Andrea Tweedale as the Witch, Hansel and Gretel, Concordia Foundation (Photo Jonathan Rose) |
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Nov 20 2017
Engaging introduction, and great fun; a schools version of the opera classic
Ros Savournin as the Dew Fairy, (Photo Jonathan Rose) |
For the next 45 minutes, John and Ros Savournin (in fact, brother and sister) along with Andrea Tweedale (mother and witch), Ellie Laugharne (Gretel), Polly Leech (Hansel, a role she was singing recently with Pop-Up Opera) and accordionist Milo Milivojevic, will keep the children entertained and more with a Whilst-Stop Opera production of Hansel and Gretel which was originally devised for Opera North and which is being presented by the Concordia Foundation. John and Ros set the performance in the context of imagination and day dreamining, with a call for 'volunteers' from the audience eliciting Ellie Laugharne and Polly Leech as Gretel and Hansel, and John Savournin engages the children in the process of deciding what the stage children will do.
Polly Leech, Ellie Laugharne, John Savournin, Andrea Tweedale (Photo Jonathan Rose) |
Prior to the performance, the Concordia Foundation has arranged music, drama, and art workshops with the school children, and a total of eight Key Stage 2 classes learned music from the opera for the pair of performances on 20 November (I saw the second one, when the artists seemed to be as fresh as ever). As a result of the art workshops, children had made flowers and branches for the forest, and were most enthusiastic in their creating 'scary' noises! Then for the gingerbread hut, one class came forward with the pictures of food that they had made and which they attached to the hut.
Our witch, Andrea Tweedale, was wonderfully glamorous, and the action of the opera proceeded with lively imagination. The acoustic of the church being what it was, words were not always clear (the singing was in English), but John Savournin's interventions ensured the children knew what was going on and had the advantage of involving them in the imaginging of the piece.
At the end, everyone joins in singing 'Ding dong the witch is dead' and then John Savournin retreats to the back of the church, closing things by singing the end of the Sandman's aria.
Ellie Laugharne, John Savournin, Polly Leech - Hansel and Gretel, Concordia Foundation (Photo Jonathan Rose) |
Elsewhere on this blog:
- Afluencias: Contemporary music from Brazil - CD review
- Thrilling singing: Joyce DiDonato as Rossini's Semiramide at Covent Garden - opera review
- Dramatic sweep and elusive heroine: Nico Muhly's Marnie at ENO - Opera Review
- Distant Love: Ashley Riches and Anna Huntley at the London Song Festival - concert review
- Fables re-sung: Andre Caplet, Richard Rodney Bennett and more - concert review
- In the wake of oppression: Symphonies by Weinberg & Prokofiev from the Polish orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus - CD review
- The Contemporary String Quartet: The Borusan Quartet in Pärt, Uçarsu, Glass, Vasks - CD review
- Mesmerising Britten, fierce RVW: Brighton Philharmonic & Matthew Trusler - concert review
- A raw, spine-tingling delight: Maxwell Davies The Lighthouse from Shadwell Opera - Opera review
- Spirit messages & madness: Jessic Duchen introduces Ghost Variations, a novel & a concert, the story of the discovery of Schumann's violin concerto - interview
- Home
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