Opera Bohemia

Last updated

Opera Bohemia is an opera company based in Scotland that performs operas throughout the country. The operas are adapted for small venues and are often performed in remote communities. The company began presenting operas in 2010.

Contents

Opera Bohemia
TypeTheatre group
PurposeOpera productions
Location
  • Scotland
Website operabohemia.co.uk

History

Opera Bohemia was established by two Scottish musicians, conductor Alistair Digges and baritone Douglas Nairne, with the aim of presenting opera across Scotland, introducing opera to a wider audience, especially to a younger generation, and creating opportunities for young artists. [1] Opera performances have taken place towns and cities all across Scotland, from the Isle of Skye in the West Highlands, [2] to the east coast, [3] to the Scottish borders, [4] to the Central Belt [5] and to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [6] Operas are adapted for a small stage and a small cast with no chorus. A piano and solo instrument often replace an orchestra. For larger scale performances the company performs with The Bohemia Ensemble, a chamber orchestra. [7] [8]

Productions and performers

Each new production leads to tours which include remote and small venues. The company has staged productions of La bohème, Lucia Di Lammermoor, Madama Butterfly (including at the Perth Festival of the Arts), Eugene Onegin, Gianni Schicchi, Les pêcheurs de perles, La traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca and Falstaff. A 10th anniversary tour of The Merry Widow toured 18 venues and reached an audience of four thousand people across Scotland. The company has toured twice to England including a performance of Madama Butterfly in London's Middle Temple. [9] In the first Edinburgh Festival Fringe production of La Bohème, Mimi was played by international star Pumeza Matshikiza. [10] For Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor [11] in 2012 another international star, Australian soprano Suzanne Shakespeare, performed Lucia. [12] Regular lead performers include the soprano Catriona Clark and [13] baritone Andrew McTaggart. Alistair Digges has conducted all orchestral performances. Directors have included John Wilkie, Tom Cooper, Douglas Nairne, Adrian Osmond, Lissa Lorenzo and Oliver Platt. Designers have included Alisa Kalyanova, Kenneth MacLeod and Magnus Popplewell.

Funding

Opera Bohemia has received Creative Scotland Lottery Funding [14] and funding from a number of trusts, companies and individuals.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renata Scotto</span> Italian soprano (1934–2023)

Renata Scotto was an Italian soprano, opera director, and voice teacher. Recognised for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered to have been one of the preeminent opera singers of her generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Opera Company</span> Opera company based in Toronto, Ontario

The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, which was purpose-built for opera and ballet and is shared with the National Ballet of Canada. For forty years until April 2006, the COC had performed at the O'Keefe Centre.

Opera Lyra Ottawa (OLO) was a non-profit professional opera company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1984 by Canadian soprano Diana Gilchrist after the demise of the National Arts Centre's annual summer opera productions. The company performed fully staged and concert version operas in their original language with French and English surtitles at the National Arts Centre as well as running outreach and young artist programs.

Neil Shicoff is an American opera singer and cantor and known for his lyric tenor singing and his dramatic, emotional acting.

Natalia Rom, soprano, was born in Kazan, in the Soviet Union, on May 14, 1950, and graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory. In late 1976, she emigrated to New Orleans, where she attended Loyola University's College of Music, and studied voice with Patricia Havranek. In 1979, she made her professional debut in a small role in the New Orleans Opera Association's Die Zauberflöte. That same year, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 1980, she sang the title role in Aïda, for the Seattle Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Alexander (tenor)</span> American operatic singer

John Alexander was an American operatic tenor who had a substantial career during the 1950s through the 1980s. He had a longstanding relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, singing with that company every year between 1961 and 1987 for a total of 379 performances. He also periodically performed at the New York City Opera during his career and was a frequent presence at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company during the late 1950s and 1960s. Although he spent most of his career in New York City, Alexander occasionally traveled to perform as a guest artist with many of the world's leading opera houses, both in the United States and Europe. He was also an active concert singer throughout his career.

Bel Cantanti is an American opera company under the direction of Dr. Katerina Souvorova. It was formed in 2003 to give performance opportunities to operatic talent in the Washington, D.C. area. It has produced more than 50 different fully staged operas and gala events with young professionals since 2003. The productions has been in a variety of venues including: the Austrian Embassy in D.C., the French Embassy in Georgetown, and the German Embassy in D.C.. Bel Cantanti performed at the Randolph Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, located in a Montgomery County, Maryland community center, until the County closed the center in favor of an affordable housing project. Most performances are now held at the Bender Jewish Community Center in Rockville, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlanta Opera</span>

The Atlanta Opera is an opera company located in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Founded in 1979, it produces mainstage opera productions and arts education programs for Metropolitan Atlanta and the Southeast.

Michael Fabiano is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Canadian Opera Company, The Royal Opera, and Teatro Real de Madrid among many others. Fabiano is the 2014 Richard Tucker Award winner and the 2014 Beverly Sills Artist Award winner, making him the first singer to win both awards in the same year.

Željko Lučić, is a Serbian operatic baritone who has had an active international career since 1993. He was a member of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad from 1993 to 1998 and at the Frankfurt Opera from 1998 to 2008. He is particularly well known for his performances in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi; having portrayed a total of 23 leading roles from the great composer's works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Short (bass-baritone)</span> American operatic bass-baritone

Kevin Short is an American operatic bass-baritone. A graduate of Morgan State University, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Juilliard School, he won the bass-baritone award for the Middle Atlantic region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1989. From 1991 to 1998 he appeared annually at the Metropolitan Opera, singing in a total of 129 performances. He notably created the role of Joseph in the world premiere of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles in 1991. Some of the other roles he has performed at the Met are Colline in La Bohème, the Friar in Don Carlos, Happy in La fanciulla del West, the Jailer in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Lackey in Ariadne auf Naxos, Mandarin in Turandot, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Sciarrone in Tosca, Pirro in I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, and Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin. He also sang several roles with the New York City Opera during the 1980s and 1990s, including Nourabad in The Pearl Fishers and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artur Ruciński</span> Polish operatic baritone singer (born 1976)

Artur Ruciński is a Polish operatic baritone singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Szkafarowsky</span> American opera singer (born 1956)

Stefan Szkafarowsky is an American opera singer (bass).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorset Opera Festival</span>

Dorset Opera Festival is an annual country house opera festival combining amateur and professional performers, which takes place at Bryanston near Blandford Forum in Dorset, England.

Richard Woitach was an American conductor, pianist, and composer. In 1959, after studying music at the Eastman School of Music, Woitach jointed the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and served as a staff conductor there until 1997. In 1981, he collaborated with Canadian operatic soprano Teresa Stratas to record The Unknown Kurt Weill, a landmark Nonesuch record that introduced unpublished songs of German composer Kurt Weill and for which Woitach received a Grammy nomination in 1982. Woitach also was a long time collaborator with Canadian heldentenor Jon Vickers, where Woitach accompanied Vickers on the piano in several recorded recitals in both Canada and New York City. Woitach was survived by his wife soprano Jeryl Metz, his children and grandchildren.

Arthur Cosenza was an American impresario, stage director, and baritone of Italian heritage, who was particularly associated with the New Orleans Opera Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gegham Grigoryan</span> Musical artist

Gegham Grigorian (also written Grigoryan, Armenian: Գեղամ Գրիգորյան; Russian: Гегам Григорян; 29 January 1951 – 23 March 2016) was an Armenian operatic tenor.

Robert Goodloe (1936-2024) was an American baritone who was committed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1964 until 1982 where he gave nearly a thousand performances. While primarily a comprimario performer at the Met, he did portray some leading roles; including Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marcello in La bohème, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. In 1966 he created the role of Thidias in the world premiere of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra for the grand opening of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. His performances are preserved on several recordings made for Live from the Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.

Opera Columbus is an American professional opera company in Columbus, Ohio, founded in 1981, and is a member of Opera America. OC employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalists, artisans, stagehands, costumers, and scenic designers—many of whom are members of the Columbus community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Nusspaumer</span> Uruguayan operatic tenor

Martín Nusspaumer is a Uruguayan operatic tenor.

References

  1. ↑ "Alistair Digges and Douglas Nairne with Opera Scotland". Opera Scotland. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Madame Butterfly' in Kyleakin hall". West Highland Free Press. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Opera Bohemia to visit Peterburgh for the first time". Fraserburgh Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Amalh & The Night Visitors, Performed by Opera Bohemia Date: Thursday 10th of December". Absolute Classics. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Fraser, Garry (20 February 2015). "Opera Bohemia, reviewed Gardyne Theatre February 17". The Courier. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "A polished Lucia di Lammermoor". The Operatic Critic. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Ash, Madeleine. "Eugene Onegin". Broadway Baby. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Opera Bohemia Perform Eugene Onegin". Inverclyde Now. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Madam Butterfly at Middle Temple". Muir Maxwell.
  10. ↑ Haggie, Miranda. "Talented new company's Fringe debut". The List. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Graham, Catriona. "A polished Lucia di Lammermoor". The Opera Critic. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Munro, James (30 March 2012). "Opera Bohemia: Lucia di Lammermoor". Northings. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "C". Catriona Clark Soprano. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Opera Bohemia". GotLottery. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.