Vivienne’s First Run

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left to right: Libby Burgess, Clare McCaldin, Stephen McNeff, Joe Austin

We have finished the second of two performances of Vivienne at The Forge, Camden as part of the Camden Festival and so the summer run of Vivienne has come to an end. The positive reception of this short but concentrated music theatre piece has justified all the hard work that went into bringing it to the stage. On both nights at The Forge the audience stayed after the curtain calls to speak us about their experience. Clearly Vivienne is a strong, involving work and many people wanted to share their impressions of a personal connection formed with me in the role of Vivienne, and to praise the contributions of Libby at the piano and Joe in shaping the piece and my performance.

Vivienne has been a very successful collaboration for the whole McCaldin Arts company. Building on previous experience of working together and a mutual understanding of each others’ abilities and strengths we have created something rich, powerful and – importantly – entertaining.

I’m also indebted to a number of family, friends and acquaintances (all listed in this week’s programme) who supported this production, not least via the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that ensured a properly staged production. It’s been wonderful to see a number of those who have supported Vivienne in this way also coming to see the show.

A comprehensive digest of published feedback on Vivienne can be read here via Storify. We have also read the latest print edition of the New Statesman which described Vivienne as “a treasure”, Andy Rashleigh’s libretto as “witty and endlessly allusive” and the Tete a Tete Opera Festival show as “elegantly performed by mezzo-soprano Clare McCaldin and the pianist Elizabeth Burgess”.

Vivienne will return in the Autumn at the Bloomsbury Festival in October and at the Royal Opera House in November.

Haydn found

Haydn's London LadiesThe first outing of “Haydn’s London Ladies” was a great success and we attracted a very appreciative audience from among the visitors to the Foundling Museum. The museum’s beautiful upstairs salon was the perfect intimate venue to try out this new lecture-recital format, in which I speak as much as I sing. The narrative traces the relationships Haydn established with four particular women during his years in London, and we sing and play the music associated with these women. Most of the music is by Haydn but there are a couple of pleasing oddities that I unearthed during my research at the British Library. Here is a short video of the event.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-FpicVvjGY&w=560&h=315]

My particular thanks to Richard Hetherington (piano) and Joe Austin, my trusty script editor and text advisor.

Haydn’s London Ladies make their debut

haydn_swalk01I’m ready to go with the first performance of Haydn’s London Ladies, this weekend at the Foundling Museum in London, a beautiful Georgian building with strong musical associations. I’ve been working with Joe Austin, who has directed other McCaldin Arts projects, and Richard Hetherington (with whom I have previously performed at the Foundling Museum) to get to the heart of the story about Haydn and his lady-friends in London and I am looking forward to finding out how the audience responds to the combination of narrative and music. Haydn is still under-valued as a composer and I hope this show will remind people of how great he really was.