On March 17th 2024, ERSO will put on a concert presentation of Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole,  a French one-act comedic opera with all of the roles performed by emerging opera singers – a huge opportunity for the young singers.    

The opera takes place in an eighteenth-century clock shop in Toledo, Spain. The hard-working clockmaker, Torquemada, is married to an unfaithful younger wife Concepción. Whilst he is out, her various lovers come to visit and chaos ensues as she tries to juggle the lovers by hiding them in her husband’s clocks.

Our aim for this event is to provide an engaging and accessible introduction to opera for our audience.  We will tell the story of the opera and introduce the characters with musical examples in the first half of the concert and perform the full opera in the second half. 

Opportunities for 5 emerging opera singers

This project will provide opportunities for five emerging opera singers to rehearse and perform with a full-sized orchestra and an experienced operatic conductor in a concert presentation of Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole. Our Principal Conductor Christopher Stark is best known as Principal Conductor of RPS Award-winning Multi-Story Orchestra and for his extensive work in opera which has included Oper Köln, Glyndebourne Festival and Tour, Garsington, and English Touring Opera.

Roles:

  • Torquemada, a clockmaker (tenor)
  • Concepción, Torquemada’s wife (mezzo-soprano)
  • Gonzalve, a student poet (tenor)
  • Ramiro, a muleteer (baritone)
  • Don Iñigo Gomez, a banker (bass)

Eligibility:

This opportunity is open to undergraduate, masters and opera school students at the London conservatoires. 

How to apply:

Candidates are asked to submit a CV highlighting relevant experience and a video of up to 10 minutes (ideally French 20th century music) to ersoinfo@gmail.com.  NB the music selected does not need to be operatic. The recording should be a single video clip, recorded in one take.  A video recording on a smart phone or similar device is completely acceptable – we understand that there might be some limitations on sound quality and will take this into consideration.

The chosen soloists will each receive a £150 fee.

Key dates

The selected singers need to be available for the following dates (all at Camden School for Girls unless otherwise specified):

  • Piano rehearsal with principal conductor and Assistant Conductor 10am-1pm January 21
  • February 18th, 2-5pm rehearsal with orchestra and singer
  • March 3rd 10am-1pm rehearsal with orchestra and singers
  • March 10th 2-5pm rehearsal with orchestra and singers
  • March 17th 2.30 – 5.30pm rehearsal, concert 6,30pm at St John’s Waterloo

To apply or to ask any questions, please contact us on ersoinfo@gmail.com

Find us at erso.london and at ERSOlondon on Facebook