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Award-winning opera producer Ellen Kent returns to The Liverpool Empire after critically acclaimed tours of Madam Butterfly, La Traviata and Rigoletto, bringing two new productions, boasting magnificent new sets; Bizet’s Carmen will be stoking up the heat tomorrow evening incorporating all the passion of Spain, with Puccini’s Tosca demonstrating the grandeur and power of Rome tonight.
“I have to say that Tosca is my absolute favourite opera of all time, but what I like about both of these pieces is that they are both very strong drama,” Ellen explained. “When Puccini composed Tosca, although it is obviously fictional, he had just started going to into reality opera by incorporating aspects of the world he saw around him. He used to visit England quite a lot and he came to Manchester to see Sarah Bernhardt in her iconic role of Tosca, which then was an enormous Gothic play, and to witness her famous leap of death from the top of the fortress.
“That was where he derived the idea to compose an opera and Puccini’s music is just to die for in itself. However, I did visit the place where Puccini lived and got to see some of the original sets and what was striking was the fact that his interpretation as to how the sets should be, matched my own vision with regards to colours, size and scale.
“Tosca is set in a beautiful Roman amphitheatre created by Setup Scenery, which cost around £70,000. It is just so detailed, which is how it should be because the set becomes a character in its own right. If I think ‘wow’ when the curtain goes up, then the audience will too which in turn is added to by the wonderful music and a story brim full of passion and torture and love and betrayal. It is just simply marvellous.”
Vladimir Dragos returns to sing his most famous role of Scarpia after his acclaimed portrayal of Rigoletto on Ellen Kent’s last tour. Alyona Kistenyova will take the title role following her debut as Madama Butterfly in 2015 gaining rapturous reviews. “Alyona is simply beautiful and a very, very powerful singer indeed from the Ukrainian National Opera. Vitalii Liskovetskyi, who plays Cavaradossi, has just the most amazing voice, so when the two of them sing together it just sets goose bumps racing up your arms, it is just magical.”
Ellen Kent has been producing opera now for 25 years, which is no mean feat. In order to keep each production fresh, she incorporates one or two little twists. This production of Carmen is no different either. “People call them gimmicks, but I disagree. Opera, like any theatre, is designed to be entertaining so I just like to think a little bit out of the box. This Carmen will feature a beautiful Andalucian horse which will totally captivate the audience as much as the story, the music and, of course, the singing.
“I really have cherry picked the best for these two operas, with Liza Kadelnik, the celebrated international mezzo-soprano from the Romanian National Opera, starring as Carmen. In addition to that, too, we have teamed up with Attwood Donkey Sanctuary, Upton, because my mother – who was admittedly a little eccentric – established a donkey sanctuary for around 60+ donkeys where we lived under Franco’s barbarism in Spain. One of the donkeys, Guinness, will be appearing in Carmen during the market scene, which all adds authenticity, and after the opera people will be asked to donate to the upkeep of the Wirral sanctuary if they should wish to do so.”
What truly shines through when speaking to Ellen, though, is the sheer enthusiasm and passion that she has for her work.
“Over six million people have seen my shows in the twenty five years I have been producing opera and I still simply love and adore what I do,” Ellen sighed. “If I’m not entertaining myself – enjoying myself – then there is no way I will entertain an audience and so then what’s the point? I went into opera by mistake, having been a performer, but even that was a mistake. My father insisted that I get a degree and I chose to study Classics at Durham which was just wonderful. I’d decided that if I couldn’t be an actress I was going to be an archaeologist, bizarrely.
“My friend from Boarding School really chose Classics because it gained us access to the local boys school just up the road from Durham University. I was brought up in India and Spain, and so have had a multi-cultural upbringing, too, which has exposed me on a first hand level to the Arts in all of their forms. Most importantly, though, with moving around, Opera has given me stable worlds in which to live that feeds my imagination and I still get a tremendous artistic kick out of seeing my pieces being performed in front of an appreciative audience.”
#Ellen Kent’s Tosca is at The Liverpool Empire tonight, March 22, and Carmen is tomorrow, March 23, both at 7.30 pm. For tickets: http://www.atgtickets.com