A contemporary retelling of Béla Bartók’s operatic masterpiece Bluebeard’s Castle that presents the opera as a love story between a long-married couple living with dementia will take to the Christchurch Town Hall stage on Saturday.

British dramatic soprano Susan Bullock and American dramatic baritone Lester Lynch will perform, alongside the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dutch-Maltese conductor Lawrence Renes, highly regarded for his ability to balance orchestra and singers and for delivering performances of passion, nuance and style.

Composer Béla Bartók’s only opera, this award-winning and innovative revival of Bluebeard’s Castle from Theatre of Sound (UK) premiered in London in 2021 to universal praise.

Susan Bullock is the first soprano to sing four consecutive cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Royal Opera House under Sir Antonio Pappano. Appearances as Richard Strauss’ Elektra have brought her equal international acclaim. Further career highlights include Liz Stride (Jack the Ripper) for English National Opera; Mother (Greek) for Scottish Opera; Kostelnička (Jenůfa) for Den Norske Opera and Grange Park Opera; both Gertrude and The Witch (Hänsel und Gretel) for Opera North and Grange Park Opera, and Mrs Lovett (Sweeney Todd) for Houston Grand Opera and Bergen National Opera. 

Lester Lynch's career highlights include Crown (Porgy and Bess) at Teatro alla Scala, San Francisco Opera, Volksoper Wien, Lucerne Festival im Sommer, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Kiel, Germany, Ravinia Festival and the Berlin Philharmoniker; Lescaut (Manon Lecaut) in Baden Baden with the Berlin Philharmoniker; Shylock (The Merchant of Venice) with Royal Opera House and Welsh National Opera; Tonio (I Pagliacci) with Tatar State Opera in Russia; The Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen) with English National Opera; Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) with Opera Classica Europa and Scarpia (Tosca) with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Christchurch Town Hall, Sat 12 Aug
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