Tête à Tête is an opera company based in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

that currently operates in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

North-East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County Durham , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. It is the least ...

. Its primary mission is to reach new audiences, support artists' development, and to extend the boundaries of traditional opera.

History

A charity-based arts company, Tête à Tête was founded in 1997 by its current Artistic Director, Bill Bankes-Jones, the conductor Orlando Jopling and then-administrator Katie Price. Originally the company produced works such as ''The Flying Fox'' (''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

''). This was first performed at the

Battersea Arts Centre The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in Theater, theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a ...

in 1998 then went to the

Purcell Room The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. The Purcell Ro ...

. ''Shorts'' followed in 1999, again first performed at the Battersea Arts Centre and then revived at the Bridewell Theatre in 2001. ''Shorts'' became Tête à Tête's first touring production. The company established Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival in 2006. The festival has since played host to over 150 guest companies. It is currently led by Bill Bankes-Jones, music director Timothy Burke, and administrative director Anna Gregg. In 2012, the company collaborated with the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

to create new operas based on ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

'', written by composition students at the College. The collaboration has continued, with subsequent operas based on ''Hogarth's Stages'', ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866.

'', and ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

''. In 2022, Tête à Tête was awarded funding from

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

to continue as a part of the National Portfolio.

Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival

Tête à Tête initially presented the festival at

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the north bank of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having opened in May 1976, th ...

across three weeks in August, with a range of artists who are given free rein to present their work, some of which is still in progress. The Festival has taken place in the King's Cross area since 2015, with pop up performances taking place in libraries, museums, and other public places as a part of the Festival since 2017. The Festival has included over 400 new operas across over 1,000 performances, with 75,000 people seeing a performance in person or online. In 2016, the company was awarded a UK Arts Online Award for its online archive of its performances, which is dominated by performances from the Festival. It is the largest online video resource of new opera in the world, reaching audiences in 155 countries. Previous participants in the Festival include Oliver Mears, Kerry Andrew, Errollyn Wallen, Bishi,

Jane Manning Jane Marian Manning OBE (20 September 193831 March 2021) was an English concert and opera soprano, writer on music, and visiting professor at Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Music. A specialist in contemporary classi ...

, Na'ama Zisser,

CN Lester CN Lester (born 1984) is a British classical and alternative music, alternative singer-songwriter, as well as an LGBT rights, LGBT and transgender rights activist. They were rated 41st on ''The Independent on Sundays 2013 Pink List, which ack ...

, Alastair White, and Ayanna Witter-Johnson. In a review of two works presented at the 2010 festival by

Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen (born 1954) is an English writer, journalist and critic. Life and career Born in London, Christiansen is the grandson of Arthur Christiansen (former editor of the ''Daily Express'') and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (fo ...

, subtitled "Tete a Tete's annual Opera Festival is wonderfully random, and throws up some fine things", Christiansen wrote: "You never know quite what you're going to get or how good or bad it's going to be, and that's exactly as it should be."

Past productions

Past productions have often been supported by the company's associate musical ensemble CHROMA and include:tete-a-tete.org.uk
Previous productions
/ref> * 1998–2000 ''The Flying Fox'' (''

'') by

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well as a violinist. He compose ...

* 1999–2001 ''Shorts'', a collection of short operas including ''Platform 10'' by Julian Grant and Christina Jones, ''Doggone'' by Gary Carpenter and Simon Nicholson, ''The Nightjar'' by Elfyn Jones and Toby Satterthwaite, ''Seven Tons of Dung'' by David Bruce and Bill Bankes-Jones, and ''Glue'' by Rachel Leach. * 2000 ''Orlando Plays Mad'' ('' Orlando finto pazzo'') by

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

) * 2002 ''Six Pack'', a co-production with

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

. A collection of short operas including ''Jack & Jill'' by Rachel Leach and Jo Davies, ''Doorstepping Susannah'' by

Helen Grime Helen Grime (born 1981) is a Scottish composer of contemporary classical music. Her work, ''Virga'', was selected as one of the best ten new classical works of the 2000s by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Early life Grime's grandparents ...

and Davey Moore, ''Odd Numbers'' by Julian Grant and Christina Jones, ''The Phone Call'' by John Webb and B. A. Diana, ''Has it Happened Yet?'' by David Bruce and Bill Bankes-Jones, and ''Waiting for Jack'' by Richard Taylor and Lynne Williams. * 2002 ''The Canticles'' by

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

, a co-production with Streetwise Opera *2003 ''Family Matters'' by Helen Chadwick, Pete Flood, Cheryl Francis-Hoad, Mike Henry, James Olsen, and John Webb, to a libretto by

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English media personality, actress and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent competition show '' Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the national ''H ...

* 2005 ''A Shetland Odyssey'' by Julian Grant and

Hattie Naylor Hattie Naylor is an English playwright whose 2009 ''Ivan and the Dogs'' won the Tinniswood Award for original radio drama and was nominated in the 2010 Olivier Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre. She is a lecturer in stage and screen ...

* 2006 ''Odysseus Unwound'' by Julian Grant and

Christiansen, Rupert (7 October 2006)
"Opera loosens its corsets"
''The Daily Telegraph'' * 2006 ''Push'' by David Bruce and Anna Reynolds * 2007 ''Blind Date'', a collection of short operas including ''Anger'' by Julian Grant and Meredith Oakes, ''On Such a Day'' by Anna Meredith and Philip Ridley, ''The Feathered Friend'' by Helen Chadwick and Alasdair Middleton, ''Houses'' by Christopher Mayo and Christopher Crebolder, and ''Nyanyushka'' by Gary Carpenter and Simon Nicholson (This was the first year of Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival). *2008 ''Lite Bites'', a collection of short operas including ''Fairytale Relationship... yeh right'' by Laura Bowler and Alasdair Middleton, ''The Agony of the Knife Thrower's Assistant'' by Michael Henry and Adey Grummet, and ''Bumblepuppy'' by Evangelia Rigaki and W.N. Herbert. * 2008 ''The Cumnor Affair: An Elizabethan Murder Mystery'' by Philip Cashian and Iain Pears. * 2008 ''Johnny's Midnight Goggles'' *2009 ''Circus Tricks'' by Michael Henry and Adey Grummet * 2009 '' Salad Days'' by

Julian Slade Julian Penkivil Slade (28 May 1930 – 17 June 2006) was an English writer of musical theatre, best known for the show '' Salad Days'', which he wrote in six weeks in 1954, and which became the UK's longest-running show of the 1950s, with ove ...

and Dorothy Reynolds *2009 ''Lite Bites'', a collection of short operas including ''Golden Years'' by Jordan Hunt and La JohnJoseph, ''Lear TV'' by Joanna Lee and Howard Skempton, ''The Inventor'' by Dominique Le Gendre, and ''Toxic Assets'' by Joe Cutler and Peter Burt. * 2010/11 ''Salad Days'' (ran from November 2010 to February 2011 at

*2010 ''Icarus'' by Michal Zev Gordon and Stephen Plaice *2010 ''Lite Bites'', a collection of short operas including ''Contact'' by Robert Fokkens, ''Just Bloody Schmooze the Woman!'' by Stephen Crowe, ''Only Connect'' by Julian Grant, and ''The General'' by Dominique Le Gendre *2011 ''Lite Bites'', a collection of short operas including ''Everybody's Watching! (In Da Park)'' by Tom Floyd and David Spittle, ''New World'' by Samuel Bordoli and Mark Ravenhill, ''Sparklepuff'' by Gary Carpenter and Simon Nicholson, ''The Fox and the Crow'' by Charlotte Bray and Mark Ravenhill *2011 ''Love Songs'' by Robert Fokkens *2011 ''Daughters of the Elements'' by Stephen McNeff, with a verbatim libretto from

Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

and family. *2012 ''Great Expectations'', a co-production with the

. A collection of short operas including ''I remember The Ship'' by Jude Obermuller and Genevieve Dawson, ''Gary of the Atlantic'' by Ed Bell, ''Lay Down and Stay'' by Michael Shearer and Claire Frewin, ''White Star'' by Chris Roe and Alex Knox, ''Aqualung'' by Louis d'Heudieres and Huw Crowley, and ''Una Tragedia Di Proporzione Titaniche'' by Laurence Osborn and Theo Merz. *2012 ''Amerika'' by Samuel Bordoli, after

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

. *2012 ''Lite Bites'', a collection of short operas including ''Caring in the Community'' by Ergo Phizmiz, ''Earthly Desires'' by Laurence Osborn and Theo Merz, ''Love Bytes'' by Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Tamsin Collison, ''Love Letter'' by Owen Bourne, and ''Circus Tricks'' by Michael Henry and Adey Grummet. *2013 ''Lite Bites'', a collection of short operas including ''Cat-Astrophe'' by John Webb and Tamsin Collison, ''Dart's Love'' by Kerry Andrew and Tamsin Collison, ''Long Lankin'' by Fleur de Bray, ''Of My Daughter's Prayer'' by Will Handysides and Declan Kolakowskiy, and ''Recurrent'' by Matt Rogers and Sally O'Reilly. *2013 ''Gala'' by Ergo Phizmiz *2014, ''Hogarth's Stages'', a co-production with the Royal College of Music. A collection of short operas including ''On False Perspective'' by Josephine Stephenson and Benjamin Osborne, ''The Bet'' by Algirdas Kraunatis, ''Now'' by Lewis Murphy and Laura Attridge, ''Hogarth's Bastards'' by Hunter Coblentz and Jordan O'Connor, and ''Serpentine, or The Analysis of Beauty'' by Edwin Hillier and Edward Allen. *2014, ''GRIND'' by Samuel Bordoli and Bill Bankes-Jones *2014, ''April in the Amazon'' by Laurence Osborn and Theo Merz *2014, ''Pop Up Operas'', a collection of short operas including ''Cakehead'' by Errollyn Wallen, ''Precipitation'' by Helen Chadwick and Carl Miller, and ''Will You Fall'' by Na'ama Zisser and

Stella Duffy Stella Frances Silas Duffy (born 1963) is a London-born writer and theatremaker. Born in London, she spent her childhood in New Zealand before returning to the UK. Early life and education Born in London in 1963 to a New Zealand father and an ...

. *2015, ''Bon Voyage'', a happening by Catherine Kontz *2015, ''Pop Up Operas'', a collection of short operas including ''My Mother My Daughter'' by

Orlando Gough Orlando Gough ( ; born 1953 in Brighton, Sussex) is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh ...

, ''Wake Up!'' by Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Susannah Waters, ''UnconGENIE-al'' by James Garner and Anna Pool, and ''Chuggers'' by Sophie Sparkes and Jenny Colgan *2015, ''People Watch'' by Stef Conner and Bill Bankes-Jones. A co-production with Streetwise Opera. *2015, ''The Last Seed'' by Na'ama Zisser and

*2016, ''Great Expectations'', a co-production with the

. A collection of short operas including ''Stream of Consciousness, Sea of Blood'' by Benjamien Lycke and Mien Bogaert, ''76 Days'' by Kenichi Ikuno Sekiguchi, ''BEL and the DRAGON'' by Alex Paxton, ''The Two Sisters'' by Algirdas Kraunatis and Grace Lee-Khoo, ''Der Eisenhut'' by Amy Bryce and Roland Karl Bryce, and ''Killer Graphics'' by Sam Hall and Darren Rapier *2016, Boys of Paradise by Vahan Salorian and Dominic Kimberlin. A co-production with WorkshOPERA *2017, ''Belongings'' by Samuel Bordoli and Bill Bankes-Jones. A co-production with SoundScotland *2017, ''Score!'' A medley of different works previously presented by Tête à Tête *2017, ''The Hive'' by Harvey Brough and Carole Hayman *2017, ''Bohememergency'', a parody of Puccini's ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'', with music arranged by Timothy Burke and a translation by Bill Bankes-Jones (originally named 'Surprise Package') *2018, ''Frankenstein - The Modern Prometheus'', a co-production with the Royal College of Music. A collection of short operas, including ''Amira'' by Joe Kiely, ''Our Perfect Child'' by Sophie Sparkes and Deborah McMahon, ''John Henry'' by Maeve McCarthy and Gary Matthewman, ''Bear & Friends'' by Lente Verelst and Hans Vercauteren, and ''The Fermi Paradox'' by Lara Poe and Raphael Ruiz. *2018, ''TOSCATASTROPHE!'', a parody of Puccini's ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'', with music arranged by Timothy Burke and a translation by Bill Bankes-Jones. *2019, ''Pop Up Operas'', a collection of short operas including ''Aliens in the Streets'' by Vahan Salorian and Dominic Kimberlin, ''Hand Clap'' by Catherine Kontz and Emmylou Vaxby, and ''We Did Our Best'' by Anna Appleby and Ruth Mariner. *2019, ''Madame Butterflop'', a parody of Puccini's ''

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

'', with music arranged by Timothy Burke and a translation by Bill Bankes-Jones.

References

External links

* *
Streetwise Opera's ''Canticles''
(a co-production with Tête à Tête) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tete A Tete British opera companies Musical groups established in 1997