Martinu & Rossini Double Bill
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu's death, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama perform his opera The Marriage. It forms a double bill with Rossini' La cambiale di matrimonio at London's Silk Street Theatre.
Every term the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, one of London's finest music and drama conservatoires, presents a fully-staged opera. These acclaimed productions are showcases for the up-and-coming opera stars of the next generation. The repertoire is wide ranging and uncovers neglected gems of the repertoire, as here.
Conductor (and head of opera studies) Clive Timms is joined by director Alessandro Talevi for this apt conjugal conjunction, with one opera coming from the end of a career and the other from the very beginning.
Martinu's The Marriage dates from 1952, and is based on a short story by Gogol (the one on which Mussorgsky had once based an unfinished opera). Councillor Podkolesin wants to get married and the match-maker Fekla gets in to action to win him Agafya's hand, while his friend Kochkarev has his own ideas how to help.
Rossini's The Bill of Marriage was the first of Rossini's operas to be staged, in Venice in 1810. Curiously, it is set in a small English town, where merchant Sir Tobias Mill hopes to marry his daughter Fanny off to Slook, a Canadian merchant. But Fanny loves Edoardo and it is Slook that comes to the rescue of the young lovers.
The Guildhall has a fine reputation, particularly for uncovering rare operatic finds, and rediscovering shamefully discarded operas. Such gems have been Tchaikovsky's Cherevichki, Rimsky-Korsakov's Christmas Eve and Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden), Fauré's Pénélope and Bohuslav Martinu's Comedy on the Bridge, let alone contemporary works such as Dominick Argento's Postcard from Morocco and - most recently - an acclaimed production of Sallinen's The King Goes Forth to France.
Whether you want to be the first to spot the opera stars of the future (Bryn Terfel started here), or are interested in discovering hidden gems, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama is the place to be.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Barbican Centre Box Office |
| Phone: | 0845 120 7500 (from UK only) |
| Address: | Barbican Centre, Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS, UK |
| Venue Information: | Silk Street Theatre |
| Full Name: | |
| Address: | Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Silk Street, Barbican EC2Y 8DT |
| Directions: | Adjacent to the Barbican Centre on Silk Street in the City of London, the theatre is in the main block of the Conservatoire. By Tube: to Moorgate and Barbican. Many buses stop close by, either on London Wall or on Moorgate, each about 5 minutes' walk away. |
| Contact Details: | Silk Street Theatre |
| Email: | tickets@gsmd.ac.uk |
| Phone: | +44 (0) 20 7628 2571 (administration) / Box Office facilities via the Barbican Centre |
| Other Information: | Silk Street Theatre |
| Website: | Guildhall School of Music & Drama Website |
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Barbican Centre Box Office |
| Phone: | 0845 120 7500 (from UK only) |
| Address: | Barbican Centre, Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS, UK |
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| Name: | Visit Britain |
| Location: | United Kingdom |
| Address: | 1 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5HE |
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