From Darkness into Light - the Many Shades of Puccini
20th and 21st April, Oborne, Dorset
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On the 20th and 21st of April 2024, Cameratina is hosting 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 will explore the dramatic roles created by Puccini, his influences and his followers. The programme has been designed by our Artistic Director, Susanna Stranders, who will also accompany the singers throughout the programme.
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 is 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 will be joined by seven of the finest emerging talents of the current British opera world. The young stars will be the cast of our opera and support Sir John in a recital.
Il Tabarro
Puccini's darkest opera
Il Tabarro is set against the grinding poverty of Northern France. Michele, the barge owner, ploughs the waterways from Rouen to Paris. Giorgetta, his wife, dreams of being free from their soured claustrophobic marriage. But her grab for freedom and romance ends in tragedy and worse.
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Il Tabarro is the natural development of Puccini’s music from his early ‘hits’, La Boheme and Tosca, towards his late masterpiece Turandot.
Il Tabarro is a one-act opera running for approximately 50 minutes.
Saturday 20th April, 6pm. £40
​Upcoming Events
An open rehearsal
In preparation for the evening recital
Singers often find that they get the most out of workshops when their pre-conceptions about songs they know well are challenged. We have asked our seven singers to screw up their courage and perform one of their choices for the evening Recital in front of Sir John and Susanna in an Open Rehearsal.
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Both the singers and we, the audience, can share in Sir John’s and Susanna’s insights.
Sunday 21st April, 2pm. £20
Puccini Recital
Shining a light on songs and arias inspired by Puccini
Our seven young stars have been invited by Sir John to join him in a Recital of their favourite songs either written by Puccini himself or by one of the composers he influenced or who was an influence on him. Given the darkness at the heart of Il Tabarro, the singers were given a hefty nudge towards Puccini’s lighter side. The result is an evening of much-loved arias and some surprising choices, including some of Sir John’s own favourites.
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Sunday 21st April, 6pm. £40
