemble
- Chorus: The Valleys Chorus, Juice Vocal Ensemble, Anna Snow, Sarah Dacey, Kerry Andrew
- Stage Director: Dafydd Hall Williams
- Stage Designer: James Helps
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: tete a tete
- Date Published: 2013
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Genesis
THE HIDDEN VALLEY was commissioned by WNO MAX and has grown from the stories, people and landscape of the Welsh Valleys. It is a development of Richard and Alan’s community opera, The Journey, created from WNO MAX song-‐writing projects across the Valleys, supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. THE HIDDEN VALLEY was developed with workshops by WNO chorus members and features a chorus role specially written for Juice Vocal Ensemble. (Richard Barnard)
Synopsis
Midsummer’s day. Young Dewi sings and is heard by river maiden Ariene. They fall in love. Her father, the river god Modred, forbids their love. He casts a spell on his daughter and she disappears. If Dewi can find Ariene, he can marry her. Modred has changed Ariene into a different animal each year. Modred tells the Crow that long ago he married a human. She did what all humans do; she died. He doesn’t want the same heartbreak for his daughter. Years pass. Dewi meets a woman desperate for a wedding. He is tired and accepts her offer. Ariene thinks she has been betrayed. An older Dewi is burying his “bride”. Ariene (now a wren) sings to him. He realises the secret. Modred offers Dewi a deal: Dewi can spend a year with Ariene in the form she is now, but then he will die. Dewi agrees. He is transformed into a salmon and joins Ariene in the river. Modred realises that the power of love has stripped him of his kingship – his crown must move to Dewi. It’s the only way that Ariene will avoid the heartache he suffered. Modred is now powerless and alone. The Crow advances…