Opera North at Latitude 2015

The setting was magical and mystical: surrounded by beautiful forest, lit by pretty fairy lights and hidden within the Little House area of Latitude, it was a truly captivating setting. What is more, the performance by Opera North was stunning, you became caught up in the moment and the passion with which they performed. Sat beneath the trees, illuminated within the darkness, watching the performance in a magical garden, chess-like in its arrangement with sculptured trees and plants, it was an enchanting setting. The orchestra were old-timely and super talented. Between each sung piece the orchestra played a range of instruments including; a lute, violin and cello. I am Yours: Yours Am I was a beautiful duet which was first sung in English before being re-sung in Italian. The subtle change in languages made the performance even more vivid and really helped those new to opera to appreciate the art form in an interesting light. By singing in English first, this meant that the audience understood what was being performed, a passionate love story between man and woman, and by following it in Italian, you still felt like you knew what was going on, you could feel their emotion and hear the passion in their voices. What spectacular voices they had! The English version of I am Yours, Yours Am I had the male singing in the lower range but the Italian version a different male performed in a much higher, falsetto range which sounded amazing. Both males performed with two different female soprano vocalists. It really showed the breadth of Opera North's talent and the diversity in what they performed. It was a great introduction to those who perhaps hadn't chanced on opera before. I loved every minute of it.