Opera Coast

Gustave Charpentier’s opera, Louise, is unique. It combines lyrical romance with social realism and an expressionist surrealism, moving effortlessly between the sordid reality of working-class drudgery and the artistic fantasy of the bohemian life of belle époque artists.

Above all, it is a hymn to the spirit of Paris in its darkest and brightest moments and the “little people” who make the foundations of a city in the grip of social change. His theme of freedom, both personal and moral, was embodied in the seething artistic quartier of Montmartre, where love and laughter are weapons against the realities of a mundane existence. His unsentimental yet ecstatic belief in the rights of all individuals has kept the opera feeling as fresh and modern now as the day it was written.

Up and coming singers from all over the UK and beyond come to Eastbourne every year to explore one opera in one weekend. What they discover is much more than just music and words. Join for a great evening full of drama and wonder.