January Newsletter - one month to THE RING!
Happy New Year, and greetings from the midst of Der Ring rehearsals!
Today I have put the orchestra through their paces on the final two acts of Götterdämmerung, and we’ve simultaneously put some finishing touches to the vassals’ section in Act 2. Tomorrow it’s a Sitzprobe of Walküre simultaneously with a revival rehearsal of Siegfried, then Saturday we have more Siegfried, Sunday a Siegfried Sitz…. you get the idea….
Alberich taunting the Rheinmaidens in Das Rheingold
We have now released 100 more tickets for the individual operas, so if you only want to see the operas you missed previously, then you can just book for them, rather than full cycles,. However, the three previous operas have improved and evolved, so I suggest booking for the whole cycle.
Mrs Fricka Wotan needs a place to stay!
Ingeborg and baby Bjørn need somewhere to stay!
If any of you can help, our long-suffering Fricka, Ingeborg Børch and her 18 month old (really quite splendid, for a baby...) son Bjørn, are in need of a place to stay for the entire month of February until 3rd March. Do any of you have a spare room; the closer to Bethnal Green, the better? Or indeed near Hammersmith where his crêche is, though she's not too fussy about transport around London. We've already managed to find accommodation for all of our singers from outside London, and indeed Ingeborg until the end of January, so this is just the last piece of the puzzle. Please do email cj@regentsopera.com if you can help.
Hagen (Simon Wilding) and Gutrune (Justine Viani) in rehearsals
And yes, we still actively need SPONSORSHIP!! I'm sorry I'm still asking for money to put on this remarkable opus, as twas ever thus for artists. Read Mozart's or Bach's letters; they were always asking for cash... Or indeed think of Wagner wanting to build his Bayreuth! If any of you are able to sponsor one of the remaining characters here, or simply donate by this portal or I'll happily give you some bank details, then please do! We're pretty close to our targets to make this Ring a commercial as well as an artistic success, but we're not there yet.
Of alternatively, please do consider becoming a Friend or Patron of Regents Opera, for a recurring payment of £75 or £150 per year. And if you become a Friend/Patron before 5th February you are welcome to the Götterdämmerung dress rehearsal on the 7th…
Cat, our Brünnhilde, talks to Bachtrack
Bachtrack have just released an article about Catharine Woodward, our magnificent Brünnhilde.
To read, click the picture:
And something completely different - well, still opera - La Bohème summer 2025.
Rodolfo and Mimi, presumably at some point between between acts 2 and 3…
If you have an interesting space where you might like to hire our production of La Bohème, which will be starring Christine Buras as Mimi and Davide Basso as Rodolfo, then please get in touch, we still have a couple of weekends in June and July free. If it's something you might enjoy, do get in touch!
Thank you so much for your continued support! Thank you for putting up with my meandering emails, as I come down off this huge high of just conducting an orchestra through almost the entire Ring cycle this week. It’s truly going to be an astonising Ring Cycle. I do hope you all make your very best efforts to see it!
Have a good month everyone, I know ours will be really rather busy!