I suspect many opera goers, sitting comfortably through the opening bars of Gianni Schicchi, won’t have wondered too much where the first beat of each bar is. The music begins, the curtain goes up, and audiences assess the stage. But...Read More
There’s more to discover behind Bernstein’s seemingly perfect suburban satire and his jazz-infused storytelling. Read the full blog by our Music Director Jonathan Lyness to find out more! Read More
In May 2020 I described in my MWO Blog how I’d started work creating a new arrangement of Janacek’s stirring masterpiece The Cunning Little Vixen. I’d opened up my laptop, launched ‘Sibelius’ and hit ‘new’. I then described how Vixen...Read More
“The timpani part in Macbeth stipulates just two timpani. The result? A host of wrong notes for the timpanist! What on earth is going on?” I received an email the other day that included a message from our timpanist for...Read More
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
Credit: Banner artwork by Clive Hicks-Jenkins Fairy Tales are nightmare, not dreamscapes. They play on our primitive and primordial fears. They are the knock in the dark, the crack of a branch, the footstep on the stair rousing you from...Read More
With less than a month to go until opening night in Newtown on March 4th we caught up with the stars of our first ever production of Hansel and Gretel in rehearsals. We’re working with some familiar faces – including...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
We’re excited to announce the cast of MWO’s first ever production of Humperdinck’s fabulous fairy tale opera Hansel and Gretel. We will be joined by some familiar faces from our Puss in Boots tour including Philip Smith (Father) and Alys...Read More
