From: JS
To: enquiries@operabox.co.uk
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 9:47 PM
Subject: A night of romantic opera

To Brendan Wheatley
My daughter, Allie, and I enjoyed your 'night of romantic opera' at Guildford the other night. To be honest, we weren't sure whether it was going to be our thing. We're not great opera buffs and our experiences have rarely extended much further than Puccini.

It all started when my daughter (aged four) picked up a Madame Butterfly cassette and asked me to put it on as she liked the cover. I didn't think she would like it, but she was instantly hooked until she became a teenager and then it wasn't so 'cool' to like. But listening to you and your colleagues reminded us of some very happy memories spent at the theatre seeing Tosca, la Boheme, Madame Butterfly, Carmen, etc and has rekindled by daughter's interest (and mine) now that she is a twenty-year-old and out of her rebellious teenage years.

So once again, thank you very much for an enjoyable evening.

JS

From: CB
To: enquiries@greenham-common-trust.co.uk
Cc: Enquiries@operabox.co.uk
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008 10:46 AM
Subject: Butterfly at Newbury

I just had to write to say how much we enjoyed the opera last night. We are regular opera goers and thought that your opera for everyone is a marvelous idea. It was lovely to sit amongst people who had never been to an opera before and see how much they enjoyed it. The whole atmosphere of performing opera outside in an informal setting was delightful and a new experience for us.

Despite the fact that the performance was conducted with people speaking over the loudspeaker system all the way through Act I, by the time the opera was over we had forgotten that and were totally absorbed in the excellent performances - both singing and acting. Every artist was top-notch, but one has to single out Robert Davies who gave an outstanding performance - it was an absolute pleasure to hear and see him - in fact his overall performance is the best that I have ever seen of Sharpless and his interaction with the other characters was just perfect (eat your heart out Covent Garden!).

It was by pure luck that we heard of this event and our only criticism is that the advertising is not more prominent - we couldn't even find it on the Greenham web site!

We wish you every success in the future of bring the arts, and opera in particular, to everyone and hope to come again next year.

Thank you Chris Broadhurst

From: "DSC"
To: enquiries@operabox.co.uk
Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 5:44 PM
Subject: Madama Butterfly - Lampeter

Just a quick note to say how much my three sisters and I enjoyed the production last Friday. Absolutely marvellous! This was a birthday surprise for me, and a most enjoyable one. Many thanks to everyone at Opera Box, and at Lampeter House as well, for a really wonderful evening.

David

Our thanks to TJ for the following, received by email:
To: enquiries@operabox.co.uk
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 9:37 AM
Subject: The Elixir of Love

Hello,
Yesterday my wife and I saw Opera Box perform ‘The Elixir of Love’ ( L'Elisir d'Amore) in Ludlow Church, and I would just like to record how delighted we were with the whole production and performance. All the voices were very good, especially Simon Masterton-Smith, but I would include all the cast in this commendation! The small chorus did a marvellous job, sounding as good as a much larger ensemble. The acting was also excellent, and I must also add a particular commendation to the musical sextet who did a remarkably good performance of Donizetti’s attractive music.
I would add that usually we usually see Welsh National Opera, English Touring Opera and the Royal Opera House so our tastes are fairly upmarket!
Do you by any chance have a photograph of this cast in the opera as I do collect souvenirs of special performances, and this was certainly one of those!
Best wishes to everyone involved in this production

Please also click here to read a letter from Egerton Music Festival in appreciation of L'Elisir d'amore. Please use your Back Button to return to this page.

Our thanks to DE for the following, received by email:

To: enquiries@operabox.co.uk
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 6:42 AM
Subject: La Boheme 1st July

My parents loved the Opera which you staged last Sunday for their wedding anniversary. They may have been expecting a number of things – but they’d have never guessed on an Opera so it was a lovely surprise for them. We even seemed to have the only 2 hours when it hasn’t been raining in the last two months.

My sincere thanks for all of the work which you, the artists, the musicians and crew put into the production which made it run so well. The Opera was brilliant !

Kind regards
DE

Our thanks to HK for the following, received by email:

To: enquiries@operabox.co.uk
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 7:48 AM
Subject: A Viennese Whirl in Barry

I feel I must write to say how much I enjoyed the evening of beautiful music and singing at Barry Memorial Hall.
I have always been a lover of Strauss and Lehar and the programme covered all my favourites.
The compere Brendan Wheatley made it so interesting, particularly for those who may not be so familiar with the history of the composers.
Thank you for continuing to bring this wonderful music to the people.
HK

Our thanks to Eunan for the following, received by email:

To: enquiries@operabox.co.uk
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 11:12 PM
Subject: Mozartissimo 06/02/08

Dear All,
I have just returned from an evening at The Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage having watched your presentation of Mozartissimo. May I say I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it highly entertaining and done with excellent humour. Brendan as “lead” was brilliant with his performance, along with Alison who sang exceptionally well (especially considering she has had a bad cold etc,) and all three Musicians, who played a lot more of the music than they should have done (i.e without the rest of the orchestra there) considering there was only the three ladies, Helen, Shelly, & Gillian.

A thought struck me watching the show, in that, this type of show with the explanations of the makeup /story of the opera would go well in to schools/ colleges etc, to perhaps get more people understanding it, when it is explained the way you do it. I’m sure if more people saw it they would like it. I thought It was a shame the theatre wasn’t full I guess there was about 80 -100 odd people there, and that must make it harder to muster up the enthusiasm for the show for the cast, but muster they did, & it was very good, so I felt compelled to let you & them know. I shall be looking at where you are in other venues round the country, as I spend time away from home as well, so if I am near a town where you are I would love to see more.
Please pass on my thanks to them all for a most enjoyable evening.
With Best Regards,
Eunan