Opera North return to Theatre Royal stage with three timeless tales

Opera North celebrates the timeless appeal of classic fairy tales with three brand new productions on the Theatre Royal stage next week.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely-performed The Snow Maiden, Humperdinck’s much-loved Hansel and Gretel and Rossini’s captivating Cinderella.

The chill winds of March make it the perfect time to visit a cosy theatre for an operatic version of the charming Russian folk story, The Snow Maiden. The daughter of Grandfather Frost and Spring Beauty, the young Snow Maiden, sung by Irish soprano Aoife Miskelly, wants nothing more than to live amongst humans, after meeting a shepherd boy, Lel (Heather Lowe). But she hides a tragic secret: her heart is made of ice and, if she falls in love, it will melt.

See The Snow Maiden on Thursday March 23 at 7pm.

Hansel and Gretel, the second piece in Opera North’s Winter season, is perhaps the best-loved of all the operatic fairy tales but there’s a dark twist to this story of two children lost in the woods. The music magically evokes the contrasting worlds of the story, from the daily struggle for survival of an impoverished family, to the world of the forest, both idyllic and full of danger; home to the terrifying Witch and her tempting gingerbread house.

See Hansel & Gretel on Wednesday March 22, at 7pm and Saturday March 25, at 7pm.

The third opera in the fairy tale season strikes a romantic note with Rossini’s sparkling comedy Cinderella (La Cenerentola). Dance is woven into the very fabric of the music, and this contemporary new production opens with Cinderella scrubbing the floor of a ballroom dance school. In Rossini’s work, it is music rather than magic that transforms Cinderella into a princess and enables her to deftly outwit her step-father Don Magnifico (Henry Waddington) and two cruel step-sisters.

See Cinderella on Thursday March 23 at 7pm and Saturday March 25, at 2pm.

For tickets and more information visit www.trch.co.uk.