TAKE THE themes of friendship, loyalty and love.
Add music by the composer Georges Bizet and the stage is set for a perfect night at the opera.
And there is no doubt that opera fans in Huddersfield will be delighted to welcome Swansea City Opera back to the Lawrence Batley Theatre.
That welcome couldn’t be any warmer since the company is bringing an opera favourite, Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers to Huddersfield next week.
This opera after all features one of the most famous duets for tenor and baritone, Au fond du Temple Saint.
This beautiful piece is much loved and much sung and will doubtless be one of the highlights of next Saturday’s performance.
Opera has a big following at the LBT and Swansea City Opera has helped to build that audience.
The company has established itself as one of the country’s leading mid-scale touring opera groups offering productions that clearly appeal to a wide audience.
For this much loved Bizet opera, the company has teamed up with co-producers, Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon and The Colseum in Aberdare.
The opera is set in a fishing village in Ceylon and sees two friends pitted against each other in a deadly love triangle.
In the Pearl Fishers, Bizet created a score that has a haunting quality which has ensured that this remains one of his most popular works, second only to Carmen.
Brendan Wheatley, the company’s artistic director said: “For our seventh year as a company we have decided to return to the most popular opera we have ever toured, The Pearl Fishers.
“We believe that it deserves to be known for more than just the famous duet.
“The Leila, Zurga and Nadir arias are all wonderful pieces and the duets between Leila and Nadir and Leila and Zurga are full of melody and drama.
“Add to this the evocative choruses and it all makes for a fine lyric opera.
“We aim to delight audiences and continue helping to develop and promote the cultural aspects of Swansea.”
The opera will be performed in English by some of the finest singers and orchestral players in the country. The spectacular setting is by Gary McCann and the colourful period costumes by Gabriella Ingram.
Nick Ransley, whose appearance as Nadir in the company’s last production of the opera was much praised, returns to recreate the role.
The opera is next Saturday, March 6, at 7.30pm. Tickets from the LBT box office on 01484 430528.
l And opera fans should look out for another musical adventure at the LBT, this time on April 7. It is the only place in Yorkshire that you will be able to see the Opera Group’s production of The Enchanted Pig. More on that later.
