One Art: the life of Elizabeth Bishop

Laure Meloy


Regions:
Kent, East Sussex, Surrey, West Sussex, London
Notice Period:
Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
Type:
Professional, Hobby, Rotary, WI, Workshop, Staff Development
Fee:
Paid
Category:
Entertainment
Updated:
9th May 2022
Tagged:
Poetry | Biography | Cabaret | Opera

'The art of losing isn't hard to master...' Elizabeth Bishop's poem One Art is a tribute to the inevitability of loss, and the necessity of artists to use personal pain as material. Her poetry is transformed by opera composer Paula Kimper into art songs which, interwoven with Bishop's letters and life story, create the framework for an intimate and moving performance by soprano Laure Meloy.

Hailed as one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century, Bishop was Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949-1950. She lost both parents and her home at a very early age, and travelled widely as an adult, living variously in New York, Key West, San Frandcisco, Boston, and Brazil. Her poetry shielded and disguised her private life, expressing her feelings indirectly via descriptions of locations and objects; a clearer picture of her life emerges in her correspondence, detailing her struggles with life, love, poetry, and alcohol.

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About Laure Meloy

Laure Meloy is a dramatic soprano, specialising in challenging 20th and 21st century opera. Recent engagements include making her debut as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre at the Grimeborn Festival in London, performing the title role in Zaïde for her debut in Germany, joining the roster of the Metropolitan Opera New York, and recording the album One Art, which won the Hawai'i Public Radio International Art Song Contest. She has performed at the Royal Opera House, Hungarian National Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, and with English Touring Opera during their Olivier Award winning season, as well as on the soundtrack of the film Rocketmen. Locally she has sung at Canterbury Cathedral, the POW Festival in Margate, and the MAYS concert series in Broadstairs. Her essays about life in the performing arts have featured in several professional journals, and she completed writing a memoir, From Aïda to Zaïde: scribblings of a mad soprano, in 2020.


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