| Two thrillingly dark operas at Hackney Empire Strap yourself in! Not one but TWO thrilling new operas arrive at Hackney Empire this autumn, bringing with them a torrent of drama, music, enchantment and peril — in a "deliciously disturbing fairy-tale" (The Telegraph) season, courtesy of English Touring Opera.
The Snowmaiden is Rimsky-Korsakov's classic coming of age tale, about the eponymous character who has lived her whole life under the watchful eyes of her parents, but then becomes fascinated by the passionate lives of the villagers living nearby. Yet with a heart of ice, how can she fall in love?
Blond Eckbert is a haunting tale of isolation and guilt, and the secrets we’d rather leave behind. English Touring Opera's production premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts in June 2024 to critical acclaim, and is staged in a double bill alongside 'Do not take my story for a fairytale', featuring chamber music from the same period that Ludwig Tieck’s original story, Der Blonde Eckbert, was published. | 