Music Theatre, Theatre & Film

Experimentum Mundi – Music Theatre

Giorgio BATTISTELLI’s music theatre work, Experimentum Mundi was performed at Almeida Opera, London in the Almeida Festival, summer 1995 and was subsequently performed all over the world.

This ambitious piece is written for a group of artisans (original performers were from a village near Rome) plying their trades (making barrels, shoes etc.) accompanied by a wordless women’s chorus and a text comprised of definitions from Diderot’s Encyclopédie for an actor to declaim. AH translated the latter; it was performed by Ian McDiarmid in the UK performances

© Ricordi

Amphitryon – Play

‘translated with considerable style and grace by Amanda Holden…’
Observer

The translation of Heinrich von Kleist‘s 1807 play was commissioned by David Farr, then the director of The Gate in Notting Hill, London,  for the summer season of 1995. The production was directed by David McVicar, his first theatre production in London.

Films for tv

Opera shorts: La bohème and The Barber of Seville

In 2008/2009 ENO/SkyArts commissioned a series of short promotion films to be recorded for Skyartsopera and linked (rather obliquely) to their current productions:

La bohème – English lyrics by Amanda Holden
the Act I love duet: `Oh you vision of beauty’ was directed by Werner Herzog
visible on YouTube
singers: Mary Plazas and Mark Stone; ENO orchestra

The Barber of Seville – English lyrics by Amanda & Anthony Holden
Largo al factotum – Figaro’s aria – directed by Dougal Wilson
starring Matthew Baynton, sung by Mark Stone; ENO orchestra
visible on YouTube

Operavox cartoon films: Rhinegold, The Barber of Seville and Carmen

In 1992-4 Hibbert Ralph Entertainment produced a series of six 30 minute animated cartoon films for television; they were commissioned by SC4 and BBC Enterprises.  AH translations were used for three of them: Rhinegold, The Barber of Seville and Carmen. The Wagner was new, the other two were adapted from existing work. The series editors were Martin Lamb and Penelope Middelboe and the films were shown on BBC2 early in 1995. Another series  – 30 minute Shakespeares – was also made and successfully shown.
available on Amazon