John Copley
Encyclopedia
John Michael Harold Copley (born 12 June 1944) is a British theatre and opera producer.
He was born in Birmingham
, West Midlands
, son of Ernest Harold Copley and Lilian Forbes, and attended King Edward VI Five Ways
. After a brief career as an actor, he became stage manager at Sadler's Wells
in 1953 and resident producer for the Covent Garden
Opera Company in 1972. He has produced most of the standard operatic repertoire for many opera houses and festivals in Europe, USA and Canada. He has had a long association with Opera Australia
, including the Australian premiere of Leoš Janáček
’s Jenůfa
in 1984.
On 3 January 2010 he was the guest on the long running BBC Radio 4
programme Desert Island Discs
, becoming the decade's first guest on the show.
For over 50 years Copley has been the partner of John Hugh Chadwyck-Healey (b. 1922), grandson of Charles Chadwyck-Healey the 1st Baronet
. In 2006, they contracted a civil partnership which Copley described in the BBC Radio 4
Desert Island Discs
programme in January 2010. The event is recorded in his Who's Who
entry.
The filmed operas he has been associated with are:
He was born in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, son of Ernest Harold Copley and Lilian Forbes, and attended King Edward VI Five Ways
King Edward VI Five Ways
King Edward VI Five Ways is a selective, humanities specialist grammar school located in the Bartley Green area of south Birmingham, England. As of April 2008, the school has a second specialism, a specialist Science College.-Background:...
. After a brief career as an actor, he became stage manager at Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
in 1953 and resident producer for the Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
Opera Company in 1972. He has produced most of the standard operatic repertoire for many opera houses and festivals in Europe, USA and Canada. He has had a long association with Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
, including the Australian premiere of Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
’s Jenůfa
Jenufa
Jenůfa is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play Její pastorkyňa by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed at the Brno Theater, Brno, 21 January 1904...
in 1984.
On 3 January 2010 he was the guest on the long running BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programme Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
, becoming the decade's first guest on the show.
For over 50 years Copley has been the partner of John Hugh Chadwyck-Healey (b. 1922), grandson of Charles Chadwyck-Healey the 1st Baronet
Chadwyck-Healey Baronets
The Chadwyck-Healey Baronetcy, of Wyphurst in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 6 May 1919 for the lawyer Charles Chadwyck-Healey. He died in the same year and his eldest son inherited the baronetcy, becoming the second Baronet...
. In 2006, they contracted a civil partnership which Copley described in the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
programme in January 2010. The event is recorded in his Who's Who
Who's Who
Who's Who is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people...
entry.
The filmed operas he has been associated with are:
- SemiramideSemiramideSemiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...
(1990) - Adriana LecouvreurAdriana LecouvreurAdriana Lecouvreur is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé...
(1984) - Giulio CesareGiulio CesareGiulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
(1984) - La bohèmeLa bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
(1982) - Lucrezia BorgiaLucrezia Borgia (opera)Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with...
(1980)