UPCOMING EVENTS
WHAT IS CLONTER
Set in the heart of the Cheshire countryside, Clonter offers audiences an opportunity to hear some of the world’s finest emerging musical talent from a wide range of musical genres including jazz, folk, opera, gospel and panto. We are passionate about live musical theatre and aim to provide a diverse programme of events. Clonter offers an exciting range of opportunities for our audiences to get up close to our work,with pre-performance talks, open opera studios, musical theatre workshops and much more. Make a night of Your Visit, bring the family, enjoy a dining in our Carmen restaurant or bring your own picnic. Come and explore all that Clonter has to offer.
Clonter Opera Theatre, Swettenham Heath, Congleton CW12 2LR
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GOODBYE TO THE CAST OF LA BOHEME…
Saturday night saw a nigh on full house – 375 BOS (Bums on Seats) out of a possible 398, with the remaining 23 being only spits and spots left, giving the cast of La Boheme a wonderful send off, with 31% of the audience coming to Clonter for the very first time. 1,502 saw the show in total, with an average of 36% new comers over the full run, including the Opera Novice Night.
Thanks to the g-lorious weather, the audience were able to enjoy the outdoor picnic area, as well as Clonter’s indoor picnicking facilities.
A HUGE THANK YOU to the Swettenham Arms for saving the day, providing the catering, following an accident that our caterer was involved in on the M6 from Birmingham.
The last word goes to an audience member who generously wrote:
“ I can’t think how many ‘Bohemes’ I must have seen but this was one of the most moving. Having the middle aged Rodolfo remembering his young life and love worked superbly, getting over the problem, at a stroke, of moving the action to the Café Momus and the Barriere. What a group of voices, alone and in ensemble. The quartet in the third act was outstanding. The surtitles were a delight…“
“I must express my undiluted joy for the emotion generated by last night’s performance of ‘La Boheme’. The direction and production were -to me a model of what is needed in opera -simplicity intelligence and clarity in the telling of a story.
The principal artists in singing their roles were committed and well prepared and with voices sang their hearts out to give and unforgettable performance of this great opera.
One has heard many performances of La Boheme and yet when the piece is done freshly and sincerely as this -it comes alive in a way many more elaborately staged and grandly sung performances do not.
Thank you to everyone involved -it restored my joy in opera – much dimmed by many pretentious, often stupid and over directed performances over the last thirty years.
Your policy of offering masterpieces such as La Boheme seems to me entirely sensible and justified.
Thank you to all at Clonter Opera for this memorable evening.”
Do take a look at both the colour photos taken by our photographer Pauline Neild and Photographer in Residence – Jack Thompson
Pauline Neild Click Here
Photographer-In-Residence Click Here
Next opera event is the Opera Gala on Saturday 10th November, with a bit of folk in between, on Saturday 6th October.