MONODRAMA FESTIVAL - The Madness of... Andrew Watts

Waar? 12, Rue du Puits, L-2359 LUXEMBOURG Muziekfestivals

MONODRAMA FESTIVAL - The Madness of... Andrew Watts

The Madness of... Andrew Watts 

By and with Andrew Watts

Great Britain

In English

Few countertenors have pushed the boundaries of repertoire and sound more than Andrew Watts. A dramatic voice unlike any other combined with extraordinary stagecraft and presence make him a unique performer of both parts traditionally associated with the voice type, and a pioneer of 20th and 21st-century repertoire. 

As well as singing core roles of the countertenor repertoire, Watts has performed over 60 world premieres at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival, La Scala, La Fenice, Staatsoper Berlin, Opera de Lyon, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Berliner Philharmoniker, and at the Salzburg, Bregenz, Lucerne, Aldeburgh and Edinburgh International Festivals as well as the Ruhrtriennale and the BBC Proms, and has created roles in major works by Harrison Birtwistle, Olga Neuwirth, Unsuk Chin, Nuñez, Guarnieri, Raymond Yiu, Michael Finnissey, Judith Weir, Torsten Rasch, Tansy Davies and Elena Langer. In all that work, one imagines many characters have been met, fought with, and conquered, but rarely do they come alive in one special evening. This is that performance. 

In this specially curated programme alongside pianist Gavin Roberts, Andrew Watts invites you into the many worlds of the characters he has made and inhabited. Exploring the neuroses and humanity of each, The Madness of... Andrew Watts is part public therapy session, part virtuosic recital, leading the audience through the trials and tribulations of some of opera’s most fabulous characters. Fairies, kings, and queens (as well as Baba the Turk, of course) fight for their spotlight, alongside new works from British composers Joseph Howard and Louise Dryett, and many of your favourites from composers including Händel, Tippett, Stravinsky, Gruber and Purcell. 

Piano Gavin Roberts