2018 Opera Challenge: Thoughts so far…

Half of 2018 has been and gone (which is beyond crazy), so I thought it might be a good time to meditate on the opera I have seen thus far, focussing in particular on those I have specifically chosen as part of my 2018 Opera Challenge.

The ‘Ring’ Preparation…

In a time before Netflix and chill, the delights of the Amazon Prime binge, or marathon-ing the ‘Lord of the Rings’ extended editions in a single day there was the ‘Ring’ Cycle … and if you hadn’t already heard me wittering on about it since bagging tickets back in November 2017, I, along with two brave (and somewhat foolish) comrades, am headed to see Wagner’s ‘Ring’ at the Royal Opera House this Autumn.

March: Wake

It’s already the beginning of April, which means I’m a quarter of the way through my 2018 Opera Challenge. Amazingly, I have already seen a crazy amount of opera (both professional and by groups doing it for-the-love-of-it); the beauty of Birmingham Opera Company and Wake is that it fuses those two concepts together quite magnificently.

Birmingham Opera Company has been on my radar for a few years, but Wake was the perfect opportunity to make the trip, not only to see a company I haven’t experienced, but as an excuse to get out of South Wales for a day, briefly catch up with my sister, and (possibly most excitingly) see a good friend in her professional opera debut… clearly reason was telling me to go go go.

February: Tosca

Tosca: the diva. The falcon. Jealous, loving, romantic, betrayed, sought… doomed. Singing the sad song of the creative soul: ‘I lived for art; I lived for love’.

One production. Two Toscas.

Me being me, on hearing that Welsh National Opera had double-cast Tosca for their performances at the Wales Millennium Centre in February, I decided that the only option was to see both sopranos on offer and compare how a different principal singer affects the production as a whole. As I’m sure you can imagine the results were interesting (…positive use of that word, I promise!).

January: Salome

So begins the 2018 operatic journey. This year, as some of you may or may not be aware, I have set myself the pretty mad task of seeing at least one opera a month (from professional/established opera companies) for the whole of 2018. I am doing this for several reasons, but mostly it boils down to two things: I want to be kept in the loop at a time when professionally I feel a bit distanced from my passions, and I also want to have something to look forward to every few weeks. Going to the opera makes me happy, and this year I am determined to do more of what I love. Already I am discovering the difficulties in achieving this task: primarily that I am a person who works full time in a minimum wage job, and that funding these exploits and scheduling work around them is easier said than done. But I’m having a good go! Some months are easier to meet the quota than others (Wales-based opera is useful) and some have already been booked very far in advance (October and November are accounted for, as are February and April). I’m also hoping to experience productions from a wider range of companies in order to broaden my knowledge and understanding of opera. Living in Wales it has been easy for me to catch Welsh National Opera (and occasionally Music Theatre Wales) in and around Cardiff; they have been very good to me in more ways than I could count, but it’s exciting to see what else is out there. Bring on the challenge!

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30th January 2018

I was on holiday for the final week in January, which was just as well, because it felt like I hadn’t stopped for several months! I work in retail and always struggle in December-time when it’s the holiday season; it’s sold to us as a time for catching up with friends and family, but I only have a limited number of days to enjoy the festivities (it’s also very tiring!). To have had some time off in January was nice, and I tried to unwind. After a weekend with my family bouncing between Birmingham and Berkshire bases, I ended up in London for the day, determined to enjoy some opera-based me-time.

2017: Kate’s year in review

Yes, it’s that time of year again! Time for me to look back on my opera happenings in 2017. For a year I thought was initially looking rather empty on the opera-front, it seems to have become incredibly jam-packed.

‘The Golden Dragon’ – hilarity, tragedy, and glorious gore

Music Theatre Wales are a company I am fairly new to, but one that I am SO GLAD exists (being, as they are, wonderfully refreshing promoters of contemporary opera). Having, thankfully, spotted that they were back in Cardiff, I made my way to the Sherman on a wet, autumnal night, ready to be entertained… I was not disappointed.

Encore: ‘Kommilitonen!’ – One Year On

“Kommilitonen! Kommilitoninnen!”,

It is hard to believe a year has passed since one of the best weeks I’ve ever had.

Kommilitonen! was something special. I think we all knew that from the very beginning. As soon as Polly Graham said the words ‘promenade’ and ‘site specific production’ in the same sentence, I was hooked. The concept was like all of my Christmases come at once; an opera in a venue with history and character, where the audience move around the theatre space to witness three highly emotive stories, all told simultaneously, and performed by a cast of young singers taking on multiple roles as both soloists and chorus members. It’s exactly the kind of theatre that I love to watch and that I enjoy making. Being involved in such a project, I felt and knew that I was one of the luckiest people on the planet (or, if that’s too grand a statement, at the very least in Wales).

2016: Kate’s year in review

or ‘Opera things what have happened in 2016’…

Disclaimer: in true Kate fashion, I realise how extraordinarily late this post is. I can only apologise that 2016 happened to be full of more operatic opportunities than even I took into account, and, therefore, it’s taken a little longer to get all of my thoughts down… 2017’s resolution is to keep on top of this blog! (although only time will tell on that front).

FOREWORD

Before embarking on the mad but incredible adventure that has been my 2016, it is perhaps apt to reflect a little upon the previous year: at the end of 2015 (despite my hopeful sign off in my end of year review and my desperate attempts at positivity) I was feeling run down, miserable and uncertain of how I was ever going to achieve my dreams of being a creative person. Although 2016 hasn’t come without its trials and tribulations, my goodness have I gotten some of the breaks I wanted (and probably needed). It turns out hard work and a smidgen of luck can really pay off…

17th February 2016 – ‘The Barber of Seville’, Welsh National Opera

[Cover photo: Richard Hubert Smith]

Since it’s now (somehow) 2016 and we’ve already made it through two months of the year (seriously, how did that happen?), it was about time I headed down to Cardiff Bay to see the wonderful Welsh National Opera. I had been waiting quite impatiently for their ‘Figaro Forever’ Season, having been intrigued by the promises of Mozart, world premieres and a famous one I had not seen (“Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!”). And, therefore, it was an absolute joy to be able to start my Figaro Adventure ‘at the very beginning’, as it were, with The Barber of Seville.