{"title":"Michael Volpe","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"noisy-at-the-wrong-times-book-michael-volpe-9781784623234","title":"Noisy at the Wrong Times","description":"Against a backdrop of nuns, hit men, gangsters, rugby and ice-cream, Noisy at the wrong times is an inspiring memoir by Michael Volpe, General Manager and founder of Opera Holland Park, one of the UK's most popular opera festivals. Volpe's upbringing in a fatherless Italian family in London is hardly recognised as being one from which champions of the high, classical arts emerge, but at the heart of this story is his time at Woolverstone Hall, a prestigious state boarding school that took bright, inner city boys and gave them an Eton-style education - with culture at the heart of the curriculum. Volpe's sudden immersion in a world of rules, traditions and high expectation produced some surprising - and not so surprising - results. With brutal honesty, Noisy at the wrong times charts Volpe's torrid path through this extraordinary school; his countless misdemeanours, the tragedies he experienced, his often shameful behaviour and his endless conflicts - both emotional and physical - with authority.  Noisy at the wrong times is a lesson for modern educationalists at a time when inner city children from poor backgrounds are often written off even before they begin, when cultural education is diminishing and aspirational leadership of young people is little more than a platitude. It is also a book, as Michael states, for: all those who were ever told not to bother. The book was featured in the Sunday Times Culture section.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49517131464977,"sku":"GOR007255436","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1784623237.jpg?v=1751025772"},{"product_id":"noisy-at-the-wrong-times-book-michael-volpe-9781473629400","title":"Noisy at the Wrong Times","description":"'Hugely entertaining and inspiring' The Sunday Times One of The Sunday Times' 100 biographies to love  The inspirational and colourful memoir of Michael Volpe, the general manager of Opera Holland Park. The son of Italian immigrants, he and his brothers were raised by his mother on a council estate in West London, before he attended Woolverstone Hall, a prestigious state boarding school designed to give bright inner city boys the opportunity of a public school education. Set against a backdrop of nuns, hit men, ice cream vans, rugby, gangsters, strict school masters and music, Noisy at the Wrong Times is the vibrant, funny, inspiring story of a boy who was given a chance - though whether he took it or not is another question...  AS SEEN ON BBC ARTS' HIP HOP 2 OPERA","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49592862834961,"sku":"GOR007124883","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49656379703569,"sku":"GOR007643159","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50132318290193,"sku":"NGR9781473629400","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1473629403.jpg?v=1772793442"},{"product_id":"do-i-bark-like-a-dog-book-michael-volpe-9781804470862","title":"Do I Bark Like a Dog?","description":"Growing up in the heart of London's immigrant Italian community, Michael Volpe always felt disconnected from the UK, the country of his birth. He felt different to his friends, had alternative cultural experiences, and never truly felt he belonged – an unease that has been exacerbated by Brexit for many immigrant families living in the UK.  Exploring his colourful, rich and often dramatic life in London and summers spent in southern Italy among his large extended family, Do I Bark Like a Dog? considers the roots of Volpe's identity. Delving into family secrets and lies, he discovers how extraordinary events filtered through time to propel his unlikely but successful career in opera.  Evocatively written and featuring circus stars, fascists and faked deaths, Do I Bark Like a Dog? is a deeply moving testimony to Volpe's mother and her family, and an extraordinary journey into the heart of a life that has left an indelible mark on the world of opera.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49749047476497,"sku":"NGR9781804470862","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51439280029969,"sku":"GOR014281596","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1804470864.jpg?v=1751026940"},{"product_id":"noisy-at-the-wrong-times-rare-book-michael-volpe-1685363867iev","title":"Noisy at the Wrong Times","description":"2015. No Edition Remarks. 263 pages. Signed by the author. Pictorial dust jacket over orange cloth boards with lettering. Contains black and white illustrations. 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