BREMF Early Opera

BREMF is at the forefront of training for young artists in the unique performance practice needed to bring early operatic works to life.

Our 2021 opera training course explored the earliest opera by a female composer – Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero (1625). We made a film of this work, shot in the style of early film pioneer Georges Méliès, which is now available to stream on demand.

Who makes up the opera team

Our projects bring singers and instrumentalists together to work on the skills needed for this repertoire, which are specific and very different to later operatic techniques.

Working with a team led by Deborah Roberts (BREMF Artistic Director), Oliver Webber (violinist and historical performance expert), Claire Williams (keyboard player and continuo lead) and Thomas Guthrie (stage director), productions have included Monteverdi’s Orfeo (2017), Blow’s Venus and Adonis (2018) and Marco da Gagliano’s La Dafne (2020), plus a filmed version of Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero (2021).