BREMF Early Opera
Sofia Kirwan-Baez soprano Venus
Angela Hicks soprano Ninfa del coro 1
Helen Lacey soprano Dafne
Laura Lopes mezzo-soprano Ninfa del coro 2
Elspeth Piggott soprano Cupid
CN Lester mezzo-soprano Tirsi
Rory Carver tenor Ovid and Apollo
Sebastian Maclaine tenor Pastore del coro 1
Kieran White tenor Pastore del coro 2
Geoff Williams bass-baritone Pastore del coro 3

BREMF Early Opera Orchestra
Oliver Webber violin, leader and coach
Abel Balaz violin
Alice Poppleton viola
Morag Johnston viola
Harry Buckoke cello, lirone
Claire Williams harpsichord and coach
Jonatan Bougt chitarrone
Sergio Bucheli chitarrone

Deborah Roberts and Oliver Webber musical directors
Thomas Guthrie stage director

As a new initiative for BREMF Live!, we are launching a new early opera course to provide both singers and players with the specialist training and skills for this repertoire that are not widely taught in UK conservatoires.

We have made a great start with our previous opera productions, but felt that a more concentrated period of time would be valuable to allow us to work in greater depth. This production of La Dafne will follow a week of intensive training with an auditioned cast of highly talented young singers and selected players.

La Dafne was first performed in 1608, one year after Monteverdi’s Orfeo, with a libretto also by Rinuccini and also based on a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. With its rich contrasts of textures and sonorities, opportunities for expressive and at times virtuosic singing, and the important role of the intermedi-style choruses, it is the perfect vehicle for expanding the horizons of young performers; as well as being a highly entertaining and delightful work that deserves to be a lot better known.

Supported by Arts Council England, The Dutton-Downing Trust, The Garrick Charitable Trust, The Radcliffe Trust and The Leche Trust

Past BREMF Early Opera production: Beauty, Love and Death, 2018

Scenes from La Dafne, 2020