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From darkness into light

The many shades of Puccini

April 2024

On the 20th and 21st of April 2024, Cameratina hosted a weekend of fine music with the working title From Darkness into Light: The Many Shades of Puccini. This celebrates the centenary year of Giacomo Puccini’s death. Seven young opera singers explored the dramatic roles created by Puccini, his influences and his followers. The programme was designed by our Artistic Director, Susanna Stranders, accompaniment was by Charlotte Forrest.


Susanna is already well known to previous audience members, having created the critically acclaimed Viardot200 event for us in 2022 and our Coronation offering Fairest Isle with Roddy Williams in 2023. Susanna is on the music staff of the Royal Opera House and also coaches at leading conservatoires in the UK and abroad. Her website is at www.susannastranders.com 


Our guest performer was one of the UK’s finest ever exponents of the bass voice, Sir John Tomlinson. Sir John is rightly famous for his interpretation of the great roles of Wagnerian opera, as well as a great breadth of characters across fifty years of music-making, both in performance and recordings.  His recent appearances include King Lear in The Shackled King by John Casken , Swallow in Peter Grimes at Covent Garden, King Mark in Tristan and Isolde, and the title role in The Mikado at the ENO.


Susanna and Sir John were joined by seven of the finest emerging talents of the current British opera world.  

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Fairest Isle
Jewels of British Song

A weekend of majestic British music

April 2023

A weekend of dazzling performances in beautiful Oborne, what better time to celebrate the best of British composers, poets and artists than a Coronation year.

The jewels in our Cameratina crown included a diamond team of artists and a true national treasure, the baritone Roderick Williams, as they joined Susanna Stranders on stage to explore British repertoire from across the isles and the ages.
Sir Lennox Berkeley’s one-act opera A Dinner Engagement opened our programme - directed by Roddy, it starred six of the very brightest talents in British opera and an appearance from an exciting young local talent. There was an open workshop with Roddy working closely with our artists to take their repertoire from page to stage which lead into the final song recital featuring works from Purcell to Judith Weir, the current Master of the King’s Music, bringing the weekend to a sparkling close.

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A new opera for our time

HIKIKIMORI!

April 2022

During the first lockdown, young composer Zygmund de Somogyi was commissioned to write a piece that was ‘of our time’. Zyggy chose Hikikomori, the modern Japanese phenomenon in which people withdraw completely from all society for years at a time.

The new piece, a chamber opera for four voices and a piano, will be performed by Katy Thomson, Kieran Rayner, lúnó Connolly and Liam Bonthrone, with Michelle Santiago playing the piano. They will be directed by Susanna Stranders.

Not strictly speaking a Cameratina Production, but nonetheless one which we were delighted to host and help it to see its first performance in Oborne.

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VIARDOT200 

Pauline Viardot

Prima Donna - Composer - Muse - Inspiration

April 2022

A household name across Europe during the late 19th century, Pauline Viardot was an international opera star by 18, studied the piano with Liszt, played duets with Chopin, charmed Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Gounod and the writer Turgenev, and hosted the greatest musical salon of her day.

 

Cameratina and its new artistic director, Susanna Stranders, have created a weekend combining some of the finest music of Belle Epoch Paris, Taking as its theme the bicentenary of Pauline Viardot.

 

With a recital by the winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at Cardiff Singer of the World 2019, an open workshop where two young British composers will be work with with musicians to rehearse their newly-commissioned pieces, a new English translation of Viardot’s comic operetta Cinderella, culminating with an invitation into Viardot’s salon, where the audience will hear music, poetry and readings from Pauline’s circle of friends, this is Cameratina's most ambitious weekend yet.  

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'VIARDOT200 Taster'

Cameratina hosted a lunchtime concert at 1901 Arts Club in Waterloo. Performed by new Artistic Director, Susanna Stranders, and three rising stars of opera, Claire Lees, Katy Thompson and Kieran Rayner, the concert gave a taster of the highlights to be expected at the Viardot200 event scheduled for April 2022.

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Cameratina 2019

The Bear

Williams Walton’s one-act opera, full of witty parodies, wa performed by Flora McIntosh, Pauls Putnins, Nick Fowler, Siobhan Chapman, Kelvin Lim and Nick Fowler

The Recital

Flora McIntosh and Kelvin Lim performed a varied programme, including the Wesendonck Lieder, Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Sonata and Pictures at an Exhibition.

Rita

The music is pure Donizetti – charming, witty, inhabiting the same world as L’elisir d’amore and Don Pasquale.   Mariya Krywaniuk, Bonaventura Bottone, Pauls Putnins, Nick Fowler, and Kelvin Lim did a beautiful job giving the audience just that.

Lee Bissett

Lee was joined by Flora McIntosh and accompanied by Kelvin Lim.  Pieces included Leonora's Recitative and Aria, Chrysothemis's aria and Isolde and Brangäne.

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Cameratina 2018

Beggars Opera
John Gay’s treasury of satire, wit and joyful ribaldry; The Beggar´s Opera was a sensation in its day.  Performed by Malcolm Rivers, Pauls Putnins, Lynsey Docherty, Flora McIntosh, Kevin West, Harriet Williams, Jon Valender and Emma Watkinson


Acis and Galatea
Handel's most popular dramatic work in his lifetime, performed by Lynsey Docherty, Flora McIntosh, Pauls Putnins.


Yaniv D’Or
A baroque recital form the renowned Israeli counter-tenor.  Accompanied by Dan Tidhar, Harpsichord

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