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| Julieth Lozano in rehearsal getting ready for her aerial moves…. |
Vache Baroque is celebrating its fifth anniversary by returning to its home, The Vache, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, to perform André Campra’s little-known opera, Le Carnaval de Venise.
Written in 1699, the opera was premiered by the Académie royale de musique in Paris and the work was dedicated to Louis, Grand Dauphin, eldest son of King Louis XIV, who enjoyed it and had it staged again in February 1711.
Vache Baroque is performing it in a production directed by James Hurley and conducted by Jonathan Darbourne.
Here, Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano (winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Kiri Te Kanawa Audience Prize) writes about preparing for the production which opens on 30 August 2025.
Colombia has many wonderful carnivals, two recognised by UNESCO, Barranquilla’s carnival and Pasto’s carnival of black and white people. A truly exuberant, colourful showcase with wonderful artisan workmanship throughout the parades, it is this charisma and energy that is the insignia of us Colombians. The spirit is beautifully portrayed in the movie Encanto with the dances, landscapes, food, even types of hair! My country is a beautiful mix of flavours and cultures.
When Vache Baroque approached me about this little known opera by Campra – Le Carnaval de Venise, I was thrilled especially when they revealed they would set it as a circus opera. The production would be replete with a big top tent, aerial acrobatics, foot archery, kabuki silk wizardry and more, all masterminded by circus artist Rebecca Solomon in conjunction with director James Hurley.
Vache was obviously not looking for a conventional production. The opera is a “play within a play” and unfurls with a series of tourist snapshots of the Venice – St Mark’s Square, the carnival ball, the macho gondoliers and the hedonistic world of the gambling dens – in 1699. It’s also the anarchic underworld of Venice and there’s some Shakespearean-style couple swopping too. Campra, whose father was Italian, wrote the opera in both French and Italian, with a parody of an Italian opera on the much-hackneyed Orpheus in the Underworld myth. By creating something fun, Campra is breaking with tradition and probably poking fun at the tragic pathos of Lully and Monteverdi operas.
When I came to study opera at the Royal College of Music, I had the chance to visit Venice and I instantly fell in love with the city – it is completely magical, frozen in time, an unreal blend of life on land and water. I became obsessed with Venetian carnival masks – not only did I buy one with all its very long feathers and hat but I had tattoos done of two Venetian masks on my left torso.
Growing up in Colombia, I was never exposed to opera until I was at university studying industrial engineering and I decided to take singing lessons. I just wanted to sing Colombian music and didn’t know anything of the classical repertoire. The first opera I saw was Donizetti’s Elixir of Love with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon – I suddenly saw someone who looked like me. It was a turning point and I realised in the final year of my degree that I had to rebel, quit industrial engineering, take the gamble on music and come to study in London. The hat trick paid off, when I won the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Audience Prize at Cardiff Singer of the World and the President’s Award given by HM The King.
Opera is my playground and I feel so happy being on stage and finding new ways of communicating and portraying the protagonists, often in quite outlandish productions, crawling through mud, singing with goats. So circus is another fun adventure. Many of my co-soloists have had prior circus training – Feargal Mostyn-Williams was a previous member of the National Centre for Circus Arts. Katie Bray as the goddess Minerva will be descending from the heavens with aerial acrobatics to sort out the chaos backstage as the new opera “Orpheus in the Underworld” is mounted.
In spite of a shoulder injury in February, our fabulous circus director Rebecca has helped me every step of the way to bring wizardry even with my current limitations and I can assure you, you will be wowed!
This week 30 kids are on a summer camp at The Vache training for the children’s chorus. They will join us for the relaxed family performance on Sunday 7th September. Come rain or shine, this carnival will blow away any brooding end of summer clouds.
As James Hurley put it, “come ready for high-jinx magic, Russian roulette archery and more over two weekends on Saturday and Sunday 30th and 31st August and 6th and 7th September. This is baroque opera like you have never seen before.”
André Campra: Le Carnaval de Venise -Vache Baroque – 30, 31 August, 6, 7 September – further details
At The Vache, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, accessible on the London underground on the Metropolitan Line – buses are on hand at Chalfont & Latimer for the 10 minute transfer to The Vache
