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Post by Honoured Guest on Dec 1, 2017 10:39:56 GMT
Onegin
Ice, no lemon
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Post by Someone in a tree on Dec 6, 2017 12:31:12 GMT
Pleased you liked it. I was going to comment on it being the first production I’ve seen in about 20 years with no surtitles to distract. Don’t know anything about the company but it does seem like they went for a mix of new and experienced singers, all of whom had excellent diction. This really helps deliver the text and the laughs were at the right time. Obviously this is Opera in English in a small scale hall (300 seats?) , but it was refreshing. Can’t find a website for the new co but their list of patrons was most impressive and hopefully this is not the last time they visit Wilton’s. Then like the London Omnibus…two come at once! So 7 days later we went to a new reduced production of Eugene Onegin at the Arcola. Again, sung in English. Again, no surttiles. Again, we could understand every word! It has a few cuts but it worked very well. No programme to hand so can’t name the Young singer who played Onegin but he had a lovely unforced voice. Tanya (didn’t need to change that) was not so easy on the ear , but overall it was well cast. If anyone is interested I can find out which cast we saw. Runs until the end of December. www.arcolatheatre.com/event/eugene-onegin/ I’m seeing Onegin next week. After Flute I was slightly anxious thankfully you have given me hope Onegin was really good. My biggest fear, the reduced orchestration was fine as the cello and clarinetist sounded superb
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Post by lynette on Dec 18, 2017 14:43:16 GMT
I posted a new thread on Onegin which isn’t necessary I see now. Anyway, liked it. Would be v happy to get more recommendations here for small opera, small in terms of venue and number in company, not in ambition or artistic merit.
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Post by jek on Jan 13, 2018 22:59:26 GMT
I've booked today for Poulenc's Dialogues de Carmelites being performed by Guildhall students at the Silk Street Theatre from the 26th February - 5th March. Not that many tickets available so anyone who is interested should probably book soon. Tickets are £25, £15 for concessions.
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 15, 2018 13:33:01 GMT
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Post by jek on Jan 30, 2018 17:25:21 GMT
Wilton's have announced that they are staging the ENO studio live production of Britten's Paul Bunyan in September. Booking is open now for Wilton's priority members and opens on February 14th for the general public. www.wiltons.org.uk/whatson/433-?platform=hootsuite
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Post by vabbian on Feb 2, 2018 7:40:25 GMT
going to see Thais tonight at the NCPA 国家大剧院 (Beijing)
Starring Placido Domingo! My first time seeing him, and first time seeing this opera. exciting!
Anyone else going? Anyone know a good recording of Thais?
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Post by bellboard27 on Feb 19, 2018 8:54:11 GMT
Marriage of Figaro, Tunbridge Wells Opera House:
I went to this yesterday more because of the venue than the production. I have passed the building with ‘Opera House’ carved into it for years, but only recently have performances begun again. It is a lovely Edwardian theatre that fell into trouble in the late 1920s, becoming a cinema in the 30s, with some attempts at live performances in the 40s and 50s. In the 60s it became a bingo hall. More recently Wetherspoons took it over. As a pub, the foyer area still feels theatrical with lots of memorabilia. The stalls seats are gone, with bar tables and seats instead and these are on the stage as well. There are bars at the back of the stalls and the back of the stage. The dress circle and upper circle (and boxes) are all intact. I had visited the venue as a pub and wanted to visit a performance.
Once a year opera is put on for two performances on the day. The pub transforms the stalls into dining seats and the dress circle is open for non-dining seating (I don’t know why the upper circle was not open, but the upper circle boxes were used). Both performances were sold out, so with 200 covers for meals over the two performances (plus drinks for others), I suppose the pub does not do too badly out of it. Being in the dress circle I got a better view of the state of the theatre upstairs and must admit that Wetherspoons seem to have restored it well. It is a lovely theatre in gold, red, white and blue. Given that it has not been used as a theatre for so long, it is amazing that it still can be presented as a theatre relatively easily.
As to the show. Produced by Merry Opera it was billed as ‘opera meets jazz’ and set Marriage of Figaro in 1962. While I have no problem reimagining operas into different times and places, I did have problems with the musical decision for this production. Merry Opera usually use a single piano, but this time had a keyboard, drums and double bass to create a jazz sound. However, while I found it an interesting experiment, singing Mozart as syncopated jazz just felt wrong. The beauty of the music and the voices seemed to be lost. Some voices were good and the performers put a lot of effort into comic acting, which is important. However, if the music is not right, it’s a fundamental flaw.
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Post by Mr Snow on Feb 19, 2018 9:18:26 GMT
Received today. “I am writing on behalf University College Opera to inform you that the tickets for this year's production of the British premiere of Charles Gounod's opera 'Polyeucte' are now on sale on the Royal Theatre Stratford East website. Written by Gounod in London in the 1870s, 'Polyeucte' tells a tragic story of love and Christian martyrdom in defiance of an all-powerful powerful Roman empire. An excellent cast of young singers joins the the UCL orchestra and chorus, conducted by Charles Peebles and directed by upcoming British director Thomas Guthrie.” www.stratfordeast.com/whats-on/all-shows/polyeucte#schedulesThe Theatre Royal is 5 mins walk from Stratford tube/overground station and a Franck Matcham Gem. I would go but will be away 19/22nd March. A few years ago they put on Donizetti’s, La Favorita which is now my personal favourite ‘unknown’ Opera. Based on 3 of their productions, the standards of singing and imaginative staging (on a small budget) are recommendable, the Orchestra a little less so. Not often that a Gounod piece comes up. Speaking of which I hope to attend a real first this summer. www.theguardian.com/music/2018/feb/18/gaetano-donizetti-ange-de-nisida-lost-opera-rara-london-premiere
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 19, 2018 12:10:07 GMT
Received today. “I am writing on behalf University College Opera to inform you that the tickets for this year's production of the British premiere of Charles Gounod's opera 'Polyeucte' are now on sale on the Royal Theatre Stratford East website. Written by Gounod in London in the 1870s, 'Polyeucte' tells a tragic story of love and Christian martyrdom in defiance of an all-powerful powerful Roman empire. An excellent cast of young singers joins the the UCL orchestra and chorus, conducted by Charles Peebles and directed by upcoming British director Thomas Guthrie.” www.stratfordeast.com/whats-on/all-shows/polyeucte#schedulesThanks Mr Snow for the heads up on Polyeucte by UCO at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. I have just booked for 21 March after the usual battle with the website over passwords. Almost exactly a year ago I saw the UCO's Aroldo in the same venue and that sure was an unusual night at the opera, almost to rival the Marx Brothers as regards the rubbish production, but musically it had much merit. The orchestra occupied the first half of the stalls and the voices rang out well in the small auditorium. I am sitting near the end of the front row of the dress circle where I will get a perfect view of the stage and also watch the orchestra, same as I did for Aroldo. But I hope that the director, Thomas Guthrie, does not decide to update the setting as happened with Aroldo. It was sung in Italian but the surtitles caused some hilarity when we saw that the director, Pia Furtado, had changed Aroldo to Harold or Harry, Godvino to Vinny, and words like 'madre' to 'mum'. It was almost impossible to work out Piave's original setting, let alone Ms Furtado's updated one but it was worth seeing for the music! Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing Polyeucte, especially at £17 for a senior in one of the best seats in the house!
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 19, 2018 12:22:01 GMT
But I hope that the director, Thomas Guthrie, does not decide to update the setting as happened with Aroldo. It was sung in Italian but the surtitles caused some hilarity when we saw that the director, Pia Furtado, had changed Aroldo to Harold or Harry, Godvino to Vinny, and words like 'madre' to 'mum'. It was almost impossible to work out Piave's original setting, let alone Ms Furtado's updated one but it was worth seeing for the music! Yup, my prophetic soul is in good working order! "Award-winning and much acclaimed conductor Charles Peebles, who has been musical director of UCOpera since 2002, leads a cast of professional young singers and an enthusiastic and well-rehearsed student orchestra and chorus. Rising opera-director Thomas Guthrie, who amongst other things has worked on important revivals at Covent Garden, directs this grand opera Polyeucte in an imaginative modern-dress production".
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Post by showgirl on Feb 20, 2018 4:32:41 GMT
Thank you to Mr Snow for the advance info re Opera Rara/L'Ange de Nisida; I'd love to see this so will aim to book when available to the general public.
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Post by sayers500 on Mar 3, 2018 1:06:51 GMT
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 3, 2018 19:00:14 GMT
Good call. Graham Vick's commitment to the Birmingham Opera is great. Saw their Otello in the warehouse in 2010, the full thing used to be on Youtube and it featured Mr and Mrs Snow as the performers moved through the audience who then followed them around. Dramatically excellent and I wish I could see this. Walking in he was greeting everyone and expaling to find a place to sit and wiat. I said I wanted to be near the jetty so I could see Otello arrive? “oh my god, you’ve seen this before! Let me know what you think later”.
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Post by jek on Mar 5, 2018 23:11:26 GMT
Just back from the Guildhall production of Poulenc's Dialogues de Carmelites. Good to see it performed as I am familiar with the story and the Bernanos script. It was a well designed production but, as you would expect, while the singing quality was generally excellent some of the acting wasn't very good - give these youngsters a few years and I'm sure they will perform much better. I expected the audience to be full of friends and family but that wasn't the impression I got. Certainly the people around me were largely elderly (even though I'm in my 50s I felt quite young for once). I've been to the Silk Street theatre before and while it lacks the glamour of the Guildhall's Milton Court it is small with a good rake and so a good view is guaranteed.
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Post by tonyloco on Mar 6, 2018 1:17:04 GMT
Just back from the Guildhall production of Poulenc's Dialogues de Carmelites. Good to see it performed as I am familiar with the story and the Bernanos script. It was a well designed production but, as you would expect, while the singing quality was generally excellent some of the acting wasn't very good - give these youngsters a few years and I'm sure they will perform much better. I expected the audience to be full of friends and family but that wasn't the impression I got. Certainly the people around me were largely elderly (even though I'm in my 50s I felt quite young for once). I've been to the Silk Street theatre before and while it lacks the glamour of the Guildhall's Milton Court it is small with a good rake and so a good view is guaranteed. Thanks for that interesting review. Last year I saw University College London Opera's production of Verdi's 'Aroldo' at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, and while the musical standards were in general quite high, the level of acting by the principals was embarrassingly bad. The director was probably too busy making ridiculous changes to the updating and staging of the opera to spend any time helping the singers to improve their acting, but it did give me cause to worry about what training in acting these young performers were receiving alongside their vocal training.
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Post by bellboard27 on Mar 9, 2018 13:05:19 GMT
Went to the Royal College of Music’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream yesterday in their (appropriately named) Britten Opera Theatre. My first time there – nice!
I thought this worked very well – lots of darkness (set, costumes, acting), lots of ethereal fairyness, lots of humour. Loved the staging – excellent use of mirrors and lighting to create good reveals and disappearance of characters. Excellent singing from most of the cast.
I went to the ENO production exactly a week before. However, for that I had to leave before the 3rd act as my last train home was very early due to all the snow! The ENO production has got good reviews, but while I liked the singing and, particularly the rich sound from the orchestra, I found the staging rather monotonous – an enormous bed. The RCM production felt more interesting.
Also seeing them together shows the effect costumes and staging have on characterisation. The ENO production is light with Oberon and Titania as very much king and queen, but the RCM production adds a dark, sinister edge that somehow fits better. The ENO puck is rotund, jolly and naughty, whereas the RCM puck is mischievous, but looks like he is just this side of positively wicked.
I’m definitely looking out for more RCM productions.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 11, 2018 8:37:03 GMT
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Post by tonyloco on Mar 22, 2018 1:08:06 GMT
Just back from seeing University College London Opera's production of Gounod's 'Polyeucte' at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. After last year's 'Aroldo', which was hideous to look at, this was a great relief, being set in Armenia in the time of the Romans, as Gounod wrote it. In that very small theatre, with the front half of the orchestra occupying the front half of the stalls, the sound of the voices was sensational and the balance with the lively orchestra was excellent. The three principals (Luke Sinclair as Polyeucte, Flora McIntosh as Paulina and Jan Kapinski as Sévère) were all outstanding vocally but their acting was a bit basic and Kapinski's voice lacks proper baritonal depth. I noted this lack of acting prowess last year too with 'Aroldo' and it continued to worry me this year.
My main problem tonight was the chorus, whose movements and gestures in welcoming Sèvére and celebrating his victory were quite ridiculous. If I were the director I would have given them a kind of representational stillness and told them to express all their excitement in their singing! But for an amateur chorus they sang well enough!
As to the opera, well I loved the three main roles and their numerous duets and arias, but I was bored with all the choruses and the more religioso they got, the more bored I became. I expect if I became more familiar with the tunes I would enjoy the music of the three principals more, but I doubt that the work as a whole will enter my list of favourites, along with anything else by Gounod!
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Post by bellboard27 on Apr 11, 2018 16:48:31 GMT
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 11, 2018 14:07:46 GMT
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Post by Mr Snow on May 11, 2018 15:53:23 GMT
Excellent find. Sadly can't make it. Here's a local one for you. Same co. that did the excellent Onegin. I dont think bookinng is open yet. www.operaupclose.com/maria-stuarda
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 11, 2018 16:56:25 GMT
Ohhh I do like maria stuarda especially while sipping on a Bloody Mary!
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 28, 2018 10:41:23 GMT
Went to In the Locked Room and The Lighthouse double bill at RCM. Both were very well done, but I particularly was struck by The Lighthouse – the increasingly dramatic and inventive music, singing and design worked a treat.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jun 28, 2018 11:13:21 GMT
I saw the Lighthouse years ago at the Linbury and loved it.
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Post by jek on Oct 27, 2019 13:11:38 GMT
Went to see the Shadwell Opera production of Oliver Knussen's Where The Wild Things Are at the restored theatre at Ally Pally yesterday afternoon. It was firmly aimed at families with sweets being dished out during the performances and lots of balloons being bounced around the auditorium during the wild rumpus (fancy dress was encouraged but I didn't see any of this). But there were certainly a lot of music students and regular opera goers there too. Very enjoyable and a great setting. I will be looking out for future Shadwell Opera productions.
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Post by jek on Dec 10, 2019 14:19:37 GMT
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Post by Someone in a tree on Dec 11, 2019 15:44:50 GMT
After Onegin this was scheduled for a 4wk run at the Arcola. I wonder what happened? Normally Opera Upclose have a 4ish week run in a London venue. I hope they are OK financially or perhaps they are trying a new model of working
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Post by cartoonman on Apr 2, 2023 19:23:01 GMT
The Guildhall School of Music & Drama are performing Holst's Savitri and Weir's Blond Eckbert this summer 2023. On a double bill. I don't know these operas, I think the ENO may have done Blond Eckbert some years ago but I didn't see it. The standards at the Guildhall are very high and the prices good at £25. I have ordered a CD of the Holst so if I like it I will go. I have only seen the Guildhall Jazz Big Band and they were really good. Has anyone seen Blond Eckbert and is it any good?
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Post by Mr Snow on Apr 5, 2023 18:49:20 GMT
Great thread to revive have a like! Grimebourne at the Arcola looks interesting this summer. www.arcolatheatre.com/grimeborn/Trouble in Tahiti has long been near the top of my desire list. (Is someone here still living in a tree nearby - seem to recall it's a favourite of yours too?)
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