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Hildegard Bechtler

As part of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's opera season, designer Hildegard Bechtler talks to Michael Berkeley about her favourite music and some of the 27 operas she has worked on all over the world.

As part of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's opera season, designer Hildegard Bechtler talks to Michael Berkeley about her favourite music and some of the twenty-seven operas she has worked on all over the world.

Hildegard is one of our most prolific and successful theatre and opera designers. Born in Germany, she moved to Britain aged eighteen, and very quickly established herself first in film, then in theatre and opera. Her style combines wit and invention to deliver minimalist style with maximum impact.

She has designed for every major theatre and opera company including the Royal Opera, ENO, Glyndebourne, and the Royal National Theatre. And the international nature of her work is typified by one of her most recent productions - Thomas Adès's new opera The Exterminating Angel - staged in Salzburg, Copenhagen, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Hildegard chooses music from two operas she has worked on, The Ring Cycle and The Damnation of Faust; a Burns song which reminds her of her love of Scotland and her husband, the actor Bill Paterson; and a piece by her namesake, Hildegard of Bingen.

Producer: Jane Greenwood
A Loftus production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Sun 8 Oct 2017 12:00

Music Played

  • Richard Wagner

    Gotterdammerung (final scene)

    Orchestra: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Karl Böhm.
  • Thomas Adès

    Powder her Face (opening)

    Ensemble: Almeida Ensemble. Conductor: Thomas Adès. Singer: Valdine Anderson. Singer: Niall Morris.
  • Traditional

    Taruna Jaya

    Ensemble: Gamelan Ensemble.
  • Traditional

    Now Westlin' Winds

    Singer: Dick Gaughan.
  • Hector Berlioz

    La Damnation de Faust (Easter Hymn)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis. Singer: Giuseppe Sabbatini.
  • Bob Dylan

    She Belongs to Me

    Singer: Bob Dylan.
  • Hildegard von Bingen

    O vis aeternitatis

    Ensemble: Sequentia Ensemble.

Broadcast

  • Sun 8 Oct 2017 12:00

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Opera Season

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Opera Season

On TV, radio and digital, in collaboration with the V&A and the Royal Opera House.

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