Nine BBCM children (age 5 -10) attended the performance of Verdi’s Stiffelio. Below follow their reviews.

I do not read so Stiffelio was hard to follow, but it helped that we have discussed the story and heard the music prior to the performance.
The best part was when we saw how the stage was set up. They pushed scenery and the feeling changed. I realised that there are more people in a production than just the singers. Stagehands appear to help.
It felt like night even though it was day and when I left the Royal Opera House it felt funny to feel the sun.
My voice is too squeaky for opera, the singers must practise breathing like I do
when I swim.
I enjoyed my excellent view (seat 44) and in the interval I ate chocolate ice cream.
Sylvie Empson, age 5

It was my first time to the opera house. I like the opera house, the chairs are very nice. I fell asleep, then I woke up and watched. The opera was better than watching it at home with my mum and brother. I liked the music, the singing and the scene change. My favourite part was the sword fight. I really enjoyed the opera.
Alexander Leonce – Week, age 5

Stiffelio was marvellous because of all the excitement. The music made you know when something was going to happen. The singing was not in English but I still understood because I had seen it several times at home. The open scene change was fantastic. I have been to the opera house three times but I have never seen that before.
The best part for me was the sword fight. Meeting Mark Elder was very nice. He seems like a very nice man. The opera house is a lovely place to be because it has so much gold.
Joshua Leonce–Week, age 6

Yesterday we saw Stiffelio in the Royal Opera House. We had very good seats and we had a good view of the stage. I liked the music of the opera very much.
My favourite parts were the duel between Count Stankar and Raffaele and the organ music in the church scene at the end of the opera. I especially liked the part where the actors pulled out their swords and started to fight. The sound of the swords was played by many instruments in the orchestra.
I also liked the special part where they changed the scene in front of us. They explained to us how all the changes are directed by a computer.
At the end of the opera we went to see the conductor, Mark Elder. He was very kind to us. He asked us if we liked the opera and what was our favourite part. I told him that my favourite part was the music.
Adam Aradi-Posylkin, age 6

On Friday the 27th of April we went to see Stiffelio at the Royal Opera House with our teacher, Agnes. It was the first ever time I had seen an opera and I want to see another one.
The story
Lina has a boy friend and her husband, Stiffelio, is not happy. He almost kills Raffaele but Jorg came and stopped him. Later, in the 3rd act, Lina's dad, Stankar, kills Raffaele. In the end Stiffelio forgives Lina.
I liked the music and the singing and I thought Lina was the best singer. I didn't like parts of it because the music was too loud. I didn't like it when Stankar came back covered in blood but I did like it when we saw the scene change. It was cool!
The seats were excellent! We had a really good view.
The conductor was nice too. He talked to us. It was nice to meet him. He's very famous.
Conor Reynolds, age 6

When my dad wrote a letter to my headmaster at my school, four weeks ago, for me to be away, it was too far in the distance for me to be excited. On Thursday I had my shower before bed and could not understand why I needed to go to bed at the same time, even though I was having the day off school on Friday.
We left home at 11 o’clock to get to the Royal Opera House (ROH) for 12:00 midday. I couldn’t wait to go inside.
I was surprised how large the ROH was and how beautiful the walls were. There was lots of excited chattering from all the other children from other schools present. Then to my surprise the lights got darker and everyone started cheering and going whooo.
The conductor walked on.
The scene started being put together and the actors came on and started performing, which was quite an amazement. The arias were lovely and were sung beautifully.
We have been listening to the CD in the car, some of the CD recording was quite similar but not exactly the same. The ones on the stage were sung softer which made it more enjoyable for me.
The scenes and the colours used encouraged me to feel the happiness or sadness that the actors were performing.
I remained awake and alert all through the performance because I was so very, very excited. However, because I am only six years old, I would have fallen asleep if the performance had continued for much longer.
Durodoluwa Adebayo, age 6

Royal Opera House: It was a very big pretty theatre and there were lots of people there. Most people there were schoolchildren and I knew because they had uniforms on. I could see a TV screen of the conductor higher up. I think it’s because the singers can’t look down at the conductor and need to look up and the screen is so that they can see him.
The seats: The seats were very comfortable and cosy. They were red velvet folding seats and I saw the perfect view. We were in the front row at the back of the lower floor.
Music: Sometimes it was very calm and sometimes it was very wild and loud. I liked all the tunes especially the first ones. The orchestra was in time. I could see the conductor but I could only see a bit of the orchestra. The orchestra was really good but especially the conductor.
Setting: The colours were very dull but a few were colourful especially when the light was shining through the window.
Singers: The singers were brilliant. I liked Lina who was Stiffelio’s wife because even though it was in a different language you could hear what she was saying.
Clothes: They were all wearing dark colours. Lina was wearing a brown dress with a lace collar. Stiffelio was wearing a black suit.
Story: Whilst Stiffelio was away Lina was naughty and got another boyfriend and took off her ring and gave it to him. Stiffelio was angry at Lina because he had found her with no ring. They were thinking of getting divorced.. Lina’s dad and Raffaele who was Lina’s boyfriend had a mini-war. Lina’s dad killed Raffaele. Lina went inside and so did Stiffelio but Lina said to Stiffelio that she liked him too much to get divorced and Stiffelio forgave her. Then they went into church and prayed and they all lived happily ever after.
Subtitles: You could understand the story because there were subtitles although I knew the story a bit because I had watched it on DVD.
Scene Change: It was amazing to see the change of scenery especially the man in the toy car who was pushing the scenery.
Meeting the conductor: We met the conductor who was called Mark Elder. He came to talk to us in a big hall room. He answered a question.
Hollie Gold, age 8

On the 27th of April Agnes took part of her class to see Stiffelio at the Royal Opera House. It was a very good opera and the seats were very good.
Main characters: Stiffelio, Lina, Count Stankar and Raffaele.
Story: While Stiffelio was away Lina got a boyfriend but then Stiffelio comes home. Lina got very worried and tries to confess but Count Stankar told Lina not to, as it would upset Stiffelio too much. Stiffelio doesn't know what's going on but in the graveyard he finds out and nearly kills Raffaele but it was too much for him and Stiffelio faints. In Act 3 Count Stankar kills Raffaele. At the very end Stiffelio forgives Lina.
Music: The music was excellent. I particularly liked Lina - her voice was very good. I noticed that some parts that were quieter on the CD were louder in the opera. My favourite part was at the very end when Stiffelio forgave Lina and they all sang 'Perdonata! Perdonata!'
Staging: I was amazed at the staging - it looked so different from the ballet. It had every detail. I really liked the scene change - I saw backstage.
Afterwards we all went into a room with magnificent chandeliers. We met Mark Elder. I was very excited. I had a small conversation [with him]. It was great to meet Mark Elder. I thought he did a great job of conducting, although I wish I said that to him!
It was a very good opera and I would like to go again sometime!
Lizzie Reynolds, age 9

‘Stiffelio’ is the story of a man who doesn’t like his wife Lina because she betrayed him with another man and in the end they get divorced. However, when they see each other in church later, Stiffelio (or Rodolfo which is his other name) reads the bible story of the woman brought to Jesus for adultery. This makes Lina very sad and Stiffelio says he forgives her. In this production, it wasn’t clear to me whether Stiffelio really forgives her. This might be because the opera went on for a long time so by the end I was feeling sleepy. Overall, this production was not very exciting but the music was good.
I think the production could have been better in various ways. For example:

1. in the duel scene, Rafaele tells Stankar he doesn’t want to fight an unfair duel, but Stankar fought much better than Rafaele.
2. after Stankar killed Rafaele, there should have been blood on Stankar’s clothes and not just on his arms.
3. Whenever Stiffelio was supposed to look angry he looked very calm instead.
4. Lina was a good actor but she looked sad all the time which got a bit tiresome, especially at the end when she felt especially sad and lay on the floor crying.

The best scenery in this production was the graveyard which looked like the real thing.
We had a special treat for this performance because the curtain was kept up so we could watch the scene change from the graveyard to the next scene of a room in the mansion. The gravestones were on a truck which drove them away. The mansion walls were pushed on stage and an extra wall dropped down to make an extra room in which Rafaele could be killed.
Afterwards we met the conductor who asked us if we liked the opera and we all said ‘yes’.
Sam Hope, age 10

Stiffelio is not an easy opera for young children to watch, especially with the second and third acts performed without a break, but it has good melodies by Verdi and we had an excellent cast. I was keen for us to attend because of conductor Mark Elder and I was not disappointed. He delivered a top class performance and afterwards, very kindly, he made time to talk to our group. We treasure the honor.
Agnes Kory