In 1706 critic and dramatist John Dennis opined “nothing can be more Gothic than an Opera.” The two art forms are natural bedfellows, both presenting an extravagant, highly symbolic and heavily romanticised world, where reality is frequently interspersed with magic and fantasy.

Attending early Italian operas in London inspired English MP and man of letters Horace Walpole to write “The Castle of Otranto” , usually considered to be the first Gothic novel in 1764. According to musicologist Aubrey Garlington “between 1764 and 1802, some sixty or seventy works for the stage exhibiting ‘Gothic’ characteristics were produced”.

Gothic Opera was founded with the aim of resurrecting and rebooting some of these now forgotten works. In this candlelit concert, they will perform a programme of arias exploring different facets of Gothic love, including The Black Swan (from The Medium by Menotti), Juliet’s Poison (from Romeo and Juliet by Gounod), Do Not Approach my Tomb by Verdi, Love and the Skull by D'Indy and To the War-Torn Land by Duparc.