Guildhall School of Music reimagines its opera production with 3D modelling software

Any prospect of live audiences attending live performances look ever more distant with the news today that West End theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh is postponing productions until the earliest practical point in 2021.

And whilst nothing can compensate for the live experience of opera and theatre, there are creative opportunities for the taking. Digital producers are responding in creative ways to the need to shift, in this case, from the opera house to the virtual stage.

Step forward digital producers at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London who, working with cast and crew, have used the current restrictions as an opportunity to explore their own pragmatic creative response. And it's available to stream for free on the Guildhall School website.

The first of the opera double-bill is a 20th-century reimagining of one of the earliest English operas Dido and Aeneas – Purcell’s tragic love story featuring the famous aria Dido’s Lament. This is paired with Respighi’s 'La bella dormente nel bosco' - a witty take on the Sleeping Beauty story. All production staff and cast have worked remotely, across at least 14 countries and four continents.

Cast members have been directed remotely in home recordings by Olivia Fuchs and movement director Victoria Newlyn. The productions have been edited by the filmmaker Karl Dixon. Guildhall School instrumentalists have recorded their parts for a multi-track recording of the orchestral scores co-ordinated by conductor and Head of Opera, Dominic Wheeler.

Stage designer by takis and lighting designs by Jake Wiltshire have been brought to digital life using a range of innovative technology resulting in a 3D model of Silk Street Theatre, produced using cutting-edge technology.

Dominic Wheeler, Head of Opera at Guildhall School said of the project:

“When we started this, we had to reinvent our way of working so quickly that we felt it would put too much pressure on everyone involved to share the full finished result publicly.

However, whilst the process has certainly been a healthy challenge, it has also been exciting and eye-opening. We feel that the students’ enthusiasm and commitment to telling stories meaningfully in such difficult circumstances transcends all the challenges they’ve faced, and makes us proud to share their work with everyone.”

Watch the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Double Bill for free until 1 July.

• opera
• purcell
• respighi
• guildhall school of music and drama
• covid19