Cautionary Tales!, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds Grand Theatre

Hilaire Belloc's dark stories adapted as a children's introduction to opera

by Graham RicksonSaturday, 12 March 2011

'A glam-rock vision in blue shiny fabric and Heseltinian blond wig': Mark Le Brocq as Ponto the LionRobert Workman

Trying to introduce children to classical music is a tricky business. The benchmarks are still Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Poulenc’s Babar – both characterised by witty, quirky music and strong storylines. Opera is a harder sell – there’s the slowness of it, the sheer lunacy of characters striding about on stage expressing their inner feelings at full volume, accompanied by a 70-piece orchestra. So credit is due to Opera North’s education department for commissioning Errollyn Wallen’s Cautionary Tales! in response to requests for family-friendly opera.

Buy

Find Cautionary Tales on Amazon

Explore topics

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Opera

Help to give theartsdesk a future! Support our GoFundMe appeal

Mary, Queen of Scots, English National Opera review - heroic effort for an overcooked history lesson Heidi Stober delivers as beleaguered regent, but Thea Musgrave's opera is limiting

Festen, Royal Opera review - firing on every front No slack in Mark-Anthony Turnage's operatic treatment of the visceral first Dogme film

Phaedra + Minotaur, Royal Ballet and Opera, Linbury Theatre review - a double dose of Greek myth Opera and dance companies share a theme in this terse but affecting double bill

The Marriage of Figaro, Welsh National Opera review - no concessions and no holds barred Compelling revival, punches, placards and all

The Marriage of Figaro, English National Opera review - long on laughs, short on kerb appeal Laugh-out-loud funny revival of an ingenious staging

The Flying Dutchman, Opera North review - a director’s take on Wagner Annabel Arden offers the Great Disruptor as archetype of the stateless and voiceless

Love Life, Opera North review - Lerner and Weill's blast into the past Time-travelling tale of love and despair - the first 'concept musical' revived

Jenůfa, Royal Opera review - electrifying details undermined by dead space Knife-edge conducting and singing, but non-realistic production is weaker in revival