I have to be honest: I’ve always had a somewhat equivocal relationship with Berlioz. And I know that, amongst musicians and music lovers, I’m not alone. Some of his works have widespread appeal, such as the song cycle Les nuits...Read More
“Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel would never have existed if it wasn’t for the composer’s sister, the German folklore enthusiast Adelheid Wette” The story of Hansel and Gretel begins in 1812 when two academic brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, publish a...Read More
Since first encountering Xavier Montsalvatge’s music, way back in 1995, MWO’s Music Director has been fascinated by the Catalan composer’s work. Now for our SmallStages tour this Autumn, twenty years after the composer’s death, MWO are thrilled to bring Montsalvatge’s...Read More
Our Music Director Jonathan Lyness began his labour of love, creating a new score for four instruments to perform Puccini’s Il tabarro, in November 2019. Now, a year later than expected due to the Covid pandemic, he’s preparing the instrumental...Read More
by MWO’s Music Director Jonathan Lyness In my previous blog I described how, at the point of the first lockdown, I’d started work on a new reduced orchestration of Janáček’s great opera The Cunning Little Vixen. The plan has been...Read More
by MWO’s Music Director Jonathan Lyness When lockdown arrived in the second half of March, and with our beautiful tour of The Marriage of Figaro tragically cut short, I’d already spent three weeks working on a new reduced orchestration of...Read More
My first experience of The Marriage of Figaro was as a student, accompanying rehearsals and, in my days as a violinist, leading the orchestra. I saw it on stage twice before conducting it myself; the first was at the Royal...Read More
John Gay’s ballade opera The Beggar’s Opera was first performed at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre in London in 1728 and ran for around 60 performances. The ‘ballade opera’ was a highly popular genre – a satirical musical play with...Read More
As we prepare for Autumn’s SmallStages tour of A Spanish Hour, Ravel’s L’heure espagnole, we’ve asked MWO’s Music Director Jonathan Lyness to share some of his insights into the piece and its history. Each of our SmallStages productions uses a...Read More
