Tag

orchestration

Verdi’s Macbeth and the correct number of timpani…

“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...
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Hector Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict: “a caprice written with the point of a needle”.

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...
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An opera about a pair of siblings, written by another pair of siblings…

“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...
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The Magic of Montsalvatge

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...
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Puccini’s Sounds of the Seine – creating a new chamber arrangement for Il tabarro

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...
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Road-testing The Cunning Little Vixen

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...
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Working in lockdown on The Cunning Little Vixen

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...
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Meet The Directors

Our Artistic Director Richard Studer and Music Director Jonathan Lyness have been working together for more than 20 years. But how did their partnership come about and how do they work together to bring an opera from scores and sketches...
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Arranging For The Smaller Stage

Traditionally, opera is one of the most spectacular of art forms – breathtaking in its scale and scope. That epic presentation has its place, but with our SmallStages tour we wanted to show a different side of opera, allowing audiences...
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