Choosing an Opera — British Youth Opera

Our Director of Training and Productions, Stuart Barker, is in charge of choosing which opera we perform every summer. But because we’re a training company, it’s not as simple as just picking the one with the best tunes…

When selecting possible operas for BYO’s training programme there are a number of key considerations: Which operas are suitable for developing voices? Which operas will offer the most appropriate training to singers, and best prepare them as they embark on their careers? Is there a good variety of roles? How large is the orchestra, and will it fit in the pit?

Many of the most popular operas are not appropriate for young voices – Verdi (except for Falstaff), most Puccini together with many other nineteenth century operas are simply too big, with the larger roles risking vocal damage (unlike a violinist, a singer cannot go out to buy a new instrument!) Of the possible operas, most have a few roles that require voices we will not hear at auditions every year, and that is why we offer a shortlist of operas and then choose the one that is most appropriate for the singers we audition this time around.

This year, for our second visit to Opera Holland Park, we will be performing one opera, double cast. It is therefore important that the operas on offer contain a good distribution of voice types, and we have chosen a shortlist of operas all of which have roles for at least two sopranos, two mezzos, two tenors and two baritones – and are, of course, excellent training operas. These are Britten’s Albert Herring, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, Vaughan Williams’ Sir John in Love and Verdi’s Falstaff. Then our auditions will inform us as to which we will present to you this summer!