Richard Greager & Glenys Fowles "Dal labbro il canto ... Sul fil d'un soffio" FALSTAFF (Verdi) 1976

New Zealand tenor, Richard Greager, studied in Melbourne and has been a Principal Tenor at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Scottish Opera and Hannover State Opera. In 1980 he became a principal guest artist with Opera Australia and, until 1995, divided his career between Australia and Europe. His roles with Opera Australia included Edgardo, Duca, Don Jose, Peter Grimes, Alfredo, Romeo, Des Grieux, Lensky, Gustavus, Almaviva, Tamino, Ferrando, Rodolfo, Raoul de Nangis, Marchese (in La buona Figliola), Ghost of Hamlet's father, Oronte, Ernesto, Don Ottavio, Chaplain (in Dialogies of the Carmelites) and roles in Wozzeck and Love in the Age of Therapy. In the '90s he sang several major roles at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, including creating the role of King Arthur in Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s opera Gawain which received its world premiere in 1993, was revived in 1994. Since returning to New Zealand in 1995 he has continued working throughout Australasia in opera and concert. In New Zealand, Richard Greager has sung the roles of Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier, Herod in Salome, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Tikhon in Katya Kabanova for the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, Cavaradossi in Tosca, the title role in Peter Grimes, Don José in Carmen and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni for Wellington City Opera, Gustavus in Un Ballo in Maschera for both Wellington City Opera and Canterbury Opera and Pinkerton for Canterbury Opera. He has also sung Pong in Turandot, Dr Caius in Falstaff, Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Guillot de Morfontaine in Manon, Torquemada in L'Heure Espagnol, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi and Macduff in Macbeth for NBR New Zealand Opera. He performed Mime in State Opera of South Australia’s 2004 production of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. The exquisite Australian soprano, Glenys Fowles, was born in Perth, Western Australia and studied with Lucy Howell. At age twelve, she appeared as Gretel in her school's production of HANSEL & GRETEL. Her adult debut was as Micaela in CARMEN for West Australian Opera. In 1967 she won the vocal section in the ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition and, the following year, was the first Australian to win a cash prize in the finals of the New York Metropolitan Opera Auditions - when she won the $500 Ludwig Donath Memorial Metropolitan Opera Studio Scholarship. She trained with the Met for two months, then joined the Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera, making her debut in 1969 as Oscar in Verdi's UN BALLO IN MASCHERA. She appeared at Covent Garden in 1973, and as Ilia in IDOMENEO in 1974 at Glyndebourne. For Scottish Opera she sang Sophie in DER ROSENKAVALIER and Tatiana in EUGENE ONEGIN.Her career took her also to the New York City Opera and San Diego Opera. For Opera Australia she appeared as Nanetta, Norina, Josephine, Mabel, Mimì, Sophie, Susanna and the Contessa, Marzellina, Constanza, Leila, Pamina, Rosina, Melisande, Mařenka, Juliette, Rosalinde, Gilda, Liù, Hanna Glawari, Tatiana, Despina, Donna Elvira, Manon and Countess Maritza. Glenys Fowles and RIchard Greager are heard here as Fenton and Nannetta in Act III Part 2 of Verdi's FALSTAFF - in a concert performance by Scottish Opera at the BBC Proms on August 13th 1976. In this excerpt, Claire Livingstone sings Meg Page, Catherine Wilson sings Alice Ford and Sesto Bruscantini is heard in the title role. The conductor is Alexander Gibson.