Press

Peter says Joseph Haydn features because he was a friend of Mozart during the latter part of his short life and a big influence on him. Michael Haydn was Joseph’s lesser-known younger brother.

They are represented in the ODL concert programme by the Symphony No. 52 in C minor and the Symphony No. 25 in G respectively. The latter has an introduction by Mozart.

“Then we’ve got Carl Friedrich Abel (Symphony in E-flat, Opus 7, No. 6) who was London-based and who the Mozarts would have encountered and got to know quite well when they spent their year in London.

“Hopefully the programme is put together in such a way that you can hear and see the influence on Mozart.

“There are various tell-tale signs that Mozart liked something he heard in these works and used it in his own.”

Peter recalls that the first time he heard the Abel symphony he could hear traces of Mozart’s featured Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat (for viola, violin and orchestra) in it.

Preview: Influencing Mozart, Opera dei LumiWednesday 10 August, 2022

Read Review

The audience size will be limited at both venues but loud applause will make it all seem worthwhile.

The Saturday concert will also be live-streamed. Explains Peter: “Even though we’re living in a free world now Covid restrictions have been relaxed, understandably some people are hesitant.

“This is for them, and it also means anyone will be able to join us from anywhere in the world.”

Cultured North EastWednesday 11 August, 2021

Read Review

“Meet the man from the North East bringing Mozart to the masses”

Peter Keenan founded an opera company in his early twenties but compared to Mozart, he's a late starter. He talks about his passion for the composer.

The JournalThursday 8 August, 2019

Read Review

A fine ensemble performance was conducted authoritatively by Peter Keenan. The audience, nearly two hundred strong, gave the performance an enthusiastic reception in the atmospheric surroundings of Greyfriars Kirk. It is such an attractively tuneful oratorio that it is hard to account for its neglect.

Opera Scotland

Read Review

Opera dei Lumi drew enough out of Esther to make it a very enjoyable evening’s entertainment, and the boisterous chaos of the extended final chorus, embellished with a manic trumpet solo (played by Michael Iles) gave a good flavour of what Handel would eventually achieve in his choral writing, and it had me grinning my head off by the end.

Music in DurhamMonday 20 August, 2018

Read Review

“Opera dei Lumi’s enlightening Messiah”

In a performance that was marked by expressivity and drama, [conductor] Peter Keenan had one last surprise for us at the end … In the hands of those who look for it, Messiah always has something new to say.

Music in DurhamSunday 10 December, 2017

Read Review

“A marriage of genius and delight”

A heroic feat that was a total triumph from overture to finale. They say that in an orchestra, the musicians play their instruments while the conductor plays the orchestra: when these elements are as in tune with each other as they were on that night, a symbiosis occurs – feeding and nurturing one another. It’s real magic. It’s more than translating the notes on the page into sound. It’s a magic that enthrals, and one that no one will ever be able to figure out how it’s done. 

Berwick AdvertiserFriday 14 August, 2015

Read Review

“New opera company make a triumphant debut”

Musical director Peter Keenan had brought together […] talented young singers, obviously familiar with Mozart’s masterpiece. Their voices – no microphones necessary in the high-ceilinged hall – stunned and thrilled the sell-out audience, who gave them a rapturous reception.

Berwickshire NewsFriday 26 September, 2014

Read Review