HGO presents a fully-staged production, with orchestra and fabulous young opera singers, of Janáček’s timeless and enchanting opera The Cunning Little Vixen.
Captured when young by the Forester, and brought up by him as a pet, Vixen Sharp-Ears escapes back to the wild – but her life continues to interweave with those of the Forester and his friends the pastor, the schoolmaster and the poacher – and the handsome young fox Gold-Stripe.
Sung in the original Czech, with full English surtitles. HGO is delighted to have as production director the talented Eleanor Burke, and as music director the Czech/British conductor Lada Valešová. As always our casts are tomorrow’s opera stars, and we are thrilled to have local children taking the parts of the woodland creatures.
Tickets are £38 / £25 : tickets are available for children aged 5-15 for £10 across all performances. (Children must be accompanied by a full-ticket paying adult – Maximum 2 children per accompanying adult)
Student tickets are available at £15 for performances on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th and 11th November.
Our special thanks go to an anonymous generous donor and to the Golsoncott Foundation and the Fidelio Charitable Trust for enabling this production.
Part of the 26th Made in Prague Festival, 1 Nov – 4 Dec 2022 CAST
VIXEN SHARP-EARS (BYSTROUŠKA)
Chelsea Kolić
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Caroline Taylor
4, 6, 10, 12 November
FOX GOLD-STRIPE (ZLATOHŘBÍTEK)
Milette Gillow
4, 6, 10, 12 November
Rozanna Madylus
5, 9, 11, 13 November
FORESTER
Toki Hamano
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Edward Kim
4, 6, 10, 12 November
SCHOOLMASTER / MOSQUITO
James Beddoe
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Martins Smaukstelis
4, 6, 10, 12 November
HARAŠTA
Thomas Chenhall
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Owain Gwynfryn
4, 6, 10, 12 November
BADGER / PRIEST
Conall O’Neill
All performances
MRS. FORESTER / OWL
Erin Gwyn Rossington
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Wendy Silvester
4, 6, 10, 12 November
ROOSTER
Annie George
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Alexandria Wreggelsworth
4, 6, 10, 12 November
LAPÁK
Jennifer Statham
4, 6, 10, 12 November
Rozanna Madylus
5, 9, 11, 13 November
PÁSEK
Philip Hayes
4, 6, 10, 12 November
Jared Andrew Michaud
5, 9, 11, 13 November
PEPIK / HEN 1
Francesca Pringle
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Siân Roberts
4, 6, 10, 12 November
FRANTIK / HEN 2
Caroline Blair
All performances
CHIEF HEN
Rebecca Milford
4, 5, 6, 9, 10 November
Elizabeth Rachel Thomson
11, 12 November
Rusnė Tušlaitė
13 November
CHOCHOLKA
Rebecca Milford
11, 12, 13 November
Elizabeth Rachel Thomson
4, 6, 9, 10 November
Rusnė Tušlaitė
5 November
JAY
Rebecca Milford
5, 9, 11, 13 November
Alexandria Wreggelsworth
4, 6, 10, 12 November
WOODPECKER
Elizabeth Rachel Thomson
4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 November
Rusnė Tušlaitė
5, 13 November
MRS. PÁSKOVA / HEN 3
Angharad Davies
All performances
WOODLAND CREATURES
CATERPILLAR1 / FOXCUB
Ethan James
Sophia Sulkhanishvili
CATERPILLAR2 / FOXCUB
Lola Ajala
Robin Strelitz
FROG / FOXCUB
Robert Berry-Roe
Tianche Dong
YOUNG VIXEN /FOXCUB
Eleanor Ghassimi
Amelie Wijkander
SOLO FOXCUBS
Elizabeth Berry-Roe
Mary Koiava
FOXCUB
Davit Koiava
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Eleanor Burke
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Lada Valešová
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Sean Laing
STAGE MANAGER
Amy Blower
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
Charlotte Henery
LIGHTING DESIGN
Trui Malten
ASST. PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Finn Lacey
ASST. MUSIC DIRECTOR
Connor-James Smith
DEPUTY STAGE MANAGER
Fríða Frosta
ASSISTANT DESIGNER
Emeline Beroud
REPETITEUR
Fran Hills
CHILDRENS ADVISER
Jenny Lilleystone
ORCHESTRA
VIOLINS Ugne Zuklyte, Theo Ewes
VIOLA Elise Pettersen Watten
CELLO Eddie Mead
DOUBLE-BASS Adam Churchyard
FLUTE Sofia Castillo
OBOE David Price
CLARINET Freya Spence
BASSOON Hugh Wooley
TRUMPET/FLUGELHORN Adam Mayer
HORN Hannah Key
HARP Laura Crobu
TIMPANI/PERCUSSION Iolo Edwards
Arrangement: Jonathan Lyness DATES
4, 5 NOVEMBER – 19.30
6 NOVEMBER – 16.00
9, 10, 11, 12 NOVEMBER – 19.30
13 NOVEMBER – 16.00
VENUE: JACKSONS LANE THEATRE London N6 5AA HGO is the performing arm of the not-for-profit organisation HGO Trust Ltd. The Trust is a registered charity (no.1168484) and consists of a Board of Directors and Trust Members, all of whom give their services on a voluntary basis. The Trust ha no employees or overhead expenses, and dedicates its entire income directly to its objectives of advancing young singers through the presentation of high-quality opera productions and associated activities. photography ©2022LaurentCompagnon @LaurentCphotos
This extraordinary opera by Janacek remains an enigma to me. Its bizarre mix of two stories – one about a sad group of humans, the other about a riotous group of animals – never fails to intrigue and, usually, to delight.
This splendid production by Eleanor Burke for Hampstead Garden Opera is certainly delightful and captures the lives of the woodland creatures with verve and joy – but, despite a fine performance by Toki Hamano as the forester, it is not quite as successful at portraying the unfulfilled lives of the villagers. Hampstead Garden Opera has a mission to provide opportunities for young artists to perform in fully produced versions of major operas and so there are two casts, taking turns at singing the main roles – on the night I saw the opera, Chelsea Kolic sang the vixen and came close to stealing the show. But having seen a number of other productions over the years it is not unusual for the animals to outshine the humans. Perhaps that was Janacek’s intention.
Vixen Sharp Ears is captured by the forester when very young and brought up as a house pet. But her adventurous spirit cannot be confined in the house and yard and eventually she kills all the chickens and escapes to the wood. There she evicts Mr Badger and eventually a handsome dog fox joins her in the sett she has occupied. The forester and his drinking buddies meet at the Inn and bemoan their respective fates and dwell on unfulfilled dreams. Eventually the poacher Harasta sets a trap for the Vixen, now the mother of an innumerable pack of cubs, and shoots her. Life – in wood and village – goes on and the forester comes across a new vixen.
The stage at Jacksons Lane is just the right size for this sort of production and the acoustics are fine – the young singers do not have to strain to be heard. The only problem is the lack of an orchestra pit. The conductor and the chamber orchestra are ranged down one side of the stage – the percussionist is on the other side. The singers do not have the conductor in their eyeline and this does lead to occasional uncertainties. Charlotte Henery’s set is simple but brilliant – the stage is covered in a green lawn carpet and we soon learn that there are a series of trap doors from which animals (and props) appear.
As the vixen, Chelsea Kolic shines. She has a rich and characterful soprano and she is also lithe and vigorous as she brings to life the woodland animal – the courtship between the vixen and Fox Gold-stripe is funny and touching. Mezzo Rozanna Madylus sings this role with style and brings a touch of swagger to the part. Toki Hamano has a rich baritone vice and brings a telling sense of loss and melancholy to the part of the forester. The roles of his friends – the schoolmaster, the priest, the poacher and the innkeeper – are all well sung, though the plot allows them little scope for dramatic nuance. There are too many “bit parts” to catalogue and praise them all but I have to give a special commendation to the children playing the roles of the woodland creatures.
Conductor Lada Valesova gave a well paced and persuasive account of the score and the small group of twelve instrumentalists produced a musical web that allowed the singers space to flourish – not always guaranteed when there is no pit. Director Eleanor Burke filled the stage with action and found the fun and the pathos and the deep love of nature that permeates Janacek’s music. The opera still perplexes me but this HGO production is as good an introduction to the piece as you could hope to find.
