Highlights
All Performances
Pagliacci (Clowns)
Ruggero Leoncavallo's shot of pure operatic adrenaline
Part of The Little Greats
In the thrilling curtain-raiser to the season, Leoncavallo carves a ‘bleeding slice of life’ out of the tale of a touring theatre troupe preparing for a show. Canio is eaten up with jealous suspicion of his wife, the leading lady. When he learns the truth of her faithlessness, the performance of the play is derailed by real life passion spun out of control, and the stage becomes the scene of a violent reckoning. Pagliacci is an operatic rollercoaster, hurtling towards a bloody climax that unfolds in front of the shocked on-stage audience.
Strap in tight and get ready to career from laughter to horrified awe as comedy and tragedy collide amidst scintillating melodies. Pagliacci includes some of the most famous music ever written for Italian opera, including the heartbroken Canio’s ‘show must go on’ aria ‘Vesti la giubba’ and Tonio’s Prologue.
Running Time
Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes
Language
Sung in Italian with English titles
The Music
See what else is on the same date and build your own double bill:
| Pagliacci / L'enfant et les sortilèges | Sat 16 Sep | Leeds | |
| Pagliacci / L'enfant et les sortilèges | Sat 23 Sep | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | Sat 30 Sep | Leeds | |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | Thu 12 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Pagliacci / Osud | Wed 18 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | Sat 21 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | From Thu 26 Oct | On tour | Fixed double bill |
In Leeds, book tickets for individual Little Greats separately.
View full Leeds performance schedule >>
L´enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells)
16 Sep - 18 Nov 2017
Nationwide
Touring 5 theatres
L´enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells)
Maurice Ravel's bewitching childhood fantasy
Part of The Little Greats
A naughty child assaults everything in his room after he is told off by his mother for not doing his homework. Gradually, the objects around him – furniture, clocks, crockery – come to life. Out in the garden, events take an even more disturbing turn when all the trees and animals rebuke him for the injuries he has done them in the past. Can the child redeem himself?
With colourful characters including a pair of singing cats, a teapot and china cup duo, a talking armchair, a tree-frog and a squirrel, Colette’s magical words are set by Ravel to a spellbinding musical score. This darkly brilliant opera celebrates the mysteries of childhood and will amuse and enchant adults and children alike.
L'enfant et les sortilèges is our schools' matinee. For familes: try our interactive pre-show workshop.
Running Time
Approximately 45 minutes
Language
Sung in French with English titles
The Music
See what else is on the same date and build your own double bill:
| Pagliacci / L'enfant et les sortilèges | Sat 16 Sep | Leeds | |
| Pagliacci / L'enfant et les sortilèges | Sat 23 Sep | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Trial by Jury / L'enfant et les sortilèges | Fri 29 Sep | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| L'enfant et les sortilèges (Matinee) | Sat 7 Oct | Leeds | |
| Osud / L'enfant et les sortilèges | Fri 20 Oct | Leeds | |
| L'enfant et les sortilèges / Osud | From Sat 28 Oct | On tour | In a fixed double bill |
In Leeds, book tickets for individual Little Greats separately. View full Leeds performance schedule >>
Little Singers
Opera North Early Years Programme
Suitable for 0 - 4 years
Sing songs, explore instruments, play games and have fun with music in our weekly sessions. Sessions aim to support the development and well-being of children under the age of 4 and their families through high-quality musical experiences and activities.
Led by a professional musician, all workshops introduce live singing and music-making in a fun and creative environment.
We run two sessions:
- 0-4s at 10.15am
- babies under 1 at 11.30am
Both are suitable for babies but the earlier session is perfect if you’ve got several children under four as it keeps everyone entertained!
I love bringing my child; the space is beautiful and has a lovely atmosphere. It is brilliant that we have the chance to sing with a professional vocal artist. Coming to the sessions have given me more confidence to sing with my child at home.
— Little Singers parent
Follow our Little Singers playlist:
India's Children: Partition
On 15 August 1947 as the clock struck midnight, the legendary shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan played the first notes of a hopeful and moving raag, as one country became, at the stroke of a pen, two.
Inspired by that moment, this multimedia performance brings together classical Indian music, original images, film and interviews to tell the emotional journey of the 1947 Partition of India.
Featuring tar shehnai, together with cello and viola, this is a story of loss - but also survival, love and freedom.
Vijay Venkat | Viola
Liz Hanks | Cello
Kirpal Panesar | Tar Shehnai
Alex Delittle | Sound Artist
Steve Manthorp | Visual
Jasdeep Singh Degun | Musical Direction
Produced by Opera North Projects and South Asian Arts-UK.
Film: Revolutionary Road
Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet) find the confines of conventionality creeping around them when they move into a house in the suburbs.
Part of The Little Greats
He toils 10 hours a day in a job he hates, while her dreams of being an actress are set aside to become a homemaker. Longing for escape, they make a getaway plan. Directed by Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road is a theatrical, dark meditation on the American Dream.
Handsomely done and beautifully acted
— Empire
Directed with extraordinary skill… a tough road well worth travelling
— Rolling Stone
Cavalleria rusticana
Pietro Mascagni's red-blooded tale of jealousy and revenge
Part of The Little Greats
Cavalleria rusticana tells the tale of a soldier who has returned from the army to find his lover has married another man. He consoles himself by seducing another girl, even though he is still consumed by his obsessive desire for his first love. This powder keg of passions is primed to ignite at Easter in the midst of a small community where the church maintains an iron grip on the souls of its people.
Mascagni lavishes gorgeously lyrical melodies on a gritty drama of betrayal, jealousy and violent revenge. With a score that includes the famous Easter Hymn and Intermezzo, Cavalleria rusticana is thought by many to be the very essence of Italian opera.
Running Time
Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes
Language
Sung in Italian with English titles
See what else is on the same date and build your own double bill:
| Cavalleria rusticana / Trial by Jury | Wed 27 Sep | Leeds | |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | Sat 30 Sep | Leeds | |
| Cavalleria rusticana / Trial by Jury | Sat 7 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | Thu 12 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Osud / Cavalleria rusticana | Sat 14 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Cavalleria rusticana / Trouble in Tahiti | Thu 19 Oct | Leeds | |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | Sat 21 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana | From Thu 26 Oct | On tour | In a fixed double bill |
In Leeds, book tickets for individual Little Greats separately.
View full Leeds performance schedule >>
Trial by Jury
Gilbert & Sullivan's hilarious courtroom farce
Part of The Little Greats
The glamorous Angelina brings a court case against her intended husband Edwin, who jilts her when he comes to the ghastly realisation that she bores him intensely. Unfortunately for Edwin, all of the members of the jury and even the judge have fallen for Angelina themselves. But what will happen to Edwin, her erstwhile intended? And will Angelina achieve her dream of walking down the aisle?
Every ounce of comic potential is mined from a ludicrous plot which is taken perfectly seriously by everyone caught up in it. With its brilliantly witty comic numbers, catchy tunes and a superb mock-operatic ensemble, Trial by Jury cemented a partnership that took British musical theatre by storm. It is cast entirely from the Chorus of Opera North who showcased their versatility in last year’s musical success, Into the Woods, in collaboration with the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Running Time
Approximately 45 minutes
Language
Sung in English
See what else is on the same date and build your own double bill:
| Cavalleria rusticana / Trial by Jury | Wed 27 Sep | Leeds | |
| Trial by Jury / L'enfant et les sortilèges | Fri 29 Sep | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Cavalleria rusticana / Trial by Jury | Sat 7 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Trouble in Tahiti / Trial by Jury | Fri 13 Oct | Leeds | Pre-perf Talk |
| Trouble in Tahiti / Trial by Jury (Matinee) | Sat 21 Oct | Leeds |   |
| Trouble in Tahiti / Trial by Jury | From Fri 27 Oct | On tour | In a fixed double bill |
In Leeds, book tickets for individual Little Greats separately.
View full Leeds performance schedule >>
Orchestra of Opera North: From the Old World to the New
28 Sep 2017
Huddersfield
Huddersfield Town Hall
Orchestra of Opera North: From the Old World to the New
Part of the Kirklees Concert Season 2017-18
Alpesh Chauhan, Conductor
Both Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila and Borodin's Polovtsian Dances are more well-known than the operas they come from and are arguably the composers' most renowned works. Similarly, 'From the New World' Symphony has a far greater following than any of Dvořák's other works and, since its premier in 1893, has been one of the most performed symphonies worldwide.
Alpesh Chauhan, Principal Conductor of Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini Parma and former Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, makes his debut in Kirklees and with Opera North in this season's opening concert.
Chauhan is one of those conductors who makes every phrase and detail sound like it's communicating something - and he possesses that magical, Beecham-like knack for making even the rests sing
— The Arts Desk
Talking Music begins at 6.40pm
| Glinka | Ruslan and Lyudmila: Overture |
| Borodin | In the Steppes of Central Asia |
| Borodin | Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances |
| Dvořák | Symphony No. 9 in E minor 'From the New World' |
Subscription packages now on sale.
To save money and become a subscriber, download form or call Kirklees Box Office on 01484 225 755.
Kirklees Concert Season 2017/18 Brochure (PDF)
Audio brochure
Leila Josefowicz and John Novacek
American violinist Leila Josefowicz’s partnership with John Novacek has been praised for its daring spontaneity and flair.
Gramophone called the duo “an outstanding collaboration… Their rapport is stunning".
They perform a programme of works marked by dark introspection and powerful emotion, including reflective pieces by Sibelius and Mahler, Prokofiev’s wildly beautiful Sonata in F minor and the mystical Calices from contemporary composer Kaija Saariaho.
Panache and supreme technical assurance… her virtuosity is breathtaking
BBC Music Magazine on Leila Josefowicz
| Sibelius | Waltz Triste Op 44, arranged by Friedrich Hermann |
| Prokofiev | Sonata in f minor interval |
| Saariaho | Calices (2009) |
| Mahler | Adagietto (from Symphony No. 5), arranged by Otto Wittenbecher |
| Bernd Alois Zimmermann | Sonata (1950) |
Tim Hecker
With support Pan Daijing
A fog of sound fills the hall as electronic composer, producer and sound artist Tim Hecker performs his new album Love Streams.
Usually creating heavily textured, distorted sounds, here Hecker’s compositions are more melodic, using acoustic woodwind and choral parts.
Hecker’s music treads the line of post-rock and contemporary classical. Collaborations on his most recent album include Ben Frost, Kara-Lis Coverdale and Jóhann Jóhannsson, whose recordings of medieval choral works lift the record to new dimensions and present a juxtaposition between these meditative sounds and Hecker’s
electronic experimentation.
Blissful, soothing, profoundly creepy, uplifting and cathartic
The Guardian
Light Night: Underworld
Orpheus’ bride Eurydice has died and been taken to the Underworld. Orpheus, heartbroken, vows to bring her back, come what may…
Opera North’s immersive installation for Light Night Leeds draws visitors into the mysterious and unsettling realm of the River Styx, the border between the living world and the Underworld below.
Based on Monteverdi’s 1607 opera, the installation combines Orpheus’ glorious song of loss and longing Possente spirto, with the hidden voices of the lost Eurydice, whispering and singing to you from all sides.
The installation runs on a loop throughout the night.
The Child and the Magic Spells: Family Workshop
7 Oct - 18 Nov 2017
Nationwide
Touring 5 theatres
The Child and the Magic Spells: Family Workshop
Experience opera as a family for a day out with a difference. A fun and interactive family workshop exploring The Child and the Magic Spells.
Part of The Little Greats
Suitable for ages 7+
Ravel’s brilliant, bonkers L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells) tells the story of a naughty child who gets more than he bargained for when objects that he previously broke – furniture, clocks, crockery – start coming to life.
Before seeing the 45 minute opera, get to know some of the unusual characters, discover the magical story, learn some French words and sing some of the songs from the show.
Great for families with children aged 7+ that love drama and music. Groups also welcome.