Vocal Scenes

Barber A Hand of Bridge 

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David

Maximilian Catalano

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Geraldine

Anaïs Manz

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Bill

Sholto Biscoe-Taylor

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Sally

Hayley Meth

 

Two couples, Sally and Bill, and Geraldine and David play a hand of Bridge. As they play, their minds wander. Sally can’t stop thinking about a hat she’s seen for sale that morning. Distracted, her husband Bill worries that the others may have noticed that he is pining after his lover Cymbeline, who he jealously imagines is off with other men. Geraldine longs for love and connection, but feels alienated from everyone else in her life. She realises that only her mother could have loved her if she’d let her get close, but now her mother is dying and it is too late. David wishes for wealth, power and a harem, and revenge on his boss Mr Pritchett. Even so, with all the money in the world, he realises he’d still choose playing Bridge each evening with Sally and Bill.

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Cimarosa Il matrimonio segreto

Act 1 Scene 4 Recit, Trio

 

Carolina

Maud Niklas

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Elisetta

Eleanor O'Driscoll

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Fidalma

Hella Termeulen

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Piano

Ana Laura Gentile Marquitti

 

Two sisters, Carolina and Elisetta, are arguing. Elisetta has recently become engaged to a Count and is putting on airs and graces, which Carolina finds laughable. Elisetta retorts that Carolina has no manners or class. Their aunt Fidalma intervenes, pointing out that they both have their flaws, but that they are bringing shame on the family with all this fuss. 

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Bernstein Trouble in Tahiti

Act One Scene 1

 

Dinah

Inês Reis

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Sam

Jacob Dyksterhouse

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Trio

Dani Croston

Charles Secombe

Twm Tegid Brunton

 

A jazz trio sets the scene – we are in 1950s American suburbia, where the sun is always shining, the houses are gleaming, and everyone is happy. Behind closed doors however, Sam and Dinah’s marriage is on the ropes. Trapped by their inability to communicate with one another, their frustrations turn explosive.

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Verdi Falstaff 

Extract from Act 1 Scene 2

 

Alice Ford

Chloé Underwood

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Nanetta

Harriet Cameron

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Mistress Page

Inês Reis

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Mistress Quickly

Hella Termeulen

 

Meg and Alice have both received a love letter from a secret admirer. They rush to tell each other, and Nanetta and Mistress Quickly want to hear all the gossip. When it turns out that the letters are word for word identical, and signed by the eminently rotund Sir John Falstaff, they all plot their revenge on the old lothario.

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Britten The Rape of Lucretia

Extract from Act 1 Scene 2

 

Lucretia

Abbie Ward

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Bianca

Hayley Meth

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Lucia

Maud Niklas

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Female Chorus

Roberta Philip

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Male Chorus

Sebastian Hill

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Piano

Ana Laura Gentile Marquitti

 

 

Lucretia awaits her husband Colatinus’s return from war, and thinks she has heard a knock at the door. Her maids Lucia and Bianca reassure her that there is no one there. Lucretia complains of her endless waiting. As they fold their linen, the Female Chorus observes the women at work. The women decide to go to bed. The Male Chorus spots a figure in the distance – Prince Tarquinius, riding at full pelt on horseback directly towards Lucretia’s house …

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Mozart La finta giardiniera

Act 1 Finale

 

Sandrina

Anaïs Manz

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Serpetta

Michelle Cheung

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Arminda

Chloé Underwood

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Ramiro

Eva Stone Barney

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Contino Belfiore

Sebastian Hill

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Il Podestà

Sholto Biscoe Taylor

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Nardo

Max Catalano

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Piano

Ana Laura Gentile Marquitti

Alex Dakin

 

A love heptangle. The Podesta (the mayor) is outraged that his fiancée Sandrina has been spotted in the garden with Count Belfiore. His maid Serpetta stokes the Podesta’s jealousy by saying she’s seen Sandrina and the Count making love (but really is just spreading rumours because she wants to marry the Podesta herself). Sandrina’s manservant Nardo calls Serpetta a liar, despite fancying her himself. Sandrina runs in from the garden outraged by Count Belfiore’s advance. Sandrina is in fact a pseudonym – she is really called Violante and is an old flame of the Count, and is furious that the Count is now engaged to Arminda. The Count has of course recognised ‘Sandrina’ for who she really is. Arminda is furious that the Count is now pursuing ‘Sandrina’, but Ramiro, who loves Arminda, is rather pleased. Got all that? Don’t worry, you’ll understand who is angry with whom.

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Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin

Excerpt from Act 1 Scene 1

 

Filipyevna

Hayley Meth

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Madame Larina

Inês Reis

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Onegin

Twm Tegid Brunton

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Tatyana

Zoë Jackson

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Lensky

Charles Secombe

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Olga

Hella Termeulen

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Piano

Alex Dakin

 

Tatiana and Olga, their mother Larina, and their nanny Filipyevna await the arrival of the young poet Lensky, Olga’s betrothed. When he enters the garden he reveals that he has brought along a friend: Eugene Onegin. Tatiana is utterly captivated by this stranger and realises she loves him at first sight. Onegin is unimpressed with Olga and tells Lensky he has poor taste in women: he’d go for Tatiana. Onegin and Tatiana make awkward conversation in the garden while Lensky declares his love for Olga. The nanny wonders whether Tatiana might be smitten with Onegin ... 

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Saariaho L'Amour de loin

Excerpt from Act 2

 

Clémence

Caroline Bourg

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Le Pèlerin

Abbie Ward

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Chorus

Michelle Cheung

Anaïs  Manz

Eleanor O'Driscoll

Hayley Meth

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Piano

Alex Dakin

 

A castle in Tripoli, Libya. The Countess Clémence looks at the ships entering the harbour in the distance. A French Pilgrim (Le Pèlerin) introduces himself and pays his respects. The Countess and her attendants are suspicious of the stranger. He explains he wants to see all the wonders of the Orient. The Countess tells him that she is extremely lonely in Tripoli and dreams of returning to France where she grew up. She remembers a cat she chased as a child, but then realises that no one would remember her in her homeland. The Pilgrim reveals that there is a Troubadour Prince in France who sings only of his love for her. The Countess finds it both intriguing and outrageous, and presses the Pilgrim for more details.

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Mozart Don Giovanni

Act 2 Sextet

 

Leporello

Jacob Dyksterhouse

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Donna Anna

Zoë Jackson

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Donna Elvira

Roberta Philip

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Zerlina

Harriet Cameron

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Don Ottavio

Sebastian Hill

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Masetto

Twm Tegid Brunton

 

Leporello, in disguise as his master Don Giovanni, leads Donna Elvira into a dark street and abandons her. Terrified, Donna Elvira looks for her ‘lover’ but cannot find him. Don Ottavio enters with his betrothed Donna Anna and tries to console her, but she says only death will end her mourning for her father. Leporello sees a chance to escape but is intercepted by Zerlina and Masetto who also take him for Don Giovanni. He is soon surrounded, and Donna Elvira jumps into action to plead for mercy for her ‘husband’. The others refuse her pleas, believing they have the villain cornered, and so Leporello begs for his life, revealing that he is not in fact Don Giovanni. Everyone is startled and enraged. 

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Korngold Die tote Stadt 

Extract from Act 2 Scene 3

 

Paul

Sebastian Hill

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Count Albert

Charles Secombe

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Victorin

Sholto Biscoe-Taylor

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Fritz

Maximilian Catalano

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Juliette

Michelle Cheung

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Lucienne

Eleanor O'Driscoll

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Marietta

Dani Croston

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Gaston

Jacob Dyksterhouse

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Chorus

Caroline Bourg

Harriet Cameron

Maud Niklas

Anaïs Manz

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Piano

Alex Dakin

 

A dream sequence. A group of dancers and actors enter a square in Bruges with their new patron, the Count. Victorin, the director of the troupe, lures the Count with talk of a meeting with his big star Marietta. Fritz the Pierrot, Marietta’s ex-lover, moodily bewails his abandonment. The troupe sing a serenade outside Marietta’s window. She appears with her new lover. She is introduced to the Count and quickly understands she is to entertain him if they all want to eat tonight. She leads the troupe in cursing Bruges, city of lies and illusions, and then asks Pierrot for a song. Pierrot strikes up a sentimental waltz, about his lost love and about the fate of being an entertainer: ecstasy, poverty, joy and suffering, this is the life of an opera singer.

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Synopses by Guido Martin-Brandis