A completely innovative approach to opera developed by a couple with a home in Castletown is being brought to the island for the first time.
Haydn Rawstron and his wife Dorothee Jansen, a soprano, created narropera, which aims to make opera – an art form widely acknowledged as being difficult to penetrate – more accessible.
Narropera is a narration of the story of the opera (voiced by Haydn) interspersed with arias from the opera (sung by Dorothee) with music by violinist Hanns-Heinz Odenthal and Haydn on the piano.
The format has been well received by audiences across the world.
And now, narropera will be delivered to an island audience next month as the first of three instalments of the Mozart Narropera Festival 2015/2016.
The Marriage of Figaro will be performed at the Erin Arts Centre, in Port Erin, on Saturday, May 9. It will then head west to Peel Centenary Centre on November 7.
And finally, Don Giovanni will be staged at the Gaiety Theatre, in Douglas, on July 9, 2016.
Haydn explained: ‘By way of an example, we take the 10 soprano arias that Mozart wrote for The Marriage of Figaro – only seven survive in modern performances – and between these arias we narrate the story of the opera, translate exactly the text of each aria and summon up the wit and spirit of the 18th century.’
While the opera is three hours, plus an interval, for the narropera it is reduced to 85 minutes, with no interval.
The couple live outside Christchurch, in New Zealand, when they are not in Europe. While their property was spared serious damage when the earthquakes struck in 2011, the city’s performing centres were destroyed.
Haydn said: ‘I said to my wife we have all the skills, between us we have had 50 years in the opera business. We can do something, put on some concerts. We had this idea, why not do the Marriage of Figaro? I love the piece. I have known the piece intimately since my student days.
‘I said we could make this into a little story and dip into the arias as an experiment.’
He added: ‘It’s a format I’ve never come across during my 33-year career in the opera world. There’s nothing like it. It’s a totally new innovation.’
The first performances were a success and narropera has continued to grow in popularity as more audiences have been introduced to it.
‘There’s something I think we, by accident, hit upon which hooked on a very different need people have,’ Haydn said. ‘People love a story and they love music in a story.
‘It’s as close to the ancient bardic tradition of story-telling and song that classical music gets.’
He said narropera has a wide appeal: ‘It is easily able to introduce the opera first-timer to the joys of understanding this most complex of art forms, while adding an enlightening dimension of enjoyment to even the most dedicated opera fan.’
The island festival culminates with a performance at the Gaiety. Haydn said: ‘We are selling a new art form and accepting the challenge of presenting it in an 800-seater.
‘Over the next 15 months we have to win over a considerable audience. But the format warrants it.’
The aim is for the festival – with three performances over the year – to be repeated annually.
It’s not the first time that residents have enjoyed the narropera format.
In 2013, they performed nine Handel German arias at four island venues.
Last year Haydn and Dorothee performed two concerts featuring the Old Testament in word and song with Bernard Osborne (violin), Janet Warburton (cello) and Reverend Canon Dr Jules Gomes (narrator).
The three performances start at 7.30pm. Tickets for the Erin Arts Centre concert cost £10 for adults, £1 for under 18s. To book call 832662.