The Stage

RPS award to Armstrong for SO’s Ring Cycle

Published Tuesday 11 May 2004 at 07:25 by Ruth Gillespie

Richard Armstrong, music director of Scottish Opera, has received a Royal Philharmonic Society award during a ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel in London for his role in bringing the complete performance of Wagner’s Ring Cycle to fruition.

The production, which was performed at the 2003 Edinburgh International Festival and later at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow and the Lowry, Salford, was acclaimed by critics but left the company in debt forcing it to draw £4 million from next year’s grant.

Scottish Opera has subsequently submitted two business plans, one of which is understood to involve extensive job losses, to the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Executive in an attempt to repay the loan while operating within its standstill annual budget of £7.5 million.

Speaking after the ceremony Armstrong is reported to have said he felt the company was being penalised for the Ring Cycle, which he admitted was costly but had brought great acclaim to the organisation. He added: “The Ring Cycle is one of the greatest challenges in the world of music. Was it really that improper to want to provide that for Scotland?”

Judged by independent panels, the annual RPS awards come in 15 categories honouring musicians, composers, writers, broadcasters and arts organisations dealing with live classical music. Celebrated bass John Tomlinson presented the prizes, which take the form of a silver lyre, and the ceremony was hosted by Radio 3’s Stephanie Hughes.

A posthumous award was also made to soprano Susan Chilcott who died of cancer in September 2003.

The full list of winners was as follows:

Audience Development: Operatunity

BBC Radio 3 Listeners Award: Thomas Allen

Book: Jim Samson - Virtuosity and the Musical Work

Chamber Ensemble: Belcea Quartet

Chamber-scale Composition: Helmut Lachenmann - Grido

Concert Series and Festivals: LSO - By George!

Conductor: Mariss Jansons

Education: Welsh National Opera - Katerina Project

Instrumentalist: Mitsuko Uchida

Large Ensemble: West Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim

Large-scale Composition: Harrison Birtwistle - The Shadow of Night

Opera: Richard Armstrong - Wagner’s Ring

Radio, Television, Video: Operatunity

Singer: Susan Chilcott

Young Artist: Ilan Volkov