Madeleine Boyd
Encyclopedia
Madeleine Boyd is an award winning British set and costume designer who trained in Theatre Design at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design and graduated in 2001.
(2008) at Sadler's Wells, for which she designed the set and costumes, was shortlisted for The Royal Philharmonic Society
award for Opera and Music Theatre.
She was awarded the 2008 design fellowship from Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells, London, and was a finalist in the European Opera Directing Prize 2007, with her Design concept for Rusalka
by Antonín Dvořák
, with the director Alessandro Talevi.
She has worked primarily in Europe with the American opera director Thaddeus Strassberger
and the South African opera director Alessandro Talevi.
Notable productions include Set and Costume Design: La Cenerentola
, by Gioachino Rossini for Malmö Opera
, Sweden; Orfeo ed Euridice
by Christoph Willibald Gluck
, at Theater Augsburg, November 2007; La Gazzetta
by Gioachino Rossini, Bad Wildbad Rossini Festival, July 2007. Her designs for Elizabeth Maconchy
's one-act operas The Sofa and The Departure, for Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells, in November 2007, were received with acclaim. The Chandos label released a recording of both operas (Chandos CD - CHAN10508), the cover of which features a photograph of her set for The Sofa.
Fiona Maddocks in the London Evening Standard
gave these productions a five star review, declaring the designs "exciting stuff".
Madeleine is part of the creative team of Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells, London, which was founded to serve as a London platform for outstanding new directors, designers, singers and others involved in the staging and production of opera.
She has worked as a designer at Les Azuriales opera festival at Cap Ferrat
, France, on productions including Partenope
by George Frideric Handel
.
In 2009 Madeleine designed the costumes for a production of Benjamin Britten
's opera Peter Grimes
for Teatro San Carlo, in Naples
, Italy, conducted by Jeffrey Tate
. Further productions in 2009 include La Cenerentola
for Malmö Opera and Music Theatre
, Sweden, and Les nuits d'été
by Hector Berlioz
, for Les Azuriales Opera Festival, with the director Thaddeus Strassberger and the conductor Bryan Evans, MBE.
Madeleine has worked as assistant and revival designer for opera productions at La Scala
, in Milan
, Italy, La Fenice
, in Venice
, Italy, Vlaamse Opera
, in Antwerp, Belgium, the Spoleto Festival
, in South Carolina
, U.S.A., and Central City Opera
in Central City, Colorado
, U.S.A.
Career
In April, 2009 The Independent Opera production of Pelléas et MélisandePelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
(2008) at Sadler's Wells, for which she designed the set and costumes, was shortlisted for The Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
award for Opera and Music Theatre.
She was awarded the 2008 design fellowship from Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells, London, and was a finalist in the European Opera Directing Prize 2007, with her Design concept for Rusalka
Rusalka (opera)
Rusalka is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. The Czech libretto was written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová. Rusalka is one of the most successful Czech operas, and represents a cornerstone of the repertoire of Czech opera houses...
by Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, with the director Alessandro Talevi.
She has worked primarily in Europe with the American opera director Thaddeus Strassberger
Thaddeus Strassberger
Thaddeus Strassberger is a celebrated American opera director and scenic designer. In 2005 he was awarded the European Opera Directing Prize by Opera Europa for his work on Opera Ireland's production of Rossini's La Cenerentola.-Biography:...
and the South African opera director Alessandro Talevi.
Notable productions include Set and Costume Design: La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
, by Gioachino Rossini for Malmö Opera
Malmö Opera and Music Theatre
Malmö Opera and Music Theatre is an opera house in Malmö, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house....
, Sweden; Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
by Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, at Theater Augsburg, November 2007; La Gazzetta
La Gazzetta
La gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso is an opera buffa by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giuseppe Palomba after Carlo Goldoni's play Il matrimonio per concorso of 1763....
by Gioachino Rossini, Bad Wildbad Rossini Festival, July 2007. Her designs for Elizabeth Maconchy
Elizabeth Maconchy
Dame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy Le Fanu DBE was an English composer, most noted for her cycle of thirteen string quartets.-Biography:...
's one-act operas The Sofa and The Departure, for Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells, in November 2007, were received with acclaim. The Chandos label released a recording of both operas (Chandos CD - CHAN10508), the cover of which features a photograph of her set for The Sofa.
Fiona Maddocks in the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
gave these productions a five star review, declaring the designs "exciting stuff".
Madeleine is part of the creative team of Independent Opera at Sadler's Wells, London, which was founded to serve as a London platform for outstanding new directors, designers, singers and others involved in the staging and production of opera.
She has worked as a designer at Les Azuriales opera festival at Cap Ferrat
Cap Ferrat
Cap Ferrat is situated in Alpes-Maritimes département, in southeastern France. It is located in the commune of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.Saint Hospitius lived here as a recluse during the sixth century...
, France, on productions including Partenope
Partenope
Partenope is an opera by George Frideric Handel, first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 24 February 1730.-Background:...
by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
.
In 2009 Madeleine designed the costumes for a production of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's opera Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough...
for Teatro San Carlo, in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy, conducted by Jeffrey Tate
Jeffrey Tate
Dr Jeffrey Tate CBE is an English conductor.Tate was born with spina bifida, and also has kyphosis. His family moved to Farnham, Surrey when he was young and he attended Farnham Grammar School between 1954 and 1961 gaining a State Scholarship to Cambridge University, where he directed theatre...
. Further productions in 2009 include La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola
La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
for Malmö Opera and Music Theatre
Malmö Opera and Music Theatre
Malmö Opera and Music Theatre is an opera house in Malmö, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house....
, Sweden, and Les nuits d'été
Les nuits d'été
Les nuits d'été , Op. 7, is a song cycle by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It is a setting of six poems by Théophile Gautier. The collection was completed in 1841, and initially composed for either baritone, contralto, or mezzo-soprano, and piano...
by Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
, for Les Azuriales Opera Festival, with the director Thaddeus Strassberger and the conductor Bryan Evans, MBE.
Madeleine has worked as assistant and revival designer for opera productions at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy, La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
, in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Italy, Vlaamse Opera
Vlaamse Opera
The Vlaamse Opera ' is an opera company in Belgium directed by Aviel Cahn which operates in two different opera houses in two Flemish cities, the Vlaamse Opera Antwerpen at Van Ertbornstraat 8 and the Vlaamse Opera Ghent at Schouwburgstraat 3...
, in Antwerp, Belgium, the Spoleto Festival
Spoleto Festival USA
Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the world's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy...
, in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, U.S.A., and Central City Opera
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G...
in Central City, Colorado
Central City, Colorado
Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
, U.S.A.
Recent designs
- Set and Costume Design: L'assedio di CalaisL'assedio di CalaisL'assedio di Calais is a melodramma lirico, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvatore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's play and, secondarily, Luigi Henry's ballet , both based on Pierre Du Belloy's play Le siège de Calais...
by Donizetti at the Guildhall school of music and drama, London. - Set and Costume Design: La CenerentolaLa CenerentolaLa Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
for Malmö OperaMalmö Opera and Music TheatreMalmö Opera and Music Theatre is an opera house in Malmö, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house....
, Sweden - Set and Costume Design: La cambiale di matrimonioLa cambiale di matrimonioLa cambiale di matrimonio is a one-act operatic farsa comica by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. The libretto was based on the play by Camillo Federici and a previous libretto by Giuseppe Checcherini for Carlo Coccia's 1807 opera, Il matrimonio per lettera di cambio...
and The MarriageThe Marriage (opera)The Marriage is a comic opera in 2 acts by Bohuslav Martinů, to the composer's own libretto, after the play of the same name by Nikolai Gogol. The opera was commissioned for television by the NBC, and the NBC Opera Theatre performed the work's world premiere on their television program NBC TV Opera...
, Opera double bill at the Guildhall school of music and drama, London. - Set and Costume Design: La fedelta premiataLa fedeltà premiataLa fedeltà premiata is an opera in three acts by Joseph Haydn first performed at Eszterháza on 25 February 1781 to celebrate the reopening of the court theatre after a fire...
, Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of MusicThe Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, London - Costume Design: Peter Grimes for San Carlo Opera House, Napoli.
- Set and Costume Design: Pelléas et Mélisande for Independent Opera at The Lillian Bayliss Theatre, Sadler's Wells, London.
- Set and Costume Design: All about it by Rachael McGill, for the Big Fish Theatre Company, touring show.
- Set and Costume Design: Partenope by Handel, for Les Azuriales Opera at the Ephrussi de Rothschild Villa, Côte d'Azur, France.
- Set and Costume Design: La Colombe and L'occasione fa il ladroL'occasione fa il ladroL’occasione fa il ladro, ossia Il cambio della valigia is an opera in one act by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Prividali, based on Le prétendu sans le savoir, ou L’occasion fait le larron, a play by Eugène Scribe.-Performance history:L’occasione fa il...
, an opera double bill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama London. - Set Design: The Sofa and The Departure, two short operas by Elizabeth Maconchy for Independent Opera at The Lilian Bayliss Theatre, Sadler's Wells, London.
- Costume Design: Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck at Theatre Augsburg, Germany
- Set and Costume Design: La Gazzetta and La scala di setaLa scala di setaLa scala di seta is an operatic farsa comica in one act by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa. It was first performed in Venice, Italy at the Teatro San Moisè on May 9, 1812...
for the Belcanto Rossini festival in Wildbad, Germany. - Set Design: Rhymes, reasons and bombass beatz, a hip-hop monologue at the studio space of the Oval Theatre, London.
- Set and Costume Design: True Stories at the studio space of The Drill HallThe Drill HallThe Drill Hall is a theatrical venue in Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden, just to the east of Tottenham Court Road. It contains rehearsal rooms and meeting rooms, and two small theatres - the 200-seat Drill Hall 1 and a 50-seat studio space, known as Drill Hall 2. Its name derives from...
, London. - Set and Costume Design: The Turn of the ScrewThe Turn of the Screw (opera)The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, "wife of the artist John Piper, who had been a friend of the composer since 1935 and had provided designs for several of the operas". The libretto is based on the novella...
by Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
for Opera NorthOpera NorthOpera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...