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This year we were excited by the chance to travel through the delightful
Halstead countryside to Stanley Hall, to participate in a workshop
before watching the dress rehearsal of Rossini’s opera Cinderella.
The delightful Charlotte met us. She showed us the scenery from last year’s opera, Falstaff, and explained to us all about such features of stage painting as exaggerations and perspective. Then we were collected by a trio of animateurs/musicians for a workshop to prepare us for the performance. Our youngsters engaged in some singing and watched and even tried out some shadow puppetry, as our new found friends recounted the story of the opera. By the end of the workshop we all understood who was who in the opera and felt far more confident that we would be ready to enjoy it. But first there was a little time for us to picnic under the ancient trees and play among the new-hatched chicks beside the duck pond.
In the huge Marquee, our children were immediately fascinated to see and hear the substantial orchestra, as they tuned their instruments. The opera came alive, with skilful acting and a very high standard of performance throughout. The characters were unforgettable and our youngsters loved them. The libretto was in English (rather than the original Italian) and it was a witty and vibrant translation at that. The clarity of the singing meant that every word could be easily heard and our children delighted in the characterisations and the whole sense of fun. As some members of the orchestra remarked, “Not many operas end to screams of approval from the audience and to the booing of the villains!”
We then, reluctantly, took our leave, but not before we had the chance
to take plenty of photographs of our lively bunch of children with some
members of the cast. The whole event was simply splendid!
We feel most privileged to be invited and thank everyone who made it possible
for us to have such a special day. We congratulate the company on their
impressive achievement and on the high standard of this unforgettable opera.
We hope that we may come again. If this is culture, then it could hardly
feel more comfortable and natural to acquire now that our children have
begun to feel the power of its magic!