Exhibition
Opera: Passion, Power and Politics
Sponsored by Societe Generale · In collaboration with Royal Opera House
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The culmination of a community project involving over 200 individuals, Towards Another World is produced by ENO Baylis, the learning programme of English National Opera.
The project has taken inspiration from Verdi’s opera Aida, renowned for its epic scale and spectacular chorus scenes, and currently on stage at ENO’s home, the London Coliseum.
The central character in Verdi’s Aida is a woman separated from her homeland and torn between her sense of duty towards family and country, and her feelings for a man she is not supposed to love. Set against the might of Ancient Egypt with its hierarchies of power and social expectation this intimate love story transcends time and geographical boundaries.
The project has explored individual stories of home and where the heart belongs, the external pressures that affect our choices and how history repeats itself. ENO Baylis have worked with a community chorus of 100 individuals from across London, comprising members of ENO’s youth programme, adult English language learners, Streetwise Opera, and the ENO community choir. Working with professional artists, the participants have created original text and music which have been interwoven with words and musical motifs from Verdi’s opera. Towards Another World was created as a site specific performance at the V&A.
