Page 52 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book
P. 52
17 June 2020
100 Artists Stage Guildhall School Of Music
and Drama Digital Opera Double Bill
by BWW News Desk Jun. 17, 2020
This summer, Guildhall School of Music & Drama's opera double bill has been
transformed from the physical to the digital stage, with the creative team and artists
from across the School bringing the productions to life from their homes using
digital technology. It is now available to stream for free until Wednesday 1 July 2020.
A 20th-century reimagining of one of the earliest English operas Dido and Aeneas -
Purcell's tragic love story featuring the famous aria Dido's Lament - is contrasted with
Respighi's La bella dormente nel bosco, a witty take on the Sleeping Beauty story.
The School's production would have been the UK premiere of Respighi's rarely
performed work. All students, staff and guest artists have been working from
wherever they have been living during the lockdown, across at least 14 countries and
four continents.
From home, the opera's cast and chorus have captured and filmed their own
performances under the virtual direction of director Olivia Fuchs and movement
director Victoria Newlyn, which have then been edited by the filmmaker Karl Dixon.
Guildhall School instrumentalists have recorded their parts for a multi-track
recording of the orchestral scores co-ordinated by conductor and Head of Opera
Dominic Wheeler.
The visions of designer takis and lighting designer Jake Wiltshire have been brought
to life by Guildhall School staff and students using a range of innovative technology.
A 3D model of Silk Street Theatre, produced using cutting-edge lidar scanning
technology, was used as the basis for the production under the expert guidance of
BILD Studios. All of the behind-the-scenes work to create a regular opera production
