How are rehearsals are going so far?

We’ve had the great fortune of being able to rehearse this opera over a longer period of time than our last production of the Marriage of Figaro.  The whole cast has now spent about 3 months with the music, which means we’ve been able to place a big focus on acting and characterisation.  Our director, Flips Green, has run a lot of useful workshops helping us to access the physicality and mindset of our characters, which definitely gives everyone’s performance an extra dimension.

You’re singing Papagena – what are your favourite aspects of this role? And challenges?

I’m lucky in that I have a fairly undemanding role in terms of amount of content, but am gifted one of the most musically satisfying pieces of the opera – the always anticipated duet between myself and Papageno in the closing scenes.  Being one of the most well known pieces in The Magic Flute, a lot of pressure is on our bird-like shoulders to live up to expectations; but it is just this sort of challenge which is enjoyable and rewarding to engage with.

Finally, this production of The Magic Flute has been drastically modernised.  What sort of cultural importance do you think this revamping of Grand Opera has?

I think it is of vast importance that we challenge the notion of opera as an increasingly historic art form; and apart from the composition of new works, modernising celebrated classics by composers like Mozart is the most effective way to achieve this.  In terms of The Magic Flute, by bringing in contemporary aspects such as mental illness and dictatorship, the piece can attract a new audience by developing a contemporary cultural relevance.  We have to remember that most Grand Opera was modern in its own time – and so setting opera at the time of its writing is essentially undermining its very nature.  It is unfortunate that larger companies don’t always take this into account, and it is up to smaller ones, like Opera Warwick, to modernise productions to keep a fresh audience engaged.