As we look forward to English Touring Opera returning to Snape Maltings Concert Hall this Autumn, director Robin Norton-Hale shares her thoughts on the upcoming season.

“We’re delighted to be returning to Britten Pears Arts again this Autumn with stories that explore our relationship with nature – how it can inspire and comfort us, and how it can also be alien and frightening.”

“Our critically acclaimed production of Judith Weir’s “deliciously disturbing fairy-tale” (The Telegraph) Blond Eckbert, which premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in June, returns in a double bill alongside Do not take my story for a fairytale, an exploration of love and longing in a remote, beautiful mountain setting. Blond Eckbert: Double Bill is presented alongside a vivid new staging of a classic coming-of-age folktale, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snowmaiden, directed by the brilliant Olivia Fuchs.”

“Across our Autumn 2024 season, we witness the development of the Romantic imagination. Der Blonde Eckbert, Ludwig Tieck’s supernatural short story and the inspiration for Judith Weir’s opera, was one of the earliest expressions of German Romanticism, combining realistic psychology with chilling supernatural elements. Do not take my story for a fairytale traces the development of the Romantic movement in words and music, from the beautiful, classical clarity of C. P. E. Bach’s presentation of the sunrise to the internal and external storms of Schubert’s Prometheus, alone on a mountainside questioning the existence of god. The Snowmaiden, composed in 1880, reflects the later developments of the Romantic genre, with an exuberant musical palette of Russian folk melodies, dances and depictions of nature.”

“The Romantic movement was radical in its focus on the importance of the individual, on our emotions and our choices, while recognising each individual was just a miniscule part of the universe. The productions in this season ask, can we balance self-absorption with being part of something bigger? What makes us the way we are, and can we take control of our destiny? All of these questions, explored through exquisite music and staging, feel as urgent and relevant as ever.”

Olivier Award-winning English Touring Opera has been bringing accessible and exciting live opera to Snape Maltings for over 20 years, to the critical acclaim of both audiences and professionals alike.

This November we look forward to hosting both performances:

For Blond Eckbert Double Bill, we are offering two tickets for the price of one on all tickets over £10.

Get a taste of what's to come with this trailer of Blond Eckbert: Double Bill.