Two major productions will now be livestreamed as a result of the second lockdown in England.
Opera North received a grant of £2 million from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund and is determined to continue to share music with those in Northern England, whilst planning to return to live performances and tours as early as possible in 2021.
Whilst live performances are not possible yet, behind closed doors, rehearsals and filming are permitted, provided production crew, performers and staff observe the COVID-19 guidelines. So – all is by no means lost.
The Seven Deadly Sins (Kurt Weill)
Livestream: Saturday 21 November at 18:00
Running time: 40 mins
Available to watch live or on demand for 48 hours for £10
Buy tickets and watch at operanorth.co.uk (operanorth.co.uk/whats-on/the-seven-deadly-sins)
A performance of Brecht and Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins will be streamed live from Leeds Playhouse at 6pm on Saturday 21 November. It will be Opera North’s first fully-staged opera since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March.
The Seven Deadly Sins was scheduled to open at Leeds Playhouse on Wednesday 11 November, in a double-bill with Handel’s Acis and Galatea. Performances of the double-bill for audiences in the theatre will now be rescheduled to early 2021, and existing bookers will be contacted to transfer their bookings or to arrange refunds. All bookers will also receive free access to the livestream.
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
Ballet with Singing
Text by Bertolt Brecht
Arrangement for 15 Players by HK Gruber and
Christian Muthspiel
Performed in the English translation by Michael Feingold.
This streamed performance of Weill’s ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ presents a preview of a new arrangement of this work by HK Gruber and Christian Muthspiel, ahead of the arrangement’s scheduled UK premiere by the Royal Opera in spring 2021. We are very grateful to the Royal Opera for facilitating these performances
By arrangement with Schott Music Ltd agent for The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music and the heirs of Bertolt Brecht.
Fidelio (Beethoven)
Livestream: Saturday 12 December at 19:00
Running time: 1 hour and 45 mins
Available to watch live or on demand for seven days for £15
Buy tickets and watch at operanorth.co.uk
(https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on/fidelio-ondemand/)
A dramatic concert performance of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, will be streamed live from Leeds Town Hall at 7pm on Saturday 12 December, conducted by Mark Wigglesworth, and directed by Matthew Eberhardt.
A cast of internationally-renowned singers including Rachel Nicholls, Toby Spence, Robert Hayward and Brindley Sherratt will perform with a 33-piece orchestra and 24-strong chorus, creating one of the largest on-stage ensembles since the Covid-19 outbreak for some of Beethoven’s most powerful and poignant music, including the moving Prisoners’ Chorus.
Fidelio was due to open at Leeds Town Hall on 29 November for four performances, all of which will now be cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions, and bookers for the live events refunded.
Photograph (from The Seven Deadly Sins) by Tristram Kenton, provided by Opera North.
