http://www.thestrad.com/

We often appreciate Così fan tutte on a surface level and are used to listening to Mozart as background music, on adverts, television, as aural wallpaper. It is easy to overlook the richness and depth of the music. This is one of the challenges of interpreting Così: understanding the concepts behind the music and text and how these are transmitted to the details of the music drama. These are key to unraveling the many layers of meaning – some of which are not always obvious and sometimes the music can mean two conflicting things.

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/gramophone-guest-blog/getting-to-grips-with-mozarts-così-fan-tutte

This year, the festival showcased some of Charles Dickens’ favourite composers – Mozart, Mendelssohn and Chopin as well as works by Huw Watkins and Judith Bingham.

Dickens, who celebrates his 200^th birthday this year, lived locally and was inspired by West Malling – the cricket match in A Pickwick Papers took place on what was formerly the country ground for Kent, a scene which used to be depicted on the reverse of a ten pound note.

Performers at this years festival included the Sacconi Quartet, Yeree Suh, Jonathan McGovern, Matthew Sharp and Chamber Domaine.

Leading up to the festival, over 1,000 local school children took part in a Safari education project, composing their own tunes inspired by The Carnival of the Animals.

More information about the festival is available at www.musicatmalling.com A candle-lit Christmas concert will be taking place on December 15th, 7pm at St Mary’s Church, West Malling where tenor Nicky Spence will perform works by Britten and Mozart.

Five young choreographers have been commissioned to produce a new piece based on operas in the Opera Holland Park 2012 season. Mozart’s Così fan tutte, which Thomas has been conducting, provides the inspiration for Akademi’s Katie Ryan, who specialises in contemporary and odissi Indian classical dance.

For more information, visit English National Ballet’s website, call the Opera Holland Park Box Office on 0300 999 1000 or visit www.operahollandpark.com

The Times notes Kemp’s conducting style as he ‘gives the singers sensitive support, while keeping the score and the action racing ahead to its dark and uneasy conclusion’, whilst his conducting is also duly noted by The Evening Standard: ‘under Thomas Kemp, the City of London Sinfonia’s wind section proves attractively pungent’ . The ‘captivating performance’ of the opening night is sure to bring in the crowds, drawn in by Opera Holland Park’s ‘electric’ atmosphere (The Upcoming). Tickets for the remaining performances are available via the Opera Holland Park website.

The new production, directed by Harry Fehr, features an exciting cast including Elizabeth Llewellyn as Fiordiligi, Andrew Staples as Ferrando, and Julia Riley as Dorabella.

The engagement at Opera Holland Park marks Thomas’ operatic debut; a genre he hopes to apply the same discipline required for contemporary music to:

“The music for Così fan tutte is some of Mozart’s finest and is full of irony as well as heartfelt sincerity and is rich with allusion and quotation – all of which subtly draw attention to the artificiality of Da Ponte’s original and witty libretto. It is often the writing for the inner parts that adds so much depth and colour to the drama – the violas, second violins, bassoons and clarinets. This is what needs to be teased out of the orchestral texture to make this fantastic music truly come alive.”

Cosí fan tutte opens at Opera Holland Park on June 8^th and runs until July 7^th. For more information please visit the Opera Holland Park website.

To find stockists, visit The Strad’s website, and to purchase A Constant Obsession, visit the Resonus Classics website.

To read the interview, get hold of a copy of Classical Music Magazine. You can also purchase A Constant Obsession, Thomas’ recordings of Turnage chamber works, from Resonus Classics.

If you have a subscription, you can read the full 4* review online here.

A Constant Obsession is a selection of world-premiere recordings of chamber music by Turnage, one of the most iconic composers of the 21st century. You can download the recording from Resonus Classics or iTunes.

It also features a tribute from Judith Bingham, with whom he has an ongoing working relationship. In the piece, Bingham describes Thomas as ‘an incredibly dynamic person – like a shot in the arm’.

To read the full interview see the January issue of Gramophone magazine – available now.