CityLife

Women taking centre stage in touring opera

Annemarie Kremer appears as Norma in Opera North’s production of Bellini’s Norma, which comes to The Lowry in Salford at the end of the month

Opera North returns to Salford at the end of the month for its last week of fully staged classical opera this season.

‘Strong women’ is the theme, with three operas on offer at The Lowry: Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (February 28 and March 2), Bellini’s Norma (February 29 and March 3) and Handel’s Giulio Cesare (March 1).

Tim Albery is the director of Madama Butterfly, which was seen here in November, too. French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels remains in the title role, with Ann Taylor as Suzuki and Peter Savidge as Sharpless. Rafael Rojas returns to play Pinkerton, the US naval officer.

The two new productions are by Christopher Alden (Norma) and Tim Albery (Giulio Cesare). Alden was the director of Opera North’s most recent version of Tosca, and I think it’s fair to say that his approach to Norma is equally radical.

It’s a feast of wonderful music, with a lead role – the floridly soaring prayer aria, Casta Diva, as one of its highspots – that has engaged the full powers of some of the greatest singers of the past, including Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland.

Opera North’s Norma is Dutch soprano Annemarie Kremer (who’s won praise for the role elsewhere), and Adalgisa is sung by the USA’s Keri Alkema. 

Royal Northern College of Music-trained Luis Chapa is Pollione, and James Creswell (he was Fasolt in Opera North’s Das Rheingold last summer) is Oroveso.

The conductor is Oliver von Dohnányi, artistic director of the Slovak National Opera House in Bratislava.

For the Handel the role of Caesar brings a return to Opera North after some years by mezzo soprano Pamela Helen Stephen – remember her as Lazuli when they performed L’Étoile by Chabrier back in 1994?

Ann Taylor sings Cornelia, the widow of Pompey, James Laing is Tolomeo (Ptolemy), Jonathan Best is the army general Achilla, and Sarah Tynan is Cleopatra (Tolomeo’s sister and wife).

Those who have seen recent RNCM opera productions will be delighted to see that Liverpool lass Kathryn Rudge is Sesto, Cornelia’s son.

Both she and Ann Taylor (also RNCM-trained) are taking part in a special launch event on February 29 to mark a new partnership between the Manchester music conservatoire and Opera North.

It will give singers and instrumentalists a chance to be part of a professional opera company, with hands-on experience of auditions and mentoring from singers working at Opera North.

Caroline Clegg, director of Manchester-based Feelgood Theatre Productions, has helped develop this partnership and will be based at the RNCM one day a week for the next six months.

The scheme also involves a link-up with DARE, Opera North’s own collaboration with the University of Leeds.

I hope to say more about Giulio Cesare next week.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of music going on in Manchester: tonight the Debussy Festival continues at the Bridgewater Hall with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier and with Kathryn Stott as soloist, while at St Ann’s Church a new initiative sees the RNCM Bach Ensemble, directed by Marco Bellasi, perform Freue dich, erlöste Schar (BWV 30), with solo organ music from Simon Davies.

Tomorrow night there’s more at St Ann’s – this time the Manchester Consort, the young ensemble directed by Gregory Batsleer, sing Pizzetti’s Requiem Mass and Frank Martin’s Mass for double choir, with Poulenc’s Trio for trumpet, horn and trombone (all written in 1922).

Virtuoso cellist Natalie Clein is in recital at the Bridgewater Hall on Tuesday (including Kodály’s great Sonata), and the Hallé have an Opus One programme (Wednesday, Thursday and the following Sunday) conducted by Rory Macdonald and featuring Sibelius’s fifth symphony and Nicola Benedetti in Beethoven’s violin concerto.