Birmingham Opera Company is a professional opera company based in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England, that specialises in innovative and avant-garde productions of the operatic repertoire, often in unusual venues.

History

The company was founded by leading international opera director

Graham Vick Sir Graham Vick (30 December 1953 – 17 July 2021) was an English opera director known for his experimental and revisionist stagings of traditional and modern operas. He worked in many of the world's leading opera houses and was artistic d ...

and conductor

Simon Halsey Simon Halsey, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 8 March 1958) is an English choral conductor. He is the chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (CBSO Chorus), a position he has held since 1983, and has bee ...

as City of Birmingham Touring Opera in 1987, acquiring its current name in 2001. CBTO's public debut came in September 1987 with the production of ''Falstaff'' at the Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre in Brandwood. In 1989 City of Birmingham Touring Opera commissioned and performed

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

's work of musical theatre ''Ghanashyam (A Broken Branch)'', which won the company's first Prudential Award for Arts; the 1990 production of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''Ring Saga'', adapted for performance over two nights and with a reduced orchestra of eighteen musicians, won the second. Birmingham Opera Company has also won the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Music for its 2001 production of Berg's ''

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama ''Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at h ...

'' in a derelict warehouse in Ladywood, and a

South Bank Show Award The South Bank Sky Arts Awards (originally The South Bank Show Awards) are an accolade recognizing British achievements in the arts. The awards have been given annually since 1997. They originated with the long-running British arts programme ' ...

for its 2002 production of ''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...

''. While City of Birmingham Touring Opera's works were performed nationwide and internationally, Birmingham Opera Company has since 2001 produced shows on an annual basis, working with large numbers of volunteers from local communities alongside professional musicians and performers. The Company is also notable for its use of unconventional locations for its productions, ranging from a large tent in Aston Park for 2002's ''

'', the former Municipal Bank on Broad Street for ''He Had It Coming'' (based on

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'') in 2007, and most recently the Argyle Works, a disused chemical works in

Digbeth Digbeth is an area of Central Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment ...

. On a much larger scale, however, the Company also performed

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'' to an audience of almost 10,000 people at the

National Indoor Arena Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, United Kingdom. It ...

in 2007. Several of Birmingham Opera Company's productions have been televised on the BBC, including the 2002 production of ''Fidelio'' broadcast live on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, and a film version of Verdi's ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'' broadcast in 2011 alongside an hour-long documentary, "Verdi: The Director's Cut", featuring Graham Vick's work. ''Othello'' was furthermore featured on BBC Four's "Best of European Opera 2010", broadcast on Christmas Day 2010. In 2004 the Opera Company joined forces with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in a presentation of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's ''

Curlew River ''Curlew River – A Parable for Church Performance'' (Op. 71) is an English music drama, with music by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by William Plomer. The first of Britten's three 'Parables for Church Performance', the work is based on the J ...

'' on the BBC Proms, which was also later televised on BBC Four. Birmingham Opera has a long history of collaboration with contemporary British composer

Jonathan Dove Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmin ...

, including commissioning and performing Dove's composition ''Life is a Dream'' in March 2012, an opera in three acts with the libretto written by

Alasdair Middleton Alasdair Middleton is a leading British opera librettist and playwright with librettos commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Opera North and the Berlin Philharmonic among others. He is responsible for a series of important operatic collaborations w ...

and based on the

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Dove has also created new arrangements of classic works for the Company, including 1988's ''Falstaff'', 1990's '' Ring Saga'' and 1991's ''La bohème''. On 22 August 2012 the Company performed the world premiere of

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

's ''

Mittwoch aus Licht (English: Wednesday from Light) is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, four scenes, and a farewell. It was the sixth of seven to be composed for the opera cycle (Light: The Seven Days of the Week), and the last to be staged. It was w ...

'', the last opera of the ''Licht'' cycle to be staged, as part of the

London 2012 Festival The 2012 Cultural Olympiad was a programme of cultural events across the United Kingdom that accompanied the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. The Olympic Charter, the set of rules and guidelines for the organization of the Olym ...

. The production featured the Elysian Quartet performing the famously complex ''Helicopter String Quartet'', with BBC Radio 1's DJ Nihal acting as the moderator (a role previously undertaken by Stockhausen himself). The production later went on to win the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Opera and Music Theatre. In 2014 Birmingham Opera Company produced Musorgsky's Khovanskygate: A National Enquiry ( Khovanschina) in a big top "The Freedom Tent"in Cannon Hill Park and was awarded the International Opera Award 2015 for Best New Production, beating off competition from around the world and other shortlisted companies such as Metropolitan Opera, New York. Birmingham Opera Company has also been a finalist in numerous awards recognising their exceptional record in engaging new audiences and their ground breaking productions- The International Opera Award for World Premiere 2013 ( Mittwoch as Licht), the RPS Award for Audiences and Engagement 2015 (Khovanskygate), 2016 ( The Ice Break) and 2017(Dido and Aeneas #DnA) and The International Opera Awards 2016 in two categories for Rediscovered Work and Accessibiity for Michael Tippett's The Ice Break. and The South Bank Show Sky Arts Award for Opera 2015 In 2016 Artistic Director Graham Vick was awarded RPS Honorary Membership.

Past productions

;City of Birmingham Touring Opera: *2000: ''Tobias and the Angel'' (

) *2000: ''Pelléas and Mélisande'' (

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

) *1999: ''

The Two Widows ''The Two Widows'' ( cz, Dvĕ vdovy) is a two-act Czech opera by Bedřich Smetana based on the libretto of Emanuel Züngel. The libretto is based on Jean Pierre Felicien Mallefille's one-act play ''Les deux veuves''. The opera was composed betwe ...

'' ( Smetana) *1998: ''The Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears'' ( Janáček) *1997: ''The Church Parables'' ( Britten) *1997: '' Macbeth'' (

) *1995-6: ''Falstaff'' (Verdi) *1995: ''Chaka'' (

Akin Euba Olatunji Akin Euba (28 April 1935 – 14 April 2020), was a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist. Career Born on 28 April 1935 in Lagos, Nigeria, Akin Euba studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the Trinity College of Music, London, obt ...

) *1994: ''Silas Marner'' (

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...

) *1994: ''Faust'' ( Gounod) *1993: ''

Les Boréades ''Les Boréades'' is a ''tragédie lyrique mise en musique'', or a lyric tragedy put into music, a type of opera, in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). It is the last of his five such works. The libretto, attributed to Louis de Cahusac ...

'' ( Rameau) *1992: '' Zaide'' (

) *1991: '' La bohème'' (

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...

) *1989–91: ''The Ring Saga'' (

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

) *1990: ''Beauty & the Beast'' ( Stephen Oliver) *1989: ''Ghanashyam (A Broken Branch)'' (

) *1989: ''Peace'' ( Carl Davis) *1988-9: ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'' (Mozart) *1987-8: ''Falstaff'' (Verdi)

External links

Official website

References

{{authority control British opera companies Opera in the United Kingdom Culture in Birmingham, West Midlands Musical groups established in 1987 1987 establishments in England