Our rainy Saturday morning was brightened by the very wonderful people of B’Opera. A morning filled with ‘magic’, games, old and new beautiful music by some phenomenal voices and pianists, all within the comfort of our own home.
B’Opera live concerts are usually performed in a venue where children and adults alike are entertained within an interactive and multi sensory concert full of wonderful music, followed by the most spectacular spread of food and drink.
With the pandemic, the sessions are now held in the comfort of your own home, online, live, through Crowdcast where you communicate via onscreen messaging and no one can see you (which I currently quite like as my lounge is slowly being taken over by toys and my TV Stand has somehow turned into a pretend dolls house). Sadly, B’Opera can’t send you a fancy spread of food, so we had to make our own picnic! Ha! I’m told by my girls that mine wasn’t as good as B’Operas, so I may need to take some tips on how to make a perfect spread.
As it was a teddy bears picnic, the girls filled our lounge with teddies and dolls and we sat ready for B’Operas Teddy Bear Picnic to commence.
Zoe and Jac introduced themselves and caught the childrens attention immediately with a game of peek-a-boo. The girls found it hilarious and were especially impressed with the magic powers that Zoe and Jac demonstrated whilst performing in their own homes, live, on a split screen. I won’t give too much away (you can still pay to watch this show, which is available on Crowdcast until Saturday) but let’s just say they managed to pass items through the screen to each other… Sadly, our TV isn’t as magic and we couldn’t put our hands through the TV to take Zoe and Jac’s tasty looking cakes.
All the B’Opera relaxed concerts usually begin with the singing of ‘Salibonani’ a song by Wir Kinder vom Kleistpark. The song is a cheerful traditional hello song from Zimbabwe. “Salibonani” means “hello” or “How are you?” in Ndebele (the language used in Zimbabwe). The online show is no different and Zoe cheerfully sings the song, keeping my girls completely entranced whilst singing along with Zoe.
Zoe and Jac soon start singing about what types of things they will need to bring on their picnic. My girls enjoyed shouting at the screen the different items that they both had on their plate and also what they would like that naughty Mummy hadn’t got for them. Oops.
Behind Zoe we could see a set up of a number of teddies. Zoe kindly introduced us to the teddies, detailing their humorous characters at their picnic, before singing Mandoline by Claude Debussy, a song about a musical picnic. Zoes voice, melodic and beautiful, entrancing as usual.
Next we are treated to the dulcet tones of Jac who sings ‘Where’er You Walk’ an aria from Handel’s Opera ‘Semele’, which describes a sensory walk, where you see trees, blushing flowers and all things flourish where’er you turn your eyes, cool gales and shade. Another perfect opera song for a picnic.
With technology only allowing a certain number of people to be live on Crowdcast, Phil pre-recorded a beautiful classical rendition on the piano of By the Mere, from composer John Ireland, whose work we hear again later in the show.
After some wonderful music, came a very fun game for the children (and adults if I am honest) of Fruit Snap. You had to all pick up a piece of fruit at the same time and say snap if you picked up the same one. I am happy to say that I got a snap on banana, with Zoe and Jac and possibly everyone else playing. Ha.
As B’Opera is for babies and older children, they are incredibly good at ensuring their is something for everyone within the concert. Next was ‘Round and Round the Garden’. Great for parents with babies but equally great for older children as Zoe turned it into a kind of treasure hunt. “Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear, can you find a… Chair!” The girls loved running around trying to find one. Jemima hunting for one of her Barbies chairs and Matilda looking like she was going to try to pull my seat into the lounge.
The girls were standing up from the previous song/game, so were excited to be doing a bit of a dance with the next song, where they had to do careful listening to copy the actions. “Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground…”
Jac then sang Fleurs by Poulenc. A lovely rendition of the song which is about flowers. “Promised flowers, flowers held in your arms”. Such a beautiful song.
I loved the taking of turns between Zoe and Jac. This was a joint performance and it worked so very well, bouncing between the two.
Zoe then performed “Where the bee sucks”, a song by Emma Kirkby (I think) which uses the words of William Shakespeare in The Tempest, Act V, Scene I. “After summer, merrily, Merrily, merrily shall I live now, under the blossom that hangs on the bough”.
My favourite part of the whole show came next. Sous le dome epais, “Flower Duet”, a song composed by Delibes and sung as a duet between Zoe and Jac. The song really showed Zoe and Jacs amazing soprano and mezzo soprano voices. The song comes from Lakme, Act I. But many of you may have heard it (as Zoe mentions) on the British Airways advert. I have to admit Zoe and Jacs version gave me goosebumps. It was harmonious and… Perfect. So entrancing, I didn’t take a picture. Oops.
We then heard our second piece from John Ireland, played on the piano by Phil. Into the Meadows.
Zoe returns on the screen asking us if we have seen the Opera of Hansel and Gretal, where the next song comes from. “Bruderchen, komm tanz mit mir” or “Tap, Tap, Tap”. We then grab our teddies and sing along, getting the teddies to move their bodies. “… With your foot you tap tap tap”. The girls enjoyed copying the actions, laughing with each other when I joined in. It seems I’m not as cool as Zoe.
Aliyah has been working with B’Opera for a while now and joined us on the screen singing “O’Mio Babbino Caro” a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. Aliyahs voice is euphonious. And is an asset to the remarkable B’Opera team.
Next in the concert came some very new, catchy and fun songs from composer Jenni Gould. The first one “My Face Is Made Of Onions” is incorporated into a game for the older children. How many kinds of food does Zoe sing about? Matilda loved this and shouted out immediately the number. Jac then sang “Cakes!” which might have been my favourite song as I am sure the lyrics told me as an adult I can eat cake every day. This review is unfortunately going to be a bit late, as I’m off to treat myself to a piece or two.
No teddy bears picnic is complete without John W. Brattons composed piece, which was played by Zoes husband, with Zoe singing along.
It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
The session ended with some song requests including Twinkle Twinkle, Little Green Frog and the most spectacular version of Old Macdonald by Jac who can make some splendid animal noises. We asked for a Donkey and I am sure it was the best Donkey impression we had ever heard.
We love B’Opera. It is hard sometimes to put into words feelings. But I will try. B’Opera are inclusive, they want beautiful music to be enjoyed by all. Regardless of social status, money, ethnicity, religion and any other factors and this, to me, is beautiful in itself. Everyone should be able to access beautiful music. Music that can send shivers down your spine and bring goosebumps to your arms. Not only is it a concert and session for babies and children but it is for adults too. A chance for adults to sit down and lose yourself in the moment. To hear the music you might not usually get the chance to do, now that you’re a busy parent. And for young children to be introduced to music from different cultures, languages and sounds performed by incredibly talented people.
I can hand on heart say that I think every child, everywhere, should have access to these classes. They’re educational, fun and entertaining.
And we are already looking forward to the next relaxed concert.
Thank you B’Opera for keeping the Arts going and bringing the classes and concerts into our living rooms.
If you like the sound of these sessions, please do hop on over to the B’Opera website to find out more details https://www.bopera.co.uk/