Youth Opera Theatre Programme
SMS Summer Opera School
in association with
Opera Ireland
Monday July 21st to Saturday August 16th
4 weeks (9.00 am to 4.30pm)
Ages 8 to adult.
No previous singing or acting experience and no audition is required for admission to the SMS Youth Opera Theatre Programme. Auditions in person, or by tape, will be arranged for those students wishing to be assigned a principal role. (Please check appropriate box on Application Form).
PEACE
An opera for young people
based on
Peace, by Aristophanes
Music by Carl Davis Libretto by John Wells
The opera selected for 2008 continues the SMS tradition of dealing with timeless moral and ethical issues through the voices, imagination and inspiration of young people. Past opera performances have included Noyes Fludde and The Little Sweep by Benjamin Britten, The Green Children by Nicola Lefanu, The Happy Prince by Malcolm Williamson and A Dickens of a Christmas by composer Errol Gay, all of which had a profound impact, not only on the young performers, but also on audiences.
In Peace, war weariness and despair of relief drive a farmer named Trygaeus to an act of heroism. Learning that a 'dung beetle' had once flown to heaven, he saddles a specially fattened beetle to take to the Gods in an effort to bring the war to an end. Hermes, God of Thieves, responds to this bribe by announcing that the Gods have washed their hands of the human race and left the Goddess of War to wreak havoc; she has buried Peace and her Priestess, Harvest Home. With the help of some soldiers, Trygaeus succeeds in reinstating Peace and takes Harvest Home to be his bride.
The marriage ceremony is interrupted by War, her attendant Riot and Hermes, all in disguise. They are intent on destroying the new state of Peace. Trygaeus unmasks them and they depart, leaving behind an ever present uncertainty.
Choir and Solo Concerts
In addition to the opera rehearsals and performances, Youth Opera Theatre students will also be performing with the SMS orchestras in UCH and St. Mary's Cathedral, and will have opportunities to sing solo repertoire in concerts at UCH and The Georgian House.
Listen to an excerpt from The Happy Prince
performed by SMS Summer Opera School 2003.
MP3 format (342Kb)
We wish to thank the copyright holders, Josef Weinberger Ltd, for their kind permission to use this excerpt.
