Tête à Tête (opera company)

History

Its first production was The Flying Fox (Die Fledermaus), performed at the Battersea Arts Centre in 1998 and later at the Purcell Room. In 1999, Shorts premiered at the Battersea Arts Centre and was revived at the Bridewell Theatre in 2001, becoming the company's first touring production. The company launched Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival in 2006, which has hosted over 150 guest companies. In 2012, Tête à Tête collaborated with the Royal College of Music to create new operas based on Great Expectations, a partnership that continued with works based on Hogarth's Stages, Crime and Punishment, and Frankenstein. In 2022, the company received funding from Arts Council England to join the National Portfolio.

Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival

The festival was initially presented at Riverside Studios across three weeks in August, giving artists free rein to present their work, some still in progress. Since 2015, the festival has taken place in the King's Cross area, and from 2017 it has included pop-up performances in libraries, museums, and other public places. The festival has featured over 400 new operas across more than 1,000 performances, with 75,000 people attending in person or online.

In 2016, the company received a UK Arts Online Award for its online archive, dominated by festival performances, which is the largest online video resource of new opera globally, reaching audiences in 155 countries. Participants have included Oliver Mears, Kerry Andrew, Errollyn Wallen, Bishi, Jane Manning, Na'ama Zisser, CN Lester, Alastair White, and Ayanna Witter-Johnson. In a 2010 review, Rupert Christiansen described the festival as 'wonderfully random' and noted that 'you never know quite what you're going to get or how good or bad it's going to be, and that's exactly as it should be.'

Past productions

Many past productions have been supported by the company's associate musical ensemble CHROMA. Early works include The Flying Fox (Die Fledermaus) by Johann Strauss (1998–2000) and Shorts (1999–2001), a collection of short operas including Platform 10 by Julian Grant and Christina Jones, Doggone by Gary Carpenter and Simon Nicholson, The Nightjar by Elfyn Jones and Toby Satterthwaite, Seven Tons of Dung by David Bruce and Bill Bankes-Jones, and Glue by Rachel Leach.

In 2000, the company produced Orlando Plays Mad (Orlando finto pazzo) by Vivaldi. Six Pack (2002), a co-production with English National Opera, included short operas such as Jack & Jill by Rachel Leach and Jo Davies, Doorstepping Susannah by Helen Grime and Davey Moore, Odd Numbers by Julian Grant and Christina Jones, The Phone Call by John Webb and B. A. Diana, Has it Happened Yet? by David Bruce and Bill Bankes-Jones, and Waiting for Jack by Richard Taylor and Lynne Williams.

Also in 2002, The Canticles by Benjamin Britten was a co-production with Streetwise Opera. Family Matters (2003) was by Helen Chadwick, Pete Flood, Cheryl Francis-Hoad, Mike Henry, James Olsen, and John Webb, to a libretto by Amanda Holden. A Shetland Odyssey (2005) and Odysseus Unwound (2006) were both by Julian Grant and Hattie Naylor. Push (2006) was by David Bruce and Anna Reynolds.

Blind Date (2007), the first year of Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, included short operas Anger by Julian Grant and Meredith Oakes, On Such a Day by Anna Meredith and Philip Ridley, The Feathered Friend by Helen Chadwick and Alasdair Middleton, Houses by Christopher Mayo and Christopher Crebolder, and Nyanyushka by Gary Carpenter and Simon Nicholson. Lite Bites (2008) featured Fairytale Relationship... yeh right by Laura Bowler and Alasdair Middleton, The Agony of the Knife Thrower's Assistant by Michael Henry and Adey Grummet, and Bumblepuppy by Evangelia Rigaki and W.N. Herbert.

Other 2008 productions included The Cumnor Affair: An Elizabethan Murder Mystery by Philip Cashian and Iain Pears, and Johnny's Midnight Goggles. Circus Tricks (2009) was by Michael Henry and Adey Grummet, and Salad Days by Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds was also produced in 2009. Salad Days ran from November 2010 to February 2011 at Riverside Studios. Icarus (2010) was by Michal Zev Gordon and Stephen Plaice.