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Michael Tippett鈥檚 1977 opera The Ice Break was written after he had spent time in America, where he became fascinated by jazz, blues and even 70s rock. In the current climate of inter-cultural, political and economic turbulence the themes addressed in Tippett鈥檚 opera are extremely relevant today. Petroc Trelawny visits rehearsals for Birmingham Opera Company鈥檚 new production of The Ice Break which is being performed in an inner-city warehouse. 听Petroc meets the director Graham Vick along with the professional principals and local community volunteer chorus. Tippett鈥檚 belief that opera should be socially inclusive and his belief that every artist and work has a social responsibility mirrors the objective of Birmingham Opera Company鈥檚 work.

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Photo: Chrystal E Williams (Hannah) and Ta鈥檜 Pupu鈥檃 (Olympion) in Birmingham Opera Company鈥檚 The Ice Break

Following their entry into Austria and the Sudetenland in the late 1930s, the Germans pursued a policy of cultural imperialism in the countries they occupied during the Second World War. As a result, the arts in the occupied lands came under Nazi control, or were subject to severe scrutiny and censorship.听 A forthcoming conference in Manchester considers how the Nazi regime used music as propaganda, infiltrating the cultural life of countries including Belgium, Denmark, Hungary and Greece.听 听Petroc Trelawny discusses music in Denmark under occupation with Niels Krabbe and Michael Fjeldsoe.听 The choices made by musicians under these conditions demonstrate the difficulties they faced.听 Gershwin鈥檚 Porgy and Bess was performed as an act of resistance, while the composer Paul von Klenau who worked in Germany and Austria until 1940 still has a controversial reputation today.

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Photo:听Richard Strauss conducting at the first Reichsmusiktage in Dusseldorf in 1938.听 Photo: 漏Stadtarchiv Dusseldorf

The next instalment in the occasional series for Music Matters in which Professor Cliff Eisen goes 'Inside Song,' forensically examining the music and lyrics of some of the greatest songs in musical history, and telling the stories behind the melodies.

Today, Schubert鈥檚 song 鈥淒er Zwerg鈥� (The Dwarf) is in the spotlight. This setting of the Viennese poet Matthaus von Collin鈥檚 鈥淏etrayal鈥� is put in context with nineteenth century tales about dwarves by Oscar Wilde and the Brothers Grimm which appear in an opera by Alexander Zemlinsky and Walt Disney鈥檚 Snow White.

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Robert Lloyd, who turned 75 earlier this month, was appointed Principal Bass at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1972. He achieved this position via a roundabout route that encompassed a history degree at Oxford, three years in the Royal Navy and a lectureship in current affairs at the National Police Staff College before he started studying singing. Petroc talks to Robert about his distinguished career, including his most prominent roles, his thoughts on working with directors, and semi-retirement.

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Photo: 漏Les Campbell