Opera North
Encyclopedia
Opera North is an English opera
company based in Leeds
. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre
, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham
, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays
and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle
. It has also visited Sadler's Wells Theatre
, London
and, less regularly, the Bradford Alhambra
, the Lyceum Theatre
in Sheffield
, and other venues. The Company's orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North
, regularly performs and records in its own right. Operas are performed either in English
or in the original language of the libretto, in the latter case usually with surtitles
.
's Samson and Delilah
) was given on 15 November 1978. It started life as an offshoot of English National Opera
and had the specific intention of delivering high-quality opera to the northern areas of England which, up to that point, had had no permanently established opera company. The founding Music Director of the company was David Lloyd-Jones
.
with General Administrators Nicholas Payne and, later, Ian Ritchie and Richard Mantle continued to bring operatic novelties, as well as a wide selection of familiar works, to its audience in the North of England and further afield.
held the temporary post of Music Advisor until Steven Sloane
was appointed Music Director in 1999. He left the company in 2002 and another interregnum
ensued.
has held the position of Music Director from 2004 until the present day.
In 2011, the company will be performing The Portrait by Mieczysław Weinberg and will initiate an annual series of semi-staged concert performances of the four operas in Wagner
's Der Ring des Nibelungen
by performing Das Rheingold
in Leeds Town Hall
. Beached, a community opera by composer Harvey Brough with a libretto by Lee Hall
co-commisioned by Opera North and the sea-side resort of Bridlington
premieres on 15 July 2011. The company, at the request of the Bridlington primary school whose 300 children are to perform in the opera, had asked for the removal of an explicit reference to a gay character's sexuality from one of the scenes. Hall initially refused, and the opera was withdrawn. However, following negotiations the matter was resolved when the character's contentious line "Of course I'm queer" was changed to "Of course I'm gay".
Opera North has given world premières of the following operas: Rebecca by Wilfred Josephs
(1983), Caritas by Robert Saxton
(1991), Baa, Baa, Black Sheep by Michael Berkeley
(1993), Playing Away by Benedict Mason
(1994), The Nightingale's to Blame by Simon Holt
(1998), Jonathan Dove
's The Adventures of Pinocchio (2007) and Swanhunter (2009), and Skin Deep by David Sawer
and Armando Iannucci
(2009). In July 2009, Opera North premièred Prima Donna
, a new opera by Rufus Wainwright
, at the Manchester International Festival
..
Opera North has also given performances of musical theatre
works. The first was Jerome Kern
's Show Boat
(in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company
) in 1989, and productions of Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing
and Sondheim
's Sweeney Todd followed in 1998. Latterly, the works of Kurt Weill
have become something of a speciality, with productions of Love Life (1996), One Touch of Venus
and The Seven Deadly Sins in 2004 and Arms and the Cow
in 2006. In 2009, Let 'Em Eat Cake
, the sequel to Of Thee I Sing, was produced.
Opera North has worked extensively with electronic composer Mira Calix
, commissioning Dead Wedding (for the Manchester International Festival 2007) Onibus (2008) and the installation Chorus (2009) for the opening of the Howard Assembly Rooms with visual artist UVA.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
company based in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre
Grand Theatre Leeds
The Grand Theatre is a theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878...
, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Theatre Royal, Nottingham
The Theatre Royal, Nottingham in Nottingham, England, is part of the city's Royal Centre, which also incorporates the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. The theatre is in the heart of Nottingham City Centre and is owned by Nottingham City Council...
, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays
Salford Quays
Salford Quays is an area of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in...
and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle
Theatre Royal, Newcastle
The Theatre Royal is a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was designed by local architects John and Benjamin Green as part of Richard Grainger's grand design for the centre of Newcastle, and was opened on 20 February 1837 with a performance of The Merchant...
. It has also visited Sadler's Wells Theatre
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...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and, less regularly, the Bradford Alhambra
Bradford Alhambra
The Bradford Alhambra is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler, and opened on Wednesday 18 March 1914. In 1964 Bradford City Council bought the Alhambra for £78,900. In 1974 it was designated a Grade II...
, the Lyceum Theatre
Lyceum Theatre (Sheffield)
-History:Built in 1897 following a traditional proscenium arch design, the Lyceum is the only surviving theatre outside of London designed by the famous theatre architect W.G.R. Sprague and the last example of an Edwardian auditorium in Sheffield...
in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, and other venues. The Company's orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North
Orchestra of Opera North
The Orchestra of Opera North is the orchestra that plays for the English opera company, Opera North....
, regularly performs and records in its own right. Operas are performed either in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
or in the original language of the libretto, in the latter case usually with surtitles
Surtitles
Surtitles, also known as supertitles, are translated or transcribed lyrics/dialogue projected above a stage or displayed on a screen, commonly used in opera or other musical performances. The word "surtitle" comes from the French language "sur", meaning "over" or "on", and the English language word...
.
Establishment as English National Opera North
Opera North was established in 1977 as English National Opera North, and its first performance (of Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
's Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah (opera)
Samson and Delilah , Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire...
) was given on 15 November 1978. It started life as an offshoot of English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
and had the specific intention of delivering high-quality opera to the northern areas of England which, up to that point, had had no permanently established opera company. The founding Music Director of the company was David Lloyd-Jones
David Lloyd-Jones
David Matthias Lloyd-Jones is a British conductor who has specialised in British and Russian music. He is also an editor and translator, especially of Russian operas.- Biography :...
.
Opera North: the Lloyd-Jones years
In 1981, the company's name was changed to Opera North, and the official ties with English National Opera ceased to exist. Lloyd-Jones continued as Music Director until 1990.Opera North: the Paul Daniel years
The combination of Music Director Paul DanielPaul Daniel
Paul Daniel CBE is an English conductor. He is particularly noted for performances and recordings of opera and of British music....
with General Administrators Nicholas Payne and, later, Ian Ritchie and Richard Mantle continued to bring operatic novelties, as well as a wide selection of familiar works, to its audience in the North of England and further afield.
Opera North: Steven Sloane and two interregnums
Paul Daniel's departure was followed by a period during which Elgar HowarthElgar Howarth
Elgar Howarth is an English conductor and composer.Howarth was educated in the 1950s at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music , where his fellow students included the composers Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, and the...
held the temporary post of Music Advisor until Steven Sloane
Steven Sloane
Steven Sloane is an American-born conductor based in Germany.He has been musical director of the Symphony Orchestra in Bochum since 1994. He is also musical director of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Stavanger, Norway, a post he has held since 2007.In August 1999, Sloane was appointed Music...
was appointed Music Director in 1999. He left the company in 2002 and another interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
ensued.
Opera North: the Richard Farnes years
Richard FarnesRichard Farnes
Richard Farnes is a British conductor, and is currently Music Director of Opera North.- Education :Farnes was a chorister at King's College, Cambridge before entering Eton College as a music scholar in 1977...
has held the position of Music Director from 2004 until the present day.
Repertory
As well as presenting the bread-and-butter operas of the standard repertory, the company has performed a number of operas that are rarely seen in Britain. Examples include:- Les mamelles de TirésiasLes mamelles de TirésiasLes mamelles de Tirésias is a surrealist two-act opéra bouffe by Francis Poulenc, based on the play of the same title by Guillaume Apollinaire, which was written in 1903 but first performed in 1917...
(PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
) (1978) - The Mines of SulphurThe Mines of SulphurThe Mines of Sulphur is an opera in three acts by Richard Rodney Bennett, his first full-length opera, composed in 1963. Beverley Cross wrote the libretto, based on his play Scarlet Ribbons, at the suggestion of Colin Graham, who eventually directed the first production in 1965...
(Richard Rodney BennettRichard Rodney BennettSir Richard Rodney Bennett, CBE is an English composer renowned for his film scores and his jazz performance as much as for his challenging concert works...
) (1980) - A Village Romeo and JulietA Village Romeo and JulietA Village Romeo and Juliet is an opera by Frederick Delius, the fourth of his six operas. The composer himself, with his wife Jelka, wrote the English-language libretto based on the short story Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe by the Swiss author Gottfried Keller. The first performance was at the...
(DeliusFrederick DeliusFrederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
) (1980) - Prince IgorPrince IgorPrince Igor is an opera in four acts with a prologue. It was composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the East Slavic epic The Lay of Igor's Host, which recounts the campaign of Russian prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the invading Polovtsian tribes in 1185...
(Alexander BorodinAlexander BorodinAlexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
) (1982) - Beatrice and BenedictBéatrice et BénédictBéatrice et Bénédict is an opera in two acts by Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based closely on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing....
(Berlioz) (1983) - Johnny Strikes UpJonny spielt aufJonny spielt auf is an opera with words and music by Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. The work typified the cultural freedom of the 'golden era' of the Weimar Republic.-Performance history:...
(Krenek) (1984, British première) - IntermezzoIntermezzo (opera)Intermezzo is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to his own German libretto, described as a Bürgerliche Komödie mit sinfonischen Zwischenspielen . It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on November 4, 1924, with sets that reproduced Strauss' home in Garmisch...
(Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
) (1986) - DaphneDaphne (opera)Daphne is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss, his 13th opera, subtitled "A Bucolic Tragedy in One Act". The German libretto was by Joseph Gregor. The opera is based loosely on a myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and also includes elements taken from The Bacchae by Euripides...
(Strauss) (1987, British première) - La finta giardinieraLa finta giardinieraLa finta giardiniera , K. 196, is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on January 13 at the Salvatortheater in Munich...
(Mozart) (1989) - JérusalemJérusalemJérusalem is a grand opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, set to a French libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz which was partly translated and adapted from Verdi's original 1843 Italian opera, I Lombardi alla prima crociata...
(Verdi) (1990, British première) - Ariane and BluebeardAriane et Barbe-bleueAriane et Barbe-bleue is an opera in three acts by Paul Dukas. The French libretto is adapted from the symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck....
(Dukas) (1990) - MasqueradeMasquerade (Nielsen)Maskarade is an opera in three acts by Carl Nielsen to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg....
(Carl NielsenCarl NielsenCarl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
) (1990, British professional première) - King PriamKing PriamKing Priam is an opera by Michael Tippett, to his own libretto. The story is based on Homer's Iliad, except the birth and childhood of Paris, which are taken from the Fabulae of Hyginus.The premiere was on 29 May 1962, at Coventry...
(Michael TippettMichael TippettSir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
) (1991) - L'étoile (Chabrier) (1991)
- The Jewel BoxThe Jewel BoxThe Jewel Box is a pasticcio opera constructed by Paul Griffiths out of various pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its mostly English libretto by Paul Griffiths includes new translations of most of the Italian-language texts of the musical numbers. It was premiered by Opera North at the Theatre...
(Mozart, arranged by Paul GriffithsPaul Griffiths (writer)Paul Griffiths is a British music critic, novelist and librettist. He is particularly noted for his writings on modern classical music and for having written the libretti for two 20th century operas, Tan Dun's Marco Polo and Elliott Carter's What Next?.-Biography and career:Paul Griffiths was...
) (1991) - The Thieving MagpieLa gazza ladraLa gazza ladra is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez....
(Rossini) (1992) - IolantaIolantaIolanta, Op. 69, is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play Kong Renés Datter by Henrik Hertz. The play was translated by Fyodor Miller and adapted by Vladimir Zotov...
(Tchaikovsky) (1992) - The Duenna (Roberto GerhardRoberto GerhardRobert Gerhard i Ottenwaelder was a Catalan Spanish composer and musical scholar and writer, generally known outside Catalonia as Robert Gerhard.-Life:...
) (1992, British première) - Der ferne KlangDer ferne KlangDer ferne Klang is an opera by Franz Schreker, libretto by the composer.-Composition history:Drafted in 1901, Schreker completed the three-act libretto in 1903. However, composing the music would take about ten years. Criticism from his composition teacher Robert Fuchs caused Schreker to abandon...
(Schreker) (1992, British première) - La GiocondaLa Gioconda (opera)La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
(Ponchielli) (1993) - GlorianaGlorianaGloriana is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Elizabeth and Essex by Lytton Strachey...
(Britten) (1993)
- Il re pastoreIl re pastoreIl re pastore is an opera, K. 208, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Metastasio, edited by Gianbattista Varesco. It is an opera seria...
(Mozart) (1993) - The Secret MarriageIl matrimonio segretoIl matrimonio segreto is an opera in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the play The Clandestine Marriage by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick...
(Cimarosa) (1993) - ObertoOberto (opera)Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio is an opera in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an existing libretto by Antonio Piazza probably called Rocester....
(Verdi) (1994, British stage première) - The Reluctant KingLe roi malgré luiLe roi malgré lui is an opéra-comique in three acts by Emmanuel Chabrier with an original libretto by Emile de Najac and Paul Burani. The opera is revived occasionally, but has not found a place in the repertory, mainly because of the poor libretto...
(Chabrier) (1994, British stage première) - Troilus and CressidaTroilus and Cressida (opera)Troilus and Cressida is the first of the two operas by William Walton. The libretto was by Christopher Hassall, his own first opera libretto, based on Chaucer's poem Troilus and Criseyde...
(William WaltonWilliam WaltonSir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
) (1995) - HamletHamlet (opera)Hamlet is an opéra in five acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas, with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas, père and Paul Meurice of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.- Ophelia mania in Paris:...
(Ambroise ThomasAmbroise ThomasCharles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
) (1995) - Medea (Cherubini) (1996)
- JuliettaJuliettaJulietta is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, which is based on the play Juliette, ou La clé des songes by the French author Georges Neveux. The opera received its first performance at the National Theatre, Prague on 16 March 1938, with Ota Horaková in the title role and...
(Martinů) (1997) - Joan of ArcGiovanna d'ArcoGiovanna d'Arco is an operatic dramma lirico with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera....
(Verdi) (1998) - RadamistoRadamisto (Handel)Radamisto is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel to an Italian libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on L'amor tirannico, o Zenobia by Domenico Lalli and Zenobia by Matteo Noris...
(HandelHANDELHANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
) (2000) - GenovevaGenovevaGenoveva is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at the Stadttheater in Leipzig, with the composer conducting...
(SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
) (2000) - Paradise MoscowMoscow, CheryomushkiMoscow, Cheryomushki is an operetta in three acts by Dmitri Shostakovich, his Op. 105. It is sometimes referred to as simply Cheryomushki...
(Shostakovich) (2001) - Francesca da Rimini (Rachmaninov) (2004)
- Love's Luggage Lost (Rossini) (2004, British stage première)
- DjamilehDjamilehDjamileh is an opéra comique in one act by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Louis Gallet, based on an oriental tale, Namouna, by Alfred de Musset.-Composition history:...
(Bizet) (2004) - La vida breveLa vida breveLa vida breve is an opera in two acts and four scenes by Manuel de Falla to an original Spanish libretto by Carlos Fernández-Shaw...
(Manuel de FallaManuel de FallaManuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
) (2004) - La voix humaineLa voix humaineLa voix humaine is a one-act opera for one character, with music by Francis Poulenc to a libretto by Jean Cocteau, based on his 1930 play. La voix humaine was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Salle Favart in Paris on 6 February 1959...
(Poulenc) (2006) - The Fortunes of King Croesus (Reinhard KeiserReinhard KeiserReinhard Keiser was a popular German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas, and in 1745 Johann Adolph Scheibe considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann , but his work was largely forgotten for many...
) (2007, British première) - The Excursions of Mr Broucek (JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš 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...
) (2009)
In 2011, the company will be performing The Portrait by Mieczysław Weinberg and will initiate an annual series of semi-staged concert performances of the four operas in Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
by performing Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold
is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
in Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall was built between 1853 and 1858 on Park Lane , Leeds, West Yorkshire, England to a design by architect Cuthbert Brodrick.-Background:...
. Beached, a community opera by composer Harvey Brough with a libretto by Lee Hall
Lee Hall (playwright)
Lee Hall is an English playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the 2000 film Billy Elliot.-Early life:...
co-commisioned by Opera North and the sea-side resort of Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
premieres on 15 July 2011. The company, at the request of the Bridlington primary school whose 300 children are to perform in the opera, had asked for the removal of an explicit reference to a gay character's sexuality from one of the scenes. Hall initially refused, and the opera was withdrawn. However, following negotiations the matter was resolved when the character's contentious line "Of course I'm queer" was changed to "Of course I'm gay".
Opera North has given world premières of the following operas: Rebecca by Wilfred Josephs
Wilfred Josephs
-Life:Born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, Wilfred Josephs had his first musical studies in Newcastle with Arthur Milner, and showed early promise, but was persuaded by his parents to take up a 'sensible' career. He subsequently became a dentist, qualifying as a Bachelor of Dental Surgery of the...
(1983), Caritas by Robert Saxton
Robert Saxton
-Biography:After early advice and encouragement from Benjamin Britten, Robert Saxton took private composition lessons with Elisabeth Lutyens. He went on to study with Robin Holloway at Cambridge University, with Robert Sherlaw Johnson as a post-graduate at Oxford University, and later with Berio....
(1991), Baa, Baa, Black Sheep by Michael Berkeley
Michael Berkeley
Michael Berkeley is a British composer and broadcaster on music.-Early life:His father was the composer Sir Lennox Berkeley...
(1993), Playing Away by Benedict Mason
Benedict Mason
Benedict Mason, born on 23 February 1954, is a British composer.Mason was educated at King's College Cambridge and took a degree in film-making at the Royal College of Art . He did not turn to composition until his early 30s, but his first acknowledged work, Hinterstoisser Traverse , attracted...
(1994), The Nightingale's to Blame by Simon Holt
Simon Holt
Simon Holt is a British composer.-Biography:Holt was educated at Bolton School. Shortly after graduating from the Royal Northern College of Music, he became firmly established on the new music circuit with a series of commissions and fruitful collaborations with the London Sinfonietta and the Nash...
(1998), Jonathan Dove
Jonathan Dove
Jonathan Dove is a British composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera , including in 1990 a famous 18-player two-evening adaptation of Wagner's Der Ring des...
's The Adventures of Pinocchio (2007) and Swanhunter (2009), and Skin Deep by David Sawer
David Sawer
David Sawer is a British composer of opera and choral, orchestral and chamber music.-Biography:Sawer was born in Stockport, England. He studied music at the University of York where he began composing for contemporary music-theatre pieces. He continued his studies with Mauricio Kagel in Cologne...
and Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy....
(2009). In July 2009, Opera North premièred Prima Donna
Prima Donna (opera)
Prima Donna is an opera composed by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright to a French language libretto which he co-authored with Bernadette Colomine. It is about "a day in the life of an aging opera singer", anxiously preparing for her comeback in 1970s Paris, who falls in love with...
, a new opera by Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, at the Manchester International Festival
Manchester International Festival
The Manchester International Festival is an international cultural festival of original new work, held in the English city of Manchester. It is a biennial event, first taking place in June–July 2007, and subsequently recurring in the summers of 2009 and 2011...
..
Opera North has also given performances of musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
works. The first was Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
's Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
(in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
) in 1989, and productions of Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing is a musical with a score by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The musical lampoons American politics; the story concerns John P. Wintergreen, who runs for President of the United States on the "love" platform...
and Sondheim
Sondheim
Sondheim vor der Rhön is a municipality in the district Rhön-Grabfeld, Bavaria, Germany. It is administrated by the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Ostheim. As of 2002 it had a population of 1123, and covers an area of 18.58 km².-History:...
's Sweeney Todd followed in 1998. Latterly, the works of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
have become something of a speciality, with productions of Love Life (1996), One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
and The Seven Deadly Sins in 2004 and Arms and the Cow
Der Kuhhandel
Der Kuhhandel is an operetta by Kurt Weill. The German libretto was written by Robert Vambery.-Genesis:...
in 2006. In 2009, Let 'Em Eat Cake
Let 'Em Eat Cake
Let 'Em Eat Cake is a Broadway musical that opened October 21, 1933 at the Imperial Theatre, New York, USA and ran for 89 performances. It had music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The cast included William Gaxton, Victor Moore, Philip...
, the sequel to Of Thee I Sing, was produced.
Opera North has worked extensively with electronic composer Mira Calix
Mira Calix
Mira Calix, real name Chantal Passamonte, is an artist signed to Warp Records, specialising in mixing her intimate vocals with jittering beats and experimental electronic textures...
, commissioning Dead Wedding (for the Manchester International Festival 2007) Onibus (2008) and the installation Chorus (2009) for the opening of the Howard Assembly Rooms with visual artist UVA.
Awards
- Winner of the TMA Theatre Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera 2007 (for Peter GrimesPeter GrimesPeter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
, directed by Phyllida LloydPhyllida LloydPhyllida Lloyd CBE is an English director, best known for her work in theatre and as the director of the most financially successful British film ever released, Mamma Mia!.-Career:...
), and in 2004 - Winner of the Royal Philharmonic SocietyRoyal Philharmonic SocietyThe Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
Award for Opera & Music Theatre 2007 (for Peter Grimes) and in 2005 - Winner of the South Bank Show Award for Opera 2007 (for Peter Grimes) and 2005 (for its Eight Little Greats season of one-act operas)
- Winner of the Manchester Evening NewsManchester Evening NewsThe Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
Theatre Awards for Opera 2004 - Winner of the Audiences Yorkshire Award for Best Overall Marketing and Audience Development Campaign 2004
Funding
Major funders of Opera North include:- Arts Council EnglandArts Council EnglandArts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
, Yorkshire - Leeds City CouncilLeeds City CouncilLeeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England.-History:The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973...
- West YorkshireWest YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
Grants - North Yorkshire County Council
- East Riding of YorkshireEast Riding of YorkshireThe East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
Council