Biographies:

Ryan McKinny

American bass-baritone Ryan McKinny has been praised for his “elegant and articulate” vocalism (OC Register), as well as a lyrical bass-baritone voice that “drips with gold.”   (Opera News).

Mr. McKinny will begin the 2009 – 2010 season at Houston Grand Opera as the Herald in Lohengrin conducted by Patrick Summers.  He will then be heard at Los Angeles Opera in two new roles: Leone in Handel’s Tamerlano with Plácido Domingo and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia. In the spring of 2010, Mr. McKinny will make his European operatic debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Escamillo in Carmen, as well as Hercules in Peter Konwitschny’s new production of Alceste for Oper Leipzig. He will also perform the bass-baritone roles in Oedipus Rex for his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas and with the Sydney Festival in Sydney, Australia under the direction of Peter Sellars. Future seasons will see Mr. McKinny at the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Houston Grand Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Los Angeles Opera, and English National Opera.

Last season, Ryan McKinny sang the roles of Creon, Tiresias, and the Messenger in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in his final concerts as Music Director and staged by Peter Sellars. He also made his debut with Utah Symphony & Opera as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro and returned to the Aspen Music Festival for a recital recreated on a program originally performed by Jerome Hines in June 1949. Mr. McKinny was recently heard at Houston Grand Opera as Don Pedro in Béatrice et Bénédict and Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Recent seasons have included performances of Sam in Un ballo in maschera and Flint in Billy Budd at Houston Grand Opera, as well as Montano in Otello and Ein Bedentier in Ullmann’s Der zerbrochene Krug, both under the baton of James Conlon for his debut with Los Angeles Opera. He was seen at Wolf Trap Opera as Barone di Kelbar in Verdi’s early opera Un giorno di regno and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Berkshire Opera. In concert, he was heard as bass-baritone soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra and Zuniga in a concert performance of Carmen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

An alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Mr. McKinny has performed a number of roles on the mainstage at HGO, including Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Ramfis in Aida, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Zuniga in Carmen, and Pietro in Simon Boccanegra. In November 2006, he sang the role of Der Tod in Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis conducted by Maestro Conlon with the Jewish Community Center of Houston (in partnership with Houston Grand Opera). He also previously sang this role with Maestro Conlon at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival and at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. In the summer of 2006, Mr. McKinny sang Le Gouverneur in Rossini’s Le comte Ory and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at Wolf Trap Opera.

Mr. McKinny made his Carnegie Hall debut in December 2004 in Handel’s Messiah with the Musica Sacra Orchestra. At the Aspen Music Festival in 2007, he sang his first performance of Winterreise accompanied on the piano by Richard Bado. He has also been heard as soloist in the Mozart, Brahms, and Fauré Requiems as well as Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem. Additionally, he sang the world premiere of Henrik Strindberg’s I Thought Someone Came By at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in 2004.

A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. McKinny represented the United States in the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, where he was a finalist in the Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize. He was also a Grand Finalist in the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was the third place winner in the 2005 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition.

Sharolyn Kimmorley AM

After studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sharolyn Kimmorley joined the Music Staff of The Australian Opera in 1975 and has assisted in the preparation of a vast range of works with many distinguished singers and conductors.  In 1985 she became Principal Repetiteur for The Australian Opera and in 1987 was appointed Head of Music Staff.  From 1994 to 1999 she was the company's Artistic Administrator, following which she was Opera Australia's Director of Music Administration until June 2003.

Sharolyn Kimmorley is regarded as one of Australia’s finest vocal coaches and accompanists. She has recorded for the ABC, taken part in Chamber Music Concerts, and accompanied some of the world's most distinguished recitalists including Dame Joan Sutherland, Håkan Hagegård, Neil Rosenshein, Bryn Terfel, Joan Carden, Stephen Bennett, Michael Lewis, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Sir Thomas Allen, Désirée Rancatore, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, David Hobson, Elizabeth Campbell, Keith Lewis, Inessa Galante, Dennis O’Neill, Kathleen Battle, Jonathan Lemalu, Peter Coleman-Wright and Cheryl Barker.

She regularly accompanies the major singing competitions and in 1983 was invited by Tito Gobbi to be the accompanist for the Concorso Internazionale per Cantanti at Bassano del Grappa and coach for the Studio dell’opera Italiana at Asolo.  In 2001 she was a jury member for the first China (Guangdong) International Singing Competition and has adjudicated Symphony Australia’s Young Performer Award.

Sharolyn was the recipient of the 2003 Opera Foundation Australia Bayreuth Scholarship and in 2004 was involved as rehearsal conductor and vocal coach for Der Ring des Nibelungen for State Opera of South Australia.
Sharolyn has been guest vocal coach at the Australian National University, Australian Opera Studio, West Australian Opera, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Auckland University, Southern Opera (Christchurch), London’s Guildhall School of Music and The Cardiff International Vocal Academy. She also works regularly as vocal coach and répétiteur for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Sharolyn is very active in her work to assist young singers. She arranges and accompanies concerts for organizations that raise funds to support these artists and seeks performance opportunities for them in various regional and metropolitan centres.

During 2009, Sharolyn has accompanied the Australian Tour of Teddy Tahu Rhodes and David Hobson. She has also appeared in recital for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra with Sasha Rozhdestvensky and the Coriole Music Festival with Sally-Anne Russell.  Later this year Sharolyn will perform with appear as associate artist with Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Cheryl Barker for Renaissance Tours’ Festival of Music and Opera and with Cheryl Barker and Peter Coleman-Wright for the Australian Club.

In January 2009 Sharolyn became a member of the Order of Australia in recognition of her work as an accompanist and the nurturing and mentoring of emerging artists.

In 2010, Sharolyn will perform Schubert’s Winterreise with Ryan McKinney for the Sydney Festival. She will appear in recital with Yvonne Kenny, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and David Hobson and with Barbara Bonney for the Sydney Opera House Trust.

Synopsis:

Winterreise is primarily about feelings and atmosphere, but there is nevertheless a story, albeit told in a fragmented narrative.  A young man, the hero (or anti-hero) of the poems, arrives in an idyllic village in May (Good Night).  There he befriends a family of mother, father and daughter and is invited to live with them (Good Night).  He falls in love with the daughter and his love is returned, or so he is led to believe (Benumbed).  However, the daughter rejects him to marry a wealthy suitor with the approval of her parents (The Vane).  It is now winter and the hero leaves his adopted home in the dead of night, writing a farewell message to his beloved (Good Night). As he leaves the town crows shower him with snow from the roofs (Looking Back) and he begins a painful journey, constantly tortured by memories of his past happiness (Frozen Tears, On the River, The Watercourse). As he leaves the town he is joined by a raven, possibly symbolic of a death wish (The Raven).  Eventually he arrives at another town (Solitude) where it seems that he stays for some time as he writes of the post arriving there (The Post).  The cycle ends with a particularly bleak image.  An organ-grinder or hurdy-gurdy man has a pitch near the village where he plies his trade ignored by the villagers and harassed by dogs.  It is ironic that in this final poem the poet asks if the hurdy-gurdy man will set the poet’s songs to music, an invitation that was ultimately accepted by Schubert.

The Poems:

Good Night (Gute Nacht)

As a stranger I arrived

As a stranger I shall leave

I remember a perfect day in May

How bright the flowers, how cool the breeze

The maiden had a friendly smile

The mother had kind words

But now the world is dreary

With a winter path before me

I can’t choose the season

To depart from this place

I won’t delay or ponder

I must begin my journey now

The bright moon lights my path

It will guide me on my road

I see the snow-covered meadow

I see where deer have trod

A voice within says – go now

Why linger and delay?

Leave the dogs to bay at the moon

Before her father’s gate

For love is a thing of changes

God has made it so

Ever-changing from old to new

God has made it so

So love delights in changes

Good night, my love, good night

Love is a thing of changes

Good night, my love, good night

I’ll not disturb your sleep

But I’ll write over your door

A simple farewell message

Good night, my love, good night

These are the last words spoken

Soon I’ll be out of sight

A simple farewell message

Goodnight, my love, good night

The Vane (Die Wetterfahne)

The wind is turning the weathervane

On the roof of my sweetheart’s house

Round and round it mocks and teases

Teases and mocks my sighs and my tears

If only I’d seen this fickle symbol

Before I entered that house

I would not have hoped so much

Of one inconstant, though so fair

For Nature plays with our hearts

As the wind plays with the vane

What do they care if my heart is dying?

Their child will be a wealthy bride

Frozen Tears (Gefrorne Tränen)

Some frozen tears

Cling to my face

Have I really been crying

And not noticed them flow?

Teardrops, heavy teardrops

What chills you through

What turns you into ice

Like drops of early dew?

From this poor bosom tears flow

Flow with burning heat

Flow enough to melt

The winter frost and snow

Benumbed (Erstarrung)

I look for traces of her footsteps

I look for them in vain

Where leaning on my arm

She crossed the bright green field

I’ll kiss the wintry carpet

And with my scalding tears

Dissolve the freezing snow

I’ll bring that field to life again

Do flowers still bloom?

Is the grass still green?

All the flowers have died

The grass is withered and thin

Earth, can you remind me

Of yesterday’s happiness

When my sorrows fall silent

Who will speak to me of her?

It seems my heart is frozen

Her face etched on the ice

If my heart ever melts

Her face will fade away

The Linden Tree (Der Lindenbaum)

Before the doorway is a well

A Linden-tree stands there

Many times I’ve sought its shade

A place of rest and pleasant dreams

When dreaming there I carved

Some words of love upon the bark

Both joy and sorrow

Drew me to that shady spot

But today I must wander

Through this blackest night

In darkness I passed this tree

But couldn’t bear to look

I heard the branches rustle

As if they spoke to me

Come to me my old friend

Find peace with me

Cruel winds were blowing

Coldly cutting my face

My hat was blown behind me

I quickly sped on my way

I’m now many miles distant

From that dear old Linden-tree

But I still hear it whisper

“Come – find peace with me.”

The Watercourse (Wasserflut)

My tears have made

Deep marks in the snow

The cold flakes

Absorbing all my sorrows

When the grass begins to grow

And feels a warmer breeze

The swelling ice begins to break

And the sun melts the snow

Snow, you know of my yearnings

Tell me, where do you go?

Take my tears with you

As you flow to the stream

Flow through the town together

Go where the road leads

You’ll feel my hot tears

As you pass where my loved-one lives

On the River (Auf dem Flusse)

River, once so restless

Flowing fast and bright

Why are you now so still

Lifeless, chilled and silent

A hard and icy case

Is now your winter prison

You lie cold and dreary

Pressed fast upon the earth

I’ll write upon your cover

With a pointed stone

My loved one’s name

A day and a time

The day when I first met her

The day when my love began

I’ll draw a broken ring

Around that name and date

Does my heart see

Your image in this river?

Does it swell and quiver

In its own icy case?

Looking Back (Rückblick)

It feels like I’m walking on fire

Though underfoot is ice and snow

I’ve hardly time to draw breath

So keen am I to leave that town

Every stone has made me stumble

In my haste to get away

From every roof  I’ve passed

Crows have showered me with snow

How different when I arrived

How well you greeted me then

Your shining happy streets

Where the lark and nightingale sang

A Linden-tree whispered in the breeze

The murmur of the sparkling stream

Then the spell cast upon my heart

From a beautiful maiden’s eyes

Now when I think of that day

I’m tempted to turn and look back

To retrace my weary way

To stand before my loved one’s house

Will O’ the Wisp (Irrlicht)

Will O’ the Wisp has led me

Deep into a rocky maze

I look from right to left

I seek a path, but there is none

I’m about to lose my way

All paths appear the same

Our joys and sorrows are no more real

Than this teasing phantom light

Through the gorge where the river rushed

I’ll calmly travel on

Every river flows to the sea

Every sorrow will come to an end

Rest (Rast)

At last I rest and only now

I feel weary

Nothing could tire me

While I pressed on

Over desolate winter paths

I was carried along as if on wings

It was too cold to stop

The winter wind helped me on my way

A helping hand on my back

Spring Dreams (Frühlingstraum)

I dreamt of flowers in many colours

That burst forth in May

I dreamt of the grassy meadow

And the sound of endless birdsong

When the cock crowed

I awoke in my bed

Eveything was cold and dismal

And ravens croaked overhead

Who drew those leafy flowers

Upon the window pane?

Why do you mock the dreamer

Whose garden blooms in winter?

I dreamt of a lovely maiden

And of the love we shared

I dreamt of sweet kisses

And blissful caresses

When the cock crowed

I started from my dreams

Now I’m sitting alone

With a memory of that dream

My eyes are closing again

Once more my heart begins to throb

Will leaves ever turn green?

Will I ever embrace my sweetheart?

Solitude (Einsamkeit)

Dark clouds are drifting

Across the bright blue sky

Soft breezes gently sigh

In the dark forest

But in moody silence

I walk with sluggish feet

Alone and unnoticed

In this busy street

Why is the air so tranquil!

Why is the world so fair!

Even in the raging storm

I never felt such despair

The Post (Die Post)

The post-horn rings

Rings through the streets

Heart, where do these feelings come from?

The post has no news for me

So heart, why do you grieve?

The post has arrived

From the town

Where once, my heart

I loved so dearly

I’ll ask the postman, Heart

If he has been to that town

And if he has seen

The fair one you loved

The Gray Head (Der greise Kopf)

A white sheen covers my head

A frost has done its work

I imagine I am old and grey

A pleasant dream for me

But then comes the thaw

My hair returns to black

Once more I am young

And peace is far away

They say one night of torment

Can make black hair turn white

The frost leaves my hair untouched

I have wandered but must wander more

The Raven (Die Krähe)

A raven has flown beside me

Since the day I left the town

Raven, bird of ill-omen

Will you ever leave me?

Do you stalk me

In the hope I will be yours?

My journey can’t last much longer

My strength begins to fail

Raven, surely you will be true

Until death overtakes me

The Last Hope (Letzte Hoffnung)

A few gaudy leaves remain

On the winter branches

I shelter beneath

I begin to dream

I stare at one leaf

I stake my hopes on it

If the breeze moves it

I shiver and shake with fear

If the leaf falls

And flutters down

My hopes will fall with it

My heart will sink too

My last hope will be gone

In the Village (Im Dorfe)

The watchdogs are barking

And straining at their chains

The people are sleeping

And the village is at rest

What dreams they have

What joyful pleasures

Of good, of evil

According to their souls

But in the light of morning

Their treasures are all gone

What then? – They’ve had their fill

But hope in vain their dreams are real

Bark long, bark loud

My brave guards

The world sleeps

But gives me no rest!

My dreams have ended in tears

Why should I linger here?

The Stormy Morning (Der Sturmische Morgen)

A storm has ripped

The grey robe of the sky

The clouds fly apart

In wild disorder

A flame reaches out and grasps the earth

The scene without, the soul within

One hot and fiery

The other cold and bleak

Illusion (Täuschung)

I see a flickering guiding light

To left and right, now here, now there

I’ll follow this light, though I know

It will mislead and tease me

Those who are lost, as I am

Will trust a friendly guiding light

That in the darkness, ice and snow

Shows the path to welcoming house

I see a fair face within

This trickery is my gain

The Guide-Post (Der Wegweiser)

Why should I leave the beaten path

Where the other wanderers tread?

Why do I seek hidden tracks

On unmarked mountain snow?

I have injured no one

No need to shun mankind

It is only foolishness

That makes me seek the wild

At every crossing there is a post

It points towards the town

I will travel far beyond them

I’ll seek rest, but find none

I see a guidepost standing

Before my face it stands

It points me to a path

One no wanderer can retrace

The Wayside Inn (Das Wirthaus)

I’ve laboured upon my journey

A path to this lonely graveyard

I was looking for a welcoming inn

To rest my weary head

These green funeral wreaths

You could be the sign

That tells the tired traveller

That a cool retreat awaits

Among all your rooms

Do you have one for me?

I’m tired and ready to rest

Unwelcoming inn, do you deny me shelter?

Courage (Mut!)

Snow falls on my cheek

I carelessly brush it away

If my heart speaks of its troubles

I’ll drown it out with a happy song

I won’t listen to the heart’s complaints

I won’t listen to its fears

I’m content to wander

Through the wind and the snow

I have my trusty staff

I have my cheerful song

We will journey on together

The Mock Suns (Die Nebensonnen)

I saw three suns in the bright cold sky

I stared at them long and hard

Unmoving they stared back at me

As if they would last forever

You three do not belong to me

Go and shine on others

I used to have three suns

But the best two have gone

If the third goes out

I will welcome the darkness

The Organ-Grinder (Der Leiermann)

Up behind the village

The organ grinder has his pitch

He stands barefoot or shuffles

On the frozen ground

With stiff fingers

He coaxes out the sound

His saucer is empty

Gifts for him are rare

No one listens to him

Or looks at him, or cares

Dogs snarl at him

Dogs chase him

But he wears a smile

He shows no fear or disappointment

But turns the handle round and round

Shall I join you on your journey?

Will you play the music to my songs?

Translated by Barry Mitchell