Opera-lovers are in for a treat again as English Touring Opera return to Blackpool’s Grand Theatre with another double offering. On consecutive evenings Friday 13 and Saturday 14 May performances of Iphigenie en Tauride and Don Giovanni respectively are set to tantalise your musical tastebuds in a way that only Olivier Award Winning company ETO can.
Opera is not everyone’s cup of tea, however I have nothing but praise to sing for ETO’s performances: Always visually stunning, full of emotion and translating each story line to the audience with passion and verve. This May will be no different, when they perform two complex pieces.
Iphigenie en Tauride is based on the play Iphigenia in Tauris by Greek dramatist Euripides which deals with the aftermath of theTrojan War. Composer Cristoph Wilibald Gluck’s tale is one of human sacrifice, shipwreck and villainy when central character Iphigenie is reunited with her brother Tauride.
Sung in French with English subtitles this is considered to be German-born Gluck’s masterpiece whose work brought about a controversial reform in opera’s dramaturgical practices that intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years and subsequently he had great influence on many future composers including Mozart.
On the following evening, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s dark, two-act opera Don Giovanni will be sung in English with no subtitles. Featuring the well- known titular anti-hero Don Giovanni who, based on the legends of libertine and seducer Don Juan, divides audiences in love or hate towards him; the audience will have to make up their own minds as to how they perceive Don Giovanni’s character throughout, however, with a dramatic twist of fate, the story’s supernatural conclusion leaves us with a cautionary element to the tale.
Tickets are available online, in person from the Grand Theatre Box Office, or by phoning 01253 290190, or at
Tickets cost between £17- £33, there are group discounts available as well as student and under 26 concessions.
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