La Serva Padrona/Bastien et Bastienne August 2022

Opera de Baugé, Loire Valley, France

A double bill of comic operas, presented as part of the 2022 festival at Opera de Baugé. I was honoured to be selected as the first person in Opera de Baugé’s history to be given my own show to direct by the company’s artistic director Bernadette Grimmet. For Mozart’s early Bastien et Bastienne, composed when he was just 12, a part for children’s chorus was added by Garry Jones, and the opera was set in a school of witchcraft and wizardry. Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, one of the great Baroque comic operas, was set in its original period, and due to cast sickness, I walked the role of Uberto (which you can see in the photos below) while Henry Grant Kerswell sang the role from the side of the stage. A rage aria for Vespone was interpolated from Pergolesi’s Il prigionier superbo. Having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 measures, it was a pleasure to finally stage these shows. Photos by Alexander Kabanov.

Serpina/Bastienne - Laura Curry

Vespone/Bastien - Rob Tilson

Colas - Caspar Lloyd James

Uberto - Henry Grant Kerswell

Children’s chorusmaster - Garry Jones

Conductor - Junichiro Watahiki