The Samling Foundation - Nurturing tomorrow's performing and visual artists

Following the success of Così fan tutte in 2005, Samling Opera produced its second opera - Don Giovanni- in Hall One at The Sage Gateshead in June 2007. The Samling Foundation once again looked to its huge alumni of outstanding young singers for the perfect cast:

Meet the cast

AppleMark Christopher Maltman - Don Giovanni
Our Don...

He’s been described as Britain’s hottest young baritone by the media both at home and abroad but to us he was quite simply ‘our Don’. Christopher Maltman, who’s in demand at opera houses
and on concert platforms all over the world, played the first Don Giovanni of his career for Samling Opera. He was as excited about it as we were.

“I have waited, it seems, a long time for an opportunity to perform my first Don Giovanni. Whilst offers have been there, they have never felt quite right. Don Giovanni is one of the jewels in the crown of a baritone’s repertoire and deserves respect, as many have thrown themselves at it and fallen short. It requires great mental and physical maturity to walk hand in hand with perhaps opera’s greatest anti-hero,” said Christopher.

Not only that, Christopher was absolutely delighted to be directed in the role by the man who has made the part his own - Sir Thomas Allen. “I had no idea that either The Samling Foundation or Thomas Allen would consider me to take on this tour-de-force but, once aired, the whole project made immediate sense to me,” he said.

“Tom is one of the greatest Dons of all time, full stop. I have watched, listened to and admired his performances since I first stumbled into the world of music I now inhabit. To have him at the helm of my first voyage into these turbulent waters seems almost too poetic to be true and I relish the prospect.”

Working with The Samling Foundation once again, at The Sage Gateshead and with a stellar cast and orchestra, is something he also relished. “Add to all this the enveloping patronage of The Samling Foundation, inspired musical impetus from Thomas Zehetmair and Northern Sinfonia and a fabulous cast, which includes Lisa Milne as Donna Elvira, and it seems we have quite a treat in store.
“Finally, if all that were not enough, I am forced to seduce my beautiful wife, Leigh Woolf, who plays Zerlina the simple peasant girl. They call this a job? I’m in heaven"

Lisa Milne – Donna Elvira
Described as a “celebrated lyric soprano”, Scottish soprano Lisa Milne is in demand at opera houses all over the world and is also a renowned recitalist and recording artist. She recently appeared in BBC One’s ‘Imagine’ programme - ‘Being a Diva’ - with her teacher Patricia MacMahon. This was her debut role as Donna Elvira – Don Giovanni’s former mistress who wholeheartedly believes she is his one true love.

Kate Valentine – Donna Anna
Another very talented Scottish soprano, Kate Valentine, took on the role of Donna Anna – the daughter of the ill-fated Commendatore and object of Don Giovanni’s insatiable lust in the opening scenes of the opera. Her past operatic roles include Rosalinde, Die Fledermaus with Scottish Opera Go Round and Countess Almaviva, Le nozze di Figaro with Glyndebourne on Tour. A regular on the concert platform, she recently appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in Handel’s Messiah conducted by Sir David Willcocks.

Leigh Woolf – Zerlina
The stunning mezzo-soprano Leigh Woolf played the peasant girl Zerlina who attracts the attention of the arch-womaniser (played by her husband Christopher Maltman) on her wedding day! Since graduating from The Royal College of Music with first class diplomas in opera and recital, Leigh has sung much of the major repertoire on the concert platform under the baton of Sir David Willcocks, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Thomas Zehetmair. Her operatic roles include covering Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro for Glyndebourne on Tour and Euphemia, La Bohème for ENO.

Marc Labonnette – Leporello
Don Giovanni’s man-servant and side-kick Leporello was played by the charming French baritone Marc Labonnette. A regular on the concert platform here and in France, his repertoire has included Fauré’s Requiem with the Brittany Orchestra and Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Jean-Claude Malgoire. Marc already has a number of the classic roles under his belt – having played Bottom, Falstaff, Basilio and Don Alfonso for Bampton Classical Opera and the Classical Opera Company.

Ronald Nairne – Il Commendatore
Our third Scot in the cast was bass Ronald Nairne whose dark voice usually places him in roles where he plays older more mature characters. Roles he has undertaken have included Italian gentlemen, Egyptian priests, a Turkish eunuch and a Mongolian soldier! Having studied on the opera course at the Royal Academy in London under the guidance of Glenville Hargreaves, Jonathan Papp and Tony Legge, he would now like to widen his repertoire to include more oratorio and song as well as opera.

Benedict Nelson – Masetto
Currently studying at the Guildhall School of Music with Robert Dean, Benedict Nelson joined the cast to take on the role of Zerlina’s betrothed Masetto. Benedict recently played Marcello in La Bohème for British Youth Opera in Tuscany. Future engagements for this increasingly busy baritone include Brahms’ ‘Ein Deutsches Requiem’ at the Royal Albert Hall with Sir David Willcocks and Bach’s ‘St John Passion’ at Cadogan Hall with Ronald Corp.

Adrian Ward – Don Ottavio
Tenor Adrian Ward from the Guildhall School of Music played Donna Anna’s fiancé, who vows to avenge the murder of her father by Don Giovanni. A regular on the concert platform, this very special young singer has performed in most of the UK’s major venues including Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, St John’s, Smith Square and Cadogan Hall. Adrian’s opera experience includes the role of Gonzalve, L’heure espangole, (Ravel) in the South of France near Aix en Provence, Mercurio, La Didone (Cavalli) and Anfinomo, Il Ritorno d’ Ulisse (Monteverdi), both with Christian Curnyn at the Guildhall School.

"From a humble chorus member, being given the rare opportunity and privilege to work on a production with the great and the good of today's opera world, as well as some fantastic young singers of tomorrow's opera world, a huge thank you for what was a marvellous experience." - Doreen Middlemast, chorus member

"The opera was amazing. The cast performed brilliantly and we were both extremely impressed by the range and the quality of their voices. Seeing Don Giovanni made Mozart more interesting to us - we never realised he wrote stories within in his music."- Two pupils from Meadowdale Middle School, Bedlington

"The performance was excellent, the orchestra wonderful and it was a fantastic experience and opportunity for our young people. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, loved sitting right at the front in the midst of it all and had a great day all round. Our thanks and congratulations to all the cast - I've never seen a Don more convincing! … looking forward to the next Samling Opera already!!" - Veronica Gilbert, music teacher at Chantry Middle School, Morpeth

Running alongside the opera production was an education project involving 39 talented 14 and 15 year olds from all over the North East and Cumbria.

Led by Susannah Waters (link) and Karl Daymond (link), the students worked on their own ‘take’ on the story, which involved dance, drama, music and singing. Rap artists Dannie Dee Sanderson and Justin Metti from Cantaloop, leading Vocal Consultant Paul Farrington and Samling Scholar Flora MacIntosh all led workshops with the students.

They were also given unparalleled access to the opera and the production process, meeting with the cast and production team and sitting in on an orchestral rehearsal.

It followed a similar format to the Così fan tutte education project in 2005, which the independent evaluator Jane Dancer described as “one of the most appropriate to its target group I have seen in over 16 years of leading, co-ordinating and evaluating arts and education projects nationally and regionally”.

Taking the themes of love, betrayal, murder, revenge, repentance and retribution the students explored in workshop the motivation of the characters and through improvisation, composition, creative writing and performance, produced their own piece of words and music in response. The result - 'The Becky Allen Show', a chat show in which characters from the opera expressed their views and feelings towards Don Giovanni and explained how he had affected their live - was performed in Hall One at The Sage Gateshead on Friday 8th June 2007 in front of family, friends and teachers.

What the students thought:

"I've had an amazing time - life changing".

"You have opened my eyes to a whole new career option for me"

"You've made this amazing for me. I’ll never forget this experience".