Tim Hopkins

Director / Film Maker / Designer

2011
La Voix Humaine	Operosa, Bulgaria
Aurora Orchestra/Collon	LSO St Luke's EC1
'The instrumental players walked about slowly, deadpan, to positions assigned them by the director Tim Hopkins. Hymn numbers were displayed, leading us to words gouged out and (mis)appropriated into spectral messages. Catherine Hopper sang Schubert’s Gretchen am Spinnrade beautifully, knife in hand, and ended up waltzing with Straub to Sibelius’s dark Valse triste. This will doubtless sound both absurd and pretentious in the telling; but I assure you it was neither. I was gripped from start to finish...performed to exquisite perfection.' The Times
Transformation	Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
2010
The Lost Chord Writer & Director	Opera North Projects Direction & Visual Art Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival, Riverside Studios
'..the creation of atmosphere through word, image and music was potently and beautifully wrought..' Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
2009
The Mask of Orpheus, BBC Proms	BBC Proms 2009
'...while we wait for a long-overdue new production of his great opera The Mask of Orpheus (premiered in 1986), the Proms has boldly presented a semi-staging of its central act. This focuses on Orpheus' journey to the Underworld to retrieve Euridice, except that this time he never gets there. It's all a dream - with some of Birtwistle's most sensuously lyrical and light-dappled music turning to a nightmare of rhythmic distortion, layering, and electronic sampling - and with a strangely potent awakening. Thanks to the superb playing of the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins, the skilful sound design of Ian Dearden and thoughtful stage direction by Tim Hopkins - including a glittering of hand mirrors - this was unforgettable.' The Guardian, Andrew Clements
La Voix Humaine	Operosa Foundation, Varna, Bulgaria
Seraglio	Opera North Direction and Design
Let 'Em Eat Cake	Opera North Scenic Design; Dir. Caroline Gawn Costume Design: Gabrielle Dalton
'The show looks good, ... with Tim Hopkins' cooky American set decorated by Gabrielle Dalton's svelte period costumes.' Lynne Walker, The Independent
2008
Tales of Hoffman	Mid Wales Opera
'A ... enthusiastic welcome for Tim Hopkins's sharply imaginative, vivid and witty production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann....... this is a hugely enjoyable staging, alive to all the ambiguities and resonances of a weird, flawed masterpiece.' Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph
Of Thee I Sing	Opera North Scenic Design; Dir. Caroline Gawn Costume Design: Gabrielle Dalton
1987 to 2007
Owen Wingrave	Royal Opera House Costume Design: Gideon Davey
"The director and set and film designer Tim Hopkins has lavished tremendous energy and imagination on the staging"...."always striking, always thoughtful." Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph "The ingenuity of Tim Hopkins' brilliant staging of Britten's 1971 pacifist polemic Owen Wingrave is that it plays on the intrusiveness of the latter-day camcorder as a means of scrutinising the now seemingly prehistoric Wingrave dynasty"...."The unsettling clash of old and new is at the heart of what Hopkins has attempted and pretty well succeeded in doing." Edward Seckerson, The Independent '...with the right treatment it can exert a fascinating grip - as it does in this new staging,...the show is nevertheless a must-see.' Andrew Clark, Financial Times
The Elephant & Castle	Direction, co-author,co-film maker, music by Tansy Davies, Mira Calix, words by Blake Morrison. A site specific opera putting urban landscapes in a rural setting. Aldeburgh Music Designer: Pippa Nissen
'Observing that there was a progressive social vision behind both projects, even though one has proved a lasting success and the other a catastrophe, Hopkins set out to co-ordinate a cross-genre work that would address the assumptions behind those contrasts. It was an ambitious venture and precisely the sort of thing an institution such as Aldeburgh should be doing to breathe new life into the form...an adventurous and impressive use of multiple resources that gave one much to ponder on.' Barry Millington, Opera

The Lost Chord	Direction, visual art. Original performance piece and permanent installation for English Heritage's Picture House exhibition until September 2007. Belsay Hall, Northumberland

A to Z	Film and staging for Birmingham Contemporaray Music Group concert of music by Xenakis, Messaien, Barry, Zappa, Davies, Andriessen, Woolrich.

Mozart Lovers	Four short opera films for Channel 4. Based on the quartet from The Seraglio.

Where Next?	*Introduction to music for a Young Audience* The Sage, Gateshead. Staged and with Video With new music composed by John Woolrich
2002-5 NESTA Fellowship exploring new technology and lyric theatre

The Rake's Progress	Staatsoper Hannover Direction, film and scenic design
Mare Nostrum by Kagel	Theater Basel Direction, film and scenic Design
Kantan, Damask Drum	Aldeburgh Festival, Almeida Opera/Alternative Lyrique - British Premiere Direction and scenic design
Only the Names Have Been Changed Parts 1 and 2	Munich Festival Direction and performance - Haman/Ridout/Hopkins
A combination of projected Docufiction photography and live performance, set in the violent political climate of Italy in the 1970s.

The Forest Murmurs	Opera North
Eugene Onegin By Tchaikovsky	Theater Basel Direction, film and scenic design
Radamisto by Handel	Opera North Direction, translation, edition
A-Ronne by Luciano Berio	Almeida Opera
Zwei Acte, Con Voci, Presentation	Almeida Opera Direction, design and performance
The Golden Cockerell	The Royal Opera House
Maria Stuarda	Theatre Basel
Only the Names Have Been Changed, Part One	Battersea Arts Centre
National Opera Studio/ENO Contemporary Opera Studio Workshops	ENO Works
Annual work with students from the Opera studio, staging a wide variety of repertoire, including Henze, Ligeti, Adams, Maxwell-Davies, Weir, Tippett, Dove

Il Trovatore	Graz Opera, Austria
Iphigenie en Aulide	Opera North
Liederkreis	Video
Experimental video treatments of Lieder performance, conceived by Theatre Design students at Central St. Martin's School. Sung by Richard Jackson

Cosi fan Tutte	Welsh National Opera
The Golden Cockerell	Rome Opera
The Yeoman of the Guard	Welsh National Opera/Glimmerglass, USA
Blond Eckbert	ENO
World Premiere of Judith Weir's opera based on Ludwig-Tieck's short story.

La Vera Storia	Royal Festival Hall BBC Symphony Orchestra
Zampa a 19^th Century Opera Comique	Wexford Festival, Eire
Fast and Dirty	Commissioned by Second Stride
Mario and the Magician	Almeida/ENO
Falstaff	English Touring Opera
Cosi fan Tutte	Welsh National Opera
Soundbites - five short operas	ENO at the Almeida
The Gondoliers	New D'Oyle Carte Opera Company
Carmen	Opera North
L'Oca del Cairo	Musica Nell Chiostro, Batignano
Peter Grimes	DGOS, Dublin. Irish Premiere
L'ajo nelIimbarazzo	Musica Nell Chiostro, Batignano
Hastings Spring	Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Education department
Lo Schiavo di Sua Moglie	Musica Nell Chiostro, Batignano
The Jar	Arena Company, The Sherman Theatre Cardiff

last update : 18 November, 2011