OperaGlass Works
Advancing public education in, and appreciation of the arts of opera and theatre by the productions of public performances.
We set up OperaGlass Works to make opera more accessible to a wider audience. We started by putting on chamber opera in small, intimate spaces. Our first production was The Rake's Progress by Stravinsky in 2017, which we put on in the beautiful historic Wilton's Music Hall in London.
Our next production was The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten, which we were to perform just at the moment that theatres were closed due to Covid. Not content to let it go, during lockdown we turned our production into a movie, shot on location. It was conducted by John Wilson and had a diverse cast. It won a Critics' Circle Award for Best Opera Film and was shortlisted for the Golden Prague. Our most recent production is a film of La Traviata by Verdi. Again, this is not live capture of a performance but a movie shot on location in the countryside in the UK. This film is now finished and has been screened in the UK and we are now actively fundraising to promote and market it more widely in the UK and internationally.
Our goal is to continue to bring opera to a wider audience, both dedicated opera lovers and those new to the art form. Our focus is to explore the narrative drama of these works: we rehearse the singers as actors with a long rehearsal period and encourage the integration of singing technique with storytelling. In our film work, singers record their vocal live on the screen to enable a true organic performance and we record the orchestra in post production. This is an unusual and innovative approach and delivers excellent results.
Our next project is to return to the theatre. We have written a libretto for a new opera based on an episode in the life of Puccini. We have commissioned a composer and we aim to complete the work in time for a production in 2026. We are also planning a production of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with the conductor John Wilson in the near future. We are coming to New York in the spring to screen our film of La Traviata to promote our work, develop relationships in America and to attract funding.
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