FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday 23 March 2017
DUBAI – ROSTOV – NEW YORK:
SCENES FROM CONTEMPORARY OPERA
The National Opera Studio presents extracts from new operas by Elena Langer, Joanna Marsh
and Errollyn Wallen, directed by David Pountney and conducted by Mark Shanahan.
Wilton’s Music Hall
4, 5, 6 May 2017, 7.30pm
£20, £17.50, £15 (concessions available)
The annual contemporary scenes production is a highlight of the Young Artists of the National Opera
Studio’s training, and is their principal industry showcase. This year, the Studio is delighted to be
working with three celebrated female composers, presenting extracts from two works in development and
two works performed in full, which receive their UK première and first UK staging respectively.
My Beautiful Camel by Joanna Marsh, with libretto by David Pountney, takes place inside the offices of
the Burj Khalifa, the iconic skyscraper in Dubai. Ivan, a Russian event manager, is struggling to keep his
company afloat and his last hope lies with a contract to run Dubai Fashion Week, but following a heap of
mistakes and a series of poor decisions, pandemonium ensues.
Four Sisters (UK première) by Elena Langer and librettist John Lloyd Davies, had its première in New
York in 2012. The daughters of an incredibly wealthy, recently deceased industrialist wait in his New York
apartment for the family lawyer to read his will. They dream of the lives which his money will now make
possible. But where is the will? And what might it contain?
The Storm Cloud (Tucha) (first UK staging), also by Elena Langer, was composed in 2012, and features
text from an old Russian lament. A woman is exasperated by her idle husband and pleads for a storm
cloud to kill him. Alas for the woman, the storm cloud shows up, but the outcome is not as she had
hoped.
Sabina Spielrein by Errollyn Wallen, with libretto by David Pountney, tells the plight of a pioneering
psychoanalyst, her revolutionary thinking and her relationship with Carl Jung and Siegmund Freud. The
opera develops through multiple scenes and moments in her life, moving backwards and forwards in
time.
The scenes will be directed by David Pountney CBE, Artistic Director of Welsh National Opera, and
conducted by Mark Shanahan, international conductor and Head of Music at the National Opera
Studio.
ENDS
National Opera Studio, The Clore Building, 2 Chapel Yard, Wandsworth SW18 4HZ
Company No. 1332955 Charity No. 274755
MEDIA CONTACT
For all press enquiries, image/photo-call requests and press ticket requests please contact:
Nicholas Boyd-Vaughan
Engagement and Communications Manager
National Opera Studio
[email protected]
020 8874 8811
An Electronic Press Kit for this production is available at www.nationaloperastudio.org.uk/DuRoNY.
NOTES TO EDITORS

The National Opera Studio plays an essential role at the heart of British opera. The NOS works
in partnership with Arts Council England and the UK’s leading Opera Companies - English
National Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera North, the Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera and
Welsh National Opera – to provide professional training of the highest quality for singers and
répétiteurs who have the potential to become the leading artists of their generation.
The successful candidates are selected by the Opera Companies from hundreds of applicants.
The training programme for each artist, which are individually designed to meet their needs and
aspirations, are provided by coaches who are the leaders in their disciplines. Young Artists also
have regular opportunities to work closely with leading directors and conductors to prepare
opera scenes for performance.
The intensity of the Training Programme is designed to create a working environment that
reflects the professional opera world. Many NOS-trained singers have gone on to build
successful careers at an international level. NOS-trained répétiteurs are on the senior artistic
teams of opera companies and festivals around the world.
National Opera Studio, The Clore Building, 2 Chapel Yard, Wandsworth SW18 4HZ
Company No. 1332955 Charity No. 274755