Event overview
020 7919 7645
As part of the Department of Music's PureGold season, OperaGold presents Britten's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', directed by Nan Christie and conducted by Tim Hooper.
Titania: Chien-Chun Lin (6th) Verica Grmusa (7th)
Oberon: Joe Cryan
Puck: Jon Rattenbury
Helena: Choi Youngji (6th); Hannah Bishay (7th)
Theseus: Alex Hill-Knight (6th); Hamish Gallie (7th)
Hermia: Rebecca Burraway (6th); Suzi Macgreagor (7th)
Lysander: Farhad Amiri
Demetrius: James Schouten
Bottom: Marcos Vila
Quince: Tim Patrick
Flute: Matt Haas
Snout: Gywn Davies
Snug: Geoff Ewen
Starveling: Eliot Williams
In August 1959, Britten decided to compose a full-evening opera for the reopening of the refurbished Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh in June 1960. As this left no time for a libretto to be prepared anew, he chose to adapt with Peter Pears Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, though as he admitted at the time, he had always admired the original play and was excited by the various levels of action between the different groups of characters. As with The Turn of the Screw, these groups are characterised by strongly differentiated colours: the bright, percussive sounds of harps, keyboards and percussion for the fairy world, warm strings and wind for the the pairs of lovers, and lower woodwind and brass for the mechanicals. The opera is completely faithful to the spirit of the original and must be counted as one of the most successful operatic adaptations of a Shakespeare play. It is possibly the most beguiling and enchanting of all Britten's operas, a work with a spellbinding atmosphere that inhabits a truly unique dreamlike world.
Reproduced by kind permission of the Britten-Pears Library
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Jun 2013 | 7:00pm - 10:00pm | |
| 7 Jun 2013 | 7:00pm - 10:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
