RNCM Opera Scenes / Wed 21 – Fri 30 Jan 2026
Wednesday 21 January
La Canterina – Haydn
Programme
Jonathan Cocker Director
Elisabeth Streichert Conductor
Robin Humphreys Repetiteur
Antonia Sotgiu/Antonio Tilli Language Coaches
Sinead DAbreu-Hayling Gasparina
Ffion Short Don Ettore
Francis Bamford Apollonia
Grant Haddow Don Pelagio
The house of Gasparina and her mother Apollonia (paid for by Don Pelagio)
Gasparina (the ‘Songstress’ of the title) is being pursued by two men, a situation that she is happy with so long as it leads to her advantage. Her mother, Apollonia, is very well aware of what is going on and connives with the deceit. One suitor is the elderly Don Pelagio who pays for her accommodation and furniture, as well as giving her singing lessons. Don Ettore, the other suitor, woos her with exotic fabrics and jewels he has stolen from his mother. At the end of a singing lesson, frustrated by the presence of Apollonia, Don Pelagio leaves, but when Gasparina goes out to let Don Ettore in, Don Pelagio returns for something he has forgotten and hides when Don Ettore enters. He quickly learns of his own foolishness and in the argument which follows, both men realise that they have been taken advantage of.
Maria Stuarda – Donizetti
Programme
Jonathan Cocker Director
Jasper Lecon Conductor
Robin Humphreys Repetiteur
Antonia Sotgiu/Antonio Tilli Language Coaches
Esther Shea Elisabetta
Jay Broadhurst Leicester
Guanxiang Wang Cecil
Christian Loizou Talbot
Bonnie Staude Maria
Mila Johannsen Anna
The grounds of Fotheringhay Castle
A hunt has been arranged for Queen Elizabeth which will take the participants into the grounds of Fotheringhay Castle where Mary Stuart is being held prisoner. Mary has been forewarned. Leicester has sworn to Mary that he will do his utmost to obtain her freedom and is supported by the sympathetic Talbot. Elizabeth is suspicious and her jealousy is aroused by Leicester’s solicitude for Mary. Cecil, Elizabeth’s chief advisor, counsels her against being too lenient with her cousin. Mary prostrates herself before Elizabeth, but her cousin remains aloof and insulting. Mocked beyond endurance, Mary turns on Elizabeth, denouncing her as the bastard offspring of a whore whose very foot sullies and dishonours the throne of England. Mary is returned to prison.
L’occasione fa il ladro – Rossini
Programme
Jonathan Cocker Director
Elisabeth Streichert Conductor
Robin Humphreys Repetiteur
Antonia Sotgiu/Antonio Tilli Language Coaches
Khaled Issa Parmenione
Catriona Arthur Ernestina
Brennan Alleyne Alberto
Kelsey Thomas Berenice
Arhan Kumar Eusebio
The home of Don Eusebio and his daughter Berenice
Count Alberto’s luggage and that of Don Parmenione have somehow got mixed up. Alberto is on his way to meet his bride to be, and Don Parmenione is on a quest to find his friend’s sister who has disappeared. Realising he has the wrong suitcase, Parmenione searches through it and finds the portrait of Alberto’s intended bride. She is so lovely he decides to marry her himself.
Meanwhile, Berenice, Alberto’s betrothed, is very nervous about meeting him. Staying with her and her father (Don Eusebio) is Ernestina, a young woman fallen on hard times. Berenice persuades her to swap places with her for her meeting with Alberto.
Parmenione arrives and meets Ernestina (pretending to be Berenice). Though she is nothing like her portrait (found in Alberto’s luggage), he is smitten by her beauty and begins an extravagant courtship. They leave to meet Eusebio, the uncle. As they leave, Berenice and Alberto enter from opposite sides. Alberto sees Berenice and immediately falls for her, but she protests that she is not the intended bride. She is equally enamoured of Alberto, even though he is wearing rather odd clothes. Eusebio returns with Ernestina and Parmenione. Eusebio tries to establish who is who, and of course, Parmenione has all Alberto’s credentials. There is confusion all around. Parmenione and Alberto argue about who is the real suitor, the women try to calm things down and Eusebio is utterly perplexed. Confusion reigns.
Friday 23 January
La finta giardiniera – Mozart
Programme
Jonathan Cocker Director
Steph Godwin Conductor
Sheldon Miller Repetiteur
Antonia Sotgiu/Antonio Tilli Language Coaches
Ilsa Zhu Sandrina (Marchesa Violante Onesti, disguised as a gardener)
Clementine Thompson Arminda (niece of Podestà, engaged to Belfiore, formerly in love with Ramiro)
Gabriel Jones Il Contino Belfiore (engaged to Arminda)
Jemima Gray Cavaliero Ramiro (Arminda’s rejected lover)
Josh Oram Il Podestà (Don Anchise, Mayor of Lagonero, in love with Sandrina)
Poppy Worthington-Harris Serpetta (Podestà’s servant – in love with him)
Cyrus Chiu Nardo (Roberto, Violanta’s servant, disguised as a gardener, in love with Serpetta)
The garden of Count Belfiore
Just before the scene starts, Arminda tells Sandrina (who is really Violante, disguised as a gardener) that she is going to marry Belfiore (Sandrina’s former lover who thinks he has killed her). Sandrina faints and Arminda leaves to search for smelling salts. The scene reveals Belfiore, left alone with Sandrina. Arminda returns with the salts and meets her own rejected lover, Ramiro, just as Sandrina and Belfiore recognise each other. All four are confused. The Podestà (in love with Sandrina) arrives with Serpetta (who is in love with him) and cannot discern what is going on and spitefully tells him that Sandrina and Belfiore are making love at the other end of the garden. Belfiore is certain that Sandrina is Violante, and Sandrina forgetting her disguise, reproaches him for his infidelity. Nardo (Violante/Sandrina’s servant, also disguised as a gardener) is hopelessly in love with Serpetta. There is general confusion as all reveal their individual sentiments.
Zar und Zimmerman – Lortzing
Programme
Jonathan Cocker Director
Juan Jose Munoz Borja Conductor
Sheldon Miller Repetiteur
Thomas Schulze Language Coach
Sam Rose Marquis von Chateauneuf
Patrick Parlaj Peter Iwanow
Alex Riddell Peter der Erste
Yucheng Huo General Lefort
Christian Loizou van Bett
George Elson Lord Syndham
A tavern in Saardam
The action takes place in Saardam, Holland, in 1698. Peter, the Great of Russia, disguised as Peter Michaelov, is working in the Dutch shipyards in order to learn nautical trades. He befriends the army deserter Peter Iwanow. Asked whether Peter the Great is really in the shipyard, the Burgmeister identifies the wrong Peter. During local festivities, all six men meet in a local tavern. The Russian (Lefort) and English (Syndham) ambassadors are deceived, but the French ambassador, Chateauneuf, recognises the real Tsar. Van Bett prepares to send Peter Iwanow home in state with a new passport, whilst the real Tsar will depart incognito for Russia. The scene is suffused with mistaken identity and disguise, Syndham, the English ambassador making even more chaotic by disguising himself as a sailor.
Flight – Dove
Programme
Jonathan Cocker Director
Juan Jose Munoz Borja Conductor
Sheldon Miller Repetiteur
Ruth Harley Controller
Francis Bamford Refugee
Ellena Hicks Minskwoman
Libby Montgomery Tina
Aidan McCusker Bill
Claire Runcie Older Woman
Daisy Mitchell Stewardess
Aaron Rishel Steward
Benjamin Finnie Immigration Officer
An airport
The scene takes place in Act 1 in the departure lounge of an airport. Passengers wait for their flights. The Controller comments on what she can see between her announcements; a refugee tries to find ways of surviving in a hostile environment while the Steward and Stewardess enjoy a vibrant physical relationship. An older woman (disguised for fear that someone will recognise her) waits for her younger lover, her supposed fiancé, and wonders if she is doing the right thing; Bill and Tina hope to rekindle the passion of their earlier years with the help of a sex manual; the heavily pregnant Minskwoman tries to overcome her fear of flying. At the last moment, bad weather puts a hold on any flights leaving the airport: they will have to stay in the lounge for the night.
Wednesday 28 January
Die Zauberflöte – Mozart
Programme
Stuart Barker Director
Andre Chan Conductor
Thomas Schulze Language Coach
Tom Henderson Repetiteur
Xingyue Lai Tamino
Eric Yang Papageno
Tamsin Sandford Smith Erste Dame
Morgan Fenton Zweite Dame
Morgan Rosati Dritte Dame
Tamino is enraptured by the portrait of Pamina. Papageno, whose lips have been sealed as a punishment for lying, is released from his torment. Tamino is given a magic flute and Papageno some magic bells. They are sent off to Sarastro’s land to rescue Pamina and told that three spirits will be their guide.
Béatrice et Bénédict – Berlioz
Programme
Stuart Barker Director
Andre Chan Conductor
Lynne Dawson Language Coach
Tom Henderson Repetiteur
Katrina Mackenzie Hero
Jemima Gray Béatrice
Kaiying Tan Ursule
Béatrice realises that she is attracted to Bénédict but has yet to admit this to anyone. Héro and Ursule tease Béatrice, talking of Héro’s love for her husband-to-be Claudio and observing Béatrice’s reaction. Their suspicions are confirmed.
Il burbero di buon cuore – Martin Y Soler
Programme
Stuart Barker Director
Julius Mauldin Conductor
Antonia Sotgiu Language Coach
Tom Henderson Repetiteur
Kitty Casey Angelica
Gabrielle Leung Lucilla
Sarah Rappoport Marina
We are in the house of Ferramondo. Lucilla, the wife of his nephew Giocondo, has been spending far too much money, leaving no dowry for Giocondo’s sister Angelica (who plans to marry Valerio). Angelica has been told that she will need to live the rest of her life in a convent and is understandably not remotely happy about this prospect. Marina, the housekeeper, attempts to calm the situation before Ferramondo arrives.
Friday 30 January
Whaling Women – Jodi Goble
Programme
Stuart Barker Director
Chris Binns Conductor
Tom Henderson Repetiteur
Tessa Tang Phebe
Eve Codman Eliza
Eibhlin Eddy Ruth
Ellie Astridge Betsey
Maggie Zhao Amelia
Izzy Taylor Susan
We meet the six women. Betsey Morey (1810– 1893) kept a journal aboard the whale ship Phoenix during a voyage with her husband. The ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, and hunted for whales in the Pacific Ocean and later the Sea of Okhotsk. Betsey passed the time by drawing pictures and naming each of the whales caught during the journey. Phebe (Gifford) Sherman (1842 – 1913) was a prolific letter writer in the early days of her marriage, while her husband was first mate on the ship Milton. Later Phebe went whaling with her husband and took along her two sons. She became the first woman preacher in the whaling fleet. Eliza Spencer Brock (1810 – 1899) wrote extensively in a journal she kept aboard the Lexington while voyaging with her husband from the South Seas to the Azores, Cape Verde, New Zealand and Hawaii. In addition to her journaling, Eliza wrote songs and essays whilst on board the ship and kept an account of the ship’s deserters throughout the voyage. Amelia Piper (1796 – 1856) was a noted abolitionist and manager of the New Bedford Female Union Society. She was a conductor on the Underground Railroad and helped many fugitives by providing shelter and assisting them in managing their new lives in freedom. Susan Veeder (1816 – 1897) sailed with her husband, and kept a detailed journal of her experiences, complete with watercolor illustrations. Upon her return to New England, her husband took another ship to Tahiti and never returned. Ruth Post (1815 – 1893) married to Captain Francis Post, Ruth remained at home on Allen Street in New Bedford, MA, to manage the family’s affairs. She struggled to keep the family’s creditors at bay and suffered the loss of several children to illnesses.
Don Giovanni – Mozart
Programme
Stuart Barker Director
Lea Fischer Conductor
Antonia Sotgiu Language Coach
Tom Henderson Repetiteur
Johannes Gerges Leporello
Bonnie Staude Donna Elvira
Eden Devaney Don Ottavio
Cerys MacAllister Donna Anna
Lingrui Guo Masetto
Lucy Breakwell Zerlina
Leporello, in disguise as his master Don Giovanni, is tiring of the attentions of Donna Elvira. They are discovered by four people, all of whom have very good reasons for wanting revenge on the Don. Leporello has no choice but to reveal his true identity in the hope of ensuring his own safety.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Britten
Programme
Stuart Barker Director
Lea Fischer Conductor
Tom Henderson Repetiteur
Kristen Gregory Lysander
Maria Pottle Helena
Morgan Rosati Hermia
Edward Wenborn Demetrius
Hermia and Lysander are in love with one another. Helena loves Demetrius, although her love is unrequited. Now both men have been put under a spell to fall in love the first person they see – which for each of them is Helena. Helena believes that all are playing a cruel trick on her.
