When soprano Hannah Kirk decided she wanted to make a contribution to the £2.5 million Kingston Parish Church Appeal she had no idea she was committing herself to forming a new opera company and months of hard, intricate work, writes Hilton Tims.
The result is a production of Puccini's La boheme in the church next Saturday (Dec 22) and the launch of Opera d'Amiei, a company which is already planning its next project.
Miss Kirk, a professional singer and teacher who lives in Surbiton and is a member of the church's congregation, has devoted a year to founding the company for this one performance.
Its name it means Opera of Friends hints at her powers of persuasion in rounding up professional friends and contacts to give their services free to the appeal.
The principal roles are being sung by professional colleagues and she has secured the highly respected Kingston Chamber Orchestra to perform opera for the first time.
"I admit I had no idea of what I was taking on, but it has been great fun," she said.
Originally, it was to be a one-off project but the enthusiasm of everyone involved has persuaded them to stick together and plan future productions.
La boheme, costumed and semi-staged, will be repeated in the New Year at a venue still to be announced and the next Opera d'Amiei production later in 2002 is to be Mozart's The Impresario.
Ambitious
"Choosing to launch ourselves with La boheme was perhaps a little ambitious," Miss Kirk said.
"But it seemed an appropriate choice, always popular with audiences and ideal for Christmas the action takes place on Christmas Eve."
Martin Rendle, who directs, has worked with Opera Box, London City Opera and European Chamber Opera of which he was assistant director until this year.
Mimi is sung by Susan Clements-Loftus who has appeared in the West End productions of Phantom of the Opera and Chess and is a regular soloist on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night.
Hannah Kirk herself sings Musetta. Until recently she was a member of the D'Oyly Carte Opera and appeared in its West End productions of The Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore.
December 14, 2001 13:00
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