Autumn 2012
English Touring Opera’s second collaboration with the award-winning Aurora Orchestra is surprising, risky, exciting and entertaining.
This season of three very different, highly theatrical operas written in the middle of the 20th century is sure to appeal to opera-goers who are interested in theatre, and theatre-goers who would like to try opera. Two of them will also have a special appeal to young people – and all three will have arresting designs by the team responsible for ETO’s Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi, Neil Irish and Guy Hoare.
Best known is Britten’s sophisticated comedy of village life, Albert Herring – for which ETO has a sterling cast of worthies and ingénues, acting singers from the top drawer of British artists. Director Christopher Rolls will set it in period, so that the comedy of class and sexual mores will have full effect, and conductor Michael Rosewell will bring to it his deep knowledge of (and love for) Britten’s score.
Far from a village comedy is Peter Maxwell Davies’ opera thriller The Lighthouse – a taut, psychological drama treating the true story of the three Flannan Isles lighthouse keepers who disappeared over Christmas, 1900. Davies’ score pulsates with energy, and conjures perfectly the claustrophobia of the fogbound island and the lighthouse itself.
The Emperor of Atlantis is most famous for the circumstances of its composition: the composer, librettist, and all the original performers were inmates of a ‘model’ concentration camp, paraded before Red Cross authorities before being sent to their deaths at Auschwitz. The opera is a black comedy, innovative in musical style and dramatic presentation. Paired by director James Conway with Bach’s haunting cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden, it promises to be an unforgettable evening.
More dates to be announced. Please check the website for more information, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or sign up to our mailing list.
| October 2012 | |||||
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| Thu 4 | 7.45pm | Albert Herring | Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London | Box office: 020 7304 4000 |
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| Fri 5 | 8.00pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London | Box office: 020 7304 4000 |
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| Sat 6 | 7.45pm | Albert Herring | Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London | Box office: 020 7304 4000 |
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| Wed 10 | 7.45pm | Albert Herring | Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London | Box office: 020 7304 4000 |
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| Thu 11 | 7.45pm | The Lighthouse | Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London | Box office: 020 7304 4000 |
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| Fri 12 | 8.00pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London | Box office: 020 7304 4000 |
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| Sat 13 | 7.45pm | The Lighthouse | Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London | Box office: 020 7304 4000 |
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| Tue 16 | 7.30pm | The Lighthouse | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge | Box office: 020 7833 2555 |
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| Wed 17 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge | Box office: 020 7833 2555 |
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| Thu 18 | 8.15pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge | Box office: 020 7833 2555 |
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| Fri 19 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge | Box office: 020 7833 2555 |
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| Wed 24 | 7.30pm | The Lighthouse | Exeter Northcott | Box office: 01392 493 493 |  |
| Thu 25 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | Exeter Northcott | Box office: 01392 493 493 | |
| Fri 26 | 8.15pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | Exeter Northcott | Box office: 01392 493 493 | |
| Sat 27 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | Exeter Northcott | Box office: 01392 493 493 | |
| Mon 29 | 8.15pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells | Box office: 01892 530613/532072 | |
| Tue 30 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells | Box office: 01892 530613/532072 | |
| November 2012 | |||||
| Thu 1 | 7.30pm | The Lighthouse | Harrogate Theatre | Box office: 01423 502 116 | |
| Fri 2 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | Harrogate Theatre | Box office: 01423 502 116 | |
| Sat 3 | 8.15pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | Harrogate Theatre | Box office: 01423 502 116 | |
| Mon 5 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | Theatre Royal Bath | Box office: 01225 448844 |
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| Tue 6 | 7.30pm | The Lighthouse | Theatre Royal Bath | Box office: 01225 448844 |
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| Fri 9 | 7.30pm | The Lighthouse | Snape Maltings Concert Hall | Box office: 01728 687 110 |
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| Sat 10 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | Snape Maltings Concert Hall | Box office: 01728 687 110 |
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| Sun 11 | 4.00pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | Snape Maltings Concert Hall | Box office: 01728 687 110 |
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| Fri 16 | 7.30pm | Albert Herring | Buxton Opera House | Box office: 0845 127 2190 |
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| Sat 17 | 8.15pm | The Emperor of Atlantis | Buxton Opera House | Box office: 0845 127 2190 |
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