Opera: the most complete art form, and (most of the time) a stunning blend of music, stagecraft, lighting and passion – but what happens when it all goes wrong? Ask any singer and they will have a hundred stories of errors and accidents onstage, most of which go unnoticed by the audience. There are, however, always one or two that simply can’t be explained away!

Tenor Alex Haigh will explore just what happens when the worst occurs in this morning’s lecture, covering the humble cracked voice, destruction of sets by enraged singers and even inebriated musicians playing the wrong opera in the second act! More than any other art form, opera walks the fine line between triumph and disaster, and it is this balancing act that we are drawn to; after all, at this highest point of tension is where some of opera’s greatest successes are found, and without the knowledge that it could all fall apart at any moment, where would the excitement be? Come join Alex on a romp through some of the lowest moments in opera’s history, safe in the knowledge that even when the scenery collapses, the diva is ill and the maestro is asleep, the music ultimately wins the day!