Opera is a perfect romantic treat
“ We sing because we are either happy, angry, sad or jealous but it’s usually about love!” laughs Tom Isherwood.
“Singing in Italian is arguably the most evocative language of all, it speaks to the soul.”
Purists believe that some operas work better in English than others and of all the languages – Italian, French, Russian, English and German, pros often prefer singing in German.
“German words can sound aggressive when spoken but the language becomes wonderfully poetic when sung. Every word is coloured, it’s onomatopoeic.”
Buy Partenope tickets for anybody who appreciates Handel’s music, and is open to an avant garde approach. Ease opera first timers into the art with Puccini’s romantic La Boheme, or Gilbert and Sullivan’s comedy, Pirates of Penzance this month at The London Coliseum by English National Opera featuring another Chorleywood based top rate performer, Bass Baritone Andrew Shore as the eccentric, loveable Major General.
“It’s a much loved comic role, I sing I am the very model of a modern Major-General – one of the most familiar of all the patter songs in the Savoy operas.“
A scene from The Pirates Of Penzance
©Tristram Kenton 05/15
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Pirates of Penzance, 9 Feb – 25 March, London Coliseum
Ellen Kent’s La Boheme 14 Feb: Wimbledon;16 Feb: Oxford; 21 Feb: Woking. Sung in Italian with English surtitiles
www.atgtickets.com/shows/ellen-kents-la-boheme/
Partenope 15 – 24 March, London Coliseum www.eno.org