Page 56 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book

17 June 2020

100 artists across 14 countries and 4 continents
stage Guildhall School of Music & Drama digital

opera double bill

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 at Guildhall -