A broadcast control room overlooking an empty opera house

Opera in translation

Bringing opera closer,
one cue at a time.

For more than thirty years, Richard Néel has translated and surtitled opera for audiences in France and across Europe.

Between the stage and the audience

The craft

Translation that listens
to the music.

Surtitling is not simply a matter of translating a libretto. It is literary and musical work: every phrase must be concise enough to read, true to the meaning and shaped to belong within the music.

The art of surtitling

Richard Néel

More than thirty years shaping the words audiences read.

From the Paris Opera to theatres, festivals and broadcasts across Europe, Richard’s work has grown with the technology of surtitling while remaining rooted in language, music and live performance.

Read the biography

An opera stage seen through an ornate proscenium

ProductionsThree decades in the theatre

A score beside surtitling software in an auditorium

WorkWords, music, performance

Bringing opera closer,one cue at a time.

Translation that listensto the music.

More than thirty years shaping the words audiences read.

Bringing opera closer,
one cue at a time.

Translation that listens
to the music.