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 Opera House, conducted by the late, great Sir Jeffrey Tate, who was born with spina bifida and conducted whilst seated. I sat quite high up in the theatre and so I could just about see him …
…an opera which allegedly needs no introduction… It’s a tough job to introduce an opera which needs no introduction, so we’ll leave that task to our Music Director Jonathan Lyness, a lifelong Figaro fan – and suffice to say Mozart’s music for the opera was included in his wedding. “If someone said to me “I’d […]
The Peachums have now officially left the building, but before we roll up our beautiful Hogarth backdrop we wanted to take one last look back at SmallStages 2019. We’ve done 15 performances this Autumn, from Cwmbran to Colwyn Bay and Barmouth to Bridgnorth, and had a wonderful warm reception from more than 1200 people across […]
Now we’re officially on the road, we wanted to give you a proper low down on how we’ve put together this brand-new version of The Beggar’s Opera and what you can expect if you come and see it! So how long is it? And is it all sung? The first half of the evening is […]
Welcome to London’s underworld in the 18th century. To quote Star Wars’ Obi Wan Kenobi on the subject of Mos Eisley spaceport. “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.” The world of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, and of Mrs Peachum’s Guide to Love and Marriage, […]
With less than a month to go until the world premiere of our new SmallStages tour, Mrs Peachum’s Guide to Love and Marriage, we caught up with Artistic Director Richard Studer, who created the production and shared his thoughts about the inspiration for this radical reworking of John Gay’s 1728 original. “Our Polly is a […]
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 songs created from well-known tunes of the day, from folksong to opera to church music. […]
We’ve been back to school this month – taking over the whole curriculum for a week firstly in Arddleen CP School and then in Buttington Trewern School, both near Welshpool in Powys. We’ve worked with 102 junior age children during the two, week long residencies, with each school creating its own unique performance to share […]
The Friends of Mid Wales Opera’s popular summer concert will take place in the glorious setting of the Music Room at Gregynog Hall near Newtown on Sunday July 21st starting at 6pm. The evening will once again be led by superb pianist Charlotte Forrest, and showcase talented young singers from across Wales. Soprano Angharad Davies […]
Putting on an opera in a week was always going to be a challenge, putting on an opera in a week from scratch with a cast, chorus and musicians largely inexperienced in opera even more so….but then we’re never known to shy away from a challenge at MWO and we’ve been absolutely blown away by […]