The Young Artists of the National Opera Studio perform scenes and excerpts from some of the world’s best-loved operas, including Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Verdi’s Falstaff, Puccini’s La bohème, Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. The programme also champions women composers with extracts from Elena Langer’s Figaro gets a Divorce and Ethyl Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate.
This semi-staged concert performance will be directed by rising British director Emma Jenkins, with accompaniment on piano from our highly-talented répétiteurs.
"The programme for this year is an eclectic mix of old favourites and some more unusual and quirky additions. Since this is the centenary of the first swathe of women’s suffrage, we thought it only fitting to include some female composers in the form of Ethel Smyth and Elena Langer. Smyth was a formidable suffragette as well as a composer, and her chamber opera The Boatswain’s Mate is a satirical commentary on patriarchy, while Elena Langer’s contemporary opera Figaro Gets a Divorce speculates about what becomes of the Almaviva household as their fortunes decline. The rest of the programme should feel familiar to audiences and encompasses a mixture of the comic and the tragic, the modern and the traditional.
By and large, the scenes are chosen to best showcase the talents and range of the Young Artists, as well as to create a varied and interesting programme. We have also included some lengthy and substantial excerpts designed to challenge the performers and give them a chance to explore a character more deeply.
Working with the Young Artists at the National Opera Studio is always a tremendous privilege, and it is thrilling to channel the energy of artists at the start of their career and be a part of their stories. It has been a hugely enjoyable experience and I look forward to seeing each and every one of them make an impact on the opera world." - Emma Jenkins, Director, National Opera Studio at WNO