Whole Operas
Oyster Opera is proud to add “Don Pasquale” by Donizetti sung in Italian, and, a new venture - singing in English - Donizetti's “The Elixir of Love”.
Both productions are in period costumes, with a fully adjustable Set – the Pasquale is accompanied by piano only. The Elixir is accompanied by a small ensemble, including piano, and the production is aimed predominantly at outdoor performances.
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"Sharply characterized, intelligently directed and beautifully sung - a jewel of a production" (Warwick Thompson, Metro)
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However, if there is an opera you would particularly like to hear, then we would be delighted to discuss this in detail in order to tailor a performance to your exact requirements/space/event.
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“(we received)…an avalanche of ecstatic letters from the guests who were stunned by the immense style of the production and the quality of the singing at Leighton House. Several people referred to it as a magical evening and a lifetime memory. So thank you again…” (Bobbie Vincent-Emery)
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NO VENUE? SEE THE OPERA MARQUEE
Oyster Opera's productions are totally portable and can be stretched or shrunk according to your proposed venue (lighting/scenery). This means we can bring opera to unusual places and spaces.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Thank you so much for the evening at The Lady Lever Art Gallery – A wonderful performance.” (Alexis Redmond)
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We have performed in the Steiner Theatre, the Bloomsbury Theatre, Leighton House and Lauderdale House, London, but also have taken operas to private schools, town halls, stately homes and Scottish Castles. Opera-loving clients have staged a whole opera in their gardens, hallways, drawing rooms or marquees - either to entertain their friends, or as part of a festival, or often to raise money for charity. One idea is to host a fund-raising evening as a "mini-Glyndebourne", inviting people to bring picnics for a long interval and to dress in glamorous evening wear!
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"Oyster Opera's production was a revelation to me . it was just so well acted."
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Another brilliant idea is to have a dinner party - organize the guests on one side of the tables, all facing a raised platform/stage, which is what we have done at Leighton House, Kensington, London where the resident caterers worked with us to provide silent, unobtrusive food and service - so the audience enjoyed the wonderful setting of Leighton House, a first class dinner and a splendid private performance of Le Nozze di Figaro at extremely close range.
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"What a brilliant evening! I never heard a sextet sing so clearly. I heard every word."
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We provide the performance with a set and minimal lighting rig, and the copy (information and text) for you to make your own Programme, for a set fee. (Or we can produce it for you). All you need to do is to provide the space, the chairs, the piano (upright is fine, just make sure to have it tuned), electricity for the lights and the audience!
If you would like a full information pack on 'How to host an opera' - for funding raising or just for private entertainment please contact us.
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"First rate voices and acting - a magical evening! Piano accompaniment was so good that I hardly missed an orchestra and the singers so polished and on cue that they didn't need a conductor."
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OUR PRODUCTIONS:
Puccini's La bohème, Rossini's Il barbière di Siviglia, Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte and Le nozze di Figaro, Verdi's La Traviata, Donizetti's Elisir d'Amore (in Italian & English) and Don Pasquale; Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin; Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Britten's The Turn of the Screw.
We would be delighted to discuss possibilities for any opera you have in mind and would perform in English if it were preferable.
Flexible is our middle name.
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Find out who we are, check out the sound and video-bites or contact us directly for further information.
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OUR CASTS:
Oyster Opera's fabulous casts have been as follows:
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Dottor Malatesta
Ernesto
Norina
Un Notaro
Musical Director
Director |
Antoine Salmon
Philip Kay
James Heath
Fiona Oliver-Smith
Clive Bebee
Richard Black
Clive Bebee |
The Elixir of Love
Nemorino
Adina
Belcore
Dulcamara
Gianetta
Musical Director
Director |
James Heath
Fiona Oliver-Smith
Philip Kay
Antoine Salmon
Aurelia Jonvaux
Richard Black
Clive Bebee |
La Bohème [view showreel]
Mimì
Musetta
Rodolfo
Marcello
Schaunard
Colline
Benoit / Alcindoro
Music Director
Director |
Fiona Oliver-Smith
Aurelia Jonvaux
James Heath
Marlon da Silva Maia
Philip Kay
Orlando Schenk
Antoine Salmon
Richard Black
Clive Bebee |
Cenerentola
Cenerentola
Don Ramiro
Dandini
Don Magnific
Clorinda
Tisbe
Alidoro
Music Director
Director |
Hannah Mason
Stephen Anthony Brown
Peter Grevatt
Leon Berger
Sarah Estill
Justine Davies
John Milne
Richard Black
Clive Bebee |
La Traviata
Violetta Valery
Flora Bervoix
Annina
Alfredo Germont
Giorgio Germont
Gastone
Barone Douphol
Marchese d'Obigny / Dottore Grenvil
Music Director
Director |
Fiona Oliver-Smith
Hannah Mason
Aurelia Jonvaux
Andrew Friedhoff
Marlon da Silva Maia
Robert Amon
Orlando Schenk
Antoine Salmon
Richard Black
Fraser Grant |
Cosi fan tutte
Fiordiligi
Dorabella
Guglielmo
Ferrando
Despina
Don Alfonso
Music Director
Director |
Janet Fairlie, Fiona Oliver-Smith
Fiona Oliver-Smith, Hannah Mason
Kevin Sharp, Jeremy Vinogradov
Michael Hart-Davis, Angus McAllister
Yvonne Patrick, Emma Silversides
Deryk Hamon, Orlando Schenk
Annette Saunders; Krystian Belliere
Fraser Grant |
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Count Almaviva
Doctor Bartolo
Don Basilio
Figaro
Fiorello
Rosina
Bertha
Music Director
Director |
Jonathan Stoughton, Nick Smith, Paul Badley
Orlando Schenk
Stephen Holloway
Jeremy Vinogradov, Christopher Foster, Alex Ashworth
Angus McAllister
Fiona Oliver-Smith
Gudrun Finnbogadottir, Jane Stevenson
Kenneth Roberts; Frances Kelleher; Michael Pugh
Fraser Grant |
Le nozze di Figaro
Figaro
Susanna
Count Almaviva
Countess Almaviva
Cherubino
Marcellina
Don Basilio / Don Curzio
Doctor Bartolo / Antonio
Barbarina
Musical Director
Director |
Orlando Schenk
Emma Silversides
Philip Kay
Fiona Oliver-Smith
Hannah Mason
Jane Stevenson
James Hodgson
Stephen Holloway
Riko Tanaka
Michael Pugh
Fraser Grant |
L'elisir d'amore
Nemorino
Adina
Belcore
Dulcama
Gianetta
Chorus
Musical Director
Director |
Andrew Friedhoff
Fiona Oliver-Smith
Antonio Perez-Iranzo
Orlando Schenk
Hannah Mason
Hamish Gallie, Riko Tanaka, Kalina Koleva, Craig Steel, Verity Johnson
Richard Black
Fraser Grant |
Eugene Onegin (abridged version, sung in Russian with English narration)
Tatiana
Olga
Vladimir Lenski
Eugene Onegin
Alexander Pushkin
Director
Conductor
Russian coaching |
Jessica Lindberg
Alenka Ponjavic
Robert Carlin
Toby Sims
David Pullan (narrator)
Fraser Grant
David Gibson. Oyster Chamber Ensemble, arrangement by Lara Taylor
Alexandre Naoumenko |
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