Great Bills of Opera
Tansy re-enacts Bill Tell
Constance was looking forward to the new opera season of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera on CBC Radio. Much to her shock and dismay, it appears that the host Bill Richardson has been replaced!
Therefore, instead of listening to Carmen on the radio again, Constance is celebrating Great Bills of Opera, starting with Guglielmo Tell an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini.
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Playbill and Libretto of Bill Shakespeare-inspired Opera
William Shakespeare inspired many operas from The Fairy Queen by Purcell, first performed in 1692, to The Tempest by Thomas Adès (Constance’s favourite 2012 production at the MET).
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Ambiance of Billy Budd
Benjamin Britten composed the opera Billy Budd based on a sad sea story by Herman Mellville, in which the hero was a good man in a bad place. Constance likes Britten’s operas very much. She has seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare again) and Albert Herring, but has never had the chance to see Billy Budd…maybe some day…
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The shrine of Bill Richardson
Ah, Bill (Richardson), we will miss your canny remarks and distilled insights, we hope you’re having fun on your next adventure…(portrait by Alex Waterhouse-Hayward).
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Quimper Hittys 
The departure of Bill Richardson seemed rather abrupt, though perhaps I was not paying attention in the lead up. I expect that Constance will soon be used to Ben Heppner as host.
Is Constance reliving the original Hitty’s adventures on a whaling boat with a bit of a climb through the rigging of that ship?
We were surprised at the vanishment of Bill Richardson. Ben will be an interesting host too, with insider’s view of Opera, but we just wanted to say goodbye to Bill today.
Constance does enjoy a little re-enactment, and persuaded Tansy to participate today.
Constance always has clothing that matches the operas. Bravo, Constance!
Constance was very happy to lend Tansy her apple apron! She does hope I will sew her some more Opera clothing, not that she dislikes her musical dress, but wants a little variety!
Constance and Tansy are truly little Opera girls. Love that little apple apron – Perfect for the opera.
That apple apron was made out of a circle of cloth tied round a jar of jam – a Hitty friend gave us the jam for Christmas, and the Hittys pounced on the cloth!
Wow! I haven’t thought of Bill Richardson in YEARS! I adored him when he used to be on Viki Gabereau – shows how long ago that was! Gorgeous opera Bill pix!
Thanks, we’ll miss Bill Richardson, but are looking forward to Ben Heppner’s dulcet tones…