A new chamber opera based on Oscar Wilde’s rarely performed second play, The Duchess of Padua, will be presented by The Music Troupe at The Space Theatre in London from Tuesday 20 - Sunday 25 February 2024 followed by a tour to Richmond, North Yorkshire (2 March), Manchester (3 March) and Hungerford (10 March).
There are two big stars in Opera Holland Park's new production of La Bohème. Katie Bird's Mimi rides Puccini's great melodic rollers with ease and a luminous clarity, while the City of London Sinfonia, conducted by George Jackson, play quite wonderfully a score that was intended for a somewhat larger orchestra. Notwithstanding the great swell of Puccini's score, Bohème is, at heart, though, an intense and intimate opera. Its most touching moments – the first meeting of Mimi and Rodolfo in an icy garret, Mimi's heartbroken conversation with Marcello about Rodolfo's jealousy and, above all, the final scene of Mimi's death – are all duets or, at most, for the smallest of ensembles. In Natascha Metherell's new setting, however, the stage is a great deal busier. Updated to the 1950s, we are on an Italian film set shooting "La Vie Parisienne", a Belle Epoque era story set in the Latin Quarter. As a result, there is a film crew (played b
Although musically very strong and with Katie Bird a lovely Mimi, Natascha Metherell’s relocation of Puccini’s bohemians to a 1950s film studio brings as many distractions as it does insights
Ben Woodward’s chamber arrangement of Wagner’s score works well and, if the storytelling feels unclear at points, players and singers alike ensure a vivid experience