It's the Regents Opera Christmas Mailout!

Yes, it’s another Christmas email - I’m sure we’ve all had hundreds of these from basically any company we might’ve interacted with online. So you’re getting one from us too!

Greetings of the season to you!

Siegfried music rehearsals in full swing

It’s been a cracking year for Regents Opera, with magnificent performances of Die Walküre at the Freemasons’ Hall, and Così fan tutte in many locations in the UK and France, including one with the South Bank Sinfonia at St John’s Smith Square.

We also had some fantastic orchestral repertoire weekends on The Love of Three Oranges, Elektra, and Bluebeard’s Castle.

We start Siegfried rehearsals on 2nd January, and everyone is very excited. The performances will, of course, be dedicated to the memory of Keel Watson, and for all the excitement of creating the next part of our Ring Cycle and the year to come we can’t help but feel his loss.

Next year also brings our touring production of Don Giovanni and more Orchestra Study Workshops, including my first attempt at Wozzeck but before that…

All I want for Christmas…

…is three sold out houses! I’ve been working in Berlin and Athens this week with Caroline our director, Ralf, our new Wanderer, and Philip, our Siegfried (I know this sounds soooooo glamorous…if only!) and I can promise you it’s going to be a really special production.

It only remains for us to wish you a very happy festive season, however you celebrate it. I’ll be having at least four Ring cast members to my house in Berlin for Christmas, so that’ll espouse the long-lasting message of Peace, I’m sure…

This is what happened when I tried to use AI to make our 2013 Siegfried photo into a Christmas card. I have no idea why it changed the sword to a gun, and I’m sorry about it, and simply can’t fix it, because, somewhere, when push comes to shove, I’m actually a musician.

And finally, as ever, a thanks to our sponsor, Big Yellow Storage in Camberley. Thank you for looking after all our stuff!

Ben Woodward