New Sussex Opera is set to perform an evening of opera highlights at the 2021 Petworth Fringe festival, taking place at the Sussex town of Petworth this month, the Lewes-based opera company has announced.
Love and Death at the Opera is an evening of music that explores these two themes that form a major part of many operas. Love and death are at the core of opera, from comic masterpieces like Mozart’s Così fan tutte (Women Are Like That, 1790) and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (1816), where love might just conquer all, to the tragedies of Verdi, such as La traviata (The Fallen Woman, 1853), and Puccini, including La bohème (The Bohemians, 1896), in which we see main characters die for love.
The concert takes place on 24 September at Leconfield Hall in Petworth, West Sussex. Tickets cost £15 and are on sale now. It will feature singers from the New Sussex Opera Chorus performing ensembles, duets and solos, all led from the piano by accompanist and conductor Nicholas Houghton.
“We weave a course through the paths of love and tragedy, with some of the most sublime music ever written for the opera house,” New Sussex Opera said on the company’s website.
The event is just one part of Petworth Fringe. This annual arts festival takes place in the West Sussex town of Petworth. Taking the theme of Sounds Like Fun, this year’s fringe runs from 14-30 September. It comprises a range of music, comedy acts and drama. Visit the Petworth Fringe website for further details.
Described by Opera Now as “one of the UK’s most enterprising small opera companies” which “constantly surprises with its ambition and the quality of its fully staged productions,” New Sussex Opera’s goal is to stage performances of hidden gems and bring opera to new audiences.
The company aims to put on at least two productions every year. The in-house productions, known as ‘New Sussex Opera Chorus presents’, are works that can be successfully performed on a relatively modest budget. Finances permitting, the company will also put on a more ambitious major, fully staged production.
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New Sussex Opera is set to perform a selection of music on the themes of love and death to this year’s Petworth Fringe festival.