Jonathan Butcher

This tag is associated with 3 posts

Premiere of Thelma, review by SCTF patron Daniel Labonne

Posted by SCTF Editor ⋅ February 22, 2012 ⋅ Leave a comment

Daniel Labonne (previously Croydon SC-T Society artistic director) attended the premiere by Surrey Opera of Thelma at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls, and sent us this exclusive review. Continue reading →

Notes: Tom Service of the Guardian writes on SC-T and Thelma

Posted by SCTF Editor ⋅ February 9, 2012 ⋅ Leave a comment

Tom Service of The Guardian has posted an article in his Classical Music blog, discussing the SC-T opera Thelma, to be premiered in Croydon today.

‘Thelma’, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s only full-length opera, performed at last

Posted by SCTF Editor ⋅ January 18, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

Jonathan Butcher writes: Up until 1900 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (born in 1875) had had little to do with composing for the theatre. His main body of work was choral and orchestral and, of course, his most famous opus, and the one that catapulted him to fame, was his major oratorio, Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast. His involvement with the theatre, though Herbert Beerbohm Tree, with all its colourful characters, magic and intrigue, may well have been the very spark Coleridge-Taylor needed to spur him on to write his only full length opera. Continue reading →