Sustainable operas and the world premiere of a new opera adapted from the work of Henry Purcell are amongst the highlights in Opera North’s much anticipated season playing Tue 31 Oct – Sat 4 Nov 2023 and Wed 13 – Sat 16 Mar 2024.
The Autumn will see a new production of Verdi’s Falstaff (Tue 31 Oct & Thu 2 Nov) directed by Jo Davies and conducted by Music Director Garry Walker, with Henry Waddington in the title role. After a career in which he had composed some of opera’s greatest tragedies, Verdi turned to Shakespeare’s great comic rogue, drawing inspiration from Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor for his final masterpiece.
The Green Season also features one of Puccini’s finest achievements, La rondine (Wed 1 & Fri 3 Nov), conducted by Kerem Hasan, with a cast including Galina Averina as Magda, Claire Lees as Lisette, Sébastien Guèze as Ruggero and Elgan Llŷr Thomas as Prunier. James Hurley’s new production of this captivatingly beautiful opera transports us from the popular nightspots of 1930s Paris to the sun-drenched Mediterranean, contrasting two bitter-sweet tales of love.
Rounding off the Green Season is the world premiere of a new piece, created by one of the world’s most eminent opera directors, Sir David Pountney. Masque of Might (Sat 4 Nov) recycles music by one of the greatest English theatre composers, Henry Purcell, and reimagines the 17th-century form of the masque with modern technology to create a biting yet humorous contemporary satire, billed as an ‘eco-entertainment’.
With a libretto drawing largely from original texts set to music by Purcell, including The Fairy Queen, Saul and the Witch of Endor, Timon of Athens and The Tempest, this witty, incisive and fantastical work addresses urgently topical themes such as the abuses of a powerful political leader and the gathering climate crisis.
Conducted by renowned baroque specialist Harry Bicket, Masque of Might’s cast includes Andri Björn Róbertsson in the roles of Nebulous / Activist / Wolf and Anna Dennis as Elena, a spirit of the Heavens, while Callum Thorpe returns to the Company as the ‘monstrous tyrant’, Diktat.
All three Green Season productions use shared scenic elements, designed by Leslie Travers, to create three interlinked yet distinctive designs, enabling Opera North to reduce its use of materials and its carbon footprint. All sets, props and costumes in the season are sourced from previous productions or purchased second-hand. Lighting for the season is designed by Paule Constable, with costume design by Gabrielle Dalton (Falstaff, La rondine) and Marie-Jeanne Lecca (Masque of Might).
Opera North will then return in Spring 2024 with a double-bill of short operas pairing a revival of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana with a new production of Rachmaninov’s rarely performed Aleko (Wed 13 & Fri 15 Mar). Karolina Sofulak directs both halves of the double-bill, which will be conducted by Principal Guest Conductor Antony Hermus. Many of the cast take roles in both works, including Robert Hayward, who sings Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana and the title role in Aleko. Giselle Allen returns to the cast of Cavalleria rusticana to sing Santuzza, joined by Andrés Presno as Turiddù, while in Aleko Presno will take the role of Young Lover, with Elin Pritchard as Zemfira. Anne-Marie Owens joins both casts to sing Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana and Baboushka in Aleko.
Another of the greatest operatic comedies, Mozart’s Così fan tutte (Thu 14 & Sat 16 Mar) is sure to prove popular with Newcastle Theatre Royal audiences. Tim Albery’s classic production, set imaginatively in the 18th century Age of Reason, will feature a new cast including Alexandra Lowe as Fiordiligi and Heather Lowe as Dorabella, with Anthony Gregory and Henry Neill as their duplicitous lovers Ferrando and Guglielmo, who enter a wager to prove that each can seduce the other’s fiancée. Performances will be conducted by Clemens Schuldt and Chloe Rooke, each making their Opera North debuts.
Opera North plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tue 31 Oct – Sat 4 Nov 2023 and returns Wed 13 – Sat 16 Mar 2024. Tickets can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.
