As predicted back in August (read more here) LFO have today announced that Rachel Nicholls will take over from Alywn Mellor as their Brunnhilde for the premiere of Götterdämmerung in 2012. LFO said today:"We are delighted that Rachel Nicholls will be making her debut as Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung here at Longborough in July 2012. Rachel is one of the most versatile sopranos of her generation. She sang Fiordiligi at Longborough in 2007 and Helmwige in Die Walküre in 2010 to great acclaim"It seems that Erda may have had a word in certain reviewers ears also, said the Times last year:
“…Rachel Nicholls’s gleaming Helmwige — a future Brünnhilde? — stood out from a gutsy band of Valkyries.”Helmwige: Die Walküre / Longborough Festival Opera / The Sunday Times
Although known mainly for her highly regarded baroque performances , Rachel made her debut at ROH in Parsifal and recently performed to much acclaim as Sieglinde alongside Richard Berkeley-Steele, Susan Bullock, and Sir John Tomlinson at The St Endellion Summer Festival.
The Wagnerian recently had the opportunity to catch up with Rachel where we managed to discuss her successful background in baroque, her developmeent into an hochdramatischer sopran, working with her vocal coach the legendary Dame Anne Evans, the unique challenges of performing Wagner, along with many other things. Look out for it in the next few days - including an exclusive sample of her Helmwige.
Also today, LFO released the dates for the first entire (and self funded) country house ring cycle in the UK. The dates, which consist of two full cycles, are:
16, 18, 20, 22 June 2013
28, 30 June 2, 4 July 2013
For more information on LFO, ticket requests and more, visit the official website: Longborough Festival Opera
For more about Rachel, including, reviews and audio samples, visit her website: Rachel Nicholls
For an in-depth pictorial overview of LFOs Siegfried last year visit here: A Siegfried in Pictures - 2011
