(l to r): Sophie Sparrow, Guy Elliott, Jonathan Eyers, Jade Moffat Photo: Supplied
While opera is a wonderful thing, it doesn't necessarily come cheap.
But Whangarei-raised soprano Sophie Sparrow has a plan to bring some of opera's finest moments to venues around the North Island without busting the budget.
She and fellow Kiwi singer, baritone Jonathan Eyers, are about to embark on a four-venue season of "Eternal Romance, an Operatic Affair" with two fellow singers they met in Britain: UK tenor Guy Elliott, and Australian mezzo-soprano Jade Moffat.
With the help of pianists Juan Kim and Catherine Norton, the quartet will present semi-staged highlights of great operas and operettas from down the ages - from Monteverdi to Verdi, and from Gilbert and Sullivan to Sondheim.
Sparrow and Eyers spoke with RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump ahead of the first gig of their tour in Sparrow's home town.
Crump asks if the quartet of singers are all friends. Most certainly - in fact, Guy Elliot is Ayers' fiancé.
The group all met while working and studying in the United Kingdom, and after bringing the "Eternal Romance" tour to New Zealand they'll be back together in England, where among other things they'll all be in the same Glyndebourne production of Wagner's epic Parsifal.
