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Dove’s masterful adaptation, combined with an ebullient and characterful rendition by New Zealand Opera, make for a very effective and at times, very moving, afternoon at the opera. 

A uniformly strong cast and pianists effortlessly combine comedy and emotion in Dove's Mansfield Park from Waterperry Opera. 

Jonathan Dove's witty Jane Austen chamber opera received a standing ovation from an ecstatic audience: quite the opening salvo for a brand new summer opera festival. 

A newly-orchestrated version of Jonathan Dove’s chamber opera drew some impressive performances from Heritage Opera in this pared-down adaption of Jane Austen’s third novel.

Turning great novels into opera isn't a new idea - consider Prokofiev's War and Peace or Massenet's Werther - but it can be a tricky business: opera thrives on pace and high drama, while the greatest novels have time and space for reflection and character development.

It's extremely rare to see a small opera company commission a brand new work, but that's exactly what Heritage Opera, who regularly present chamber operas in the north-west of England, have done.