Over the last few evenings, the Fitzwilliam Chamber Opera have been stunning the far-too-small audience who made the venture up the hill. For the hardy few who managed the climb, they were rewarded with a night of the highest quality opera. Both of the operas performed, Fables by Ivan Moody and The Consolation of Scholarship by the renowned Judith Weir, were didactic morality tales, telling simple timeless stories in a genuinely innovative way.

The absolute highlight of the performance was the set design. Innovative use of space and lighting transformed the Fitzwilliam auditorium from a concrete monolith to an intimate and compact arena; a real credit to the technical team who excelled themselves with a genuinely innovative lighting design. This was fully exploited by the designer Marie-Eve Bourassa, who excelled herself to create a stage that transformed from a fireside suitable for storytelling to a mulberry tree in the second half. Superb use was made of the different layers of the auditorium to tell of the story of Consolations of Scholarship that reflected the many venues of the story.

Ultimately, the weakest aspect of the production was the singing itself. Whilst Hannah Partridge and Alice Rose shone as the soprano and alto in Fables, with Hannah’s vocal range and power particularly stunning the audience, there was little room for the male voices to shine. Anna Harvey’s acting in the Consolation was superb, but her voice was occasionally lost under the orchestra and her singing lacked complete clarity. However, for an audience caught up with Harvey’s stage presence, this was hardly noticed.

In short, Fitzwilliam Chamber Opera produced two polished, professional performances with set and stage design of the very highest quality. Away from the established ADC-Corpus circuit, this is proof that the arts are flourishing in all corners of Cambridge.