I just wanted to let you know about this Tudor-themed opera that is being performed on 1st and 2nd August at Holy Cross Church, Kings Cross, London.
It's the London premiere of this short opera (approx 70 minutes) on the life of Queen Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Here's the blurb:
It’s a little-known fact that Queen Mary loved games of chance, such as dice and cards. In Mary's Hand, the Queen shares a game of cards with the audience who get to choose the next card to be turned. Their choices prompt Mary’s reflection upon the influences and events in her life: her father
Henry VIII, her mother Katherine of Aragon, her Catholic faith, her half-sister Elizabeth I, and her desperate desire for a child.
Above all, Mary was driven by the wish to be a good monarch and her deep conviction that she needed to restore England to the Church of Rome. Her marriage to the Catholic Philip of Spain promised to resolve many of these issues at a stroke, but Mary had played her cards badly and paid a high public & personal price.
With words by Di Sherlock and music by Martin Bussey, Mary’s Hand is a dramatic, involving retelling of Mary's story, performed by solo mezzo-soprano Clare McCaldin and chamber ensemble.
Find out more about the opera and how to book at http://mccaldinarts.com/projects/marys-hand/, and, of course, please do review it if you go as we'd all like to hear about it!
Here's the trailer:
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