Wallis Giunta in Opera North’s production of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti. Picture: Alastair Muir
Opera North will stream its well-received production of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti free of charge on 6 May 2020 at 7pm on Opera North’s YouTube channel.
Originally commissioned by The Space, and recorded live at Leeds Grand Theatre in October 2017, the film which is directed by Ross MacGibbon will remain available on demand until 1 June.
To ensure that the film is available to be enjoyed as many people as possible, Opera North has been working with a number of partners including RNIB and VocalEyes in order to produce accessible formats for deaf and hard of hearing and blind or partially sighted audience members with British Sign Language interpretation, audio description and captioning.
One of Bernstein’s rarer performed works, Opera North’s Trouble in Tahiti was directed by Matthew Eberhardt and conducted by Tobias Ringborg. The production was part of Opera North’s award-winning series of short operas, The Little Greats.
Set in 1950s suburbia, the story of a couple trapped in the American Dream turned sour, starred award-winning Canadian mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta and Dutch baritone Quirijn de Lang whose recent Opera North roles include Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me Kate.
Commenting on the film, Opera North’s general director Richard Mantle said: “Following fantastic critical and audience response to Trouble in Tahiti when we performed this show in 2017, we are pleased to now be able to re-release this film of the production for audiences to watch online, including in accessible formats. It’s a really funny, bitingly satirical and thought-provoking work, with wonderful musical numbers, which deserves to be much better known than it is.
“In this extremely challenging time for our industry, we would like to ask audiences who watch the film, if they are able to, to consider making a ‘pay what you feel’ donation to Opera North. All donations will support the future of our work, to help ensure we are able to create enthralling performances in the coming months and years, and to enable us to use music and creativity to inspire and connect with young people and communities.”
Sonali Rai, RNIB’s audio description and broadcast manager, added: “We’re delighted that Opera North are making their audio described film of this rarely-performed Bernstein opera available again. Having access to audio described content on demand is vital at this time for people who are blind, so we are very happy to promote it.”
Eberhardt’s production of Trouble in Tahiti is due to return to Opera North in October this year, as part of a double bill of Bernstein work alongside a new co-production with Phoenix Dance Theatre. Re-interpreting Bernstein’s iconic music for West Side Story, Symphonic Dances will be choreographed by Aletta Collins.
Due to the coronavirus crisis Opera North has been forced to cancel or postpone all of its public activity until at least the end of July. The company’s productions currently available for streaming include its entire landmark 2016 Ring Cycle, the recent production of The Turn of the Screw, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Don Giovanni, Street Scene and 2020: An Isolation Odyssey.
Angela Thomas
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