19:00-19:35, Sunday 22nd September 2024
The Cockpit
Music: Gaia Aloisi
Words: Fabrizio Funari
1650’s Rome, wealth, power and politics pervade the city. The ruling class asserts its status and authority at every opportunity. Women throughout the capital are systematically denied autonomy over their lives, reduced to pawns for the betterment of their families through advantageous betrothals. Many find themselves trapped in loveless and at times abusive marriages.
Giulia Tofana, the apothecarist who holds the solution; Aqua Tofana, a colourless, odourless poison easily disguised amongst a lady’s perfumes and easily slipped into an unsuspecting husband’s drink. Operative Productions presents a work in progress staging that explores a woman who thrived at the intersection of right and wrong.
Operative Productions would like to thank the owners of St Pancras Clock Tower for generously providing the rehearsal space.
Age range: 18+
In a festival of new work, please note that shows may overrun.
Produced by Operative Productions
Venue: The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH.
On the same day:
Composer: Gaia Aloisi
Librettist: Fabrizio Funari
Director: Rosie Kat
Soprano: Sarah Parkin
Mezzo-soprano: Alexandra Dinwiddie
Baritone: Thomas Litchev
Composer: Gaia Aloisi
Librettist: Fabrizio Funari
Director: Rosie Kat
Producer: Ted Blackburn
Soprano: Sarah Parkin
Mezzo-soprano: Alexandra Dinwiddie
Baritone: Thomas Litchev
Biographies
Gaia Aloisi (Composer)
Born in Cagliari, Sardinia Gaia started her musical career as a singer, obtaining her bachelor’s degree from the Haute École de Musique in Geneva and subsequently a master’s degree in Contemporary Voice Performance from the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.
She then turned her attention to composition, studying under Alessandro Solbiati at the Conservatorio “G. Verdi” in Milan and then under Ivan Fedele at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Her music blends traditional elements from her native Sardinia with cutting edge modernity. Aqua Tofana is her debut opera, a haunting blend of ancient soundscapes and unsettling electronic music. “Giulia Tofana’s story gave me the opportunity, as a composer, to stage the relationship between past and present: musical theatre can go beyond conventional forms to convey a message and engage in a deep dialogue with the audience. Aqua Tofana made me grow musically and I can’t wait to bring it on stage!”
Fabrizio Funari (Librettist)
Fabrizio is an Italian-born Librettist, Playwright and Screenwriter. He is renowned for his distinct use of language and ground breaking approach to libretto writing, infusing his contemporary approach with meticulous study of historical linguistics. Creating works for world-famous institutions such as the Venice Biennale and Deutsche Oper Berlin’s ‘Neue Szenen’, he has established himself as a brilliant new voice at the forefront of contemporary opera. On top of his masterful understanding of English, Italian and Spanish, he also advocates for the inclusion of Queer people and stories within the opera community. His work ‘Sins Of The Cities of The Plain’ was the first operatic work to include a libretto written entirely in Polari, the queer, subculture dialect.
We have had the privilege of Fabrizio creating and translating the libretto for Aqua Tofana and we hope that his involvement speaks to the importance and pertinence of this production.
Rosie Kat (Director)
Rosie (she/her) is a theatre and opera director originally from Newcastle, now based in Yorkshire. She trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she graduated with Distinction in MA Opera Directing after completing BA Drama and English Literature at the University of Birmingham.
Rosie has directed productions with companies including Northern Opera Group, Leeds Youth Opera, Longhope Opera, and Tete-a-Tete Festival and conservatoires including RWCMD and Leeds Conservatoire.
She works regularly as Assistant/Associate Director at Opera North, and has also assisted at Royal Opera House, Welsh National Opera, Grange Festival, Opera Holland Park and Leeds Playhouse.
Upcoming directing engagements: The Monster in the Maze by Jonathan Dove (Music in the Round/Sheffield Music Hub), Carmen (Opera on Location), Opera Favourites at the Movies (Welsh National Opera)
Sarah Parkin (Soprano)
Canadian-French soprano Sarah Parkin specialises in new music and contemporary opera and is a 2023-24 Britten Pears Young Artist through VOICEBOX, delivered by Juliet Fraser. She is currently touring On Being Vocal, a one-woman micro-opera made with composer Rania Chrysostomou on the unvoiced thoughts of mothers and women.
Performances/roles include: Student 3 in Innocence by Kaija Saariaho (Cover, Royal Opera House); p.e.r.s.o.n.a.l.c.l.u.t.t.e.r., featuring works by Berglind Tómasdóttir, Jenni Hogan and Jessie Marino (Dark Music Days, Reykjavik and KM28, Berlin); Roll Up! by Jack McNeill & Claire Willoughby (Mahogany Opera); Voices of the Sands by Michael Betteridge; A Kinder Society, an immersive opera by Amy Bryce (Stiftung Kunst and Musik für Dresden); Music and the Brainby Helgi Ingvarsson (Tung Auditorium, Liverpool); and Robe by Alastair White (Tête-à-Tête and Métier). In 2024-5, Sarah will be co-creating Plastic Bodies, a multimedia comic opera about opera with collaborators Amy Bryce (composer), Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser (composer), Rosie Middleton (mezzo-soprano) and Catherine Valvë (filmmaker).
Thomas Litchev (Baritone)
Bulgarian-American baritone Thomas Litchev has been praised as ‘gripping to watch and hear’ for his portrayal of the Sodbuster in Missy Mazzoli’s PROVING UP with Oberlin Opera Theatre. Originally from Colorado, Thomas is currently based in London. He finished a postgraduate degree at the Guildhall School of Music, where he was a Leverhulme Arts Scholar. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he was awarded the Louise and Marguerite Bloomberg Greenwood Prize. While at Oberlin, Thomas was also a Dannenberg Honours Recital recipient. In the 2022/23 season, Thomas made his European-debut at the Trondheim Barokkfest as Adario in Rameau’s LES INDES GALANTES. In the 2023/24 season, he made debuts with London-based opera companies Gothic Opera and Merry Opera and his house-debut with Opera Steamboat in the world premiere of Welcome to the Madness by Leanna Kirchoff. Thomas also premieres the role of Bracchi in ACQUA TOFANA by Italian composer Gaia Aloisi as a part of the Tête-á-tête Festival in London this September.
Alexandra Dinwiddie (Mezzosoprano)
Alexandra is a British mezzo-soprano based in London, who trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Morley Opera School.
Roles and performances include Miss Grey (Sense & Sensibility The Musical) with Surrey Opera at the Minack Theatre, Cornwall; Hansel (Hänsel und Gretel), Nancy (Albert Herring), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) with St Paul’s Opera, London; Gothic Opera’s double-bill of Bertin Le Loup-garou and Viardot Le Dernier Sorcier; Lola/Lena in Verismo, Opera on Location’s take on Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci; the world premiere of Edwin Hillier’s Dhātu at Glasgow Cathedral Festival; Elgar’s Sea Pictures at Greyfriar’s Kirk, Edinburgh; Dvorák’s Stabat Mater at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh; Music from the Movies with Glasgow Orchestral Society at the RSNO Centre, and collaborations with the Tim Kliphuis Jazz Trio.
Ted Blackburn (Producer)
Ted Blackburn started his career as a dancer moving to Russia aged 15 to attend Perm State Choroegraphic College and then graduating in 2018 in classical and contemporary ballet from the Accademia Teatro Alla Scala in Milan. Whilst a dancer Ted performed in many ballets and operas both in Italy and the UK, performing alongside greats such as Roberto Bolle, Svetlana Zakharova and Placido Domingo. After leaving dance he continued to study in Milan, completing the academy’s Master in Performing Arts Management programme where he could further explore his passion for the future of the classical performing arts. Now a stagehand at the ROH, Ted works on full scale productions of both opera and ballet as well as developing his understanding of production and direction.
Collaboration with 4160 Tuesdays
Inspired by Giulia Tofana’s story Operative Productions CIC has teamed up with perfumers 4160 Tuesdays to create a signature scent. Aqua Tofana Eau de Parfum presents as a cheery citrusy aroma, a nod to Giulia’s Sicilian roots, behind which is a layer of richer, earthier tones inspired by Giulia’s work as an apothecary such as wormwood, nutmeg and black pepper. Despite being inspired by a serial poisoner Aqua Tofana is 100% safe to use.