Biting baroque satire - L'Ospedale

Solomon's Knot in a workshop for L'Ospedale

I have to confess that when I first read about the 'lost' opera L'Ospedale being performed by the lively baroque collective Solomon's Knot at Wilton's Music Hall from 10 November to 21 November 2015, my first instinct was to assume that it was wind up and that the resulting musical drama, dealing with hospital waiting times, doctors' pay, and the provision of free healthcare for all, was going to prove to be a very modern barb.

Not a bit, the score by an unknown composer has languished in a library in Venice until it was found 6 years ago by a PhD student. It has a text by the Italian satirist Antonio Abati (died 1667) and music by an unknown composer. It will be presented fully staged in a version which has been created after a number of workshop projects. Solomon's Knot will be directed by James Hurley with James Halliday as musical director and will feature Lucy Page, Nicholas Merryweather, Michal Czerniawski, Rebecca Moon, Thomas Herford and Jonathan Sells.

Intrigued? You can learn more from the video on YouTube, but I suggest you come along to the fading grandeur that is Wilton's and find out for yourself. The evening performance on 14 November will be followed by a free open session on Mental Health.