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John Owen Edwards

John Owen Edwards is a British conductor who has been particularly associated with the lyric theatre, especiallyWest End musicals and light opera. He conducted recordings of many of the works with which he was involved on stage. He also worked as a pianist and arranger.

Early life and career

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John Owen Edwards was born inCartmel, England. He won a scholarship to study composition atWorcester College, Oxford, graduating in 1973,[1] and soon began his career in musical theatre.[2] He conducted forRuth Welting at the 1975Royal Variety Performance,[3] and around the same time worked on the musicalBilly[1] at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane.[4] He collaborated with the musicianStephen Oliver several times, accompanying the premiere ofA Man of Feeling at theKing's Head Islington in 1980,[5] and as pianist inSwansong for Seven Voices byNigel Dennis on Radio 3 in 1985.[6]

At theChichester Festival Theatre, he was musical director forThe Mitford Girls byBrahms,Sherrin andGreenwell in 1981,[7] forValmouth bySandy Wilson in 1982[8] (later recorded),[9] for the premiere ofGoodbye Mr Chips by Starke andBricusse in 1982,[10] followed by a recording,[9] music supervisor for Ian Judge's production of Sondheim'sA Little Night Music in 1989,[11] and musical director forPeter Hall's production ofBorn Again byBarry, Hall and Carr in 1990.[12]

In 1984 he conductedThe Ratepayers' Iolanthe (an updated version ofGilbert and Sullivan'Iolanthe involving contemporary politics) in London,[13] followed byThe Metropolitan Mikado, a similar pastiche of Gilbert and Sullivan, in 1985.[9] He conducted the professional British stage premiere ofStreet Scene in April 1987, a performance in aid ofLondon Lighthouse, where "he guided the large cast ... through this complex score with calm authority".[14] He composed the music forCanary Blunt, a musical with words byDavid Firth, which premiered at theLatchmere Theatre in 1985 and for which a recording was made by That's Entertainment Records (TER).[1] He conducted the British stage premiere ofKurt Weill's 1936 musicalJohnny Johnson for Not the RSC at theAlmeida Theatre, London, in August 1986.[15] He conducted operas for the Singers Company includingLa Périchole, broadcast on BBC2,The Barber of Seville andLa bohème.[1]

He conducted the 1989 CD set ofKismet,[16] which included the first recordings of five numbers from the score ofTimbuktu!.[9] and the first complete recording ofThe Student Prince, withDavid Rendall,Norman Bailey,Diana Montague,Rosemary Ashe,Bonaventura Bottone, andLeon Greene.[17][9] For the recording ofCabaret withJudi Dench andFred Ebb, much more of the music was used than often heard;[16] it was billed as covering numbers in the "Original Broadway Score, The Film Score and The Revival Score".[18] In August 1992 he conductedAustralian Opera in Melbourne inLes Contes d'Hoffmann.[19]

D'Oyly Carte and later years

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He was appointed music director of theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1992,[20] for whom he conducted and recordedThe Yeomen of the Guard after a 26-week tour starting from theAlexandra Theatre in Birmingham. This recording featured rarely played horn parts in the Shadbolt aria "When Jealous Torments", Meryll's song "A Laughing Boy", a phrase for Kate in the finale, and the original version of "Is Life a Boon?".[16] One critic noted of the revived D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, "Their greatest single asset is the music director John Owen Edwards: both pieces (Iolanthe andThe Count of Luxembourg) were extremely well conducted and their idioms clearly differentiated via an alert orchestra, the Sullivan beautifully clear, allowing one to relish anew the exquisite instrumentation, the Lehar authentically luscious".[21] For the years he was music director of D’Oyly Carte, he conductedPatience,The Yeomen of the Guard,H.M.S. Pinafore,The Mikado,The Pirates of Penzance,Iolanthe,Orpheus in the Underworld,Die Fledermaus,The Count of Luxembourg andLa Vie Parisienne.[22]The Mikado was filmed atBuxton Opera House and broadcast on BBC2 on Boxing Day 1992. Owen Edwards was happy with the policy of D'Oyly Carte to branch out into parts of the light opera repertoire beyond its traditionalGilbert and Sullivan, "mentioning in passing such diverse possibilities as ...The Merry Wives of Windsor, German'sTom Jones [and]The Most Happy Fella",[16] the last of which he recorded complete in the late 1990s withLoesser's daughter Emily as Rosabella and included six extracts cut before the opera opened on Broadway.[23]

At the National Theatre in London he conductedOklahoma![24] He also conductedOrpheus in the Underworld forBritish Youth Opera in 2002,[25] and atOpera Holland Park in 2009. His concert work includes a series of Gilbert and Sullivan concerts with theBournemouth Symphony Orchestra,[22]

He has been the musical director of a number of musicals in London's West End, includingAnnie,Evita,Chess,Anything Goes,The Phantom of the Opera,The Sloane Ranger Revue,The King and I, andA Little Night Music,[2] and also worked onThe Wizard of Oz for theRoyal Shakespeare Company.[2] For theHong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, he conducted the musicalsGuys and Dolls andDamn Yankees, alsoShowboat at theOpéra du Rhin in Strasbourg, andHello, Dolly! at theVienna Volksoper[26]

For theGärtnerplatztheater in Munich, John Owen Edwards created the new orchestration for the continental premiere ofChitty Chitty Bang Bang.[2] At theStadttheater Klagenfurt he conductedSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2009,[26]My Fair Lady, andLes Misérables.[2] At Opera Holland Park he conductedDie Fledermaus in 2004,Die lustige Witwe in 2006[26] andOrphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld) in 2009.[27]

He has also conducted many concerts, including withAlfie Boe andABBA,[9][2] and taught as a professor at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama from 1977 to 1985, where he conductedCompany andWonderful Town.[1] In 1990 he returned to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to conduct "with complete authority" a production ofOn the Twentieth Century[28] and, in July 1991,Out of this world.[29]

In 2012 he supervised rehearsals for a production ofThe Grand Duke at theInternational Gilbert and Sullivan Festival and took a joint curtain call in a wheelchair.[30]

Radio

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Owen Edwards's work on BBC radio included programmes with the vocal groupCantabile, music forE. F. Benson'sSecret Lives, dramatised and narrated byAubrey Woods, and the same author'sQueen Lucia in 1984,[1]Friday Night Is Music Night in 1999 and 2001, from 1978 three series of the comic showThe Jason Explanation withDavid Jason,[9] a radio presentation ofJulian Slade'sTrelawny in 1983,[1] theRSC production ofThe Lorenzaccio Story,[9]A Bullet in the Ballet by Brahms and Simon in 1987, dramatised by Pat Hooker, andSalad Days in 1994, on Radio 2.[citation needed]

Discography

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References

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  1. ^abcdefgChess London Programme, August 1986, biographical note on John Owen Edwards, p. 29.
  2. ^abcdef"Biography of John Owen Edwards", Gärtnerplatz Theater, Munich, accessed 14 December 2024.
  3. ^Royal Variety Show 1975: Michael Crawford, Kojak, Dad's Army (final credits of TV relay) accessed 21 January 2025
  4. ^Finstock News 144 (February/March 2024, p. 2): Finstock Folk – John Owen Edwards talking to Julian Stewart.
  5. ^Milnes, Rodney. British Opera Diary –A Man of Feeling (Stephen Oliver).Opera, February 1981, Vol. 32, No. 2, p.188.
  6. ^"Swansong for Seven Voices BBC Radio 3", 13 January 1985, Genome, accessed 22 February 2025.
  7. ^Chichester Festival Theatre archive page for The Mitford Girls 1981 accessed 22 January 2025.
  8. ^Chichester Festival Theatre archive page for Valmouth 1982 accessed 22 January 2025.
  9. ^abcdefghijBiographical note to John Owen Edwards in Booklet accompanying TER CDTER2 1170 (Kismet), 1990.
  10. ^"Goodbye Mr Chips", Chichester Festival Theatre archive page, 1982, accessed 22 January 2025.
  11. ^" A Little Night Music", Chichester Festival Theatre archive page, 1982, accessed 22 January 2025.
  12. ^"Born Again", Chichester Festival Theatre archive page, 1982, accessed 22 January 2025.
  13. ^Milnes, Rodney. Review –The Ratepayers' Iolanthe. Queen Elizabeth Hall, July 26.Opera, October 1984, Vol. 35, No. 10, pp. 1160–1161.
  14. ^Milnes, Rodney. "At the Musical.Street Scene, Palace Theatre, April 26",Opera, July 1987, Vol. 38, No. 7, pp. 840–841.
  15. ^Milnes, Rodney. "At the Musical –Johnny Johnson (Weill), Not the RSC at the Almeida Theatre, London, August 15",Opera, October 1986, Vol. 37, No. 10, pp. 1209–1210.
  16. ^abcdefghGiving G&S the treatment. D'Oyly Carte Music Director John Owen Edwards talk to Adrian Edwards.Gramophone, May 1993, p. 19
  17. ^The Classical Catalogue, Master edition 1992 No. 2. General Gramophone Publications Ltd, Harrow, 1992, p. 856.
  18. ^Cabaret Completely Remastered Release, Jay records accessed 25 February 2025.
  19. ^Hince, Kenneth. Australia – Fitting productions (Melbourne).Opera, December 1992, Vol. 43, No. 12, pp. 1420–1421.
  20. ^In the News - Appointments and Awards.Opera, April 1992, Vol.43 No.4, p415.
  21. ^Milnes, Rodney.Iolanthe andThe Count of Luxembourg – D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.Opera, December 1997, Vol. 48, No. 12, pp. 1477–1478.
  22. ^abcdefghijklFinborough Theatre - The Grand Duke. About The Musical Director John Owen Edwards. accessed 14 December 2024.
  23. ^abBlewitt, David.The Most Happy Fella, Loesser - CD review.Opera, July 2001, Vol. 52, No. 7, p. 890.
  24. ^National Theatre Archive – Owen Edwards, Music Director ofOklahoma!, 1998 accessed 22 January 2025.
  25. ^Milnes, Rodney. Opera on the fringe.Le nozze di Figaro andOrpheus in the Underworld – British Youth Opera at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, September 2 and 5.Opera, Vol. 53, No. 11, November 2002, p. 1391.
  26. ^abcJohn Owen Edwards search at Operabase accessed 22 January 2025.
  27. ^Reed, Peter. "Orpheus in the Underworld – Opera Holland Park".Opera, September 2009, Vol. 60, No. 9, p. 1128.
  28. ^Milnes, Rodney. "At the Musical –On the Twentieth Century,Opera, September 1990, Vol. 41, No. 9, pp. 1135–1136.
  29. ^Milnes, Rodney. "At the Musical –Out of this World,Opera, October 1991, Vol. 42, No. 10, pp. 1232–1233.
  30. ^Canning, Hugh. "The Grand Duke;H.M.S. Pinafore;Ruddigore" – Opera House, Buxton, August 17, Buxton’s International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.Opera, November 2012, Vol. 63, No. 11, p. 1406.
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