La Traviata Returns To Lead Vibrant Spring Opera Season
Opera
North
Newcastle
Theatre Royal
Tuesday
3 - Saturday 7 March 2015
Opera
North’s critically acclaimed production of La
traviata is set to return to Newcastle Theatre Royal this spring,
accompanied by three of the most exuberant operas ever written. The season runs Tuesday 3 - Saturday 7 March
2015.
As well as the Verdi masterpiece, Opera North return
with Mozart's sublime comedy The Marriage of Figaro (Thu 5 & Sat 7 March) and a double bill
of Falla’s extraordinary La vida breve and Puccini’s comic Gianni Schicchi (Tue 3 March).
 |
| The Marriage of Figaro |
The Marriage of Figaro is
one of opera's most tender, funny and heart-warming
works. Right from the famous overture which sets the scene for comic
misadventures, Mozart's music expresses all the joy and pain of love, along
with the agony and ecstasy of desire.
On Figaro's wedding day, he discovers that his
master, the Count, is in pursuit of his bride, Susanna. The Countess is
heartbroken by her husband's infidelity – but is herself soon the object of the
teenage desires of the page boy, Cherubino. To top it all off, Figaro has
borrowed money from the housekeeper, and if he can't pay it back, he'll have to
marry her instead!
 |
| The Marriage of Figaro |
A top international and British cast includes
baritone Richard Burkhard as
Figaro and Norwegian soprano Silvia Moi
(Papagena in Kenneth Branagh’s The Magic Flute) as Susanna. The
production has already garnered critical acclaim and received multiple five
star reviews when it opened in Leeds last week.
Two outstanding operas come together to create one
extraordinary evening, in a double bill of La vida breve and Gianni
Schicchi (Tue 3 March).
Director Christopher
Alden’s ferocious take on Manuel de Falla’s short exuberant opera, La vida breve is an intense,
unforgettable experience. An all or nothing tragedy of a woman who loves a
worthless man, the atmosphere is heightened by the influence of Andalusian folk
song and Spanish dance rhythms. French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels (Cio-Cio San, Madama Butterfly) stars
in the devastating lead role of Salud.
A perfect, light-hearted companion to La vida breve, Gianni Schicchi is Puccini’s only
outright comedy, based on an episode in Dante’s Inferno. Puccini’s
exquisite music delightfully illustrates the greed and absurdity driving the
actions of a dying man’s scheming relatives.
With its vivid characterisation it is a comic masterpiece in miniature.
Featuring one of Puccini’s best loved arias, ‘O mio babbino caro,’ the
production stars one of the current great operatic performers, Christopher Purves, in the title
role.
Alessandro Talevi’s opulent and sensational Belle
Époque production of La traviata (4
& 6 March), a smash hit sell-out when it played the Theatre Royal in
November 2014, returns with new cast
members Anna Jeruc-Kopec as Violetta and Stephen Gadd as Germont. South Korean
tenor Ji-Min Park continues to charm audiences as Alfredo.
Verdi's great tear-jerker proved an instant hit in
the autumn, with its glamorous costumes and stunning sets evoking the decadence
and debauchery of Belle Époque Paris.
Violetta is a courtesan to the rich, whose world of
wine, song and reckless pleasure is turned upside down when she falls in love
with a young nobleman, Alfredo. Unable
to suppress her feelings, she gives up her lavish lifestyle in Paris for a simpler life with him in the country. But
when her past threatens his family’s honour, she is forced to sacrifice her
only chance of real love.
Tickets:
Opera
North is at Newcastle Theatre Royal Tue
3 March until Sat 7 March 2015.
Tickets are available from £16.50 (a booking fee
of 95p - £1.95 will apply to most tickets) and can be purchased from the
Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 or select your own seat and book
online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk
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