Classical music and jazz: Preview - English Touring Opera at Sadler's Wells
Published: 25 February 2010
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
HACKNEY'S loss is Islington’s gain. Closure of the Hackney Empire has prompted English Touring Opera to relocate its London performances to Sadler’s Wells.
Due to be performed on three successive evenings, starting on March 8, are three comedies from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
First up will be Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in a new production by William Oldroyd responsible for some noted stagings for the Young Vic where he has been on its young directors’ programme.
The title role of the tyrant opera conductor is being sung by Keel Watson, the Caribbean bass baritone who has performed on major stages across the country including the Royal Opera House and English National Opera.
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, perhaps the world’s most popular opera, is being performed on March 9 in a production originally created for the Royal College of Music.
Baritone Robert Davies, a tenor soloist in several operas at the Glyndbourne Festival, is Figaro and the part of Susana is taken by Danish mezzo-soprano Lise Christiansen, a soloist with the Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera.
Thirdly, the ETO is reviving its celebrated 2004 production of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society award.
Shakespeare’s comedy is given a visually spectacular treatment with costume and set designs by Joana Parker.
The parts of eight fairies will be played by eight children from Child’s Hill School, Barnet.
• English Touring Opera, Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1, March 8-10, 0844 412 4399, from £10