Opera isn’t for everyone – but that’s largely because large swathes of the population never really have the opportunity to experience it. The latest in BP’s Big Screens series is hoping to change that, by live-streaming two of Puccini’s works straight from London’s Royal Opera House to the BBC’s big screen at Exchange Square. Screenings there have had somewhat of a chequered past, but we imagine the crowd share more in common with the feel-good scenes when it piped in last summer’s Olympics than when a load of drunken England fans held a mini-riot there during World Cup 2006. Anyway, La Rodine (in English, ‘The Swallow’) centres on a prostitute named Magda and her own emotional struggle, whereas Tosca is a classic tale of love and loss, based in 1800s Rome, and both offer a perfect gateway to the art form for anyone interested – and those who find themselves drifting off in the second act can always pop off for a drink at the Printworks.
Thu 11 Jul (La Rodine), Thu 18 Jul (Tosca), Exchange Square (next to the Corn Exchange, M4 3TR), 7.30pm, FREE, www.roh.org.uk
- Words:
- Matthew Britton
- Published on:
- Mon 17 Jun 2013
