Reviews

Miraculous... Danielle de Niese’s deft direction weds finery with fun. A touring show was quite a challenge for the opera star’s first directorial gig, but dynamic singing, charismatic orchestral play and clever stage jokes pull it off brilliantly.

A high-energy approach was matched by exceptionally fine, charismatic playing from the orchestra conducted by Orlando Jopling in his own arrangement of the score. It was also ideally tailored to the dynamic, intensely committed cast.

Ellie Neate’s Susanna sang with pure liquid beauty. At ease and utterly convincing both vocally and dramatically, this cast are en route to much, much bigger stages. Catching them on such a small one is among the real pleasures of this production.

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Remarkable. There's almost no scenery... yet this show feels emotionally and dramatically fuller than many productions set in sumptuously furnished sets. The reason is evident. An excellent cast who portray their characters with raw emotions and total credibility. All of them live and breathe their roles as if their lives depended on it.

Ellie Neate is a revelation.

It is still a comedy, but one in which everyone's feelings get lacerated and the damage won't be easily healed.

The emotional detail on stage is admirably matched by the playing of the Wild Arts Ensemble... with chamber-like nuance and instrumental flair.

Impressive... combining musical and dramatic excellence.

Hugely enjoyable and well worth catching.

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A vivid, magical evening... Both gripping and entertaining.

De Niese's staging was vividly immediate and highly active, responding to the farce elements of the story with action that was highly physical and nearly constant.

This was not one of those small-scale productions that make the opera work by doing violence to the original dramaturgy. Here we got Mozart and Da Ponte, admirably reinvented for a small stage and intimate setting, but still treating their opera with intelligence and respect. 

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No frills Tchaikovsky goes straight to the heart

Excellent touring production by the former director of Shakespeare’s Globe

This Onegin succeeds because it is direct, simple, heartfelt. All harder goals to achieve than they sound. It’s also something of a bravura exercise in plate-spinning…

[Reduced orchestra] achieved minor miracles in sustaining Tchaikovsky’s plangent lyricism, yet still rose to the boisterous exuberance of the dances.

Gleamingly sung, Galina Averina’s Tatyana is at her best by the final scene. Conversely, by that point Timothy Nelson’s once haughty Onegin is a wreck who’s realised just how badly he’s screwed up. That’s life. That’s opera.

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A pure delight: affordable opera in a barn, performed in a gimmick-free, superbly sung production…

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The approach is to keep things simple and to let Tchaikovsky’s music and libretto breathe, and this puts new breath into an old favourite…

[Dromgoole] has succeeded magnificently to create a piece that unwraps the emotions and impulses of the opera’s all-to-human characters, with a direct and empathetic intimacy.

The distillation of Tchaikovsky’s score to a quarter of the number of instruments, yet losing nothing in extent or emphasis, is exemplary.

The Tardis staging, with rustic timber elements, representing bench, bed or writing desk… allows an intimacy between singers and musicians, and with the audience.

[Siofra Dromgoole] has captured the beauty and the poetry of the original whilst rendering the words into modern natural English.

Sophisticated and electric… A rich study of the impulsiveness of youth.

Satisfying and enriching. This is an outstanding production that eschews extraneous elaboration.

[Wild Arts] bring out the soul of the opera and present it as a work of art.

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Captivating and immersive… A rare pleasure.

With no agenda inflicted on us at Layer Marney Tower, this staging felt as if place, music and action came together with magical force…

It was the sheer immediacy of the performance that triumphed here. Nothing is lost in this trim version, its details sharpened, and the grandeur of those dance episodes vividly illuminated.

[Galina Averina] caught Tatyana’s conflicting emotions to perfection.

Lastly, a word of praise for Orlando Jopling who steered his players through the score with unflagging efficiency and energy, coaxing from his instrumentalists playing of exceptional musicianship and sensitivity. This was musical collaboration that could easily have graced some of this country’s established theatres.

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[The slimline orchestration offers] a new appreciation of Tchaikovsky’s linear workings. Individual instrumental performances ranged from the meltingly expressive to the valiant…

Wild Arts acts as a collective rather than a collection of starry individuals. This is its greatest strength.

Fringe opera by its very nature fosters invention, often as a result of smaller budgets. Wild Arts seems to flourish on challenge; its Onegin counts as a notable success.

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Wild Arts’s simply conceived Eugene Onegin brings poetry and humanity to Tchaikovsky’s opera.

A paired down yet inspired production.

Economy of scale and absence of spectacle compelled the audience to focus on the emotional truth which underpins Pushkin’s tragic story… to concentrate without distraction on the inner lives of the characters.

Delivered with heart-rending sincerity and outstanding technical control…

Undaunted by the work’s orchestral demands, the agility, accuracy and musical acuity of the chamber-sized orchestra preserved and enhanced the subtle beauty of Tchaikovsky’s lush score.

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Wild Arts, the young opera touring company founded by Orlando Jopling in 2022, brings this story to Holland Park with impressive verve and insight…

The keynote is simplicity, a tribute to Tchaikovsky’s original intentions for the production, which eschewed spectacle but insisted upon historical veracity and the rawness of its central characters’ feelings.

[The reduction provides] stirring instrumentation that explodes when set against the emotional containment.

A marvellous rendition of Pushkin’s tale of youthful romance and haunting ‘what ifs’. 

Dominic Dromgoole strips the story back to its emotional essence – love, jealousy and regret – allowing music and vocals to take centre stage.

At once relatable and accessible to new opera-goers, this Wild Arts production makes for an enchanting summer evening.

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Persuading Dominic Dromgoole, an artist with a reputation to maintain, to dip his toe in the piranha infested river of opera with a relative start-up is a considerable achievement. To cajole the Dromgoole clan to muck in is little short of a miracle.

Wild Arts’ achievement in Holland Park was to step up to a higher league. Beyond polished performance. Providing penetrating insights into the Pushkin drama.

No character was allowed to be ‘minor’. They all were given a distinctive voice.

I must have seen at least twenty productions of Eugene Onegin over the years… All my clichéd perceptions were shattered – painting the characters with a subtle pallete.

I saw more into Lensky’s complex character as delivered by Hetherington than pretty much any other performance I have seen. (Not just because I could have tapped him on the shoulder!)

This was no ‘scratch’ orchestra, but a cohesive group, capable of delivering to the most demanding artistic standards.

For Wild Arts Opera the big game season is truly on!

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An English language version of Donizetti's famous opera shone from Wild Arts, honouring all aspects of this miraculous score. 

Joseph Morris’ translation of Felice Romani’s libretto was a work of art in itself, beautifully comedic and in highly idiomatic English.  

Just as effective was Hamish Brown’s ‘new orchestration’ for chamber ensemble, creating perfectly-judged textures from string quintet, clarinet, trumpet and accordion. Jopling’s conducting was superb, not only in his ability to create pinpoint ensemble, but also to hear – and project – Donizetti's larger structures. 

Sophie Lincoln’s costume designs were impeccable. Galina Averina revealed a gleaming, agile soprano, yet in her ‘Prendi Per me sei libero’ she proved herself in the lyric arena, too. Thomas Elwin carried his long lyric lines beautifully and brought the house down with his ‘Una fertiva lagrima’. Alex Jones' Doctor Dulcamara, a lovable rogue, was the dramatic apex. His stage presence is immense and his sure way with diction means that a 'patter song' is second nature. The Giannetta of Sofia Kirwan-Baez and the Lauretta of Rebecca Milford were both beings of lightness, balanced by Henry Jacques’ Claudio and Robert Garland’s Robert.

This L’elisir was 100% convincing at all levels. In 2024, Wild Arts will tour with a new translation of Mozart’s Zauberflöte by Jeremy Sams. I can’t wait.

Colin Clarke

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Stylish performances and an emphasis on character make this small-scale yet inventive production wonderfully engaging.

This a wonderfully enjoyable and engaging performance that really punched above its weight. The audience in Thaxted clearly loved it and were fully engaged, while this experienced reviewer was carried away as well. An admirably polished and sophisticated performance.

This was one of those lovely productions that had no axe to grind.  Sophie Lincoln's designs included evocative 1950s-period costumes and plenty of amusing 1950s-style props for Dulcamara's sales routine. 

It was an engaging and inventive production that was all about character.  The comedy came from character, music and situation without any mugging or over-egging. This was an Adina of real personality, brought out in the music, and Averina nicely took Adina on a journey. She was never nasty, but moved from being self-absorbed to something more admirable.

Elwin and Averina had a believably sparky relationship, from the outset they crackled and sparked together so that their crucial final scene together at the end of Act Two, made real sense and had a dramatic sparkle.

This Belcore was wonderfully preening and self-absorbed, clearly so enamoured of his own importance that he had no idea what was going on around him. Averina's Adina was clearly reluctantly mesmerised, and their scenes together were a complete delight.

Alex Jones was clearly having great fun as Dr Dulcamara, bringing out the character's knowingness. [His] hymning the praises of his elixir was a complete delight, but then Jones' whole performance was.

Robert Hugill

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A joy beyond all expectation - sassily delivered and outstandingly well sung.

Michael White

In Wild Arts’ sunny staging of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore [Elwin’s] sensitive interpretation of detail, musical and theatrical was telling. Nemorino’s transformation from gauche geek to dishevelled drunk was winningly done… No wonder everyone was delighted when Nemorino finally got his girl.

Galina Averina was a sassy Adina with a light, sweet soprano. This was a wonderfully engaging performance and ‘Prendi, per me sei libero’ evinced genuine care and remorse.

Claire Seymour

A positively life-enhancing performance of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore in English with reduced ensemble by Wild Arts as part of their Summer Tour.

A complete bull’s eye.

Colin Clarke

A fresh and pungent delight. What you are achieving is remarkable.

This production of L’Elisir d’Amore had a brilliance of imagination and stylistic confidence that was truly impressive and really enjoyable.

A triumph of technical direction, musical integrity, vocal brilliance, witty translation and bundles of charm!

The musicians and singers were brilliant and it was such a lovely and intimate venue! Very special.

Just fabulous: such commitment and subtle craft. 

Great. Amazing. That’s all I have to say.

More Audience reviews at the bottom of the page.

Wild Arts makes magic happen.

The production is phenomenally inventive, entertaining, and full of insight, with a combination of talent, a superb group of talented professional instrumentalists, a fine conductor and an imaginative director in James Hurley.

Wild Arts continues to entertain and to stimulate in equal measure. This, surely, is what opera is all about.

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The hall was filled with glorious music, perfectly balanced. To have a fully fledged opera played with such reduced forces and for it to not jar is testament to the band and their Musical Director Orlando Jopling.

[Of Natasha Page as Pamina:] Her quiet notes (especially) took the breath away with an ethereal beauty. The aria “Oh, I feel it, it is gone” was (for me) the emotional high of the entire piece as it embodied that universal human feeling of your partner’s love slipping away.

Luci Briginshaw gave us a hissable, fleshed out Queen of the Night.

I saw Wild Arts before and they were sensational. They were again tonight in a production that was innovative, fresh and delightful and which I wholeheartedly recommend.

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The 3 Ladies' trios sparkle in carillon-like precision, absolutely charming, and Luci Briginshaw is a remarkable performer and a flawless singer… performing with consummate ease. Soprano Natasha Page expresses the innocence and vulnerability of the young woman, drawing out the character’s pathos with heart-rending sincerity.

Mozart’s clever twists and turns and unconventional changes of direction are all there, and nothing is lost.

With an exceptional company, Mozart’s wonderful music played with verve by orchestra and singers, this Magic Flute is, well … magical!

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A fine young cast excel in a refreshing production that launches Essex’s welcome new country house opera festival.

Accompanied by Jopling’s clever orchestral realisation for just seven highly skilled instrumentalists, the young cast responded with engaging energy and superb singing.

It was all done with a knowing, cheeky sense of humour, while never detracting from Mozart’s delectable score.

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Forget Glyndebourne, give Garsington the brush off; high summer in the world of opera has to be with Wild Arts! The show was inspirational. Every word was clear as a bell, and the whole thing was fast, funny, and brilliant; brought off with that essence of good opera – style.

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A wonderful evening. The performance was full of fun, the pace was terrific, and the musicians absolutely top quality. Thank you so much for bringing us so much talent and joy.

A rich experience on all fronts. The performance delightful, acoustically remarkably effective, the singers all in consistently good form, with one magic ingredient – I found myself following the action as if it were a play, hanging on word by word.

A wonderful, funny, super-high quality production, all the more soul-nourishing because of the environmental ethics.

Magic from beginning to end – thank you SO much for creating such an incredibly brilliant written, acted, sung, accompanied, and directed Cosi. 

The jewel in Wild Arts’ crown. A supple, energetic interpretation that thrillingly delivers the story as if the performers have just discovered it... Exquisite, moving, and exuberant.

The singers' delivery of “Since By Man Came Death” was as moving as I’ve ever heard it, tilting from gravity to ebullience and back again. Then the trumpet played out from the pulpit as bass Timothy Nelson proclaimed that “the dead shall be raised” with a vigour that rang up to the cathedral’s vaulted ceiling. The final chorus, "Worthy is the Lamb," was as filled with elan and blazing colour as the striking John Piper screen behind the performers.

Rachel Halliburton (at Chichester Cathedral, 2024)

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Riveting and dramatic.

It is a real dramatic response to a radical choice of texts, drawn from scripture, that are often heard (or performed) like a ritual incantation because we are over-familiar with them.

The musical direction from the harpsichord by Orlando Jopling is fastidiously authentic — his excellent minimum-forces band of period instrumentalists embellish their lines and phrase beguilingly throughout.

The performance is constantly lifted by the full-blooded, sometimes even angry, way in which solo numbers are tackled, particularly by the mezzo-soprano Catherine Backhouse and the bass Edward Hawkins. His deep, dark power, unleashed in “Why do the Nations?” provides the evening’s most thrilling moment.

Richard Morrison (at Smith Square Hall, 2024)

Here is a Messiah that speaks!

There are just eight singers and they work hard, but the result is greatly rewarding. In an oratorio where a chorus of eighty or even eight hundred would not raise eyebrows, the economy is valuable. They are no longer an anonymous crowd, but are individuals, with their own distinctive voice within the group and not lost in the mass. They speak, but no longer speak at us, rather they speak with us.

Messiah is big, and this production is big, in spite of being reduced from three hours to two. Jopling's musical ensemble understands Baroque music and obviously enjoy its vivacity.

Mark Aspen (at Smith Square Hall, 2024)

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With a remarkable amount of imagination, this was a performance used a vivid sense of drama to create a compelling and wonderfully engaged performance. This was a winner.

The elements of staging added an element of drama or dramatic presentation to the arias while avoiding the choreographed-to-death feeling that you can get with works like this. In the choruses we had the sense of a vocal ensemble, with eight distinct voices (rather than choral blend) and with the singers so engaged that they created something stimulating.

Robert Hugill (at The Art Workers' Guild, 2023)

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I’ve seen many a Messiah in my time but few as powerfully engaging as this little show which held me in its grip from start to finish. 

Michael White (at The Art Workers' Guild, 2023)

You have collectively raised the bar so high on the Messiah performance that I can never go back to an ordinary concert version. It was outstanding. We loved it. The drama in telling the story, the musicianship and the singing was wonderful. A thoroughly enjoyable evening. 

David Furnival

Surely this is the only and best way to see the Messiah - total genius staging. Loved it.

Alice Simon

I never want to hear Messiah any other way. The singers and players were exceptional. It was moving, and it had wonderful momentum and pulse which enhanced the meaning. 

Stephen Barter

I just wanted to write to say thank you for an incredible Messiah last week. I absolutely loved every minute of it. It was totally beautiful; I’ve been listening to it on Spotify, and it doesn’t come close to your performance. What an amazing achievement - I’m thoroughly looking forward to attending more Wild Arts events in the future. 

George Talbot

I just had to say how fantastic the Messiah was last night.. It was intimate and beautifully sung. 6 stars out of 5! If you did two nights I would go to both.

We just got home from your AMAZING performance of the Messiah. What a show - inclusive and uplifting. The musicians perfectly balanced; an unusual staging which was perfect and brilliant. 

Just to say that I really enjoyed the performance of Messiah last night. What an amazing production in all aspects. I was very moved by the clarity of the singing and staging.

Thank you for that joyful performance of the Messiah last night. It made my heart leap. I do hope you come back many times.

Incredible performance by all. - Anastasia Alura ★★★★★

A delightful and uplifting rendition with every detail beautifully thought through – [It] revealed further dimensions to this well-loved oratorio. - Carolyn Nunn ★★★★★

Wonderfully refreshing. - Christopher Morgan  ★★★★★

A superbly sung and played production that didn’t put a foot wrong! I can’t recommend this enough. Go see it! - Jonathan Cummins ★★★★★

Full reviews and many more (all five-star) at the bottom of the page.

Our first theatrical performance of our Opera Evening was in December 2023 and came with the show's first critic review.

The musicians were all superb. With perfect balance and tone they really brought the works alive. Clean and precise, every detail of the composers intentions was revealed anew; like having an intimate snapshot of their original sketches fleshed out. Whoever conceived this idea was a genius! 

The arias were cleverly chosen to present a narrative of unrequited love, exes mourning lost love, and people wishing to avoid romantic entanglement. Everything one could hope for in a traditional opera, but here you had all that plus many “greatest hits” from the opera oeuvre.

One of the most impressive things is that music from such diverse periods (Handel Baroque to 20th century) hung together so seamlessly with no sense of jarring. This has to be a testament to the small ensemble soundscape, the performers themselves and the arrangements (from Artistic Director & Cellist Orlando Jopling)... The arias were gifted to us flawlessly.

Spectacular doesn’t even begin to do it justice! Wow. The aria zenith moment was arguably the gorgeous “O mio babbino caro” (Puccini) – one of the most perfect ever written, in a show of non-stop opera highlights.

An unalloyed delight to hear such musical perfection in one short show. And the string quintet presentation was so brilliant I now want to hear all my favourite operas performed that way. 

Anyone not having attended really missed something special. Do yourself a favour and buy a ticket next time the Wild Arts group are in Malvern. I know I will. 

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Captivating – A perfect musical treat.

 Simply Breathtaking. I can’t tell you what a joy it was.

I hear effusive praise for Opera coming from all directions. Thank you. The programme was brilliant and the acting superb (quite apart from the singing and music!) – a tremendous evening. 

This was opera for the modern age – intimate, refined, and so engaging!

A real triumph of timing and ensemble, lovely to listen to and such fun to watch.

More reviews in the document below.