Biographies - Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Transcription

Opera Holland Park
sponsored by
KORN/FERRY
INTERNATIONAL
SEASON 2009
programme magazine
Contents
The Operas
10
Synopses
Programme Magazine
Edited by Michael Volpe
Editorial by Lisa Leigh
Roberto Devereux
36
Hänsel und Gretel
36
La bohème
38
Orpheus in the Underworld
39
Un ballo in maschera
41
Kát’a Kabanová
42
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Printed by GKD Litho
Website
Visit the Opera Holland Park website at
www.operahollandpark.com for online bookings,
features, information, archive images and much
more.
Biographies
Roberto Devereux
44
Hänsel und Gretel
47
La bohème
50
53
57
Kát’a Kabanová
61
Box Office: 0845 230 9769
Please do not stand or sit in any of the gangways
intersecting the seating, or stand or sit in any other
part of the theatre during the performance without
permission.
Latecomers will not be admitted until a suitable
break in the performance occurs, if possible, and at
the discretion of the management.
Opera images
This year’s images are by Zachary Walsh. Originally
from Manchester, Zachary graduated with an MA
from the Royal College of Art. A figurative painter in
the truest sense he adopts minimalist abstract
backgrounds into which he installs his carefully
composed figures to create a rare sense of calm and
mystery. He has exhibited widely in the UK as well
as in France, Mexico and Ireland and is represented
in private collections worldwide.
For further information you can reach the artist on
07931 299 303 or [email protected].
The images are not representations of the productions but the
artist’s interpretation of the operas
© Royal Borough of Kensington, Arts and Leisure Services 2009
Reproduction of this publication in full or in part is not
permitted without the written permission of the publisher.
Features
20 years at Holland Park
Michael Volpe
64
Roberto Devereux
Warwick Thompson
68
Hänsel und Gretel
Peter Reed
72
A Bohemian State of Mind
Gavin Plumley
76
Offenbach, operetta and Orpheus
George Hall
80
‘Viva Verdi’: Sense and Censorship
in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera
Katharine Camiller
84
Kát’a Kabanová
Robert Thicknesse
88
Holland Park: Opera, Wildlife
Habitats and the Ecology Service
Saskie Lovell
92
Working in partnership
94
OHP Friends and supporters
95
This programme is printed on paper sourced from
sustainable forests and printed using vegetable
based inks.
WINTON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
is delighted to support
Opera Holland Park
and wish them every success
for the 2009 season
WintonCapital.com
Welcome
On behalf of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, I would like to welcome you to
Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park, 2009.
We embark on this stirring season at a time when the world is obsessed with finance,
recessions and amid any number of gloomy predictions. Downturns have threatened OHP
before of course and on each occasion the company has weathered it well, mainly as a result of
dedicated audience support but partly because in hard times, we need to retain some
pleasures in our troubled existence.
It is inevitable that in difficult times spending comes under close scrutiny. However, there are
certain things that this, and other councils do as part of a greater contribution to London as a
whole. The Royal Borough has wonderful parks – we are in one of them tonight - and these are
enjoyed by people from all over London and indeed the world. The Opera Holland Park season is
one of my Council’s major contributions to London’s cultural offering and we will continue to
support it.
One of the key elements of our support for Opera Holland Park is to ensure that opera is
accessible to a wide group of people. Therefore I am enormously pleased to see the scheme
giving free tickets for young people from nine to 18 continue and develop. As well as free
tickets for the young, we have ensured that many tickets are available at affordable prices by
offering thousands of £10 seats.
Of course not everyone can come to this splendid season but that won’t prevent us taking
opera to them. The company and Friends have taken OHP into the community. This was
perhaps best illustrated by the ‘Big Day Out’ project in February when singers from the
company visited ten venues in one day, including schools, residential homes, stores and
hospitals.
I am again grateful to Korn/Ferry International for their support and to all sponsors and donors
who give so generously to ensure OHP continues to deliver at the highest level.
Thank you again for your support and enjoy the season.
Councillor Merrick Cockell
Leader of the Council
Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park is owned and managed by The Royal Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea
The Phillimore
Kensington Estate
Jefferies is proud to support
Opera Holland Park’s production of
La bohème
Investment Banking
Sales & Trading
Research
Asset Management
Jefferies International Limited
www.jefferies.com
Member SIPC • © 5/2009 Jefferies International Limited.
Jefferies International Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Acknowledgments
Cabinet Member for Transportation, Environment
and Leisure Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown
Lead Members for Transportation, Environment
and Leisure Cllr John Corbet-Singleton
and Cllr Dr Iain Hanham
Box Office Assistants Hollie Ashton-Penketh,
Beth Cunninghame Graham, Sara El-Araj, Paul Erbs,
Tara Hanratty
Opera Holland Park Friends’ Head of Development
Denise Fiennes
Executive Director Tot Brill
Opera Holland Park Friends’ Administrator
Lisa Russell
Director of Waste Management, Culture
and Leisure Peter Ramage
Interns Lia Havard, Helen Lewis, Steven Watkins
Costumes supplied and made by
Angels The Costumier www.angels.uk.com
For Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park
Sets built by Capital Scenery 0207 7978 8822
Producer James Clutton
Canopy Architen Landrell Associate
General Manager Michael Volpe
Technical Services Provider HSL Group Holdings Ltd
Associate Producer Katharine Camiller
Seating Grandstands Worldwide
Publicity and Marketing Officer Lisa Leigh
Security Chargecrest Ltd
Corporate Partnerships Lucy Paterson
Catering Cooks and Partners
Company Manager Douglas Turnbull
Temporary Accommodation Wernick Hire
Production Manager T C Murphy
Marquees John M Carter Ltd
Production Assistant Sarah Crabtree
Washroom facilities John Anderson Hire Ltd
Head of Music Elizabeth Rowe
Operations Manager Michael Harth
Assistant Operations Manager Rob T A Pearce
Box Office Manager Cecilia Mahor
Front of House Manager Mick Goggin
Wigs and Make-up Ron Freeman
Head of Wardrobe David Thorne
Wardrobe Assistants Kate McDermott and
Anna Popovich
Properties Supervisor Maria Wells
Surtitles Translation and Operation Paul Hastie and
Richard Dearsley
Orchestra Manager Claire Sainsbury for
City of London Sinfonia
Stage Supervisors Bob Watts and Sam Riches
Our grateful thanks go to those who have offered
generous support
Korn/Ferry International
Winton Capital
Jefferies International
Associated Newspapers
Trustees of the Phillimore Kensington Estate
Rensburg Sheppards
Beaumont Cornish
Classic FM
We would like to acknowledge, in no particular
order, the support of the following
Deputy Stage Supervisors Sean Turner and
Simon Evans
Carla Withers and all the Friends of Opera Holland
Park who work so tirelessly in support of the
company
Electrician Warren Hutchinson
Inspector Rumble and the parks police
Holland House Youth Hostel
Barrie Maclaurin Royal Borough of
Kensington and Chelsea
Quadron Services
5
in association with
Delighted
D
lli h d to support O
Opera H
Holland
ll d P
Parkk
Associated
Assoc
ciated Newspapers is the publish
publisher
her of
Be part of
something special
When you take your seat at an Opera Holland Park
performance, you’re sure to be surrounded by a
great many Friends. This is because the Friends are
passionate about opera and proud to contribute
towards OHP’s artistic season, which goes from
strength to strength.
In 2008 the Friends sponsored Ponchielli’s La
Gioconda, a thrilling and rarely seen opera. This
year, the Friends supported the critically acclaimed
revival of Tosca at the Richmond Theatre in
February. Further, over this summer, OHPF will be
contributing towards the much-awaited production
of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux. These exceptional
efforts and the artistic excellence that resulted
were recognised by the Royal Philharmonic Society
through OHP’s shortlist nomination for Best
Concert Series and Festivals in 2008.
However, the stage at Holland Park is not the only
focus for the Friends. Education and community
engagement play a key role in the Friends’ efforts to
bring opera to everybody. At a Children’s Opera
Workshop in March, 120 children aged 10 and 11
from five local schools listened closely to arias from
Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel performed by
members of the cast. The children took part by
singing a chorus from the opera, prepared in
advance in music lessons. Edible gingerbread men
may also have contributed to overall enthusiasm!
Alongside this the Friends also fund an outreach
programme for the elderly and disabled, which
involves OHP singers giving recitals at day care
centres for those unable to come to the theatre.
The response to both programmes has been
overwhelmingly positive.
The Friends continue to support the very successful
Free Tickets Scheme for Young People, now in its
fifth year, in association with the Trustees of the
Phillimore Kensington Estate and Associated
Newspapers. The scheme offers 1,200 free tickets to
young people aged 9 to 18 for public performances
in the 2009 season. It encourages them to give
opera a try and, last year, nearly 40 per cent of
participants attended opera for the very first time.
Being a Friend of Opera Holland Park is not just
about raising money for a good musical cause. As a
Friend you can book tickets in advance of the
general public and make sure you obtain seats for
the evenings you prefer. You also have the
opportunity to join singers and the OHP team at a
number of musical and social events during the
year, including lectures, recitals and interval drinks.
The next event, planned as a close to the season, is a
fundraising soirée at the Savile Club on 13 October.
This is a critical time for arts funding and the
support of every Friend is vital to Opera Holland
Park. In 2009 the Friends’ grant forecast of £187,000
is the highest ever committed to Opera Holland
Park – and more is needed. So if you love excellent
opera and want to ensure that it will continue to
flourish in Holland Park, join us and contribute
towards something very special.
Please pick up a joining leaflet, contact Opera
Holland Park Friends, PO Box 50428, London W8
9AG, telephone 020 7361 3910, or e-mail
[email protected]. Information on the
Friends is also available on the Opera Holland Park
website at www.operahollandpark.com.
Opera Holland Park Friends is an independent charitable organisation founded to promote, improve and advance the
education and appreciation of the arts and in particular opera. It is a private company limited by guarantee in England
and Wales number 4515375 and a registered charity number 1096273.
7
Oh
La La!
Sacrebleu! Stunning renovations
in the heart of Kensington
choreographed by
The Phillimore Estate.
Phillimore Estate
Living spaces of distinction
For further information about residential lettings
on the Phillimore Estate contact Matthew Hobbs
at Savills 020 7535 3322 or email [email protected]
2010
Looking ahead…
Opera Holland Park would like to announce productions for the
2010 Season.
Pelléas et Mélisande (Debussy)
Carmen (Bizet)
Don Giovanni (Mozart)
Fidelio (Beethoven)
Revival of the stunning 2003 Olivia Fuchs production
La forza del destino (Verdi)
Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai)
Keep up to date with all of the latest Opera Holland Park news by
joining our mailing list at www.operahollandpark.com
Opera Holland Park reserve the right to alter the advertised programme as necessary.
9
10
Roberto Devereux
Gaetano Donizetti
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano after François Ancelot’s Elisabeth d’Angleterre
Sung in Italian with English surtitles
First performed 28 October 1837, Teatro San Carlo, Naples
With the City of London Sinfonia and Opera Holland Park Chorus
New production (first ever by Opera Holland Park)
Opera Holland Park, Holland Park, London
Performances on June 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 18, 20
Production sponsored by Opera Holland Park Friends Ambassadors
11
Investment Led
Wealth Management
We are delighted
to sponsor Opera
Holland Park and
wish everyone an
enjoyable season
We manage funds for private clients,
charities, trusts and pension funds.
We can help you in all aspects of your financial planning, whether
it’s your investments, pension or general financial matters.
We are committed to providing high quality independent professional advice
with the aim of helping our clients to achieve their financial objectives.
For further information on our services please contact:
Chris Sandford
2 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7QN
Tel: 020 7597 1038
Email [email protected]
www.rensburgsheppards.co.uk
Member firm of the London Stock Exchange. Member of Liffe. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management Limited is registered in England.
Registered No. 2122340. Registered Office: Quayside House Canal Wharf Leeds LS11 5PU. Offices at: Belfast Cheltenham Edinburgh Farnham Glasgow Leeds Liverpool London Manchester Reigate Sheffield.
Roberto Devereux
Cast
Conductor Richard Bonygne
Elisabetta Majella Cullagh
Conductor (10th June) Richard Burgess Ellis
Roberto Devereux Leonardo Capalbo
Director Lindsay Posner
Sara, Duchessa di Nottingham Yvonne Howard
Designer Peter McKintosh
Duca di Nottingham Julian Hubbard
Lighting Designer Peter Mumford
Lord Cecil Aled Hall
Choreographer Adam Cooper
Sir Gualtiero Raleigh Graeme Broadbent
Associate Lighting Designer William Reynolds
Un Paggio Henry Grant Kerswell
Costume Supervisor Sian Jenkins
Un Familiare di Nottingham Henry Deacon
Répétiteur Elizabeth Rowe
Chorus Master Carl Penlington-Williams
Chorus Répétiteur David Smith
Stage Manager Andrew Holton
Deputy Stage Manager Helen Bowen
Assistant Stage Manager Gillian Marchbank
Chorus
Soprano
Mezzo
Tenor
Bass/Baritone
Myvanwy Bentall
Lisajane Ellis
Anna Flannagan
Sarahjane King
Merrin Lazyan
Jaimee Marshall
Julia McCullough
Joanna Tomlinson
Mary Burman
Charlotte Collier
Jennifer Fisher
Pollyanna Hewetson
Emily Kenway
Tania Parker
Ruth Trawford
Clement Hetherington
Robert Jeffrey
Peter Kirk
Geraint Miles
Patrick Mundy
Alex Routledge
Brian Ward
Edward Saklatvala
Jon Benton
Roy Chalmers
Henry Deacon
Nicholas Epton
Henry Grant Kerswell
Ian Massa-Harris
Seamus McGowan
John Woods
Violin 1
Cello
Clarinet
Trumpet
Nicholas Ward leader
Fiona McCapra
Ann Morfee
Peter Pople
Rebecca Scott
Joely Koos
Rachel van der Tang
David Burrowes
David Rix
Ramon Wodkowski
Nicholas Betts
John Young
Bassoon
Trombone
Bass
Jo Graham
Stephen Maw
Dan Jenkins
Amos Miller
Peter Harvey
Orchestra
Violin 2
Peter Dale
Edward Barry
Jane Gomm
Marjory King
Viola
Stephen Tees
Michael Posner
Susan Dench
Lynda Houghton
Ben Russell
Flute
Christine Messiter
Jill Carter
Deborah Davis
Horn
Stephen Stirling
Beth Randell
Mark Paine
Peter Merry
Timpani
Charles Fullbrook
Percussion
Glyn Matthews
Oboe
Dan Bates
Helen McQueen
13
14
Hänsel und Gretel
Engelbert Humperdinck
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Adelheid Wette after the Brothers Grimm fairytale of the same name
Sung in German with English surtitles
First performed 23 December 1893, Hoftheater, Weimar
With the City of London Sinfonia and New London Children’s Choir
Performances on June 5, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19
15
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Our team advises on all aspects of
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of the few independent Nominated
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Proud sponsor of Opera Holland Park
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Tel: 0207 628 3396
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.beaumontcornish.com
Beaumont Cornish Limited
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority, Nominated Adviser,
Member of the London Stock Exchange and a Member of PLUS Markets.
Hänsel und Gretel
Cast
Conductor Peter Selwyn
Hänsel Catherine Hopper
Director Stephen Barlow
Gretel Joana Seara
Designer Paul Edwards
Mother/Witch Anne Mason
Lighting Designer Peter Mumford
Father Donald Maxwell
Choreographer David Greenall
Sandman Katherine Allen
Associate Lighting Designer William Reynolds
Dew Fairy Pippa Goss
Language Coach Norbert Meyn
Echoes Mary Burman, Anna Flannagan,
Sarahjane King, Joanna Tomlinson
Costume Supervisor Chrissy Maddison
Répétiteur Stuart Wild
Stage Manager Rebecca Maltby
Deputy Stage Manager Kate Astbury
Assistant Stage Manager Kirk Woodley
Childrens Chorus
Courtesy of New London Children’s Choir
Gabriella Diaferia
Harry Forster
Alex Franklin
Grace Frazer
Lily Guenault
Xenia Haslam
Miranda Layton
Anna Lush
Eleanor Maloney
Stephen Mason
Georgina McCloud Shaw
Shulamit Morris-Evans
Rachel Newell
Jordan Parker
Katie Porter
Madeleine Sinnott
Louisa Stuart-Smith
Eleanor Tennyson
Henry Young
Sophie Young
Violin 1
Viola
Oboe
Trumpet
Nicholas Ward leader
Joan Atherton
Fiona McCapra
Ann Morfee
Peter Pople
Rebecca Scott
Stephen Tees
Susan Dench
Michael Posner
Fay Sweet
Dan Bates
Helen McQueen
Nicholas Betts
John Young
Clarinet
Trombone
David Rix
Derek Hannigan
Dan Jenkins
Amos Miller
Peter Harvey
Millicent Barber
Jonathan Bircumshaw
Jack Blass
James Cameron
Lara Cosmetatos
Noa Craig
Edward Daly
Orchestra
Violin 2
Jane Carwardine
Peter Dale
Edward Barry
Jane Gomm
Marjory King
Cello
Joely Koos
Judith Herbert
Rachel van der Tang
David Burrowes
Bass
Lynda Houghton
Ben Russell
Flute
Bassoon
Jo Graham
Stephen Maw
Timpani
Horn
Percussion
Stephen Stirling
Timothy Caister
Mark Paine
Peter Merry
Glyn Matthews
Charles Fullbrook
Harp
Rachel Masters
Karen Jones
Deborah Davis
17
18
La bohème
Giacomo Puccini
Opera in four acts
Libretto be Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica after Henri Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème
First performed 1 February 1896, Teatro Regio, Turin
New production
Performances on June 27, 29, July 1, 3, 5 (matinée), 7, 9, 11,
August 11, 13, 15
In association with
Investment Banking
Sales & Trading
Research
Asset Management
19
La bohème
Cast
Conductor Robert Dean
Mimi Linda Richardson
Director Elaine Kidd
Rodolfo Aldo Di Toro (27 June – 11 July)
Sean Ruane (11, 13 & 15 August)
Designer Colin Richmond
Lighting Designer Colin Grenfell
Choreographer Sarah Fahie
Marcello Grant Doyle (27 June – 11 July)
George von Bergen (11, 13 & 15 August)
Colline Tim Mirfin
Répétiteur Kelvin Lim
Schaunard Njabulo Madlala
Chorus Master Matthew Waldren
Musetta Hye-Youn Lee
Benoit/Alcindoro Eric Roberts
Stage Manager Heather Rose
Parpignol Peter Kent
Deputy Stage Manager Elaine Yeung
Customs Official Henry Grant Kerswell
Assistant Stage Manager Rebecca Carnell
Student Stage Manager Beth Crock
Chorus
Soprano
Mezzo
Tenor
Bass/Baritone
Myvanwy Bentall
Kezia Bienik
Joanna Bleach
Leah Jackson
Catrine Kirkman
Sophie Walby
Mary Burman
Jennifer Fisher
Naomi Kilby
Chloe Maloney
Jennifer Marsden
Tania Parker
Peter Kent
Geraint Miles
Patrick Mundy
Benjamin Newhouse-Smith
Simon Pontin
Edward Saklatvala
Julian Smith
Geoffrey Strum
Roy Chalmers
Michael Davis
Henry Deacon
Thomas Humphreys
Henry Grant Kerswell
Maciek O’Shea
Mark Syropoulos
Nicolas Simeha
Children courtesy of
W11 Opera for Young
People and The Cardinal
Vaughan Memorial
School
Orchestra
Violin 1
Cello
Bassoon
Martin Burgess leader
Joan Atherton
Fiona McCapoa
Peter Pople
Rebecca Scott
Julian Trafford
Joely Koos
Judith Herbert
David Burrowes
Miriam Lowbury
Jo Graham
Stephen Maw
Maya Daniels
Jack Dent
Dominic Doutney
Calypso Eaton
Daniel Harraghy
Ellie Harrison
Jack Hartnett
Olivia Hugh-Jones
Isabelle Kent
Anna Kovács
Thomas Lacy
Daniel Pugh
Harry Robertson
Melissa Travers
Eugenia Villarosa
Violin 2
Peter Dale
Edward Barry
Kate Comberti
Jane Gomm
Marjory King
Jessica O’Leary
Viola
Stephen Tees
Katie Heller
Michael Posner
Susan Dench
Bass
Paul Sherman
Ben Russell
Flute
Christine Messiter
Jill Carter
Oboe
Dan Bates
Helen McQueen
Clarinet
David Rix
Derek Hannigan
Horn
Mark Paine
Peter Merry
Trumpet
Nicholas Betts
John Young
Timpani
Charles Fullbrook
Percussion
Glyn Matthews
Harp
Rachel Masters
21
22
Orpheus in the
Underworld
Jacques Offenbach
Operetta in two acts
Text by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy
English version by Jeremy Sams
Sung in English
Performed by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited
First performed 21 October 1858, Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens (Salle Choiseul), Paris
Performances on June 30, July 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
23
Opera Holland Park
costumed by
Angels The Costumiers
1 Garrick Road NW9 6AA
T020 8202 2244
www.angels.uk.com
Angels Fancy Dress
119 Shaftesbury Avenue WC2H 8AE
T020 7836 5678
www.fancydress.com
Conductor John Owen Edwards
Cast in order of appearence
Director Tom Hawkes
Public Opinion Nuala Willis
Designer Peter Rice
Eurydice Jeni Bern
Orpheus Benjamin Segal
Choreographer Jenny Weston
Aristaeus/Pluto, ruler of the Underworld
Daniel Broad
Morpheus, God of Sleep Benjamin Newhouse-Smith
Répétiteur Charles Kilpatrick
Cupid, Son of Venus Jane Harrington
Chorus Master Matthew Waldren
Venus, Goddess of Love Verity Parker
Mars, God of War Maciek O’Shea
Stage Manager Alex Hale
Jupiter, King of the Gods Ian Caddy
Deputy Stage Manager Eleanor Pappworth
Juno, his wife Jill Pert
Assistant Stage Manager Kerry Sullivan
Diana, Goddess of the Hunt Nicola Stonehouse
Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom Louise Crane
Mercury, Messenger of the Gods Oliver White
John Styx, ex-King of the Beotians John Lofthouse
Bacchus, God of Wine Ste Clough
Gods of Olympus including Apollo, Ceres, Flora, Faunus, Ganymede, Hebe, Iris, Janus, Neptune, The Three
Graces, Vesta, Vulcan and attendants on Diana and Pluto.
Soprano
Mezzo
Tenor
Bass/Baritone
Dancers
Joanna Bleach
Samantha Crawford
Sarah Grosvenor
Catrine Kirkman
Katie Lowe
Sophie Walby
Joanna Weeks
Jennifer Fisher
Pollyanna Hewetson
Martha Jones
Naomi Kilby
Chloe Maloney
Jennifer Marsden
David Bellinger
Peter Kirk
Benjamin
Newhouse-Smith
Simon Pontin
Alex Routledge
Julian Smith
David Butt Philip
Michael Davis
Thomas Humphreys
Ian Massa-Harris
Maciek O’Shea
Mark Spyropoulos
Nicolas Simeha
Lauren Hall
Leonie Hollingum
Bronwyn Iten-Scott
Abiona Omonua
Gillian Parkhouse
Zarah Wyn
Orchestra
Violin 1
Viola
Flute
Horn
Martin Burgess leader
Ann Morfee
Fiona McCapra
Peter Pople
Rebecca Scott
Julian Trafford
Stephen Tees
Katie Heller
Michael Posner
Susan Dench
Christine Messiter
Deborah Davis
Mark Paine
Peter Merry
Oboe
Trumpet
Dan Bates
Nicholas Betts
John Young
Violin 2
Jane Carwardine
Edward Barry
Kate Comberti
Peter Dale
Marjory King
Cello
William Schofield
Joely Koos
Judith Herbert
Bass
Paul Sherman
Ben Russell
Clarinet
David Rix
Derek Hannigan
Trombone
Bassoon
Timpani
Jo Graham
Charles Fullbrook
Peter Harvey
Percussion
Glyn Matthews
25
26
Giuseppe Verdi
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Antonio Somma after Eugène Scribe’s libretto for Gustave III, ou Le Bal Masqué
First performed 17 February 1859, Teatro Apollo , Rome
New production
Performances on July 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, August 4, 6, 8
Production sponsored by Winton
27
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Cast
Conductor Peter Robinson
Amelia Amanda Echalaz
Director Martin Lloyd-Evans
Gustavo Rafael Rojas
Designer Jamie Vartan
Ankarström (Renato) Olafur Sigurdarson
Oscar Gail Pearson
Choreographer Victoria Newlyn
Madame Arvidson (Ulrica) Carole Wilson
Assistant Director James Hurley
Ribbing Paul Reeves
Horn Simon Wilding
Répétiteur Catriona Beveridge
Cristiano Benedict Nelson
Chorus Master Matthew Morley
A Judge Peter Kent
Stage Manager Andrew Holton
A Servant Niel Joubert
Deputy Stage Manager Helen Bowen
Renato’s son Gianluca Volpe
Assistant Stage Manager Gillian Marchbank
Chorus
Soprano
Mezzo
Tenor
Bass/Baritones
Lisajane Ellis
Sarahjane King
Jaimee Marshall
Julia McCullough
Nicola Pulford
Joanna Weeks
Maria Brown
Charlotte Collier
Carolyn Harries
Pollyanna Hewetson
Martha McLorinan
Ruth Trawford
Harry Bagnall
Oliver Brignall
Oliver Clarke
Robert Jeffrey
Niel Joubert
Peter Kent
Patrick Mundy
Alex Routledge
Jon Benton
Roy Chalmers
Michael Davis
Mike Drake
Christopher Faulker
Christian Goursaud
Ian Massa-Harris
Seamus McGowan
Jo Padfield
Geraint Miles
Violin 1
Viola
Oboe
Trumpet
Matthew Scrivener leader
Joan Atherton
Peter Pople
Rebecca Scott
Julian Trafford
Judith Templeman
Stephen Tees
Katie Heller
Sue Dench
Fay Sweet
Philip Harmer
Helen McQueen
Nicholas Betts
John Young
Clarinet
Trombone
David Rix
Derek Hannigan
Dan Jenkins
Amos Miller
Peter Harvey
Orchestra
Violin 2
Jane Carwardine
Peter Dale
Jane Gomm
Marjory King
Jessica O’Leary
Cello
Sue Dorey
William Schofield
Judith Herbert
Bass
Lynda Houghton
Markus van Horn
Flute
Karen Jones
Jill Carter
Bassoon
Jo Graham
Stephen Maw
Cimbasso
Horn
Timpani
Stephen Stirling
Timothy Caister
Mark Paine
Peter Merry
Charles Fullbrook
Stephen Wick
Percussion
Glyn Matthews
Harp
Thelma Owen
29
30
Kát’a Kabanová
Leoš Janác̆ek
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Leoš Janác̆ek, based V. Cervinka’s translation of The Storm, by Alexander Ostrovsky
By arrangement with Universal Edition A.G. Wien
Sung in Czech with English surtitles
First performed 23 November 1921, National Theatre, Brno
Performances on July 24, 28, 30, August 1, 5, 7
31
www.cls.co.uk
“GLITTERING,
ATMOSPHERIC
playing from the
City of London
Sinfonia...”
Hugh Canning, Sunday Times
City of London Sinfonia is delighted to
return for its sixth year as
Resident Orchestra at Opera Holland Park
During the rest of the year, City of London Sinfonia can be heard at
London’s Cadogan Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and other city venues, as
well as throughout the UK and abroad. When not on the concert
platform, CLS musicians regularly work creatively in the community
as part of the Meet the Music education programme. The Orchestra
also delivers an acclaimed programme of music-based professional
skills training called Development through Music to companies
throughout the UK.
To find out more, please visit our website at www.cls.co.uk
“A performance of
SURGING ENERGY
from the City of
London Sinfonia at
Opera Holland Park.”
Fiona Maddocks,
Evening Standard
Kát’a Kabanová
Cast
Conductor Stuart Stratford
Kát’a Anne Sophie Duprels
Director Olivia Fuchs
Kabanicha Anne Mason
Designer Yannis Thavoris
Boris Tom Randle
Varvara Patricia Orr
Language Coach Lada Valešová
Tichon Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts
Kudrjáš Andrew Rees
Répétiteur Elizabeth Rowe
Dikoj Richard Angas
Chorus Master Matthew Morley
Glaša Nuala Willis
Stage Manager Rebecca Maltby
Kuligin Nicholas Lester
Deputy Stage Manager Kate Astbury
Fekluša Emma Carrington
Assistant Stage Manager Kirk Woodley
Žena Carolyn Harries
Muž Peter Kent
Chorus
Soprano
Mezzo
Tenor
Bass/Baritones
Lisajane Ellis
Sarahjane King
Jaimee Marshall
Julia McCullough
Nicola Pulford
Joanna Weeks
Maria Brown
Charlotte Collier
Carolyn Harries
Pollyanna Hewetson
Martha McLorinan
Ruth Trawford
Harry Bagnall
Oliver Brignall
Oliver Clarke
Robert Jeffrey
Niel Joubert
Peter Kent
Patrick Mundy
Alex Routledge
Jon Benton
Mike Drake
Christopher Faulker
Christian Goursaud
Ian Massa-Harris
Seamus McGowan
Jo Padfield
Nicolas Simeha
Violin 1
Viola
Oboe
Trumpet
Matthew Scrivener leader
Fiona McCapra
Ann Morfee
Rebecca Scott
Judith Templeman
Julian Trafford
Stephen Tees
Katie Heller
Michael Posner
Susan Dench
Dan Bates
Helen McQueen
Nicholas Betts
John Young
Clarinet
Trombone
David Rix
Derek Hannigan
Dan Jenkins
Amos Miller
Peter Harvey
Orchestra
Violin 2
Jane Carwardine
Kate Comberti
Peter Dale
Jane Gomm
Marjory King
Jessica O’Leary
Cello
Sue Dorey
Jo Cole
William Schofield
Joely Koos
Bass
Lynda Houghton
Markus van Horn
Flute
Bassoon
Jo Graham
Stephen Maw
Timpani
Horn
Percussion
Stephen Stirling
Timothy Caister
Mark Paine
Glyn Matthews
Charles Fullbrook
Harp
Thelma Owen
Karen Jones
Jill Carter
33
Synopses
Roberto Devereux
ACT 1
Sara, Duchessa di Nottingham cannot hide her tears
as she yearns with love for Roberto Devereux, Earl
of Essex while the other ladies-in-waiting try to
cheer her. Elisabetta enters awaiting Roberto; she
confides in Sara that without Roberto her life has no
meaning; despite claims of treason from Cecil and
Raleigh, of which the Queen demands further proof,
she suspects instead that he loves another woman.
Elisabetta receives Roberto, who despite his secret
passion for Sara, denies treason and proclaims
fidelity to his sovereign. Elisabetta reminds him of
the ring she once gave him as a promise of pardon,
which he only need produce to guarantee his safety;
but despite Roberto’s protestations, Elisabetta
grows suspicious and leaves him to lament his
increasingly unhappy situation.
Duca di Nottingham, assuring Roberto of his
support, confides in his friend that his wife Sara has
aroused his own jealous suspicion; lately he has
found her melancholy and withdrawn and trying to
conceal a blue scarf she has been working on.
Roberto goes to see Sara to reproach her for
marrying Nottingham and bid her farewell. Sara
pleads that her father’s sudden death while Roberto
was in Ireland precipitated her loveless marriage
and urges him to turn towards the Queen as she
chides him for wearing the ring, which he
impulsively tears off and presents to her. In return
she gives him the blue scarf which he swears to
wear near his heart.
and clutching the blue scarf which he reports was
found near Roberto’s heart. No sooner has the
Queen recognised it as Sara’s, than Nottingham
arrives to plead for Roberto’s life; Roberto himself is
brought in by guards and Elisabetta confronts him
with the scarf as proof that he lied; at the sight of
it Nottingham explodes in a jealous fury, capped
only by the rage of the Queen. Roberto is led off
to the Tower.
ACT 3
Sara has received news of Roberto’s condemnation
and plans to take the ring immediately to the
Queen in an attempt to secure Roberto a reprise.
Before she can do so, Nottingham storms in,
refusing to heed her protestations of innocence;
when the sounds of a procession taking a
condemned man to prison are heard in the distance,
he makes it clear that he intends to prevent her
conveying the ring to the Queen. In the Tower,
Roberto waits for news of pardon, certain that Sara
will succeed in delivering the ring to the Queen, but
with the sounds of a guard arriving to take him to
his death realises that it may not come.
In spite of the indications of Roberto’s betrayal,
Elisabetta waits for the ring which she believes will
be sent to her. Too late, Sara arrives with the ring;
Elisabetta orders a stay of execution as the canon
shot is heard giving the signal to the headman. The
opera ends as Elisabetta, besides herself with grief
sees visions of Roberto’s ghost carrying his own
head and a tomb opening before her where her
throne once stood.
Hänsel und Gretel
INTERVAL
ACT 2
Lords and Ladies of the court consider Roberto’s
fate; despite Nottingham’s defence, the Council
have met and condemned Roberto to death. Cecil
arrives to inform the Queen of the sentence; as he
leaves Raleigh enters with news of Roberto’s arrest
36
ACT 1
Afternoon
Hänsel and Gretel are doing their household chores.
Gretel sings a nursery rhyme whilst darning her
Mother’s stockings. Hänsel is distracted from his
broom-mending by pangs of hunger. His sister tries
to reassure him by reminding him of Father’s belief
Synopses
Hänsel und Gretel
that God will provide. Hänsel is not convinced and
his pangs intensify. Gretel scolds her brother for
complaining and then reveals that Mother has been
given a jug of creamy milk to make rice pudding,
Hänsel’s favourite. His mood suddenly improves
especially when he tastes the milk. Gretel suggests
they get back to their chores before Mother returns
but Hänsel wants to play instead so Gretel teaches
her brother a dancing song.
bravely calls out to them and he and his sister are
frightened to hear their shouts answered in the
distance.
Mother returns to find the children misbehaving
and scolds them for neglecting their chores. In her
anger the jug of milk accidentally gets knocked to
the floor and smashes. Furious, Mother marches the
children off into the woods to find strawberries as a
replacement supper. Exhausted and alone, she
contemplates the broken jug and the family’s
poverty and sinks into despair.
INTERVAL
Father is heard singing in the distance. His jollity
fails to impress his wife who tells him off for
drinking. Father eventually reveals the reason for his
cheer – he has had a profitable day selling his wares
– and produces a bag full of precious groceries.
Mother’s mood instantly brightens and they
celebrate their windfall. Father asks after the
children. Mother explains their misbehaviour, the
spilt milk and dispatching them into the woods.
Father is shocked and angry. He tells his wife that a
nasty woman lives there who kidnaps children and
eats them. Mother is mortified and together the
parents rush out to find Hänsel and Gretel.
ACT 2
Late afternoon into evening
Gretel is wandering through the woods singing a
nursery rhyme whilst making a wreath from flowers
she has picked. Hänsel catches up with her and
proudly produces the strawberries he has collected.
He places the wreath of flowers on Gretel’s head
and they pretend she is the Queen of the Woods.
The call of a cuckoo interrupts their charade and
they mistakenly eat all the strawberries whilst
imitating a cuckoo eating its eggs. They start to
look for more strawberries but it quickly grows dark
and they become lost in the woods. Gretel panics,
especially when she thinks she sees faces grinning
at them through the trees in the darkness. Hänsel
Through the mist a solitary man appears. The
Sandman comforts and protects Hänsel and Gretel
and makes them sleepy. They say their evening
prayer and fall asleep.
And dream.
ACT 3
Morning
The Dew Fairy arrives with the dawn to awaken the
children. Gretel stirs first and feels renewed and
tells a sleepy-headed Hänsel about her dream full of
angels. Hänsel reveals he has had the same dream.
Suddenly out of the morning mist a house made of
confectionary appears. Hänsel and Gretel can hardly
believe their luck and begin to eat from it.
A voice from inside the house calls to them. They
convince themselves that it is merely the wind and
continue their eating. A strange lady appears from
the house and tries to lure Hänsel and Gretel inside
with the promise of treats. They are suspicious of
her overly friendly manner and try to escape. The
Witch casts a spell on them so they cannot move.
Hänsel is put into a cage for fattening up prior to
being cooked. Gretel is perfect as she is. When the
Witch goes inside to get some food Hänsel quickly
tells his sister to stay alert and watch and
remember everything the Witch does. The Witch
reappears and begins to stuff Hänsel, who has lost
his appetite, with food. She releases Gretel with
another spell so that Gretel can prepare the oven in
which the children will be cooked. Whilst the Witch
is preoccupied Gretel repeats the Witch’s spell,
which she has memorised, to free Hänsel. The Witch
asks Gretel to check that the oven is at the right
temperature. Gretel pretends she doesn’t know how
to do this and asks the Witch to demonstrate. As
the Witch does so, Hänsel creeps up behind her and
with his sister they push the Witch into the oven.
Hänsel and Gretel celebrate their victory and
anticipate a great feast.
37
Synopses
Hänsel und Gretel – La bohème
As the Witch’s house disappears into the mist a
large group of lost children slowly emerge. They are
all victims of the Witch, traumatised and still
trapped by her spell. Hänsel repeats the same spell
that Gretel used to free him to release the children
who thank Hänsel and Gretel for saving them. All
the children celebrate the end of the nightmare.
Father and Mother appear and are relieved to be
reunited with Hänsel and Gretel. Father leads a
prayer of thanksgiving and the victory feast begins.
Stephen Barlow, 2009
La bohème
ACT 1
Christmas Eve, early 1930s, Paris
In their freezing garret, Rodolfo, a poet, and
Marcello, a painter, struggle to work. Rodolfo offers
up his play manuscript as fuel for the stove. Colline,
a philosopher, arrives to share in the warming
‘spectacle’. The musician, Schaunard, brings
firewood, food and hard cash – the spoils of several
days violin-playing for the parrot of an eccentric
English lord. He tells his bizarre story while his
flatmates prepare to eat. They are interrupted by
their landlord, Benoit, who has come to collect their
rent. Duped by their camaderie and alcohol, Benoit
brags of a female conquest. Pretending outrage at
his adulterous behaviour, the bohemian artists send
him packing without his money. Via the unlit
stairwell, the three boys head to the Latin Quarter
leaving Rodolfo to finish a magazine article. Mimi,
an embroiderer living in the same building, disturbs
him, seeking a light for her candle. She faints and
mislays the key to her apartment. While searching
for it, Rodolfo takes Mimi’s hand and engages her in
conversation. The boys shout up to hurry him. Mimi
decides to join them all.
38
ACT 2
The Latin Quarter, that evening
The streets are thronging with shoppers and
traders. Schaunard looks at second-hand
instruments, Colline at coats and books, and
Marcello at the girls. Rodolfo, meanwhile, buys a
bonnet for Mimi. They all meet up at the Café
Momus. The friends welcome Mimi with playful
formality. Rodolfo and Mimi’s doe-eyed
romanticism is met with cynicism by Marcello. His
ex-lover, Musetta, arrives with a sugar-daddy,
Alcindoro, in tow. Marcello feigns disinterest, which
piques Musetta. Seeking to draw his attention, she
makes a scene with the waiter then embarrasses
Alcindoro by vaunting her desirability in a song to
the crowd. Mimi recognises Musetta’s depth of
affection for Marcello despite her façade.
Complaining of an ill-fitting shoe, Musetta packs
Alcindoro off to fetch a new pair. The bohemians are
presented with their bill. Leaving it for Alcindoro,
they disappear into the crowd with Musetta,
covered by the hubbub of a military parade.
INTERVAL
ACT 3
An early morning in January, two years later
The outskirts of Paris
Workers from the suburbs and the country arrive at
the city gates requesting entry. After an argument,
Mimi has followed Rodolfo to a bar where Marcello
and Musetta live and work. Mimi confesses to
Marcello that Rodolfo wants to leave her, upset by
her interest in other men. Rodolfo stirs and Marcello
suggests Mimi leaves to avoid a scene. Instead she
hides and overhears the real reason for Rodolfo’s
desire to separate; he is afraid that Mimi is mortally
ill. A coughing fit betrays Mimi. Rodolfo
immediately regrets his words and apologises for
his over-anxiety. Mimi, however, agrees they should
part and starts to suggest arrangements. Rodolfo
reminisces about their time together. Mimi reflects
on it too but without such rose-tinted spectacles.
Increasingly feeling the pain of separation, they
Synopses
La bohème – Orpheus in the Underworld
agree to delay it until the spring. In the meantime,
Marcello is upset by Musetta’s flirtations with a
customer. She rejects his quasi-marital claims on
her and vaunts her freedom.
ACT 4
Marcello and Rodolfo’s garret, one year later
Rodolfo and Marcello are trying to work; but can
think only of Mimi and Musetta, who have left them
for richer men. Schaunard and Colline arrive with
meagre food supplies. They play at being
dignitaries, then dance and fence. They are
interrupted by Musetta. She has found Mimi in the
street, breathless and destitute. Mimi complains of
freezing hands and expresses a desire for a muff.
Musetta and Marcello leave to buy one and to find a
doctor. Musetta decides to pawn her earrings and
Colline his beloved coat to pay for what Mimi needs.
Left alone, Mimi reminds Rodolfo of their first
meeting, then intimates that death is near. Musetta
returns with a muff and lets Mimi believe it is a gift
from Rodolfo. While Musetta prepares some
medicine and prays for Mimi’s recovery, Mimi drifts
off to sleep. As they wait for the doctor, Mimi dies.
Orpheus in the
Underworld
ACT 1
First Tableau: A cornfield near Thebes
Public Opinion interrupts the overture to introduce
the characters. The marriage of Orpheus and
Eurydice is on the rocks. They have both fallen in
love with someone else and neither intends to give
up their new love for connubial bliss. Orpheus is in
love with a nymph, Maquilla, and Eurydice with a
shepherd, Aristaeus. Aristaeus is in fact Pluto, King
of the Underworld. Pluto has with the unwitting aid
of Orpheus contrived Eurydice’s demise, and she
and Pluto descend to the underworld. Orpheus’s
discreet rejoicings at his wife’s death are
interrupted by the interfering Public Opinion, who
threatens him with scandal if he does not go to
Mount Olympus, the home of the Gods, to beg for
his wife’s return. Reluctantly he sets out on his
journey.
Second Tableau: Mount Olympus, just before dawn
On Olympus the Deities are discontent. They are
fed up with a diet of Ambrosia and Nectar, and
Jupiter’s high handed, tyrannical ways, preaching
morality while philandering in a variety of disguises.
Pluto, to defend himself against the charge of
seduction, urges the Gods to rebel against Jupiter.
At this moment Orpheus and Public Opinion arrive
to sue for the return of Eurydice. Jupiter orders Pluto
to return Eurydice to her husband and to placate his
discontented family, agrees that they will all go to
Hell to make sure that she is handed over.
INTERVAL
ACT 2
Third Tableau: Pluto’s Boudoir
Eurydice is bored, shut up in the boudoir for two
days with only the drunken John Styx for company.
Jupiter comes looking for her and in one of his
disguises infiltrates the room. Together they plan
her escape.
Forth Tableau: The Underworld
Pluto’s party for the Olympian Gods is in full swing.
Jupiter and Eurydice are making their escape when
Pluto stops them just as Orpheus and Public
Opinion arrive. Jupiter agrees to let Orpheus lead
Eurydice back to Earth on condition that he does
not turn and look at her. Jupiter himself ensures
that the condition is not met and the opera ends
with infernal rejoicing.
39
Synopses
Programme Note: Orpheus – mythology and
Offenbach
Pluton: Mais ca n’est pas dans la mythologie.
Jupiter: Eh bien! On la refera, la mythologie!
In mythology Orpheus was the son of the Thracian
King Oeagnus and the Muse Calliope. He was the
most famous musician and poet that ever lived. The
God Apollo presented him with a lyre and the Muses
taught him how to use it. His music enchanted not
only men and wild beasts but moved rocks and
trees from place to place to follow the sound!
Orpheus joined Jason and the Argonauts and sailed
with them to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece,
his music helping them to overcome many
difficulties. On his return he married the nymph
Eurydice and settled in Thrace. One day Eurydice
met Aristaeus who tried to rape her. As she fled she
was bitten by a snake and died. Distraught by grief
Orpheus descended to the underworld hoping to
bring her back. His music so charmed Charon, the
ferryman of the dead, the three headed dog,
Cerberus, and the three Judges of the Dead that he
was given permission to restore Euridice to the
world of the living. However a single condition was
imposed on him – he must not look at his wife until
they reached the upper world. Eurydice followed
Orpheus, guided by the sounds of his lyre, and it
was only when he reached the sunlight again that
he turned to see if she was still behind him, and so
lost her forever. Orpheus met his own death at the
hands of the Maenads, the intoxicated followers of
the God Dionysus (Bacchus), who tore him limb
from limb for failing to honour their master. They
threw his head into the river Hebrus, but it floated,
still singing, down to the sea, and was carried to the
island of Lesbos.
The myth of Orpheus was held both in antiquity and
in the Renaissance to have immense significance.
Orpheus was admired as a teacher and musician
who brought a divine harmony into the world. His
lyre was seen as a symbol of musical harmony and
was mathematically analysed by Pythagoras.
40
Through the centuries the myth of the tragic singer
Orpheus has continued to fascinate poets and
composers. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera lists
sixty-one works inspired by the legend, ranging
from Jacopo Peri’s Euridice (1600) to Harrison
Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus (1986). Two of the
seminal works in operatic history are based on the
subject. Monteverdi’s La Favola d’Orfeo (1607) and
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) or Orphée et
Eurydice (1774) if you prefer the Paris to the Vienna
version. But probably the most amusing musical
interpretation of the story is Offenbach’s Orphée
aux enfers, Orpheus in the Underworld (1858).
Offenbach, the father of French operetta, took the
myth and revealed to a shocked but delighted
Parisian public the ‘real’ reason for Orpheus’
descent into the underworld. He not only sent up
the classical myth but also the great Gluck himself,
borrowing Gluck’s lament ‘Che Faro’ for his Act I
finale.
Orpheus: (sur le motif de Gluck) – I have been
robbed of my Eurydice.
Such was the success of Orpheus in the Underworld
that Offenbach constantly revived and expanded
his original two act version into five acts. Tonight
we are performing the original two act version of
1858. Orpheus in the Underworld was the first of a
string of Offenbach operettas that have delighted
audiences ever since, and have become
synonymous with the ‘joie de vivre’ of Paris.
Orpheus may not be strict mythology but you will
go home singing and dancing the most famous cancan in the world, having enjoyed it in the
underworld.
© Tom Hawkes
Synopses
‘Who among you will prove the oracle a liar?’
Un ballo in
maschera
ACT 1
Preparing for the Ball
‘…and let my people’s love keep watch over me.’
Several officials are waiting for Gustavo, among
them a small group of disgruntled conspirators led
by Horn and Ribbing. Finally, Gustavo breezes in and
examines the list of guests for the coming ball. He’s
elated to see the name of the woman he loves Amelia – but is horribly embarrassed when his
reverie is interrupted by her husband, Renato. He is
Gustavo’s friend and advisor, and has come to
inform him of a major conspiracy he has caught
wind of. Gustavo makes light of the threat, and
their disagreement over the seriousness of the
matter is only stopped when Oscar, Gustavo’s aide,
announces the arrival of a judge. He demands the
expulsion of the fortune-teller Ulrica, claiming she
is in league with the devil. Swayed by Oscar’s plea
for clemency, Gustavo decides to witness her
‘witchcraft’ for himself, and proposes that they go
to see her at work incognito.
Ulrica
‘Leave me to search into the truth.’
Arriving at Ulrica’s before the others, Gustavo
witnesses her performing her ‘magic’ in front of a
group of credulous women and children. She
prophesies wealth and status to Cristiano, a sailor.
Gustavo ensures her prediction comes true by
slipping a commission, unseen, into Cristiano’s
pocket. The crowd marvel at her powers, but are
asked to leave when Ulrica agrees to meet a secret
visitor. Gustavo hides, and is shocked to see Amelia
creep in to seek Ulrica’s advice. She wants respite
from a secret love which is torturing her and is
advised by Ulrica to go to find a drug which will
help her forget her illicit passion. Astonished at
Amelia’s revelation, Gustavo, still hiding, vows to be
with her when she goes to get hold of the drug.
As Amelia slips away, the others arrive at Ulrica’s,
including Horn and Ribbing’s faction, and they wait
as the disguised Gustavo steps forward to have his
fortune told. Ulrica correctly identifies him as a man
who has ‘lived under the star of Mars’, but then
rejects him, refusing to say any more. When pushed
by Gustavo, she finally relents and tells him he will
be killed, soon, by the man who next shakes his
hand. The gathered crowd refuses Gustavo’s
outstretched hand, but when Renato enters he
automatically shakes his friend’s hand in greeting.
Gustavo dismisses Ulrica’s prediction as absurd,
especially as it is his closest friend who has taken
his hand, and removes his disguise. The assembled
crowd are amazed to see Gustavo amongst them,
while Horn and Ribbing rue another missed
opportunity to assassinate him.
ACT 2
The Backstreets
‘You won’t go alone, for I shall follow you there.’
Amelia, conquering her fears, has ventured out
alone to get hold of the drug Ulrica told her about.
She is surprised by Gustavo, who declares his love
for her.
Out of the darkness, Renato appears. His wife
hurriedly covers her face before she is recognised.
Explaining that the conspirators are pursuing him,
and his life is in danger, Renato urges Gustavo to
flee. As he makes his escape, Gustavo urges his
friend to promise to escort the veiled woman safely
back to town without asking her identity.
‘My friend, I entrust to you a delicate mission.’
The conspirators arrive and confront Renato,
disappointed that once again Gustavo has eluded
them. Amelia’s veil drops in the struggle and
immediately on seeing her Renato assumes that she
must have been having an affair with Gustavo. He
asks the two leaders of the conspiracy, Horn and
Ribbing, to meet him later.
INTERVAL
41
Synopses
Un ballo in maschera – Kát’a Kabanová
ACT 3
Kát’a Kabanová
The Ball
‘Allow me at least to press my only child to my
breast.’
Renato has resolved to kill Amelia, but she protests
her innocence, begging to see her son one last time.
He relents, declaring that it is Gustavo, not Amelia,
who deserves to die.
‘Hate strikes quicker than love.’
Horn and Ribbing arrive as arranged, and Renato
asks to join their plot, offering the life of his son to
vouchsafe his sincerity. All three want the prize of
killing Gustavo. To resolve the matter, they agree to
cast lots and call Amelia to draw the winning name
– Renato.
Oscar arrives with invitations to the ball; Horn,
Ribbing and Renato agree that this is where the
assassination will take place.
‘…and let it be silent, the heart.’
Torn between love and duty, Gustavo has resolved
to renounce his love for Amelia and send her and
her husband on a foreign posting. He is distracted
by Oscar, who brings an anonymous note warning
Gustavo that an attempt will be made on his life
tonight.
‘I wanted unharmed your name, and her heart.’
With the party thudding away in the background,
Renato tries to learn from Oscar which costume
Gustavo is wearing. At first the aide refuses,
taunting Renato, but finally answers. Meanwhile
Gustavo identifies Amelia as the author of the
anonymous letter, and proceeds to tell her of his
decision to send her and Renato away. As they say
goodbye, Renato attacks. The wounded Gustavo
discloses that though he loved Amelia, he never
betrayed his friend, and she was never unfaithful to
her husband. He pardons all the conspirators, saying
goodbye to friends and country as he dies.
42
ACT 1
Scene 1, On the banks of the Volga
In the provincial Russian town of Kalinov, Kudrjas is
sitting on the banks of the Volga admiring the river
when he sees the rich merchant Dikoj grumbling at
his nephew Boris. When Dikoj leaves, Kudrjas asks
Boris how he can put up with this treatment and
Boris explains that in the terms of his
grandmother’s will, he and his sister will inherit the
money left to them only if they obey their uncle
Dikoj. Boris tolerates this situation only for his
sister’s sake. He then confides in Kudrjas that he has
fallen in love with Kát’a Kabanova, a married woman.
Kát’a then approaches with her husband Tichon, her
mother-in-law Kabanicha and Varvara, the adopted
daughter of the Kabanova household. Kabanicha
urges Tichon to leave on a business trip and
proceeds to accuse him of not loving her since he
has got married. When Kát’a remonstrates,
Kabanicha rebukes her and continues to abuse
Tichon.
Scene 2, A room in the Kabanov house
Kát’a and Varvara are sitting sewing when Kát’a
reveals how she would like to ‘fly’. She reflects on
how much she has changed since she has got
married and confesses to strange longings which fill
her with fear. Varvara who is no innocent
encourages her in her desires. Tichon then arrives
to take his leave and Kát’a begs him not to go, as
she is worried that something terrible will happen
in his absence. Kabanicha interrupts their
conversation and orders Tichon to tell Kát’a how to
behave while he is away, culminating in the
instruction not to look at young men. Kát’a is
crushed by this humiliating leave-taking as
Kabanicha dominates the proceedings.
Synopses
Kát’a Kabanová
ACT 2
Scene 1, A room in the Kabanov house
While they sit sewing Kabanicha criticises Kát’a for
not mourning Tichon’s departure more
ostentatiously. When she has left Varvara tells Kát’a
of her plan for them to sleep in the garden. She has
taken the key to the garden gate from Kabanicha,
replacing it with another one so it will go unnoticed
and she will tell Boris to come to the gate. She gives
Kát’a the key and goes off leaving Kát’a to wrestle
with her conscience. When Kát’a hears Kabanicha’s
voice, she hides the key in her pocket, realising that
she has made her decision. She leaves as Kabanicha
and Dikoj enter the room. Dikoj is very drunk and
begs Kabanicha to tell him off. He says she is the
only person in the whole town who can put him in
his place.
Scene 2, By the garden gate at night
While he is waiting for Varvara, Kudrjas sings a song.
Boris arrives and Kudrjas realises he has come to see
Kát’a. Kudrjas warns him of the consequences but
then goes off with Varvara leaving Boris alone. Kát’a
arrives terrified. She tells Boris that she has had no
free will in this matter otherwise she would not
have come. Varvara, returning with Kudrjas,
suggests they go for a walk. The two love affairs
develop.
INTERVAL
ACT 3
Scene 1, A ruined building by the Volga
Two weeks later Kudrjas and Kuligin take shelter
from a storm and are soon joined by a crowd of
people including Dikoj. Kudrjas explains the danger
of storms and the use of lightning conductors to
Dikoj who refuses to understand and declares that
storms are punishments from God. The storm clears
temporarily and the people disperse. Varvara is
looking for Boris to tell him that Tichon has
returned and that Kát’a is in a terrible sate. Varvara
is frightened that she will confess everything; what
is more Kabanicha is suspicious. Kát’a rushes in, her
guilty conscience aggravated by the storm. When
Tichon and Kabanicha join them, she suddenly falls
to her knees and tells them that she has sinned.
Varvara and Tichon both try to stop her but Kát’a,
urged on by Kabanicha, tells them that she has
spent every night with Boris while Tichon was away.
She runs off into the storm.
Scene 2, A lonely spot by the Volga
Tichon is looking for Kát’a and says he still loves her.
Varvara and Kudrjas meet up and decide to elope to
Moscow.
Kát’a is alone. She regrets her confession and wants
to see Boris one last time. Boris hears her calling
him and rushes to her. He does not blame Kát’a for
confessing but as a consequence he is being sent to
a trading post in Siberia. Kát’a tells him how Tichon
has been beating her and Kabanicha is persecuting
her. Boris has to leave and as he is about to go, Kát’a
asks him to give alms to every beggar he passes.
Left on her own she contemplates the peaceful
scene and jumps into the river. People come
running and Tichon realises that it must be Kát’a
and tries to go to her. When Kabanicha holds him
back, Tichon finally rebels saying it is all her fault.
Dikoj brings in the corpse and Kabanicha bows to
the people thanking them for their kind services.
43
Biographies
Roberto Devereux
For Roberto
Devereux
Richard Bonynge Conductor
Born in 1930 in Sydney, Australia Richard Bonynge studied
at the NSW Conservatorium of Music and the Royal
College of Music, London. In 1954 he married the soprano
Joan Sutherland. He has held the positions of Artistic
Director of Vancouver Opera (1974-77) and Music
Director of The Australian Opera (1976-86). He was
appointed CBE and invested with the AO (Order of
Australia) in 1977, Commandeur de l’Ordre National des
Arts et des Lettres in 1989 and made “Soci d’onore”,
R. Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, 2007.
Richard Bonynge is acknowledged as a scholar of bel
canto opera, 19th century French opera and 19th century
ballet music. He has conducted at most of the world’s
great opera houses including La Scala, Metropolitan
Opera and Royal Opera Covent Garden. His repertoire
consists mainly of 18th century opera, the great bel canto
repertoire, French 19th century opera, 19th century ballet
and opera and many operettas.
Richard Bonynge has been responsible for the revival of
many operas notably Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer),
Semiramide and Sigismondo (Rossini), La Fille du régiment,
Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti),
Esclarmonde, Le Roi de Lahore, Thérèse (Massenet), Medea
(Pacini), Orfeo (Haydn), I Masnadieri (Verdi).
He has conducted recordings of over 50 complete operas
as well as countless ballets and many video recordings.
Richard Bonynge’s legendary knowledge of the human
voice and his instinctive sympathy for singers has been
the inspiration for many of the great singers of our time.
OHP Début
Richard Burgess Ellis Conductor (10 June)
Richard hails from the West Country and was educated in
Bristol before studying voice and piano at Royal
Manchester College of Music.
Richard made his professional debut in 1968 in
pantomime at York as a singer and Musical Director
whilst continuing his studies. He worked regularly as
répétiteur, lighting designer and singer at the Barber
Institute, Birmingham University and was a member of
English National Opera for five years.
In 1983 Richard was appointed House Musician/Staff
Conductor at L’Opera de Monte-Carlo where he assisted
Rostropovich, Rosenthal and Masini. He returned to
Britain as Artistic Director of the ill-fated London Festival
of Opera and then went to Italy where he worked as a
44
vocal coach and conductor. He composed the variants for
several singers in three Rossini operas for La Scala and
others.
Richard returned to London in 1995 when he lectured at
Birkbeck College and coached singers. He also conducted
concerts with the English Symphony Orchestra and
prepared several rare works for their British debut.
Richard Bonynge and Richard Burgess Ellis have
collaborated on several recordings including a recital of
English soprano arias, Herold’s La Sonambule, a verismo
disc and a disc of 18th century songs. Straight after
Roberto Devereux they are recording Lurline by William
Vincert Wallace.
OHP Début
Lindsay Posner Director
Lindsay was Associate Director at the Royal Court Theatre
from 1987 to 1992 where his production of Death and the
Maiden won two Laurence Olivier Awards. Lindsay’s
operatic credits include Love Counts (Almeida), Jenůfa
(Opera Theatre Company, Dublin), and Dada: Man and Boy
at the Almeida and Montclair Theatre, USA.
Theatre credits include A View From The Bridge by Arthur
Miller (Duke of York’s), Carousel (Churchill Theatre, UK
tour and Savoy), Fiddler On The Roof (Sheffield Crucible
and Savoy), 3 Sisters on Hope Street (Hampstead and
Liverpool Everyman), Sam Shepherd’s Fool for Love
(Apollo), Tom and Viv (Almeida), The Hypochondriac by
Molière (Almeida), Romance by David Mamet (Almeida),
The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter (Duchess), A Life in the
Theatre by David Mamet (Apollo), Oleanna by David
Mamet (Garrick), the world premiere of Power by Nick
Dear, and Tartuffe (NT), The Caretaker (Bristol Old Vic),
Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Comedy), Twelfth Night, The
Rivals, Volpone and The Taming of the Shrew (RSC), The
Misanthrope, American Buffalo (Young Vic), After Darwin
(Hampstead), The Provok’d Wife (Old Vic), The Lady from
the Sea (Lyric, Hammersmith / West Yorkshire Playhouse),
The Seagull (Gate, Dublin) and The Robbers (The Gate).
OHP Début
Biographies
Roberto Devereux
Peter McKintosh Designer
Best Lighting (The Bacchae, NT) in 2003.
Peter’s opera credits include the world premiere of The
Handmaid’s Tale (English National Opera, Royal Danish
Opera, Canadian Opera), Michael Nyman’s Love Counts
and The Silent Twins (Almeida Opera).
For OHP: The Magic Flute and Tosca 2008, Tosca Richmond
Theatre 2009
Theatre designs include The 39 Steps (London, New York,
Boston, Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, UK Tour)
for which he received two Tony nominations on Broadway
(Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design).
Adam trained at the Arts Educational School and joined
The Royal Ballet School in 1989, becoming a Principal
Dancer in 1994. He created the role of The Swan/Stranger
in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake in 1995. His choreography
credits include Carousel (Savoy Theatre & UK tour), Side
by Side by Sondheim (The Venue), Promises Promises
(Sheffield Crucible), Grand Hotel (Donmar Warehouse),
Garbo the Musical (Stockholm), The Nature of Touch
(Exeter Festival), Six Faces (K Ballet Japan), Just Scratchin’
the Surface (Scottish Ballet), Elegy for Two Reflections and
The Bawdy Song Travellers (Images of Dance).
Also Entertaining Mr Sloane, Fiddler on the Roof, The Dumb
Waiter, Summer and Smoke, Donkeys’ Years, The Birthday
Party, Ying Tong, A Woman of No Importance, Boston
Marriage (West End), King John, Brand, The Merry Wives of
Windsor, Pericles, Alice in Wonderland (Royal Shakespeare
Company), Honk!, Widowers’ Houses (National Theatre), Be
Near Me, The Chalk Garden, John Gabriel Borkman, The
Cryptogram (Donmar), Waste, Cloud Nine, Romance
(Almeida), the world premieres of Brian Friel’s The Home
Place (Gate Theatre Dublin and London) and Kirikou et
Karaba (Casino de Paris). Work for dance includes Cut To
The Chase (English National Ballet).
OHP Début
Peter Mumford Lighting Designer
Peter’s recent work includes All’s Well that Ends Well, The
Hothouse, The Rose Tattoo, The Reporter, Exiles (National
Theatre), A View From The Bridge (Duke of York’s), Carmen
set/lighting design (Scottish Ballet), Parlour Song
(Almeida), Sweeney Todd (Vilnius), Girl With A Pearl Earring
set/lighting design (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Carousel,
Fiddler on the Roof (Savoy), Portrait of a Lady set/lighting
design, A Doll’s House, Born in the Gardens (Peter Hall
Season 2008, Bath), Sahdowlands (Wyndham’s), Uncle
Vanya (The Rose Theatre), Rosmersholm, Cloud Nine,
Hedda Gabler (Almeida), The Seagull, Drunk Enough to Say I
Love You? (also Public Theater NYC), Dying City (Royal
Court), The Entertainer, Richard II (Old Vic), Private Lives
set/lighting design (Theatre Royal Bath), Brand, Macbeth,
Hamlet (RSC), Private Lives (West End, Broadway), Sleeping
Beauty, Cinderella, The Nutcracker (Scottish Ballet),
sets/lighting for Peter Pan (Northern Ballet Theatre),
Madama Butterfly, Peter Grimes (Metropolitan Opera,
NYC), Eugene Onegin (ROH), La Cenerentola
(Glyndebourne), The Midsummer Marriage (Lyric Opera,
Chicago), Cosi fan tutte, Die Soldaten (ENO), Il trovatore
(Paris), Siegfried, Götterdämmerung, Fidelio, Don Giovanni ,
Two Widows (Scottish Opera), Katya Kabanova, Madama
Butterfly (Opera North) and Eugene Onegin, The Bartered
Bride (ROH).
He co-directed and designed the sets and lighting for
L’Heure Espagnole and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (Opera
Zuid). He won the Olivier Award for Outstanding
Achievement in Dance (1995) and the Olivier Award for
Adam Cooper Choreographer
Adam has also choreographed and directed Simply
Cinderella (Curve Leicester), Les Liaisons Dangereuses
(Japan, Sadlers Wells), Singin’ in the Rain (Sadlers Wells,
Leicester Haymarket) and On Your Toes (Leicester
Haymarket, Japan, Royal Festival Hall).
Adam has made film and television appearances in
Madame Bovary (BBC), Billy Elliot (Working Title films),
Jason and the Arganoughts (Hallmark), Duet (Channel 4),
The Sandman (Channel 4) and Dance Ballerina Dance (BBC).
His recent theatre roles include Tin Man Wizard of Oz
(Royal Festival Hall), Cliff Wallflowering (Sevenoaks), Sky
Masterson Guys and Dolls (West End), Valmont Les
Liaisons Dangereuses (Japan, Sadlers Wells), Don
Lockwood Singin’ in the Rain (Sadlers Wells and Leicester
Haymarket), Dolan On Your Toes (Leicester Haymarket,
Japan and Royal Festival Hall).
Adam’s future plans include Shall We Dance at Sadlers
Wells.
OHP Début
William Reynolds Associate Lighting
Designer
William trained at the Motley Theatre Design School.
Lighting designs include NEO (Opera Royal d’Wallonie,
Belgium), The Magic Flute (Palestine Tour), Saturday Night
(Arts Theatre), Pulse (The Place) and Sniggle (Theatre Royal
Haymarket). Set and lighting designs include La Voix
Humaine (Riverside Studios) and Just So (Trafalgar
Studios). Video designs as associate for 59 Productions
include Riders to the Sea (English National Opera). For
Peter Mumford he re-lit Portrait of a Lady (The Rose
Theatre, Dir. Peter Hall) and The Girl with a Pearl Earring
(Theatre Royal Haymarket).
OHP Début
45
Biographies
Roberto Devereux
Artists
Yvonne Howard Sara, Duchessa di
Nottingham
Majella Cullagh Elisabetta
Yvonne Howard studied at the RNCM.
Majella Cullagh trained with Maeve Coughlan at the Cork
School of Music, and at the National Opera Studio in
London. She now studies with Gerald Martin Moore.
Majella’s numerous operatic roles include Violetta La
traviata (GTO), Maria Maria Stuarda (Dallas Opera),
Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Las Palmas), Paolina Poliuto
(Amsterdam Konzertgebouw), Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia
(Opéra de Toulon), Musetta La bohème (RAH), Donna Anna
Don Giovanni (Regensburg), Adina Elisir d’amore
(Copenhagen) and Massenet’s Manon Manon (Opera New
Zealand).
Future plans include Mathilde Guillaume Tell (QEH), Alzira
Alzira and Sela Diluvio universale (St. Gallen) and Verdi’s
Messa da Requiem (Amsterdam Konzertgebouw).
OHP Début
Leonardo Capalbo Roberto Devereux
Leonardo is garnering international acclaim for his
performances throughout the United States and Europe
and has appeared in theatres including the StaatsOper
Berlin, SemperOper Dresden, Opera du Rhin, Strasbourg,
Opera de Bordeaux, New Israeli Opera, Greek National
Opera, Miami Opera, New York City Opera, Opera North
and others.
In 2007/2008 Leonardo made his debuts both in Bordeaux
and in Athens as Rodolfo La bohème. He returned to the
Staatsoper Berlin as Nemorino L’elisir d’amore and sang
his first Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (Opera
North). He also sang his first Duca Rigoletto (L’Opera de
Toulon) and debuted with Alfredo La traviata (Florida
Grand Opera and New Orleans Opera) as well as Nemorino
(Arizona Opera). In March 2009 Capalbo will debut as
Gerald Delibes’ Lakmé (L’Opera de Nice).
For OHP: Macduff Macbeth 2005
Julian Hubbard Duca di Nottingham
Julian Hubbard trained at the Royal College of Music and
The National Opera Studio and was generously supported
by the Peter Moores Foundation and the Scottish Opera
Endowment Fund.
Julian’s recent operatic roles include Fiorello Il barbiere di
Siviglia (ENO), Huntsman Rusalka (La Monnaie), Dr. Falke
Die Fledermaus and Dandini La Cenerentola (Scottish
Opera), Drunken Poet/Hymen Fairy Queen (Aldeburgh
Festival), Guglielmo Così fan tutte (Garden Opera and
Castleward Opera) and Juan in Henze’s Das
Wundertheater (Montepulciano Festival).
Future plans include Melisso Alcina for Opera Theatre
Company and Schaunard La bohème for Scottish Opera.
For OHP: Chorus Luisa Miller, Le nozze di Figaro 2004
46
Recent engagements include Leonore Fidelio, Madam
Larina Onegin, Ludmilla The Bartered Bride, Second Norn
Der Ring des Nibelungen (ROH), Lady Macbeth Macbeth,
Maddalena Rigoletto‚ Eboli Don Carlos‚ Evadne Troilus and
Cressida and Meg Page Falstaff (Opera North), Irene
Theodora (Strasbourg), The Dream of Gerontius (New York,
Cape Cod), Marilyn The Death of Klinghoffer (Channel 4),
Assunta The Saint of Bleecker Street (Spoleto Festival),
Berta Barber of Seville, Third Norn Twilight of the Gods,
Larina Onegin, Third Lady The Magic Flute, Marcellina The
Marriage of Figaro (ENO), Amneris Aida (RAH), Eduige
Rodelinda (New York) and Norma (ETO).
For OHP: Leonore Fidelio 2003, Laura La Gioconda –
winner of Opera Holland Park Friends Award for Best
Female in a Supporting Role 2008, Leonore Fidelio 2010
Aled Hall Lord Cecil
Aled Hall studied at the University College of Music,
Aberystwyth, London Royal Schools’ Faculty Opera School
and National Opera Studio.
Aled’s numerous operatic roles include Don Basilio Le
nozze di Figaro (WNO, Garsington) Don Curzio Le nozze di
Figaro (Aix en Provence, Tokyo, Baden Baden, WNO)
Remendado Carmen (WNO, Raymond Gubbay) Mr Upfold
Albert Herring (Salzburg Landestheater), Monostatos Die
Zauberflöte (WNO, Scottish Opera) Danilowitz L’Etoile du
Nord, Ippia Saffo (Wexford) Brundibar Brundibar (WNO),
Goro Madama Butterfly, Spoletta Tosca (Raymond
Gubbay) Bardolph Falstaff, Frisellino Le Pescatrici
(Garsington Opera) and L’Abate Andrea Chenier (Scottish
Opera).
Future plans include Goro Madama Butterfly for Raymond
Gubbay.
For OHP: Don Basilio and Don Curzio Le nozze di Figaro
2004, L’Abate Andrea Chenier 2005, Borsa Rigoletto and
Chekalinsky The Queen of Spades 2006, Gastone La
traviata and Flaminio L‘amore dei tre Re – winner Opera
Holland Park Friends Award for Best Male in a Supporting
Role 2007, Isepo La Gioconda 2008
Biographies
Roberto Devereux – Hänsel und Gretel
Graeme Broadbent Sir Gualtiero Raleigh
Graeme Broadbent studied at the Royal College of Music
and at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. He has sung with
English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North,
Glyndebourne Festival and Glyndebourne on Tour and
abroad with Opera Comique.
As a member of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, he
has sung Colline, Angelotti, Timur, Dr Grenvil,
Nightwatchman, Leone, the King Aida and King Marke.
Engagements include Caronte Orfeo (Monteverdi) and
Jonathan Dove’s Pinocchio (Opera North), Pistola Falstaff
(Baden-Baden), Dr Grenvil (ROH) and Punch and Judy (ENO).
For OHP: Gremin Eugene Onegin 2005, Nilakantha Lakmé
2007, Sulpice La Fille du régiment 2008
Henry Grant Kerswell Un Paggio
Henry trained at Guildhall and the Royal Scottish
Academy of Music and Drama and as a B.P.P. Young Artist.
Previous roles include Tiger Brown Threepenny Opera (1st
Framework/English National Opera), Snug A Midsummer
Night’s Dream (English Touring Opera & British Youth
Opera), Antonio Le nozze di Figaro (British Youth Opera),
Don Alfonso Così fan tutte (Grange Park Young
Artists/Pimlico Opera), The Mikado The Mikado – covered
and played (Carl Rosa Opera).
For OHP: Sciarrone Tosca and Second Prisoner Fidelio
2003, Assassin Macbeth and Yakuside Madama Butterfly
2005, Official Rigoletto 2006, Commissionario La traviata
2007, Sciarrone Tosca 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre
Henry Deacon Un Familiare di Nottingham
Henry gained a scholarship to GSMD and studies there
with David Pollard. His operatic appearances include roles
with Edinburgh Studio Opera, Smirnov The Bear
(Mahogany Opera), Secondo Soldato/Liberto
L’Incoronazione di Poppea (The Complete Singer) and
Fiorello Il barbiere di Siviglia (Lyrique-en-Mer).
Future plans include Sheriff Will Kane Jacko’s Hour (Opera
Engine), and Adonis Venus and Adonis (Hampstead Garden
Opera).
OHP Début
For Hänsel und Gretel
Peter Selwyn Conductor
Peter read Modern Languages at Cambridge, then studied
piano at RAM. He has conducted more than 40 operas
including Peter Grimes, Carmen, La bohème, Rigoletto, La
traviata, Hänsel und Gretel, Orfeo ed Euridice, Iphiginie en
Tauride, Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte,
Lustige Weiber (Staatstheater Nürnberg), Roméo et Juliette
(Opera North), Jenůfa, La Cenerentola (ETO), The Rape of
Lucretia (European Opera Centre), The Magic Flute,
Madama Butterfly (European Chamber Opera), Don
Giovanni (Pimlico Opera), The Rape of Lucretia, The Turn of
the Screw, Noye’s Fludde, Dido and Aeneas and das
babylonexperiment (Nuremberg International Chamber
Music Festival); as Assistant Conductor Ring Cycle
(Bayreuth Festival), Moses and Aaron (Hamburgische
Staatsoper), Rheingold (Opera du Rhin Strasbourg), Death
in Venice (Aldeburgh and Bregenz Festivals), and at
Norwegian Opera, ROH and ENO.
Other credits include Head of Music and Kapellmeister at
the Staatstheater Nürnberg 1999-2004, and ROH music
staff 1994-7. Peter is currently Professor at the RCM and
Artistic Director of Nuremberg International Chamber
Music Festival.
OHP Début
Stephen Barlow Director
Stephen was born in Melbourne, Australia. He made his
directing debut with Trial by Jury staging it in the Bow
Street Magistrates Court for the Covent Garden Festival.
Subsequently, his productions have included La traviata
(Singapore Lyric Opera), Dovetales – a collection of
Jonathan Dove operas (Glyndebourne, Jerwood Studio),
Carmen (Riverside Opera), the London premiere of
Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella (UCOpera), Idomeneo with
Peter Sellars (Glyndebourne Touring Opera) and Elegies for
Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Chelsea Theatre). He
has worked on over fifteen productions at the Royal
Opera House, Covent Garden including Die Entführung
aus dem Serail, The Bartered Bride, Attila, La bohème, The
Cunning Little Vixen, Aida, Samson et Dalila, Il trovatore,
Peter Grimes and the world premiere of Lorin Mazel’s
1984. He worked as Assistant Director on two Olivier
award-winning productions at the National Theatre
Singing in the Rain and Anything Goes, assisting Trevor
Nunn. Stephen has also worked very closely with Jonathan
Kent on new productions of Tosca (Covent Garden), The
Turn of the Screw (Glyndebourne), Elektra (Mariinsky
Theatre, St Petersburg) and as Associate Director on the
musical Marguerite.
47
Biographies
Hänsel und Gretel
His current and future work includes a revival of La rondine
(Metropolitan Opera, New York), a revival of Tosca (Covent
Garden) and a revival of Otello (San Francisco Opera).
For OHP: Tosca – winner Opera Holland Park Friends
Award for Best Production 2008, Tosca Richmond Theatre
2009, Don Giovanni 2010
Paul Edwards Designer
Paul studied design at the Royal Academy of Dramatic
Art, which he graduated with honours and was made an
Associate Member of the Academy.
He has designed stage productions around the world
including for the West End and Broadway. His designs for
opera include Tosca (The Kirov Mariinsky Theatre, St
Petersburg), Lucia di Lammermoor (Halle Opera), The
Bartered Bride (Staatstheater Darmstadt), Cherubin
(Calgiari), The Pearl Fishers (Kazah and Amsterdam) Die
Walküre (Caracas), Eva and Jacobin (Wexford) The
Marriage of Figaro (Dublin), Die Fledermaus and
Coronation of Poppea (Royal College of Music), L’egoiste
(Royal Academy of Music), The Mikado (Cardiff), Orfeo ed
Eurdice (Tel Aviv, Strasbourg, Valladolid, La Coruna), Otello
(Welsh National Opera), Il mondo della luna and L’Italiana
in Algieri (Garsingon), The Bartered Bride and Die
Zauberflöte (Tel Aviv), Carmen (Richmond), La finite
semplice (Nice and Paris) and Il martrimonia segreto and
La fina giardiniera (Paris).
His future productions include Die Zauberflöte (Hong
Kong and Beijing) Sunset Boulevard (Sweden) and A Little
Night Music (Norwegian Opera, Oslo).
OHP Début
Outside of education David has worked with the King’s
Consort on a tour to Spain and with the Globe Centre
Aids organisation performing in an arts project. For the
past two years David has choreographed the summer
musical programme at the Scoop. He has also
choreographed for the International Musical Theatre
summer school, based at the Royal Academy of Music and
for Arts Educational he has choreographed productions of
Nine, Hair, Caberet, Lady in the Dark, Seussical, Secret
Garden, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Wild Party.
OHP Début
William Reynolds Associate Lighting
Designer
Please see listing for Roberto Devereux on page 45.
Artists
Catherine Hopper Hänsel
Catherine studied at Leeds University, in Weimar, at the
Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio.
Catherine’s operatic roles include Lucretia Rape of
Lucretia, Ramiro La Finta Giardiniera, Mezzo-Actress Night
at the Chinese Opera, Zita Gianni Schicci and Marta Iolanta
(Royal Academy Opera), Second Lady Die Zauberflöte
(Clonter Opera), Mme. Larina Eugene Onegin and Mrs.
Herring Albert Herring (British Youth Opera) and Madame
Popova The Bear (Mahogany Opera).
Peter Mumford Lighting Designer
Future plans include the understudies of Dorabella Così
fan tutte (Opera North) and Pilgrim L’Amour de Loin (ENO).
Please see listing for Roberto Devereux on page 45.
OHP Début
David Greenall Choreographer
Joana Seara Gretel
David trained in acting and dance at Lewisham College,
the West Street Ballet School and London Contemporary
Dance School.
Joana Seara was educated in Lisbon and the GSMD
generously supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation,
Wingate Foundation, E.M Behrens Charitable Trust and
the Worshipful Company of Barbers.
He danced with Adventures in Motion Pictures, Rambert
Dance Company, Dance for all, DV8, Vienna Ballet Theatre
and The Icelandic Ballet. David went on to choreograph
three major works for the Icelandic Ballet and various
works for the Icelandic Opera including Hänsel und Gretel,
Eugene Onegin, and La traviata. He has also worked with
the Icelandic Symphony and Song School of Iceland. He
founded a youth Dance Company with students from the
Icelandic Ballet School and directed it for three years. In
the years since returning to the UK David has taught
ballet, pas de deux and contemporary dance at Art
Educational London. He is currently Deputy Head of
48
Dance and Head of First Year at the school. David has also
taught for Campus Dance at Guildford University.
Her numerous operatic roles include Dorinda Orlando
(Independent Opera), Virtu l’Incoronazione di Poppea
(ENO), Despina Così fan tutte (Castleward Opera), the
cover of Gretel Hänsel und Gretel (Glyndebourne on Tour),
Norma and Medee Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian and
Galatea Acis and Galatea on tour throughout Europe. Her
many European concert appearances include the Ile de
France, Ambronay and Marfra Baroque Festivals, Mahler’s
2nd Symphony and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony.
OHP Début
Biographies
Hänsel und Gretel
Anne Mason Mother/Witch
Pippa Goss Dew Fairy
Anne Mason has performed with all the major UK opera
houses and abroad in such places as Madrid, Barcelona,
Amsterdam, Aix-en Provence, Innsbruck, Dresden, Lille,
Orleans Nantes and Antwerp.
Winner of the 2008 Thelma King Competition, Pippa Goss
studied at Bristol University and the Royal Academy of
Music.
Her repertoire includes Suzuki Madama Butterfly, Annio
La Clemenza di Tito, Annina Der Rosenkavelier, Enrichetta
Puritani, Dorabella Così fan tutte, Marcellina Le nozze di
Figaro, Fenena Nabucco, Adalgisa Norma, Sextus La
Clemenza di Tito, Mother/Witch Hänsel und Gretel, Fricka
Die Walküre, Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Kostelnicka Jenůfa,
Azucena Il trovatore, Penelope Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria,
Cornelia Giulio Cesare and Agnes Beatrice di Tenda.
Future engagements include Kostelnicka Jenůfa
(Glydenbourde Touring Opera) and Mrs Alexander
Satyagraha (ENO).
For OHP: Teresa La Sonnambula 2005, Kostelnicka Jenůfa
2007, Azucena Il trovatore 2008, Geneviève Pelléas et
Mélisande 2010
Donald Maxwell Father
Donald Maxwell has appeared with all the major UK opera
houses and abroad at the Metropolitan Opera New York,
Teatro alla Scala Milan, Vienna Staatsoper, Paris, Brussels,
Berlin and Houston among others.
His wide repertoire includes title roles in Falstaff, Il
barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto and Der Fliegende Holländer,
Pizarro Fidelio, Baron Zeta The Merry Widow, Scarpia
Tosca, The Count Le nozze di Figaro, Eisenstein Die
Fledermaus, Escamillo Carmen, and Marcello La bohème.
Future engagements include The Excursions of Mr Broucek
and Werther (Opera North), Lucrezia Borgia, Veronique and
Don Quixote (Buxton Festival) and performances at the
Royal Opera House.
Roles have included Emmie Albert Herring (Snape
Maltings), Flora The Turn of the Screw, and Norina Don
Pasquale (Opera Project), Polly Peachum The Beggar’s
Opera (Handel House), Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro
(Threestone Opera), Zerlina Don Giovanni (Longborough
Festival) and Flora The Knot Garden (Montepulciano).
Recordings include J. S. Bach Cantata 80 and the Coffee
Cantata for BBC Radio 3.
Future plans include Gretel Hänsel und Gretel
(Julitafestivalen, Sweden) and Susanna The Marriage of
Figaro (Mid Wales Opera).
For OHP: Papagena The Magic Flute 2008
New London Children’s Choir
The New London Children’s Choir offers a unique
opportunity for girls and boys aged between 7 and 18 to
learn to sing and enjoy all kinds of music. Launched by
Ronald Corp in 1991, the Choir has appeared in all the
major London concert halls with the UK’s finest
symphony orchestras and conductors, has collaborated
with opera companies in the UK and abroad, and has
made dozens of recordings and broadcasts, including its
latest release “Pigs Could Fly” on Naxos. It has also
appeared with internationally renowned artists including
Lou Reed with whom the choir toured in 2007 and 2008.
2009 will see New London Children’s Choir members
singing with the London Philharmonic Opera, English
National Opera, and at St John’s Smith Square.
For OHP: Dulcamara L’elisir d’amore 2005
Katherine Allen Sandman
Winner of the Ysgoloriaeth W. Towyn Roberts at the
National Eisteddfod 2006, Katherine Allen studied at
Cardiff University and London’s Royal Academy of Music.
She made her professional debut on the 2007 Essential
Scottish Opera tour and sings regularly in concert
throughout the UK. Her recordings include Cecilia
McDowall’s Laudate (Dutton CD) and her broadcasts
include In Tune (BBC Radio 3).
Engagements in 2008/2009 include Cherubino The
Marriage of Figaro (Mid Wales Opera), Tisbe La
Cenerentola and Flora La traviata (Scottish Opera), Olga
Eugene Onegin (Iford Arts) and Messiah (Raymond Gubbay
Ltd).
OHP Début
49
Biographies
La bohème
For La bohème
Robert Dean Conductor
Robert studied at RCM, Durham University, RNCM and the
National Opera Studio. After a successful international
singing career, he made his conducting debut at the
Batignano Festival in the Italian premières of Beethoven’s
Leonora and in JC Bach’s Temistocle.
He was Head of Music at Scottish Opera where he
conducted over 100 performances, including new
productions of The Magic Flute‚ Don Giovanni‚ Così fan
tutte‚ The Barber of Seville‚ Cav and Pag‚ Jenůfa La traviata‚
Fidelio‚ Madama Butterfly‚ Tosca‚ Eugene Onegin‚ Carmen‚
Die Fledermaus and Iolanthe. During this period he also
conducted concerts with Luciano Pavarotti‚ Dennis
O’Neill and Jane Eaglan. His Canadian debut was The Pearl
Fishers in Edmonton‚ since when he has returned for La
Cenerentola (recorded by CBC), Die Fledermaus, Die
Entführung aus dem Serail and The Pearl Fishers.
He has conducted La Cenerentola‚ The Magic Flute‚ Roméo
et Juliette‚ The Pearl Fishers‚ Madama Butterfly‚ La bohème,
La traviata and Tosca with Calgary Opera, Albert Herring‚
Lucia di Lammermoor and L’eisir d’amore in Kentucky, Il
barbière di Siviglia for San Francisco Opera’s Merola
Programme for young singers and Così fan tutte and
Iolanthe at Grange Park Opera.
For OHP: Il barbiere di Siviglia 2007, La Fille du régiment
2008 Don Giovanni 2010
Elaine Kidd Director
Elaine studied Modern Languages and trained as a theatre
director before moving into opera.
Opera and music theatre credits include Le Docteur
Miracle (Festival Les Azuriales), Così fan tutte, Eugene
Onegin (Diva Opera), The rape of Lucretia (Latvian National
Opera and Hermitage Theatre, St Petersburg), Il Maestro
di Capella and La Scala di Seta (Tibor Varga Festival,
Switzerland), Peter Grimes (Scottish Opera), Into The
Woods, Brahms’ Liebeslieder, Mahagonny Songspiel and
Suor Angelica (Trinity College of Music), Eloise (W11
Children’s Opera), Bedtime Stories (Stratford Circus), Don
Giovanni and La traviata (Opera Brava) and scenes
programmes for New Israeli Opera and Guildhall School of
Music and Drama.
50
As a Revival Director productions include Lady Macbeth of
Mtsensk (Tokyo and La Scala, Milan), Don Carlo (Norwegian
National Opera) Eugene Onegin (ROH and Finnish National
Opera), Katya Kabanova, Jenůfa and Don Giovanni (WNO),
La Clemenza di Tito (La Corun̆a, Spain), and Mottke der
Dieb (Stadtteater Görlitz).
Elaine is Head of Staff Directors at the Royal Opera
Covent Garden and coaches on the Jette Parker Young
Artists Programme.
For OHP: La traviata 2007
Colin Richmond Designer
Colin Richmond trained at the Royal Welsh College of
Music and Drama, Cardiff receiving a First Class BA Hons.
He was a 2003 Linbury Prize Finalist and Resident
Designer as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s
Trainee Programme 2004-2005.
Colin’s credits include Entertaining Mr Sloane (costumes),
Touched…(set), Ring Round The Moon, Bad Girls-The
Musical, The RSC production of Breakfast With Mugabe
(All West End), Hapgood, The Bolt Hole, ‘Lowdat
(Birmingham Rep Theatre), Twelfth Night, Bollywood Jane,
Salonika, Hapgood, Animal Farm (West Yorkshire
Playhouse), L’Opera Seria (Italy), Hansel and Gretel
(Northampton Theatre Royal), Play/Notl (BAC), Human
Rites (Old Southwark Playhouse), House Of The Gods!
(MTW/ ROH/ National Tour), Restoration (Bristol Old Vic,
Headlong Theatre), The Shadow Of A Gunman (Glasgow
Citizens), Hansel and Gretel (Dundee Rep), Suddenly Last
Summer (TheatrClywd), Europe (Barbican), The May Queen
(Liverpool Everyman), Amadeus (The Crucible, Sheffield),
All the Fun of The Fair (Number 1 National Tour), When we
are married (West Yorkshire Playhouse/ Liverpool
Playhouse). Television credits include first series and preproduction assistant designer on Doctor Who (BBC Wales).
Colin’s future work includes Letters of a Love Betrayed
(Linbury, ROH/ MTW), The Lady in the Van (Salisbury
Playhouse), Caucasian Chalk Circle (Shared Experience)
and A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep Theatre).
OHP Début
Biographies
La bohème
Colin Grenfell Lighting Designer
Colin’s recent productions include 365, The Bacchae, Black
Watch (National Theatre of Scotland), Mine (Hampstead
Theatre), Riflemind (Trafalgar Studios), Single Spies
(Theatre Royal Bath Productions), Alex (Arts Theatre),
Theatre of Blood, Spirit, The Hanging Man, Lifegame, Coma,
Animo, 70 Hill Lane (Improbable), Kes, Separate Tables
(Royal Exchange, Manchester), Touched (Salisbury
Playhouse), Enjoy (Watford Palace Theatre), Unprotected
(Liverpool Everyman) and Casanova, Playing the Victim
(Told by an Idiot).
His opera credits include Fidelio (Opera Touring Company
Dublin) and La bohème (English Touring Opera).
For OHP: Eugene Onegin and Andrea Chénier 2005, Così
fan tutte, The Merry Widow, Rigoletto and The Queen of
Spades 2006, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Lakmé 2007, Il
trovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, Orpheus in the
Underworld, Un ballo in maschera and Kát’a Kabanová
2009
Sarah Fahie Choreographer
Sarah Fahie trained at London Contemporary Dance
School.
Sarah’s choreographic opera credits include The Birds (The
Opera Group), Masquerade, Mignon, Le nozze di Figaro,
Rencontre Imprevue (GSMD), The Bartered Bride (Mid Wales
Opera), and As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (Almeida).
She has worked as a staff director for Glyndebourne and
ROH assisting choreographer/director teams such as
Linda Dobell & Richard Jones and Kate Flatt & Daniel
Slater, Denni Sayer & Nikolaus Lehnhoff. She has also
worked as revival choreographer at ROH on Linda Dobell’s
production of Eugene Onegin and Leah Hausman’s
Rigoletto.
In 2003 she received a Jerwood Choreography Award for
her London-based independent dance choreography.
Sarah’s future plans include Revival Director of Richard
Jones’ production of Falstaff for Glyndebourne Touring
Opera
For OHP: La traviata 2007
Artists
Linda Richardson Mimi
Linda studied at RNCM and at the National Opera Studio.
Roles include Fiordiligi Così fan tutte, Lauretta Gianni
Schicchi, Micaëla Carmen, Gretel Hansel and Gretel, Gilda
Rigoletto, Sophie Der Rosenkavalier, Mimi La bohème, The
Fairy Queen, Alcina, Violetta La traviata, Woglinde
Rhinegold, Helena A Midsummer Night´s Dream and
Donna Anna Don Giovanni (English National Opera), Kat’a
Kabanová (ETO), Gilda Rigoletto, Nannetta Falstaff and
Countess The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North), Lisetta La
Vera Constanza (Garsington), First Niece Peter Grimes
(Netherlands Opera) and Countess (Diva Opera).
For OHP: Amina La Sonnambula 2005
Aldo Di Toro Rodolfo (27 June – 11 July)
Aldo Di Toro graduated from Western Australian
Conservatorium and studied at Teatro Comunale di
Bologna.
Aldo’s roles include Werther (Opera Australia), Roméo
Roméo et Juliette and Pollione Norma (Innsbruck), Rodolfo
La bohème (Opera Australia and Torino), Tamino The
Magic Flute (West Australian Opera), The Duke Rigoletto
(State Opera of South Australia, TERCAS Foundation,
Teramo and Dolo, Italy), Roberto Le Villi (Chelsea Opera),
Alfredo La traviata (State Opera of South Australia,
TERCAS Foundation, Teramo Italy and Opera Australia), Bill
Flight (Adelaide Festival), Nemorino L’elisir d’amore (State
Opera of South Australia).
Future engagements include Tebaldo Capuleti e i
Montecchi (Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House).
For OHP: Loris Fedora 2006, Steva Jenůfa 2007
Sean Ruane Rodolfo (11, 13 & 15 August)
Sean studied at the Royal Northern College of Music
supported by the Peter Moores Foundation before
continuing his studies in Italy with Fernanda Piccini and
at the Academia di Puccini studying with Magada Olivero
and Rania Kabiavanski.
Operatic roles include Sergei Paradise Moscow (Opera
North), Rinuccio Gianni Scicchi (Italy), Cavaradossi Tosca
(ETO), Ruggero La rondine (Castleward Opera), The Devil
Schvanda Dudak (WFO), Antonio The Tempest (Opera du
Rhin, ROH) Turridu Cavalleria Rusticana, Canio Pagliacci
(Haddo House).
This summer Sean will be seen on television singing for
the Ashes Cricket between England and Australia – see
www.seanruane.com
51
Biographies
La bohème
Sean would like to thank the Swiss Global Artistic
Foundation for their continued and generous support.
For OHP: Edmondo Manon Lescaut 2001, Ruggero La
rondine 2002, Federico L’arlesiana 2003, Rodolfo La
bohème 2004, Nemorino L’elisir d’amore 2005, Des Grieux
Manon Lescaut 2006, Alfredo La traviata 2007,
Cavaradossi Tosca 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre, Don
José Carmen 2010
Grant Doyle Marcello (27 June – 11 July)
Grant Doyle studied at the Elder Conservatorium,
Adelaide and at the RCM.
He was on the Young Artists Programme, Royal Opera
House 2001-3 performing Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia,
Harlequin Ariadne auf Naxos, Schaunard, Bello La Fanciulla
del West, Morales Carmen and Demetrius (ROH). Further
appearances include Der Einäugige Die Frau ohne
Schatten and Demetrius (Madrid), Schaunard
(Glyndebourne on Tour), Sacha Paradise Moscow (Opera
North) and the title role Don Giovanni (Baugé). He
recorded Forester The Cunning Little Vixen (BBC TV),
created Carlo in Judith Weir’s Armida (Channel 4) and
portrayed the lead role in The Eternity Man (ABC/
Channel 4).
Future plans include The Count Le nozze di Figaro
(Garsington).
For OHP: Cirillo Fedora 2006, Frédéric Lakmé 2007
George von Bergen Marcello (11, 13 & 15
August)
La bohème, Publio La Clemenza di Tito and Sparafucile
Rigoletto. Other roles include Sarastro with Scottish
Opera, Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Aldeburgh
Festival), Selim Il Turco in Italia (Buxton), Argante Rinaldo
(Grange Park), Parson Cunning Little Vixen, Timur
Turandot, Colline and Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia (WNO)
and regular appearances for the Edinburgh Festival. He
will make his debut with the Frankfurt Opera as Mr.
Ratcliffe Billy Budd.
For OHP: Rodolfo La Sonnambula 2005, Sarastro The
Magic Flute 2008
Njabulo Madlala Schaunard
Njabulo was born in South Africa and studied at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Credits include
Fisherman Bird of Night (Royal Opera House), Porgy Porgy
and Bess (Cheltenham Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall,
Wigmore Hall, Sadler’s Wells), Rangwan Koanga (Sadlers
Wells), the Disciple and an Angel in Mysteries (BBC) and
Peachum Three Penny Opera (Hawaii Performing Arts
Festival). He made his debut as Mel in Tippett’s The Knot
Garden for Montepulciano Festival. Other operatic roles
include Forester Cunning Little Vixen, and Morales and
Dancairo Carmen.
Recent performances include Le Calender La Rencontre
Imprevue, Mozart Requiem with Cheltenham Bach Choir
and King in Sallinen’s The King goes forth to France at the
Guildhall.
For OHP: Bello La fancuilla del West 2004
Hye-Youn Lee Musetta
George von Bergen completed a post-graduate opera
studies course at the Royal Academy of Music. George is a
recent graduate of the National Opera Studio programme
in London.
Hye-Youn Lee trained at Hanns-Eisler in Berlin under Julia
Varady. Subsequently, she worked at the opera studios in
Strasbourg and at the Bastille in Paris.
Opera roles include title role of Don Giovanni (Clonter
Opera), Tarquinius The rape of Lucretia (RAO), title role
Gianni Schicchi (RAO), title role Eugene Onegin (British
Youth Opera), Germont pèr La traviata (Clonter Opera),
Nick Shadow The Rake’s Progress (Dartington Opera),
Edward The Sofa (Independent Opera), Marcello La
bohème (Deutsche Grammophon/MR Productions film
alongside Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon).
Selected operatic roles include Lucia Lucia di
Lammermoor, Oscar Un ballo in maschera, Popelka La
Comedie sur le Pont, Berta Euryante, Junge Frau Reigen,
First flowergirl Parsifal (Opera Strasbourg), Despina Così
fan tutte (Theatre Nanterre), Hedwig Fruehling (Opera
Comique Paris), First Knappe Parsifal, Donna Cretese
Idomeneo, Une Voix Sopran Le Journal d’un Disparu,
Eurydice Orphée et Eurydice (Opera Bastille), Sylvia L’isola
disabitata (Opera Caen, Rennes, Poitiers) and First Blind
Women at Prayer Les Aveugles (Almeida theatre).
Future plans include Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s
Dream (Garsington Opera).
For OHP: Marie La fille du régiment 2008
OHP Début
Eric Roberts Benoit/Alcindoro
52
Tim Mirfin Colline
Eric Roberts studied at the RMCM.
Tim Mirfin read Law at Cambridge, later studying at the
Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio.
With the Hamburg State Opera his many roles included
Leporello Don Giovanni, Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, Colline
Recent appearances include Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia
(Welsh National Opera, Brisbane), Onegin Eugene Onegin
(Omaha), Elder Son The Prodigal Son (La Fenice), baritone
roles Death in Venice (Antwerp), Major General The Pirates
Biographies
La bohème–Orpheus in the Underworld
of Penzance (Vancouver), Faninal Der Rosenkavalier
(Spoleto), Don Magnifico La Cenerentola (Frankfurt, Opera
Zuid and Dublin), Solon The Fortunes of King Croesus and
baritone roles One Touch of Venus (Opera North), Ko-Ko
The Mikado (ENO and Carl Rosa Opera).
For Orpheus in the
Underworld
For OHP: Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia 2007
John Owen Edwards Conductor
Peter Kent Parpignol
Born in Cartmel, John Owen Edwards studied at
Worcester College, Oxford.
Peter Kent trained privately, studying with Adrian
Thompson and Tony Roden and has sung with Opera
Holland Park since 1999. Peter has recently sung the First
Armed Man The Magic Flute (Grange Park Opera). He has
sung in the Chorus for Opera North, Grange Park Opera,
Carl Rosa Opera and Raymond Gubbay.
For OHP: Remendado Carmen 2001, Kromov The Merry
Widow 2001, Giuseppe La traviata 2001, First Prisoner
Fidelio 2003, Parpignol La bohème 2004, First Prisoner
Fidelio 2010
Henry Grant Kerswell Customs Official
Please see listing for Roberto Devereux on page 47
W11 Opera for Young People
W11 Opera for Young People was founded in 1971 and is a
Charitable Trust. The Company was set up to enable
young people between the ages of 9 and 18 to take part
in professionally directed music theatre and is committed
to promoting equality, access and opportunity for anyone
wishing to take part. Since its inception W11 has
commissioned 30 new pieces of work from contemporary
composers and librettists. This unique achievement has
provided a rich repertoire of works for all groups with
young casts and W11 commissions have been performed
throughout Europe, North America and Canada. Auditions
for any child wishing to take part occur in early
September for performances in December.
For further information see www.w11opera.org or call 020
7937 9283.
The Boys Choir of The Cardinal Vaughan
Memorial School
The Cardinal Vaughan School in Holland Park has a long
tradition of singing and the School's choirs regularly
appear at London's major churches and concert halls.
Recent repertoire includes JS Bach's St John Passion,
Handel’s Messiah, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and
Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Recent tour destinations have
included France, Spain, Austria, Germany and the USA. The
boys sing with professional groups, including the London
Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Choir and they are
regular members of the Chorus of the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden.
He conducts opera, music theatre and concerts
worldwide. Highlights include the Broadway production
of Show Boat (Opéra du Rhin), The King and I (West End),
Oklahoma! (including cast recording and video) with
Trevor Nunn (National Theatre), West Side Story (Vlaams
Radio Orkest), The Yeomen of the Guard (BYO), The Wizard
of Oz (RSC at the Barbican) and The Tales of Hoffmann
(Victoria State Opera). For a number of years he was
Music Director of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, and
has made over 30 recordings.
Future plans include Hello Dolly! for Wiener Volksoper.
For OHP: Die Fledermaus 2004, The Merry Widow 2006
Tom Hawkes Director
Tom Hawkes was born in London, and studied at the Royal
Academy of Music. His appointments include Artistic
Director of Phoenix Opera, Director of Morley Opera and
Director of Productions for Lyric Theatre Singapore. As
Director of Productions for Castleward Opera his
productions included L’Etoile, Martha, Lucia di
Lammermoor, La rondine and Rigoletto, La bohème, Così
fan tutte which were all nominated for best production,
Irish Theatre Awards 2005/2006/2008 respectively.
As Director of Productions of the Handel Opera Society
he directed new productions of Esther, Ezio, Hercules,
Partenope, Radamisto, Rodrigo, and Xerxes at Sadler’s
Wells Theatre. For English National Opera he directed five
productions including Un ballo in maschera, La Gazza
Ladra and La vie Parisisnne. His productions for The
English Bach Festival have been seen at the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden and in Paris, Monte Carlo,
Versailles, and at international festivals throughout
Europe. Productions for the company include Castor et
Pollux, Platée, Gluck’s Alceste and Orphée, and Mozart’s
Mitridate and Idomeneo. He has directed many
productions internationally including in Austria, Belgium,
Yugoslavia, Eire, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong,
Malaysia and Trinidad. In September 2002 he directed
Cavalli’s Pompeo Magno for the Varazdin Baroque Festival
winning the coveted Ivan Lukac̆ić prize.
For OHP: Iris 1996, L’Arlesiana 1997, Le nozze di Figaro
1998, Così fan tutte, Un ballo in maschera 2000, La
traviata 2001, Adriana Lecouvreur 2002, Werther 2003, Die
Fledermaus 2004, Eugene Onegin 2005, The Merry Widow
2006, Lakmé 2007
53
Biographies
Peter Rice Designer
Peter Rice studied Painting at the Royal College of Art.
Peter Rice’s numerous operatic credits include designs for
Arabella and Manon (ROH), Arlecchino (Glyndebourne),
Falstaff, La bohème and Tosca (Scottish Opera), Carmen
and La Sonnambula (Castleward). International works
include Ottone (Tokyo), Carmen and Così fan tutte (Hong
Kong), The Marriage of Figaro (Augsburg), La Cenerentola
(Wiesbaden), Die Fledermaus (St. Louis), Death in Venice
(Antwerp), Otello (South Africa) and The Fairy Queen
(Bilbao).
(Told by an Idiot).
Peter designed Sir Fredrick Ashton’s version of the ballet
Romeo and Juliet (Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen and
English National Ballet, London). He also designed two
other ballets for Sir Frederick, Rinaldo and Armida and
Sinfonietta.
Theatre Credits include the Musicals Where’s Charley?
and Ann Veronica, the Reviews Living for Pleasure and On
the Avenue as well as many plays and farces in London
including Don’t Dress for Dinner, Shut you eyes and think
of England, and The Italian Straw Hat, 40 years on and The
Importance of being Earnest (Chichester Festival Theatre
and Theatre Royal Haymarket) the last of which toured
Australia after a London season.
Future Plans includes productions of Tosca (Orviedo and
Murcia) in the autumn.
For OHP: Così fan tutte and The Yeomen of the Guard
2000, The Merry Widow and La traviata 2001, Adriana
Lecouvreur and La rondine 2002, L’arlesiana and Werther
2003, La bohème and Die Fledermaus 2004, Eugene Onegin
and Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore and Andrea Chénier
2005, Così fan tutte and The Merry Widow 2006, Lakmé
2007, winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for
Outstanding Achievement 2008
trovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, La bohème, Un
ballo in maschera and Kát’a Kabanová 2009
Jenny Weston Choreographer
Born in Oxford Jenny originally trained as a dancer before
performing in music theatre and opera for companies
including English National Opera and Glyndebourne
Festival Opera. Interest in movement and mime led her to
work with Jacques Lecoq and the Theatre De Movement.
Choreography includes Richard Strauss’ Cappriccio, Le
nozze di Figaro, (Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Cendrillon
(Royal Academy of Music), Company (RADA), L’Enfant et les
Sortileges and L’Heure Espagnol (New York City Opera and
Glyndebourne), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hong Kong
Festival), Un ballo in maschera, Death in Venice, Philip
Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher and Nixon in China by
John Adams (Austria), Dido and Aeneas (Syria), Peter and
the Wolf (DVD) conducted by Claudio Abbado, Don
Giovanni, Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, Carmen, La
Belle Helene, Hansel and Gretel and Orpheus in the
Underworld (Diva Opera).
As director Porgy and Bess (Lisbon), Les Pecheurs De Perles
(The Theatre Royal Northampton) Jenny is also movement
director for the vocal group Cantabile.
Recent choreography includes Nixon in China (Verona,
Italy) and Eugene Onegin (Haddo House Aberdeen).
For OHP: Un ballo in maschera 2000, La traviata and
Adriana Lecouvreur 2001, Die Fledermaus 2004, Eugene
Onegin and Madama Butterfly 2005, Fedora and The Merry
Widow 2006, Lakmé 2007
54
Biographies
Artists
Jeni Bern Eurydice
Born in Glasgow, Jeni studied at the Royal Scottish
Academy of Music and Drama and the Royal College of
Music.
Stage roles have included Paquette Candide and Zdenka
Arabella (Théâtre du Châtelet and La Scala), Trixie Let ‘em
eat cake, Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Susanna
The Marriage of Figaro and concert performance of Gretel
Hansel and Gretel (Opera North), Mabel The Pirates of
Penzance, Yum-Yum The Mikado, Sophie Rosenkavalier and
Amor Orpheo and Eurydice (ENO), Oscar Un ballo in
maschera (Opera Zuid), Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro and
Blumenmädchen Parsifal (Royal Opera House), Amor
Orphée et Eurydice (WNO) and Jano Jenůfa (Glyndebourne
Festival Opera).
Benjamin Segal Orpheus
Benjamin Segal trained at the Guildhall School of Music
and Drama and National Opera Studio where his roles
included Ferrando Così fan tutte, Belmonte/Pedrillo Die
Entführung aus dem Serail, Tamino Die Zauberflöte,
Oronte Alcina, Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress, Lensky
Eugene Onegin and Le Mari Les Mamelles de Tirésias.
Opera credits include Monostatos Die Zauberflöte
(Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Alfred Die Fledermaus
(Scottish Opera), Snout/Lysander A Midsummer Night’s
Dream (British Youth Opera), Don Ottavio Don Giovanni
and Nathanial/Spalanzani/Franz The Tales of Hoffmann
(Mid Wales Opera) and Mr Upfold Albert Herring
(Aldeburgh Festival).
Future engagements include Don Basilio and Don Cuzio
The Marriage of Figaro (Mid Wales Opera).
OHP Début
For OHP: Bogdanowich The Merry Widow 2006, Spoletta
Tosca 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre
Ian Caddy Jupiter
Nuala Willis Public Opinion
Ian Caddy was born in Southampton and studied at the
Royal Academy of Music (where he won the President’s
Prize) and subsequently with Otakar Kraus.
He made his debut as Schaunard La bohème with
Glyndebourne Touring Opera and has since appeared with
Royal Opera, Covent Garden, English National Opera,
Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, Kent Opera,
Castleward Opera, Glyndebourne Festival and Opera de
Nantes. His repertoire includes Baron Zeta The Merry
Widow, Pooh-Bah The Mikado, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte,
Frank Die Fledermaus, Theseus Hippolyte et Aricie, Pollux
Castor et Pollux and Telenus Nais.
Nuala’s opera credits include Filipyevna Eugene Onegin
(Aldeburgh Festival), Ulrica Un ballo in maschera
(Canadian Opera), Klytemnestra Electra (RTE Dublin),
Austrian Woman Death of Klinghoffer (Barbican and BBC
TV), Sphinx The Second Mrs Kong (Glyndebourne), Older
Woman Flight (Glyndebourne, Adelaide), Mother Goose
The Rake’s Progress (Glyndebourne, Reisopera, Champs
Elysees), Mistress Quickly Falstaff (Birmingham Touring,
Stanley Hall Opera), Widow Begbick Mahagonny (Nantes,
Angers, Lille) as well as productions and concerts in
Lausanne, Geneva, Nancy, Luxembourg, Berlin, Marseilles
and Antwerp amongst others.
For OHP: Frank Die Fledermaus 2004, Baron Zeta The
Merry Widow 2006
Future plans include workshops for Opera Genesis (ROH),
cabaret and concert engagements in UK and USA.
Daniel Broad Aristaeus/Pluto
Daniel Broad was a boy chorister at Manchester
Cathedral, a scholar at Chetham’s School of Music and a
vocal scholar at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Roles for British and international opera houses have
included the Count The Marriage of Figaro, Eddy Greek,
Figaro The Barber of Seville, Belcore L’elisir d’amore,
Marcello La bohème, title role Der Prinz von Homburg and
Ned Keene Peter Grimes.
Current work has focused on principal roles in
contemporary opera including title role in Julian Grant’s
Odysseus Unwound, Howard Goodall’s Eternal Light a
Requiem and the European première of Michael Berkeley’s
For You.
OHP Début
For OHP: Burya Jenůfa – winner Opera Holland Park
Friends Award for Best Female in a Supporting Role 2007,
La Duchese de Crakentorp La Fille du régiment and La
Cieca La Gioconda 2008
John Lofthouse John Styx
John Lofthouse studied at Guildhall School of Music and
Drama and National Opera Studio.
Roles include Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Guglielmo Così fan tutte, Chef Bake for One Hour, Pirate
King The Pirates of Penzance, Vicomte Cascada The Merry
Widow, Fiuta La Capricciosa Corretta, Ford The Merry
Wives of Windsor, Danilo The Merry Widow, Papageno The
Magic Flute, Eisenstein/Dr Falke Die Fledermaus, Imeneo
Imeneo, Dancairo Carmen and Chao Sun A Night at the
Chinese Opera
55
Biographies
Recent performances include a repeat of Imeneo, High
Commissioner Madama Butterfly, Mr Bluff The Impresario,
Dona Nobis Pacem and Belshazzar’s Feast. Future plans
include Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia.
For OHP: Cascada The Merry Widow 2006, Sacristan Tosca
2008 & 2009 Richmond Theatre
Oliver White Mercury
Oliver graduated in music from Durham and won a
scholarship to the RCM, winning the Dulcie Nutting Prize.
Performances include Fairfax The Yeomen of the Guard
(D’Oyly Carte/West End), Nanki–Poo The Mikado, Ralph
HMS Pinafore, Lely/Duke Patience (Carl Rosa), Robinson
Robinson Crusoe (Opera Della Luna/Iford Arts), Young
Man/Frederic The Parson’s Pirates and Orlofsky Die
Fledermaus (Opera Della Luna), Basilo/Curzio The Marriage
of Figaro and Monostatos The Magic Flute (Armonico
Consort), Frederic Pirates of Penzance (Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra), tenor lead in ten of the Savoy
Operas (G&S Opera Company), and Pluto Orpheus in the
Underworld (British Youth Opera).
Future plans include Hilarion Princess Ida and Prosper Not
in front of the waiter.
For OHP: Njegus The Merry Widow 2006
Nicola Stonehouse Diana
Nicola Stonehouse studied at the Benjamin Britten Opera
School at the Royal College of Music generously
supported by The Leverhulme Trust. She now studies
privately with Marie McLaughlin.
Nicola’s operatic roles include Adult Chorus On the Rim of
the World (ROH), cover for Megan The Sacrifice (WNO),
Sian/Susan Another Life by Karen Wimhurst (WNO Max
Project), Amour Platee (English Bach Festival, Athens),
Pamina The Magic Flute (Dartington, Supported by a Joan
Howard Bursary), Mrs Gobineau The Medium (Wexford),
Stephano Romeo et Juliette (BYO), Dorabella Così fan tutte
(BBIOS), Le Pelerin L’Amour de Loin (Al Bustan Festival,
Beirut), Female Chorus The rape of Lucretia (BBIOS), Title
role Savitri (Montepulciano) Miss Jessel Turn of the Screw
(BBIOS).
For OHP: Lay Sister Suor Angelica 2002, Wowkle La
Fanciulla del West 2004, Annina La traviata 2007.
Jane Harrington Cupid
Jane Harrington graduated from the Royal Academy of
Music, where her operatic debuts included Pamina The
Magic Flute, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, Marina School
for Fathers, Clarice Il mondo della luna and Rooster The
Cunning Little Vixen, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.
Her professional roles include Die Fledermaus (Opera
Project), Madame Silberklang The Impresario and Mrs
Gobineau The Medium (Second Movement Opera). She
sang Pamina (English Pocket Opera), Serpina La serva
padrona (Aldeburgh Festival), Jano Jenůfa and most
recently the role of Vavara in Kát’a Kabanová (ETO).
For OHP: Chorus Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amour 2005
Verity Parker Venus
Verity Parker gained her BMus from the RNCM, studying
under Susan Roper, and her Masters degree at the GSMD,
studying with Susan Waters and Laura Sarti. She is a
Samling Scholar.
Operatic experience includes Nannetta Falstaff (Grange
Park Opera), The Controller Flight (British Youth Opera),
Johanna Sweeny Todd (Pimlico Opera), Gianetta L’elisir
d’amore (cover GTO), Marzelina Fidelio (Jerwood Scenes,
Glyndebourne Festival Opera). Concert work includes
Carmina Burana at Snape Maltings and Haydn’s Nelson
Mass under Wilcocks. In 2005 she won the Great Elm
Vocal Award. She was also a member of Glyndebourne
chorus for two years.
Future plans include Adina (cover Scottish Opera). Verity
is currently at the National Opera Studio supported by an
Alan Beurrier Memorial Scholarship, The Derek Butler
Trust and a Susan Chilcott Scholarship.
OHP Début
Louise Crane Minerva
Louise trained at the Guildhall, RNCM and National Opera
Studio.
She has worked as a principal artist with ENO,
Glyndebourne, Opera de Lyon, Aldeburgh Festival, La
Monnaie (Brussels), Chelsea Opera Group, Mid Wales
Opera, ETO, European Chamber Opera, the Irish Operatic
Repertory Company, Co-Opera, the International Gilbert
and Sullivan Festival, Opera della Luna, and D’Oyly Carte.
Her repertoire includes Mistress Quickly Falstaff, Flora La
traviata, Marcellina The Marriage of Figaro, Third Lady The
Magic Flute, Filipyevna Eugene Onegin and Jocasta
Oedipus Rex. Louise enjoys a successful concert career
singing at major concert halls in Europe and the Far East
as well as across the UK.
For OHP: Praskowia The Merry Widow 2007
56
Biographies
Orpheus in the Underworld – Un ballo in maschera
Jill Pert Juno
Jill’s professional career began in Canada with the
Canadian Opera Company and the Ottawa Festival Opera.
Returning to London in 1979, she joined the D’Oyly Carte
Opera Company where she has since performed all but
two of the contralto roles. Appearances at English
National Opera include Clarissa and Princess Ida.
Musical theatre credits include Carousel, The Sound of
Music, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Annie, Oliver! and Into the
Woods. Concert engagements include Galas with the
Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras,
and the RTE Orchestra in Dublin.
She also has her own solo concert programme entitled, In
The Dusk With A Light Behind Them.
For Un ballo in
maschera
Peter Robinson Conductor
Peter Robinson studied as Organ Scholar of St. John’s
College, Oxford. His operatic career began as Chorus
Master at Glyndebourne and continued as Resident
Conductor and Head of Music Staff for the Australian
Opera at the Sydney Opera House. He then joined ENO as
Assistant Music Director, where repertoire includes The
Mastersingers of Nuremberg, Otello, Rigoletto, Carmen,
Orfeo, Hansel and Gretel, The Turn of the Screw and all the
major Mozart operas.
OHP Début
Maciek O’Shea Mars
Maciek studied History at UCL and went on to study voice
at Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was the
winner of the English Song Competition.
Operatic engagements include covering First Priest and
Second Armed Man The Magic Flute (ETO), Gamekeeper
Rusalka (ETO), covering Death Savitri (Buxton Festival
Opera), Daedalus Voithia (ETO), Pinellino Gianni Schicchi
(GSMD), Fiorello Il barbiere di Siviglia (Hand Made Opera),
Adonis Venus and Adonis (New Chamber Opera).
OHP Début
He returns to Australia regularly to conduct their leading
opera companies and symphony orchestras. Television
credits include Jonathan Miller’s productions of The
Mikado and Così fan tutte and, for Channel 4, The
Marriage of Figaro. In the concert hall, he has conducted
the major British orchestras, including the LSO, LPO, RPO,
Hallé and BBC Philharmonic and Concert Orchestras.
Recent engagements include Madama Butterfly, Tosca,
Aida and Carmen (Gubbay/Royal Albert Hall), The Marriage
of Figaro (West Australian Opera), Turandot, Madama
Butterfly, Romeo and Juliet, Andrea Chenier and La bohème
(Opera Queensland), Die Zauberflöte (Opera Zuid, Holland)
and Falstaff (Scottish Opera).
Peter is Artistic Director of British Youth Opera.
Ste Clough Baccus
Ste is just about to graduate from Arts Educational.
Whilst in training he has appeared in The Drowsy
Chaperone, Oscar D’Armano and Michael John LaChiusa’s
The Wild Party.
Theatre Credits include Ensemble WhatsOnStage Awards
2009 (Prince of Wales Theatre), Bewtwixt! in Concert
(Ambassadors), Flying with the stars (Palladium),
Understudy Prince Cinderella (Assembly Hall, Kent). Film
Credits include Like Minds (Bluewater Productions) and he
has just recorded vocals with Nigel Richards on his début
album.
OHP Début
Benjamin Newhouse-Smith Morpheus
Ben trained in musical theatre at the Royal Academy of
Music. Previous roles include KoKo The Mikado, Cal
Halliday They Shoot Horses… Don't They?, Kleito Atlantides
and James/Monteagle Remember! Remember!.
For OHP: Chorus 2006, 2007, 2008
For OHP: Fidelio 2003, Luisa Miller 2004, Andrea Chénier
2005, Rigoletto 2006, L’amore de tre Re 2007, La Gioconda
2008, Fidelio 2010
Martin Lloyd-Evans Director
Martin studied physics at Manchester University and
Theatre Arts at Bretton Hall College.
Martin’s recent productions include Mitridate and Re di
Ponto (Classical Opera Company at Sadler’s Wells and the
Buxton Festival), The King Goes Forth to France (GSMD), La
bohème, Rigoletto and La traviata (Mid Wales Opera),
Flight, Così fan tutte, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (BYO),
La Vie Parisienne, Capriccio, the British premiere of Dove’s
The Little Green Swallow, The rape of Lucretia, Maskarade,
Postcard from Morocco, The Beggar’s Opera, the UK
premiere of The Aspern Papers (RPS Award nominee) and
Weill-Krenek-Ullmann Triple Bill (GSMD), La bohème, Così
fan tutte, La Cenerentola, Don Giovanni, Carmen and The
Barber of Seville amongst many others (Garden Opera),
the premiere of Spirit Child (Lontano), Carmen, The
Mikado (Penang State Festival), RPS award-winning
57
Biographies
premiere of On London Fields (HMDT), Cendrillon, Falstaff,
Le nozze di Figaro and l’Heure Espagnol/Gianni Schicchi
with the orchestra of Scottish Opera at The Theatre Royal
(RSAMD).
Theatre work includes Wallace and Gromit: Alive on Stage
(On Tour and West End), Dog in a Manger (Edinburgh and
London) as well as extensive work with internationally
acclaimed theatre company Cheek by Jowl.
Future plans include Roméo et Juliette for Operosa in
Bulgaria, and a devised opera based on The Taming of the
Shrew for Xynix Opera in the Netherlands.
(Told by an Idiot).
www.martinlloyd-evans.co.uk
For OHP: Don Giovanni 2002, Stiffelio 2003, Le nozze di
Figaro 2004, Andrea Chenier 2005, The Queen of Spades –
winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for Best
Production 2006, L’amore de tre Re – winner Opera
Holland Park Friends Award for Best Production 2007, La
Gioconda 2008, Francesca da Rimini 2010
trovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, La bohème,
Orpheus in the Underworld and Kát’a Kabanová 2009
Jamie Vartan Designer
Victoria Newlyn Choreographer
Jamie trained at Central School of Art and Design and in
1988 was awarded an Arts Council Bursary to work as
Associate Designer for Nottingham Playhouse Theatre. He
was part of the British submission to Prague Quadrenale
in 2007, with designs for Carmen, Cagliari 2005.
Victoria Newlyn trained in Acting at Guildhall School of
Music and Drama and has worked as an actress
predominantly in repertory and touring theatre.
Opera Credits include Il Pirata (Opera de Marseille), La
traviata (Malmo revival), Ariadne auf Naxos and Death in
Venice (Salzburg), Albert Herring (Salzburg Landestheater),
Don Giovanni (Operosa, Bulgaria), Manon Lescaut (Teatro
Regio, Parma), May Night (Garsington Opera), Così fan
tutte and Roméo et Juliette (British Youth Opera), La Statira
(Teatro di San Carlo, Naples), Il Nano (Firenze), La Vestale
(Wexford Festival), Capriccio (Guildhall), The Queen of
Spades (La Scala) and Carmen, Aida, Romeo e Giulietta del
Villaggio (Teatro Lirico di Cagliari).
Jamie’s theatre Credits include Alice in Wonderland
(Dublin), The Third Policeman and The Chairs (Blue
Raincoat), Tom’s Midnight Garden (Library Theatre,
Manchester), Vertigo, Breaking the Silence, In the Spirit of
The Man, and Ol Big’ead (Nottingham Playhouse).
Future Plans include Roméo and Juliette (Operosa,
Bulgaria), The Saint of Bleecker Street (Opera de Marseille),
The Last Mile, Swim Two Birds and Six Characters in Search
of an Author (Blue Raincoat).
For OHP: Pearl Fishers 2002, Fidelio and Tosca 2003, Luisa
Miller and Le nozze di Figaro 2004, Rigoletto and The
Queen of Spades – winner Opera Holland Park Friends
Award for Best Production 2006, L’amore de tre Re –
Production 2007, La Gioconda 2008, Fidelio 2010
58
Choreography credits include Falstaff, La vie Parisienne
and L’occasione fa il ladro (Guildhall School), two fully
staged theatre pieces devised by Iain Burnside Seduced
and Lads in their Hundreds (Guildhall School and Kings
Place), Rinaldo and La Calisto (Royal Academy of Music)
and Ariodante (Cambridge Handel Opera Group).
Victoria is a Movement & Drama teacher, working with
singers from undergraduate to opera course level at the
Guildhall School and the Royal Academy of Music.
OHP Début
Biographies
Artists
Amanda Echalaz Amelia
South African born Soprano, Amanda Echalaz, represented
her country in Cardiff Singer of the Year 2005. Since then,
she has sung the title roles in Così fan tutte, Alcina, Jenůfa
and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin. Her Royal Opera House
debut was in the world premiere of Sir Harrison
Birtwistle’s opera, The Minotaur.
Recent engagements include covering Marie in Die tote
Stadt (Royal Opera House) and the title role in Tosca
(Opera Project, Bristol).
Future plans include Butterfly in Madama Butterfly (Cape
Town Opera) and Liu in Turandot (English National Opera).
For OHP: Manon Manon Lescaut – winner Opera Holland
Park Friends Award for Best Female in a Leading Role
2006, Fiora in L’amore dei tre Re 2007, Tosca Tosca –
winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for Best Female
in a Leading Role 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre
Rafael Rojas Gustavo
Mexican born and educated at the University of
Guadalajara, RSAMD and RNCM.
Rafael’s roles include Alfredo La traviata, Nemorino L’elisir
d’amore and Rodolfo La bohème (Seattle), Pinkerton
Madama Butterfly (Glimmerglass, New York, Tel Aviv,
Boston and Opera North), Wether Werther, Alfredo La
traviata, Macduff Macbeth (Houston), Ismaele Nabucco
(Houston and Berlin), Gustavo Un ballo in maschera
(Bregenz and Graz), Rodolfo (Bregenz, Sydney and
Dresden), Carlo Don Carlo (Leipzig), José Carmen and Calaf
Turandot (WNO), Radames Aida (Savonlinna), Cavaradossi
Tosca, Faust La damnation de Faust, Ruggero La rondine
and Duca Rigoletto (Opera North).
His future plans include Turiddu/Canio Cav/Pag
(Saarbrücken), Pollione Norma (Zagreb) and Otello (BBC
Symphony Orchestra).
For OHP: Manrico Il trovatore 2008
Olafur Sigurdarson Ankarström (Renato)
Icelandic born, Olafur studied in Reykjavik, at the Royal
Academy of Music and at the Royal Scottish Academy of
Music and Drama.
Roles include Mozart’s and Rossini’s Figaro, Scarpia Tosca,
Verdi’s Macbeth, Papageno, Schaunard La bohème, Alfio
Cavalleria Rusticana and Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia
(Iceland), title roles Kullervo, Blaubart’s Burg, Escamillo
Carmen, Alfio/Tonio Cav/Pag and Jochanaan Salome
(Saarbrücken), Mozart’s Figaro and Jack Rance La Fanciulla
del West (Grange Park Opera), Escamillo and Sulpice La
Fille de régiment (ETO) and Rigoletto and Ford Falstaff
(Opera North).
Plans include the continuation as principal baritone
(Saarbrücken) and Rigoletto (Grange Park Opera).
For OHP: Tonio Pagliacci 2002, Jack Rance La Fanciulla del
West 2004, Macbeth Macbeth 2005, Gérard Andrea
Chénier 2005, Rigoletto Rigoletto – winner Opera Holland
Park Friends Award for Best Male in a Leading Role 2006,
Manfredo L’amore de tre Re 2007, Barnaba La Gioconda
2008
Gail Pearson Oscar
Gail Pearson graduated from the RNCM, quickly rising to
fame as Jano Jenůfa, Priestess Iphigenie en Tauride and
Pernille Maskarade (all at ROH). She sang Frasquita
Carmen, Naiad Ariadne auf Naxos and Pousette Manon (all
at ENO), as well as Pamina Die Zauberflöte (Scottish
Opera), Lisette La rondine (Opera North) and Gilda
Rigoletto, Gretel Hänsel und Gretel, and Musetta La
bohème (all at WNO). International engagements have
included Jano Jenůfa (Opéra de Lyon), Blumenmädchen
Parsifal (Bastille) and Ann Truelove The Rake’s Progress
(Opéra de Nantes).
Future engagements include Antonia For You (MTW) and
Mozart Gala with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
For OHP: Gilda Rigoletto 2006
Carole Wilson Madame Arvidson (Ulrica)
Carole Wilson is a Fellow of Trinity College, London. After
her debut in 1995, Carole has appeared regularly with all
major British opera companies, making her Covent
Garden debut in 2002.
Carole’s European career has taken her to Amsterdam,
Monte Carlo, Geneva, Vienna and Brussels. She made her
debut at La Scala in 2006 and at the Bastille in 2008.
Carole’s concert venues include notably the Royal Albert
Hall, Usher Hall, Festival Hall, Concertgebouw in
Amsterdam and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
In the future, Carole will be appearing in Vienna, Brussels,
Paris, Madrid and Covent Garden.
For OHP: Madame Arvidson Un ballo in maschera 2001,
Dorotea Stiffelio 2003 and Alisa Lucia di Lammermoor
2003, Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro 2004, Contessa Andrea
Chénier 2005, Countess The Queen of Spades – winner
Opera Holland Park Friends Award for Best Female in a
Supporting Role 2006, Martha Iolanta 2008
59
Biographies
Paul Reeves Ribbing
Benedict Nelson Cristiano
Paul Reeves studied at the Guildhall and the National
Opera Studio.
Benedict Nelson trained at GSMD under Robert Dean
generously supported by Samling, Countess of Munster
Trust and the MBF. He is currently continuing his studies
at the National Opera Studio.
He has appeared at the Staatsoper Berlin, the Linbury
Studio Theatre and the Wexford Festival, as well as with
Garsington Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, ENO,
ETO, Opera North, The Opera Group and Raymond Gubbay
in repertoire ranging from Handel to Birtwistle.
Recordings include The Shops (NMC).
He sang at the première of Rachel Portman’s The Water
Diviner’s Tale (BBC Proms) and current engagements
include Dikoj Kát’a Kabanová (Scottish Opera On Tour),
Don Basilio The Barber of Seville (WNO), Abimelech
Samson et Dalila and Sparafucile Rigoletto (Anna Livia
Festival), Mr Olsen Street Scene (Opéra de Toulon) and
Beethoven’s Choral Symphony (Brighton Philharmonic
Orchestra).
For OHP: Wurm Luisa Miller 2004, Sparafucile Rigoletto
2006, Angelotti Tosca at Richmond Theatre 2009
Simon Wilding Horn
Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Wilding became the youngest
member of the Bayreuth opera festival in 1989.
Recent roles include Lt. Ratcliffe Billy Budd (ENO), Fasolt
Das Rheingold and Hagen Gotterdammerung conducted
by Anthony Legge, Alfonso Così fan tutte and Kecal The
Bartered Bride on tour in the UK, the Doctor (and other
roles) The Nose on tour (Opera Group), Zaccaria Nabucco
(Macedonian National Opera), Zuniga Carmen (Raymond
Gubbay) and Colline La bohème (Mid Wales Opera).
Future Plans include Zuniga Carmen (Raymond Gubbay &
OHP), Bartolo & Antonio Le nozze di Figaro (Mid Wales
Opera).
For OHP: Alessio La Sonnambula 2005, High Priest
Nabucco 2007, Angelotti Tosca 2008, Zuniga Carmen
2010
Ben’s operatic roles include Sid Albert Herring, Marcello La
bohème (BYO), Masetto Don Giovanni (Samling Opera),
Sprecher Die Zauberflöte (Longborough Festival Opera),
Tarquinius The rape of Lucretia (Snape Maltings).
Future plans include Britten’s Songs and Proverbs of
William Blake at Aldeburgh Festival and Cover Belcore
L’elisir d’amore for Scottish Opera.
For OHP: Un Barnabotto La Gioconda 2008
Peter Kent A Judge
Fidelio 2010
Niel Joubert A Servant
Niel studied at the RAM with the support of numerous
bursaries and scholarships.
Operatic roles include Don Ottavio, Nemorino, Pelléas,
Pedrillo, Adolphe Die Opernprobe, Hot Biscuit Slim Paul
Bunyan, Monostatos and Eisenstein.
Concert appearances include the Houses of Parliament,
Auditorio Nacional de Música, Duomo Montepulciano and
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
For OHP: Messenger Il trovatore 2008, Chorus La Fille du
régiment 2008
60
Biographies
Kát’a Kabanová
For Kát’a Kabanová
Stuart Stratford Conductor
Born in Preston, Stuart Stratford read music at Trinity
College, Cambridge, and studied conducting at the St.
Petersburg Conservatoire.
His opera engagement include Don Giovanni (ENO), A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera North), The Turn of the
Screw, Falstaff and Pagliacci (English Touring Opera),
Tobias and the Angel and Ion (Almeida Opera Festival)
Candide (Birmingham Opera Company), for Channel 4 a
film of The Eternity Man in Australia, concerts with the
London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia,
the Manchester Camerata and the Orquestra Nacional.
Stuart’s future plans include a recording of Mercadante’s I
normanni a Parigi for Opera Rara, and the première of
Jonathan Dove’s The Swan on Death’s River for Opera
North.
For OHP: Eugene Onegin 2005, The Queen of Spades –
Production 2006, Jenůfa – winner Opera Holland Park
Friends Award for Best Production 2007, Iolanta 2008, La
forza del destino 2010
Olivia Fuchs Director
Olivia studied in West Germany, California and London.
Her recent productions include Rusalka (Opera Australia –
winner of 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Opera), The
Marriage of Figaro (ENO), Rigoletto (Danish National
Opera), Don Giovanni, Rusalka and The Pied Piper (Opera
North), The Rake’s Progress, Cherevichki, May Night, Osud
and Šárka (Garsington Opera), Roméo et Juliette (British
Youth Opera) and The Italian Songbook (Linbury). Her
repertory also includes La traviata (ETO), The Turn of the
Screw (Brighton Festival), the world premiere of Lunn’s
The Maids (ENO, Lyric Hammersmith), Apollo et
Hyacinthus (Classical Opera Company). She has created
projects including Burning Mirrors (ENO Studio) and
Pleasure Palaces (Lyric Hammersmith). Theatre credits
include Yerma, The Madman and the Nun and Ulysses
Blooms as well as Woyzeck, Le Malade Imaginaire and the
British premieres of Washday and The Round Table, in her
own translations.
Olivia’s future plans include Rusalka (Opera North), Kát’a
Kabanová and La traviata (Danish National Opera).
For OHP: Fidelio 2003, Luisa Miller 2004, Macbeth 2005,
Jenůfa – winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for
Best Production 2007, Pelléas et Mélisande and Fidelio
(revival) 2010
Yannis Thavoris Designer
Yannis Thavoris was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. In 1994
he graduated in architecture from the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki. He was awarded the Lilian
Voudouris Foundation scholarship in Athens to study at
Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design where he
won the 1997 Linbury prize for stage design.
Yannis’ opera designs include The Marriage of Figaro and
The Rake’s Progress (English National Opera), The rape of
Lucretia (Aldeburgh Festival, ENO and BBC TV), La
Clemenza di Tito (Copenhagen and ENO), Così fan tutte
and Madama Butterfly (Scottish Opera), Aida (sets –
Welsh National Opera), Candide (Birmingham Opera),
Carmen and The Daughter of the Regiment (English
Touring Opera), Così fan tutte (Strasbourg), Les contes
d’Hoffmann and Opera Seria (Nationale Reisopera,
Netherlands), Tchaikovsky’s Oprichnik (Cagliari, Sardinia),
The King Goes Forth to France (Guildhall School), A Night at
the Chinese Opera (Royal Academy of Music) and National
Opera Studio Showcases.
Yannis’ work for Theatre and Musicals includes Gigi
(Regent’s Park), Annie Get Your Gun (UK tour) and Antony
& Cleopatra (English Shakespeare Company).
Work in progress includes Petrushka for Scottish Ballet.
For OHP: Nabucco, Jenůfa – winner Opera Holland Park
Friends Award for Best Production 2007, Tosca – winner
Opera Holland Park Friends Award for Best Production
2008, Tosca at Richmond Theatre 2009
(Told by an Idiot).
trovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, La bohème,
Orpheus in the Underworld and Un ballo in maschera 2009
61
Biographies
Kát’a Kabanová
Artists
Paris) and Nunez in Turnage’s The Country of the Blind
(Aldeburgh Festival/QEH).
Anne Sophie Duprels Kat’a
For OHP: Laca Jenůfa – winner Opera Holland Park Friends
Award for Best Male in a Leading Role 2007, Florestan
Fidelio 2010
Anne Sophie Duprels was born and studied in Paris. Her
operatic roles include Jenůfa (Opera New Zealand),
Violetta La traviata (New York City Opera), Amanda Le
Grand Macabre (San Francisco), Madama Butterfly, Manon
and Violetta (Opera North), Manon (Scottish Opera), Thaïs
and Rusalka (Grange Park), Marguerite Faust (Opera New
Zealand), Salud Vida Breve (Greek National Opera), Mimi
(Grange Park, Scottish Opera, RAH), Oksana Tcherevichki
(Garsington), Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Glimmerglass and
Strasbourg) and Theresa Benvenuto Cellini (Strasbourg).
Future plans include Malinka‚ Etherea and Kunka The
Excursions of Mr Broucek (Opera North and Scottish
Opera) and Mimi (Opera North).
For OHP: Violetta La traviata 2001, Magda La rondine
2002, Lucia Lucia di Lammermoor 2003, Luisa Luisa Miller
2004, Jenůfa Jenůfa – winner Opera Holland Park Friends
for Best Female in a Leading Role 2007, Mélisande Pelléas
et Mélisande 2010
Anne Mason Kabanicha
Anne Mason has performed with all the major UK opera
houses and abroad in such places as Madrid, Barcelona,
Amsterdam, Aix-en Provence, Innsbruck, Dresden, Lille,
Orleans Nantes and Antwerp.
Her repertoire includes Suzuki Madama Butterfly, Annio
La Clemenza di Tito, Annina Der Rosenkavelier, Enrichetta
Puritani, Dorabella Così fan tutte, Marcellina Le nozze di
Figaro, Fenena Nabucco, Adalgisa Norma, Sextus La
Clemenza di Tito, Mother/Witch Hänsel und Gretel, Fricka
Die Walküre, Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Kostelnicka Jenůfa,
Azucena Il trovatore, Penelope Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria,
Cornelia Giulio Cesare and Agnes Beatrice di Tenda.
Future engagements include Kostelnicka Jenůfa
(Glydenbourde Touring Opera) and Mrs Alexander
Satyagraha (ENO).
For OHP: Teresa La Sonnambula 2005, Kostelnicka Jenůfa
2007, Azucena Il trovatore 2008 Geneviève Pelléas et
Mélisande 2010
Tom Randle Boris
Tom Randle includes among his roles Tamino (ENO, Berlin,
Glyndebourne, Hamburg), Don Ottavio (Munich, Los
Angeles), title roles in Oedipus Rex, Monteverdi’s Orfeo
(Madrid), Hasse’s Solimano (Innsbruck, Berlin), Peter Grimes
(Antwerp), Pelléas (ENO, Paris), Essex Gloriana (ROH, Opera
North), Rakewell (Amsterdam, Lausanne, Paris), Judas The
Last Supper (Berlin, Glyndebourne), Bazajet Tamerlano
(Paris, Scottish Opera), Johnny Inkslinger Paul Bunyan
(ROH), Loge The Rhinegold (ENO), Oberon The Fairy Queen
(ENO, Aix), Andres and Tambourmajor Wozzeck (Brussels),
Steva Jenůfa (ENO), Molqui The Death of Klinghoffer
(Channel 4), Frére Massée St Francois d’Assise (Amsterdam,
62
Patricia Orr Vavara
Patricia studied at Glasgow University, the RCM and the
National Opera Studio and continues to study with Anne
Mason.
Opera credits include Sorceress Dido and Aeneas,
Orimeno Erismena (English Touring Opera), Enfant
L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Bianca The Rape of Lucretia,
Prince Orlovsky Die Fledermaus (RCM), title role Tolomeo
(London Handel Society), Yolande in Maconchy’s The Sofa,
cover Julia The Departed (Independent Opera), cover Tisbe
La Cenerentola and Flora La traviata (Scottish Opera) and
cover Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (ENO).
Future plans include Second Lady Die Zauberflöte (English
Touring Opera).
For OHP: Laura Iolanta 2008
Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts Tichon
Jeffrey read music at Lancaster University before
studying at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Opera Credits include title role Peter Grimes, Andres
Wozzeck, Matteo Arabella, Laca Jenůfa, Jenik The Bartered
Bride, Herod Salome (Opera North), Erik Flying Dutchman
and Florestan Fidelio (London Lyric Opera), Max Der
Freischütz (Zwingenberg), Don José Carmen, Macduff
Macbeth (ETO), Lawyer Punch and Judy (Music Theatre
Wales), Janek The Makropulos Case (WNO), Peter Quint
The Turn of the Screw, Lenski Eugene Onegin, Yuri The
Enchantress, Nicias Thaïs, Alexei The Gambler, The Prince
Rusalka, (Grange Park Opera), Alwa Lulu (ENO), Gherardo
Gianni Schicchi (ROH) and Judas The Last Supper
(Glyndebourne).
Future Plans include Gambler at Covent Garden, The
Adventures of Mr Broucek for Opera North and Scottish
Opera and Love for Three Oranges for Grange Park Opera.
OHP Début
Andrew Rees Kudrjáš
Andrew Rees trained at the RNCM and at the GSMD
before joining ENO.
Operatic roles include Alfredo (Mid Wales Opera),
Pinkerton (New Zealand), The Lawyer Punch and Judy
(Porto), Cavaradossi (CBSO/Oramo), Macduff (COG), Boris
Kát’a Kabanová (St. Gallen), Sergei Lady Macbeth of
Mzensk (St. Gallen and Weimar), Jim Aufstieg und Fall der
Stadt Mahagonny (Nantes/Angers and Lille),
Walther/Hugo/Old Woman Blond Eckbert (Weir, NDR
Hamburg), Narraboth Salome recording for
Chandos/Mackerras.
Biographies
Kát’a Kabanová
Andrew created the roles of Ryan When She Died/Death of
a Princess Dove (Channel 4) and Dudley The Cumnor Affair
Tête a Tête (Cashian).
For OHP: Ismaele Nabucco 2007
Richard Angas Dikoj
Opera credits include Swallow Peter Grimes (Zurich and
Opera North), Abbot Curlew River (Trento and Pisa),
Sacrestano Tosca, Angelotti Tosca, Great Referee Playing
Away (Bregenz), La Cuisinière L’amour des trois oranges,
Jakovlevich The Nose (Amsterdam), Death of Wagner
(Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Paris), Aga The Greek Passion
(ROH, Bregenz, Brno), Bonze Butterfly, King Aida (RAH),
High Priest of Baal Nabucco, Alcindoro (ENO), Mikado
(Reisopera, La Fenice), Kommandant From the House of the
Dead (Strasbourg and Palermo), Julietta (Opera North,
Prague, Ravenna), L’enfant et les sortilèges, Waldner
Arabella, Water Sprite Rusalka, Basilio Barber (Opera
North), Parson Vixen (Opera North, Barcelona),
Drebydnyetsov Paradise Moscow (Opera North, Bregenz),
Private Willis Iolanthe and Pooh-Bah (Grange Park).
For OHP: Count Luisa Miller 2004
Nuala Willis Glaša
Nuala’s opera credits include Filipyevna Eugene Onegin
(Aldeburgh Festival), Ulrica Un ballo in maschera
(Canadian Opera), Klytemnestra Electra (RTE Dublin),
Austrian Woman Death of Klinghoffer (Barbican and BBC
TV), Sphinx The Second Mrs Kong (Glyndebourne), Older
Woman Flight (Glyndebourne, Adelaide), Mother Goose
The Rake’s Progress (Glyndebourne, Reisopera, Champs
Elysees), Mistress Quickly Falstaff (Birmingham Touring,
Stanley Hall Opera), Widow Begbick Mahagonny (Nantes,
Angers, Lille) as well as productions and concerts in
Lausanne, Geneva, Nancy, Luxembourg, Berlin, Marseilles
and Antwerp amongst others.
Future plans include workshops for Opera Genesis (ROH),
cabaret and concert engagements in UK and USA.
For OHP: Burya Jenůfa – winner Opera Holland Park
Friends Award for Best Female Supporting Role 2007, La
Duchese de Crakentorp La Fille du régiment and La Cieca
La Gioconda 2008
Nicholas Lester Kuligin
Nicholas Lester studied at Adelaide Conservatorium of
Music and the National Opera Studio, London.
Roles include Don Alfonso Così fan tutte, Theseus A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Antonio The Marriage of
Figaro, Colonel Calverly Patience, Pirate King The Pirates of
Penzance, Sir Joseph Porter HMS Pinafore, Paris Roméo et
Juliette, The Speaker The Magic Flute, Kagler Wiener Blut,
Pasha Selim The Seraglio, Leporello Don Giovanni, Marcello
La bohème, Louis The Wandering Scholar, Fiorello and
Officer Il barbiere di Siviglia, St Brioche The Merry Widow,
Onegin Eugene Onegin, 2nd Prisoner Fidelio, Miguel
Betrothal in a Monastery, Belcore L’elisir d’amore and
Marcello La bohème.
He has appeared with Glyndebourne Festival Opera,
Glyndebourne on Tour, British Youth Opera and English
Touring Opera. Future engagements include The Foreman
Jenůfa for Glyndebourne on Tour.
For OHP: Flora’s servant La traviata 2007, Moralès Carmen
2010
Emma Carrington Fekluša
Emma Carrington studied at the RNCM and the Opera
Programme at the RAM and was a finalist in the Opera
Rara bel canto competition 2008.
Operatic roles include Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro with
Sir Colin Davies, Masha Paradise Moscow, Clorinda
Tancredi e Clorinda, Monteverdi, (Batignano Festival),
Third Lady The Magic Flute, Older Woman Flight (British
Youth Opera), Mistress Quickly Falstaff (Grange Park
Young Artists’ Programme and Pimlico Opera). Emma
recently appeared in the 5.15 Programme at Scottish
Opera.
Emma has a busy concert diary with broad repertoire
including Monteverdi’s Vespers, Janác̆ek’s Diary of One
Who Disappeared at the Wigmore Hall and Tippettt’s
Child of Our Time at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
She will return to Scottish Opera in the autumn to sing
the Kabanicha Kát’a Kabanová in the autumn tour.
For OHP: Chorus La traviata, L’amore dei tre Re 2007
Carolyn Harries Žena
Carolyn’s recent roles include German Mother Death in
Venice (Aldeburgh Festival), Russian Lady Playing Away
(Bregenzer Festspiele), Third Lady The Magic Flute, Berthe
Barber of Seville, Mrs Noye Noye’s Fludde, Mrs Grose Turn
of the Screw (New Devon Opera).
Teachers include Paul Hamburger, Ian Comboy, Teresa
Cahill, and Claire Powell. Carolyn has gained diplomas
from Guildhall School and the Open University.
For OHP: Chorus The Magic Flute, La Gioconda, Iolanta
2008
Peter Kent Muž
Fidelio 2010
63
Twenty years at
Holland Park
Michael Volpe
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears
a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or
far away.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
In the autumn of 1989, as I sat in a room at Kensington Central Library, there was very little to
indicate that twenty years later I would be writing a piece like this; one of the two people
interviewing me for the job had fallen soundly asleep, which the less generous have suggested
helped my cause since I had to sufficiently impress just one person in order to secure the post.
I learned later that as a ‘twitcher’ he had been spending the week catching migrating birds and
tagging them – in Scotland – and it was the travelling, rather than my droning, that had
tuckered him out. The job back then was to promote the entire Libraries and Arts service
including the mélange of activities at The Holland Park Theatre, the museums and three art
galleries. Those among you who frequented the season through the early nineties will recall
the variegated quality of visiting companies and in my memory resides one gloriously
ambitious production of Aida whose tea-towel wearing chorus is burned into my mind’s eye.
Leaping forward from that point, it wasn’t until 1996 that I managed to (miraculously)
convince the Royal Borough that starting our own opera company would be a good idea.
I considered making this piece a blow-by-blow recollection of the intervening years but clearly
a book is necessary to document the many people, events, joys, disasters, pleasures and pain
that bleed through those two decades – and I’d never remember them all anyway. Holland Park
has provided the backdrop for my marriage, my divorce and the birth of my three children; my
two daughters have operatic names, one is on the cusp of adulthood, the other on the
threshold of teething. My son is named after an Italian footballer. A dozen or so Mayors have
been to our first nights, two council leaders have worried about us, we have moved business
groups twice, two recessions have threatened us and several major wars in the Middle East
have occupied us, with the backwash of one filtering into a production of Fidelio in 2003. A
new theatre has risen to stand astride the entire house and site, our audiences have
blossomed, peacocks have been devoured by foxes and new infuriatingly fertile flocks
reintroduced, ensuring that management’s most unwelcome accompaniment to our work
continues. Desolation (yes, really) has sat alongside exhilaration on nights of gut-wrenching
lows or intoxicating highs, new talent has emerged to replace those whose light has dimmed
or was extinguished entirely and too many absent friends come mournfully to mind.
It has been a hell of a journey.
The roots of any success are hard to identify but I can think of several moments and decisions
in our history that shine brightly. James Clutton joining as Producer wasn’t a bad moment,
64
bringing West End edge to the reverential world of opera and an attitude that presented
miscreants with not one, but two bloody-minded obstacles to negotiate. Our partnership has
been more rewarding than I can say. But perhaps the very first critical event was my
determination in 1997 to produce Mascagni’s Iris, an opera that London had not seen for
ninety-three years. Having persuaded the Royal Borough to guardedly embark on the
enterprise of managing an opera company, I proceeded to drive home the advantage by trying
to convince them that producing an expensive, unknown piece was brilliance personified. I was
making hard work of it as I recall, and in truth, I didn’t stand much of a chance. But fortune
favours the brave (or is it the stupid?) and an enlightened (unsuspecting) businessman
presented himself as an eager potential sponsor. He had something a little more mainstream
in mind of course, but one listen to the CD and he was hooked; Iris took flight and such was its
success we gave the production again in 1998, alongside another unknown opera, Cilea’s
l’arlesiana. A thread was developing and it is one we continue to mine relentlessly to this day.
The emergence of the Friends has been thrilling too. When, a few short years ago, I first
proposed the idea to a room full of patrons, Carla Withers stepped forward and quickly
assembled a band of helpers to build a charity that today pumps hundreds of thousands into
the OHP pot. I genuinely feel that the Friends are as remarkable an achievement as any we can
lay claim to. External help has been forthcoming as well, from The Evening Standard
sponsorship that spanned six years, to Cadogan Estates and our current partners Korn/Ferry
International. These and many other companies have allowed me to impinge on their budgets
for what now totals millions so that we could make immeasurable progress. I have several
enlightened individuals and friends to thank for their progressive thinking and determination
in this regard.
It hasn’t always been plain sailing of course. There have been threats, insecurities and wolves at
the door, individuals and groups who either wanted to see us gone or who thought they knew
better how to build our future. It felt like a relentless series of battles through the nineties but
nobody managed to land a fatal blow. The battles remain ever present – perhaps now they are
not so brutal – but we nevertheless continue to sing for our supper, which is maybe how it
should be? Building and fighting for the life of Opera Holland Park has taken its toll and it
makes great demands, emotionally exploiting all who commit to it; it doesn’t forgive or permit
complacency and the opera we have created has been the soundtrack to great joys and despair
in my own life. Far too frequently it has come first when it shouldn’t have but that’s what
obsession does for you. It costs – and the price can be high.
And throughout these years, the aspiration to give this glorious art form to those who might
otherwise have allowed it to pass them by has persisted. As our capacity has grown (from six
hundred in 1990 to over a thousand now) so have the number of seats we have made available
at cheaper prices. It is a great source of pride that we invite over five thousand people to
spend no more than ten pounds on a seat every season with a thousand more getting them for
free. ‘Opera is only for toffs’ they say; not at Holland Park where the ‘toffs’ give generously for
those who can afford little. It still rankles – depresses me even – that many of those who
challenge our validity as a cultural enterprise are those who came from the under-privileged
side of the fence from where many of us in the company emerged. We can but continue to
take our work into the communities who support us and for whom opera brings great delight;
our remarkable ten-venue ‘Big Day Out’ has set the rabbit running with great alacrity. Day
centres for the elderly, schools, hospitals and even supermarkets have all received operatic
visits in recent times and our exertions in this area grow with every month, as does the
clamour for further visits. In time, a new project will emerge, taking this aspect of the
company to new heights. Whether the audience is an old soldier, primary school child, frazzled
shopper or worried patient, the thrill and wonder of the human voice is potent and for a
fleeting moment, life enhancing. Who said opera was a minority interest?
65
It is fair to say that the ideas I first set out for the nascent company in 1996 are still at the core
of what we do; the message has never changed, despite the world around us trying to put us
into one box or another. We have remained stubbornly informal, trying to blend the elegance
of our home with the urban immediacy of many of our patrons to create an energetic,
innovative and brave opera company. It has been a great pleasure to find knowledgeable,
sensible and understanding minds among the council, where my more apparently nonsensical
ideas often found fertile ground. The risks with our repertoire define us as a company – any
season without a true rarity is frowned upon – so those who provide for us must find the
confidence to allow the company to do something of real worth and value. I hope in this
regard, I can say we have rewarded them handsomely for their trust.
We have mastered our environment too. This form of performance art is at its best when the
audience is focused totally upon it so it is something of a miracle that with the myriad
distractions of the park and London airspace, we have succeeded in creating memories that
will forever live with those who were here to receive them. My own memories of productions
past are rich and vivid, almost countless in number and if truth be told, some merge into the
fog of the past. But there is no clouding the recollection of the bright, burning talent of artists
whose job is mind-bogglingly difficult; that first opulent production of Iris, the beguiling vocal
marriage of Nelly Miricioiu with Diana Montague in Norma, the earthy passions of l’arlesiana
and Rosalind Plowright’s soaring Mama Rosai, the chilling first sight of the prisoners in Olivia
Fuchs’s Fidelio that sent shockwaves through the audience, or Sonora’s conciliatory reprieve of
Johnson in La fanciulla del West, words that made me weep on every giving of them and which
preface the conclusion to Puccini’s greatest musical achievement. More recently I have been
staggered by the ferocious eroticism and monumental soundscape of L’amore dei Tre Re and
the scintillating revelation in that piece of the sort of performer Amanda Echalaz promises to
be and who went on to redefine Tosca in a production that did the same for the entire opera.
And then there was Orla Boylan and Peter Auty in Iolanta, giving us singing from another
planet in a duet I find it hard to imagine us topping. Even with these few reminiscences I have
been unfair to so many whose endeavours deserve to be recalled.
People define my two decades at Holland Park more than any other factor. People on stage,
people backstage, people in the seats, in the office. So many to recall, so many for whom I have
had love, loathing or both. The steel and fabric of our bravura new canopy and the spacious
new theatre beneath it are part of the experience but twenty years of that alone wouldn’t
count for much. The human side of the lyric arts, the amazing individuals we work with,
complete with their talent, their demons and their passions – these are the things I have
committed to memory. And they are the very same things that still drive the company. No
matter how many plans I have or how many dazzling structures and facilities I ask the Royal
Borough to build or how much money I hound them for, regardless of how many rare and crazy
operas I propose, the privilege of knowing the people who deliver it all define my time here.
Opera Holland Park is a life’s work for sure and it is far from complete. I am conscious that this
mini-memoir sounds like a goodbye letter, but whilst one never knows the future, and as much
as I like to think I have already achieved here, there is still much to be done and the ambition of
the company is boundless. Our patrons have grown with us and in the process have helped us
to grow, to realise the dreams for which many had nothing but ridicule when I first laid them
bare. The Royal Borough has shown resolve and vision to persist but as unorthodox as OHP
continues to be, as awkward as it may appear to sit among the plethora of life-saving, lifegiving, vital services we as a council provide, there is no questioning OHP’s colossal value. And I
don’t suppose I could have hoped for more than that back in 1996.
66
Roberto Devereux
By Warwick Thompson
It’s hard to repress a smile when the opening sinfonia to Roberto Devereux strikes up. The
incongruous sound of our dear old national anthem is now more likely to herald the rather
staid prospect of a royal ribbon-cutting than the spectacle of a queen of England chopping her
lover’s head off. This kind of thing is usually the sticking point for people who say that they
don’t like bel canto operas. Maybe it also partly lay behind Wagner’s gibe that that bel canto
accompaniments all sound like ‘a big guitar.’ But hang on. If you’ve ever burst out with
inappropriate laughter while hearing a piece of devastating news, or cried tears of joy, you’ll
appreciate that emotions can be surprisingly complicated. Maybe Donizetti was onto
something profound here, even modern. After all, his comedies like L’elisir d’amore and La fille
du régiment (both of which have been produced with enormous success at Holland Park) are all
the truer and funnier for their moments of pathos. Could it not be the case that his tragedies
are emotionally sharper for their moments of jollity?
I certainly think so. Roberto’s prison/execution aria (Bagnato il sen di lagrime – ‘My breast is
bathed in tears’) does not signal a lapse of Donizettian judgement, but a thrilling operatic
hysteria in the face of death. Or take the astonishing trio in Act 2 (Va, la morte sul capo ti
pende – ‘Go, death hangs over your head’), in which the queen boils over with jealous rage,
Roberto simultaneously defies her, and Nottingham is incandescent with rage at Roberto’s
betrayal. Nottingham’s statement (No, l’iniquo non muoia di spada – ‘No, do not let the villain
die by the sword’) plops cheerily into the passionate mêlée. To some this may seem ridiculous:
to me it is – to use the term in the most positive sense – absurd. The tune suggests a
fascinating aspect of Nottingham’s personality: his near-psychopathic sadism. He’s singing a
chipper melody, even while imagining rivers of blood, because he’s enjoying himself. It’s sort of
Quentin Tarantino avant le lettre.
It’s not surprising that Donizetti should mix tears with smiles for, despite his extraordinary
lyric instinct for high drama, he himself was a particularly jovial character. In his very early
career, he had great reason to be. Born into a poor family in Bergamo in 1797, his life would
undoubtedly have been one of grubbing drudgery were it not for an extraordinary stroke of
good luck. The second-rate composer, first-rate teacher, and all-round good egg Johann Simon
Mayr had just established a music school with free places for talented local boys in Bergamo.
Donizetti was part of the first intake in 1806, and quickly rose to be its undisputed star.
Unsurprisingly, the school is now named after him.
At the close of 1811 Mayr wrote a frivolous end-of-term farce called ‘The Little Composer of
Music’ to be performed by his students, and based on their characters. The hero, naturally, is
Donizetti himself, and Mayr gives us an invaluable insight into how the fourteen year-old
composer was then regarded. In the piece, he’s a lively lad, bubbling over with high spirits,
comic inventiveness, and not a little buffo pomposity.
68
He says at one point:
Vasta ho la mente, rapido l’ingegno,
Pronta la fantasia, e nel comporre
Un fulmine son io...
That is: ‘My mind is huge, my wit speedy / My fancy ready, and in composition / I’m like
lightning...’ – prophetic words indeed about a composer who was to go on to write well over
60 operas, sometimes at a rate of four a year.
In his later letters, Donizetti reveals himself as a gregarious and good-humoured man who was
tremendously supportive of his fellow composers: a fact which is rare enough in itself, but all
the more remarkable when one considers how cut-throat and competitive the world of Italian
opera was at the time. Bellini, for example, was poisonously jealous of anyone else’s success,
and didn’t hesitate to say so (behind their backs, at least.) Donizetti was an able versifier too,
and often turned his hand to amusing doggerel in his letters: his own libretti for the one-act
comic pieces Betly and Il campanello di notte (both 1836) are generally reckoned to be sound.
In Donizetti’s early career right up to the mid 1830s there was a marked, but not exclusive,
preference in Italian theatres for plots which ended happily: they tended to do better at the
box office, and were easier to get past the famously twitchy censors. When Donizetti tackled
his first gory and tragic plot in Gabriella di Vergy (1826), an opera in which the heroine is
presented the freshly butchered heart of her lover, he even wrote it as a kind of dry run. He
composed it without a commission – a unique occurrence in his working life – and never
expected to see it staged. (It wasn’t produced until 1869, twenty-one years after his death.) In
a letter of 1828 he expresses his desire to get his teeth into more death scenes; as late as 1835
he was still crying out for more passion from his librettists – ‘I want love, without which
operatic subjects are cold, violent love.’
When he found a writer who could supply him with violent love – a violence he could mix with
his particular talent for happy melodies – the deepest springs of his talent were tapped. His
first indisputable triumph was his thirty-fifth opera Anna Bolena (1830). It was this work which
won him commissions from all the leading Italian opera houses, and established him as a
household name. More importantly, perhaps, it was not until after Anna Bolena that his
beloved teacher Mayr began calling him Maestro.
So Donizetti had both a public which was yet to develop a taste for blood-soaked melodrama,
and a personal facility for cheerful tunes: this gives us some idea of his approach to tragedy.
He had honed his musical instincts in comic works and semi-seria pieces, and had expanded his
range as a properly tragic composer comparatively late. It was only to be expected then, that
he should bring an emotional palette as varied as possible when writing a work like Roberto
Devereux (1837).
His personal circumstances during composition, however, were anything but happy. His
beloved wife Virginia, whom he had certainly infected with the undiagnosed venereal disease
from which he himself was suffering, died after a particularly painful stillbirth in July 1837: her
two previous pregnancies had already ended unhappily. On top of this, he was anxiously
waiting to hear about the promised confirmation of his appointment as Director of the Royal
College of Music in Naples, his present home town. The situation was a tense one for him, and
in the end dragged on for a further three years. It was not until 1840 that he was eventually
rejected in favour of a native Neapolitan. As if that weren’t enough, a cholera epidemic was
raging through Naples too. By the end of June 1837, there were more than five hundred new
cases being reported every day.
It was in this period of emotional turmoil that Roberto Devereux was composed. The opera,
commissioned for the prestigious Teatro San Carlo in Naples for September, proved to be a
valuable emotional safety valve – a release both for his mourning and the repression of his
natural exuberance in grief. He threw himself into its composition with furious energy, and
produced a score which immediately established itself on lyric stages all over the world.
69
The story is based on the colourful relationship between Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and
Robert Devereux, Second Earl of Essex (1565-1601). In his youth, the proud and dashing
Devereux had been one of the queen’s favourites, but after a disastrous campaign to subdue
an Irish rebellion, he fell out of favour. His pride began to curdle into arrogance, and after a
failed a coup d’état against the queen he was executed for treason.
This fascinating historical relationship had already been freely adapted as a stage work on
several occasions, but Donizetti and his librettist Salvatore Cammarano took as their principal
source the French play Elisabeth d’angleterre by Jacque-Arsène-Francois Ancelot. This version
adds the fictional characters of the Duke of Nottingham and his wife Sara, and exploits the
legend – which, surely, is simply too operatic to be false – that Elizabeth gave Essex a ring
which he was to send to her if ever she needed to be reminded of her gratitude to him.
Tudor history was meat and drink to Italian opera houses. Donizetti had already composed Il
castello di Kenilworth (1829), and Maria Stuarda (1835), as well as the Anna Bolena mentioned
above. Why was Tudor history so popular? Partly the answer lies in the genre itself. Opera had
always relied on splashy costumes, lavish scenery and naughty nobs in a pickle, and in this
sense Tudor England must have seemed like a hundred Christmases come at once for any
jobbing composer. He could assume that the
prima donna would appear in elaborate laces
and ringlets. He could be confident that the
set would include a brilliant palace and a
nightmarish prison. He could give the world a
head-chopping king, or a queen torn between
her cares of state and her feminine instincts.
It was in this period of emotional
turmoil that Roberto Devereux was
composed. The opera, commissioned
for the prestigious Teatro San Carlo
in Naples, proved to be a valuable
emotional safety valve.
But this wasn’t all, of course. The Italian
censors who controlled stage works in the
early 1800s were a particularly gloomy bunch
of bloodhounds who barked loudly at any hint
of sedition or blasphemy on stage. To show a Catholic king or queen behaving badly was
tantamount to treason. But a Protestant king or queen, well, that was another matter. Since
Protestants were confined to hellfire anyway, they were fair game – hence the interest in
the Tudors.
The censors proved true to form in the case of Roberto Devereux, and their quibbles put back
the premiere by several weeks. But after the first night on October 28, 1837 at the Teatro San
Carlo, critics were unanimous in their praise, both for the piece and the performance. ‘The
music is a collection of exquisite beauties... varied and profound harmony,’ wrote one critic. ‘A
remarkable diversity of expression,’ wrote another.
Soon after the first night, Donizetti decided to continue his career away from the hothouse of
Naples, and move to Paris. One of his first tasks was to revise Roberto Devereux for the ThéâtreItalien, the capital’s second opera company, and for this production in 1838 he added an
opening sinfonia and a new Act 1 duet for Elizabetta and Roberto, both of which we will hear
tonight. He also wrote a different opening romanza for Sara (the new singer had a lower voice),
and composed a new two-part aria for Roberto’s prison scene: in these cases we will hear the
original Italian version.
Donizetti, who could be a dispassionate critic of his own work, was pleased with Roberto. ‘Even
in the midst of my grief at being alone on this earth, I sometimes derive a solace from my art.
The outcome could not have been more flattering,’ he wrote in a letter after the Naples
premiere. ‘It’s not for me to tell you how it went. I am more modest than a whore, and I should
blush,’ he wrote with a return of his earthy vivacity in another. As ever, even at a time of
bittersweet triumph, he was happy to allow the comic muse to nudge him in the ribs.
Warwick Thompson is the music critic for Metro and the London arts writer for Bloomberg.com.
www.warwickthompson.com
70
Hänsel und Gretel
By Peter Reed
It must have come as something of a relief to the guardians of the flame of 19th century
German opera, as well as to its composer Engelbert Humperdinck, that from its first
performance in 1893, Hänsel und Gretel proved to be such a huge success. Wagner, who had
died ten years earlier, was an impossible act to follow, as many minor composers discovered to
their cost. Moreover, as the presentation of Wagner’s masterpieces entered a lengthy period
of ossification under the inflexible guidance of his widow Cosima, Italian verismo operas by
composers such as Leoncavallo, Mascagni and, most potently, Puccini were rushing in to fill the
vacuum so abhorred by opera-house box offices. Gods and monsters yielded to the moral
vagaries of Manon Lescaut. Of course, Humperdinck’s music didn’t single-handedly deflect the
flow of German opera back into comfort-zone conservatism, nor did it attempt to stretch the
boundaries of late Romanticism in the way that Schoenberg and, to a lesser extent, Richard
Strauss did. Yet in spite of its clearly audible debt to Wagner, Hänsel und Gretel has a strongly
defined identity that champions the cause of German folk culture against the more lurid,
earthy attractions of verismo.
Engelbert Humpderdinck was born in 1854 in Siegburg, the Westfalian town to the east of
Cologne and Bonn and the Rhine. After a brief and dutiful period studying architecture, he
turned to music in 1871. His teachers included the piano virtuoso and pedagogue Ferdinand
Hiller, Joseph Rheinberger (remembered now mostly for his fine church and organ music) and
the composer Franz Lachner, all of them at the centre of the German musical and academic
establishment.
Humperdinck first met Wagner in Naples in 1880 (Wagner was 67, Humperdinck 26), and the
meeting led to Wagner inviting him to Bayreuth to help with preparing Parsifal for
performance. As well as copying the score, Humperdinck’s most significant contribution was
to supply a few bars of music (subsequently removed) to cover an unexpectedly lengthy scene
change. The young man became part of Wagner’s ‘court’ until Wagner’s death in 1883; and
while Wagner’s heady and overwhelming influence on the younger composer began to recede,
Humperdinck was very much a Bayreuth insider, to the extent that in 1889 he became tutor to
the Wagners’ 20-year-old son Siegfried, briefly playing an important part in the young man’s
development as a composer of fairy-tale operas, and that in 1894 Cosima directed a
production of Hänsel und Gretel.
Academic posts, editing work for Schott’s publishing house and music criticism show what a
dynamic, thoroughly connected and national figure Humperdinck became in German music.
With the success of Hänsel und Gretel, he had the means to devote more of his time to
composing operas, incidental music, and a large number of songs and choral works. He wrote
music for Max Reinhardt’s Shakespeare productions in Berlin, and Reinhardt commissioned
Humperdinck to write the music for Das Wunder, described as a ‘Mysterienpantomime’,
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performed at Olympia in London at the end of 1911, a
spiritual spectacular with a cast of 2,000, a 500-voice
choir and an orchestra of 200 players. In this nun-onthe-run prototype, a novice tests her vocation by
experiencing life’s fleshpots; but when she returns to
her convent, a sadder but wiser nun, none of the
sisters has missed her because the Virgin Mary took
her place. Alongside the lofty and philosophic idealism
inherent in Wagner’s operas, there ran in all the art
forms at the turn of the century a pronounced strain
of mawkish sentimentality that took the German
concept of ‘gemütlich’ to saccharine extremes,
involving squadrons of angels, cloying mysticism and
flagrantly manipulative and emotional death scenes.
Humperdinck knew the German appetite for such
morbid extravagances, but in Hänsel und Gretel
tempered the potential for rampant sentimentality –
in particular the angel pantomime at the end of Act II
– with robust humour and, of course, the beauty and
natural charm of his music.
His later opera Königskinder (to the play of 1897 by
Ernst Rosmer, the pen name of the playwright Elsa
Bernstein, who survived the concentration camp
Theresienstadt and died in 1949) was nearer in spirit to
the
symbolist movement, a Maeterlinck-like fairy-tale
Engelbert Humperdinck (1854 – 1921).
play for sophisticated adults. Humperdinck considered
Lebrecht Music & Arts
it to be his finest work and the premiere, at the
Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1910, was a
triumph that put the Met’s earlier premiere of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West into the shade. In
spite of that, however, it has not enjoyed anything like the popularity of Hänsel und Gretel – in
spite of having two children and a witch in common – possibly because the heavily symbolic
plot ends with the Royal Children of the title dying starved and frozen in the snow. In his other
four operas, he had problems with the librettos and they have never made their way into the
mainstream repertoire.
The first version of Konigskinder was as a melodrama. Humperdinck had great faith in the
validity of this genre peculiar to German theatre, in which a dramatic recitation is spoken over
a musical accompaniment. It was a device used by many composers, including Beethoven and
Mozart, and Humperdinck raised it to a new level of expression by notating the pitch of the
speech (Sprechnoten), an innovation that in time became known as Sprechstimme, the weirdsounding half-speech, half-singing Schoenberg would use later to unforgettable effect in
Gurrelieder and Pierrot Lunaire.
Similarly, the first version of Hänsel und Gretel was a mere four songs with words, based on one
of the folk-tales gathered by the Brothers Grimm, by Humperdinck’s sister Adelheid Wette
(who also provided the libretto for his second opera Die sieben Geislein, ‘The Seven Young
Goats’). Humperdinck then expanded this into a Singspiel, with 16 songs and piano
accompaniment, with spoken text; and then early in 1891 he started work on developing it
into the opera as we now know it.
The Grimms’ version of the folk tale, supposedly related to the two brothers by an old German
peasant woman, underwent some significant acts of censorship in the course of various
editions. The original had the mother, with the father’s collusion, deliberately abandoning the
73
Humperdinck’s potent mix of
Wagnerian harmony and instantly
memorable, almost nursery-rhyme
melody, along with some highly
effective orchestral passages and an
unerring sense of theatre, never
disappoints.
children to die in the forest. In an attempt to
maintain the cosy ‘Kinder Kuche Kirche’
(children, kitchen, church) ethos of hallowed
German family life as promulgated in the 19th
century, the mother became a stepmother, a
wicked stepmother familiar to all from the
story of Snow White, for a later edition, and
the father’s active participation in getting rid
of the children was considerably reduced. The
version that Adelheid presented to her
brother for their opera concentrated all the
wickedness into the figure of the cannibalistic witch, with the stepmother reverting to real
mother, and both parents benign and protective of the two children, but at the end of their
tethers through hunger and want.
Richard Strauss conducted the 1893 premiere, having described the work as a masterpiece, and
Humperdinck’s potent mix of Wagnerian harmony and instantly memorable, almost nurseryrhyme melody, along with some highly effective orchestral passages and an unerring sense of
theatre, never disappoints. Despite the debt to Wagner, Humperdinck’s music never sounds
like parody or pale imitation, promising a profound philosophical subtext that is never
delivered (a fate of many opera composers in thrall to Wagner – think of Chausson and his King
Arthur).
Hänsel und Gretel is conventionally put on as a Christmas treat for children, as much as for the
rollicking grotesqueries of wicked witches being pushed into ovens and gingerbread children
restored to life as for its edifying and reassuring celebration of family values and for the fact
that it is a fail-safe introduction to opera. Children respond to its boundary-defining realism
and sense of justice (however rough), and the magical and spiritual elements have a logic born
out of natural wish-fulfilment rather than exotic, otherworldly enchantment. Yet for all that,
Hänsel und Gretel remains firmly an opera for grown-ups. Like J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, and with
the same degree of tact and assurance, it shines a light back onto the half-forgotten needs and
imperatives of childhood that never stop clamouring to be understood, although at the same
time it has an inherent grasp of the relationship of child to parent and the dark forest of
experience that is often closer, say, to a good episode of the cartoon series Family Guy or the
implacable horror of Charles Laughton’s 1955 film The Night of the Hunter than to the blueremembered, slightly clammy nostalgia of Peter Pan.
Hänsel und Gretel has been going strong for more than a century, and the anxieties about the
harm we inflict on children have come on apace from the psychologically implicit to the
violently and physically explicit, to which any number of cases involving child abuse and child
pornography bear witness, and the opera has the trampoline-like flexibility to bounce around
many contemporary concerns. For example, David Pountney’s 1987 production for English
National Opera was memorable for the nagging possibility of child abuse, for the bittersweet,
even cynical subversion of staunch 1950s family values, and for the telling playing of mother
and witch by the same singer. Richard Jones’s 1998 production for Welsh National Opera had a
great deal to say about the effects of hunger and need. Last year’s Glyndebourne staging
turned hunger into rampant consumerist greed, but rather overdid the slapstick humour in the
Witch act. Most recently, the Royal Opera’s more conventional staging was more obviously
child-friendly and boasted a fabulously grotesque, three-breasted witch.
Humperdinck’s two operatic offspring still have plenty to sing about. They endure.
By Peter Reed
74
A Bohemian State of
Mind
By Gavin Plumley
The word Bohemia conjures up a world of misinterpretations. In Shakespeare the country has a
coast, in modern Europe it has disappeared in a marriage with Moravia to form the Czech
Republic and in Puccini’s 1896 masterpiece La bohème, Bohemia is the student world of 1840s
Paris. Whether a real state or simply a state of mind, it has become a watchword for
romanticism and a lust for life. For the characters in The Winter’s Tale, Bohemia represents an
escape from the political wrangling of the Court of the King of Sicily. At the time Puccini was
writing his tragic vignette, Bohemia proper was a hotbed of intellectual and artistic change,
contravening the overbearing Austro-Hungarian rule. Although Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunard
and Colline all ape the seriousness of their Shakespearean and real-life Bohemian counterparts,
they are essentially posers, caught up in the image of the Parisian flâneur and artistic dandy. It
is only when Mimi enters Rodolfo’s garret for the second time at the close of the opera that
the stakes are raised and the mirage of bohemian life becomes truly squalid. At that point
Puccini unleashes all the power of his musico-dramatic skill, thus perfecting one of the most
telling tragedies in the operatic repertoire.
But who can blame the four men at the heart of this opera? They are part of a much larger
figment of the romantic imagination called Paris. From Victor Hugo’s grandiloquent vision of
medieval machinations in Notre-Dame de Paris, through Violetta Valéry’s demise in La traviata
and finally the chic of Doisneau’s lovers or Jules et Jim, the French capital has become a bastion
of starry-eyed posing. Yet against this parade of couples kissing in front of the Châtelet or
railing against the heavens from the rooftops of the city is a much denser socio-political
movement. The Paris uprising in 1832, which happened just before Rodolfo and Marcello
walked doe-eyed in through the city’s gates, was in some respects the beginning of this freethinking anti-monarchist movement, though it too had its roots further back, in the French
Revolution of the previous century. In the wake of these insurrections, figures such as Charles
Baudelaire arose. Baudelaire not only managed to write the liberal high-romantic polemic Les
fleurs du Mal, but also to die in a heady concoction of laudanum, opium and alcohol, thus
becoming the true exemplar of the Bohemian lifestyle. Despite his great literary
achievements, it was not Baudelaire who ‘created’ Bohemia in Paris; rather it was down to
Henri Murger. Murger’s 1849 play La vie de bohème gave a textbook illustration of that artistic
and liberal existence, discovered and mimicked by a whole generation of young Parisians. In
the aftermath of the toppling of the government in 1848, a bloody civil war and the Second
Republic, a febrile and troubled period of rule, Paris was filled with youths willing to
impersonate art, which had, to some extent reflected life.
While Murger’s characters proved inspirational to a whole new youth, he never sought to be
political or avant-garde. Some directors have depicted Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline and Schaunard
as proto-revolutionaries, snorting drugs and burning rioting pamphlets in order to be able to
heat their home, yet this seems to miss an essential point. As Jerrold Seigel has explained,
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‘Murger’s Bohemians did their dance of closeness and distance to bourgeois life to a rhythm of
constant ambivalence’. In short, this quartet of poet, artist, philosopher and musician, can
more easily be seen as bourgeois boys playing at being poor. Marcello is perhaps the only one
of the quartet actually to be seen at his work. As the opera begins he is found painting a
religious canvas “Il passaggio del Mar Rosso” on the subject of the Flight of the Israelites from
Pharaoh’s clutches, perhaps indicating that Marcello is under commission, perhaps in the
patronage of the church. Rodolfo may appear the very picture of the struggling poet, watching
the smoke from the Parisian chimneys climbing up to the sky, yet he is more concerned with
the lack of heat in the garret than getting on with his work. His latest play is a means to an end
when they burn the manuscript for warmth. Colline arrives in a relatively idealistic mood, but
an audience member would question immediately how an amateur philosopher could scrape a
living in 1840s Paris. Schaunard is the only one of the friends to proffer any material
contribution, yet has he been selling his musical skills to Lord Milord or merely playing with
the aristocrat’s maid? While it would be churlish to view the first act, replete with its
bonhomie and Christmas Eve magic, as a
trifle, at no point do the flatmates indicate
that they are hard working artists. As the
other three skip off to the Café and Rodolfo
stays behind to complete his article (which
one doubts he has even started) the mood
changes completely.
Puccini unleashes all the power of
his musico-dramatic skill, thus
perfecting one of the most telling
tragedies in the operatic repertoire.
While contemplating work, Rodolfo hears a woman, Mimi, coughing on the stairs. In
comparison to Rodolfo’s ardent yet futile promises of building ‘castle in the air’ and living ‘in
my contented poverty’, Mimi immediately talks about her work, embroidering linen and silk.
Her touching naïve manner heralds in Rodolfo his truly lyrical spirit as the newfound lovers
launch into their first duet. Rather than horsing around with his mates, here our tenor is the
poet serious. Yet it is one of his failings that neither he, nor Mimi are able to maintain such
commitment. However flawed their relationship, Mimi remains the emotional centre of La
bohème. Marcello’s Musetta is, of course, a totally different kind of woman. Bold, brazen and a
fast worker with Alcindoro, the rich man attracted to her, she is a courtesan in all but name. It
is she who gets the flatmates out of their scrap when paying the bill at the Café Momus, but it
is also Musetta who brings Mimi back to the garret when the true frailty of her nature is
exposed. She is, perhaps, the mirror image of Mimi: her unabashed waltzing aria ‘Quando me
n’vò’ the polar opposite to Mimi timid ‘Sì, mi chiamano Mimi’.
This dialectic between the serious and the fun is essential to the construction of La bohème.
The to-ing and fro-ing from lads’ joshing to untimely death represented a serious musicodramatic challenge for Puccini. Likewise, the composer was confronted with a drama in which
Rodolfo might seem frivolous one minute, but is convincingly capable of the terrible cries with
which he greets Mimi’s death. It is no coincidence that La bohème follows Manon Lescaut in
Puccini’s career. In his earlier opera, Puccini also had present two very different worlds
simultaneously. There he first had to deal with the Manon who is sexual tempter both to her
master Geronte and to her young student lover Des Grieux, flitting vivaciously from one to the
other. Secondly, the libretto called upon the horrendously degraded scene of the Penal Colony
in New Orleans. While geographically more localised, La bohème follows that tragic descent
and the four acts of its synopsis very distinct moods. Act one moves from japing around to
full-blooded romance in very quick succession. The second act is a veritable party, while the
third act is its mirror image, frozen in winter and pregnant with hope for the spring. The final
act seems to repeat the first, though this second time Mimi’s appearance brings a much
gloomier prognosis than her and Rodolfo’s first glorious meeting. It is during this final act that
all the larking around ceases and the flatmates’ professions and personalities are reduced to
nothing in the face of real tragedy.
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The construction of the fourth act is exemplary, with every bar and word timed to perfection.
Though some have seen this as highly manipulative on Puccini and his librettist collaborators
Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa’s part, it is now more readily seen as an example of Puccini’s
truly ingenious skill as an opera composer. With our return to the Bohemians’ garret, the
composer launches us into the Allegro vivace theme with which he began the first act. Among
Marcello and Rodolfo’s conversation we can hear strains of the love duet and Musetta’s
glorious waltz from act two. Schaunard and Colline return and the mood becomes increasingly
silly, with the flatmates leaping through gavottes, fandangos and quadrilles. This is pure
teenage prankishness and it is interrupted by an incredibly brutal change of gear. Musetta’s
arrival with Mimi wracked with consumption triggers in the men a sea change of emotion.
Although one could see Colline’s ensuing lament to selling his coat as further posing, his brief
aria concludes with a doom-laden motif that will return in the final bars of the piece. Puccini
has revealed, albeit secretively, that a rather grim end is in sight.
How different, then, to the promise of seasonal fun at the Café Momus at the equivalent point
in the first act. Constantly referring back to themes from the previous acts, Puccini unfolds
Mimi’s final painful hour; the music drips with nostalgia and regret. Once Colline has gone out
to sell his coat, we hear strains of the duet, ‘O Soave fanciulla’. But unlike when these tunes are
heard first in their full-throated glory, the fourth act has a pathetic and hushed demeanour.
The tragedy is all the more palpable because it is so quiet, so unlike the action that has
preceded it. As well as being totally truthful to the mood of the drama, Puccini shows a
remarkable development in his characters’ emotions. Rodolfo, the lazy and rather whimsical
poet of the first act, has become the true operatic tenor, his feelings larger than life when he
learns that his lover has died. Being cynical, one feels that Mimi’s horrendous passage will
provide Rodolfo the poet with the inspiration he needs. It is, after all, her entrance and exit in
his life on which Puccini focuses his and our attention; it is her death that sadly makes this
opera the true picture of Bohemian life. Even Musetta, seemingly the most resilient of the
characters, is irrevocably changed. All pragmatism, her voice throughout the fourth act never
rises above a medium dynamic and no longer scaling the heights of her more outlandish
passages at the Café.
When Puccini was working on this incredible work, his Italian contemporaries had become
obsessed with naturalistic drama. The verismo tradition in Italian opera, which arose through a
fascination with gritty slice-of-life realism, became dominant across the continent. What is so
remarkable about Puccini’s La bohème, in comparison with his peer Leoncavallo’s opera based
on the same subject, is that it moves far beyond a slavish representation of Murger’s Bohemian
world. As all the flatmates leave behind their joking when confronted by Mimi’s arrival in the
fourth act, so to does Puccini’s dramatic style. No longer content to parrot the calls of the
milkmaids on their way to work at dawn, or the shouts of the children on Christmas Eve,
Puccini creates a swirling mass of psychologically telling motifs. While the music of La bohème
is uniformly rich and detailed, it is in the repetition of gorgeous melodies and simple musical
touches in the tragic circumstances of Mimi’s final moments that each and every character on
stage bursts into three-dimensional life. The posing of the Bohemian movement ends and the
throb of real life bursts over the footlights and grabs the audience by the throat – more real
than anything you will encounter in one of the model examples of verismo. Only the very hardhearted could afford not to weep.
© Gavin Plumley, 2009
Gavin has written and broadcast widely about twentieth century opera. He has contributed to
Opera, Opera Now and The Guardian and writes a blog at entartetemusik.blogspot.com
78
Offenbach, operetta
and Orpheus
By George Hall
Jacques Offenbach is one of the most significant creative figures in the entire history of music
and theatre. That may seem a large claim, but consider this: if Offenbach cannot quite be
credited for inventing operetta, it was certainly he who established the genre and gave it an
international presence. In Vienna, he encouraged and was emulated by Johann Strauss II, who
provided the local variant with its first permanent classic in Die Fledermaus. In England, Gilbert
& Sullivan sprang up in the wake of the success of London transfers of his shows. From Strauss
grew the entire later tradition of Viennese operetta, while from Gilbert and Sullivan and their
followers came the musical comedy and later the American musical. All the musicals playing in
the West End or on Broadway today, and thousands of other pieces of lighter musical theatre
performed over the last 150 years or so, can trace their ancestry back to Offenbach.
Who was this individual with such an extraordinary impact? Jacques (originally Jacob)
Offenbach was born in Cologne in 1819. His father, Isaac Juda Eberst, had moved there from
the city of Offenbach-am-Main, and in Cologne became known as ‘der Offenbacher’ and later
just ‘Offenbach’. He pursued a career variously as a bookbinder, musician and cantor in a
synagogue. He also encouraged the musicality of his two sons, Julius and Jacob, the younger of
whom soon developed considerable proficiency on the cello; he also began to compose,
publishing his first work at the age of 14. That same year (1833) Offenbach’s father took his
two talented boys to Paris, then the centre of the musical world, and auditioned them for the
celebrated Conservatoire. As foreigners, they were not qualified for admittance, but the
director, Luigi Cherubini, decided to relax the rule on this occasion. Leaving his sons behind at
this prestigious institution, Isaac Offenbach returned to Cologne.
Formal study seems not to have suited young Jacques (as he now was) and he left after a year.
But he continued his studies privately, notably with the renowned Fromental Halévy, composer
of the hugely successful grand opera La Juive, meanwhile gaining work as a cellist in various
orchestras and eventually settling into the pit of the Opéra-Comique. Gradually he became
known as a soloist, launching a career as a virtuoso and in 1844 making the first of his visits to
England, where he performed with Mendelssohn and Joseph Joachim and played for Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert as well as the Tsar at Windsor Castle. He must clearly have been an
outstanding performer, but his ambitions lay elsewhere. He had set his sights on composition,
and specifically on comic opera.
This already had a long history in France, though Offenbach himself had noted a tendency for
the genre to become more serious over the years. The theatre known as the Opéra-Comique
was its natural home, though the form known as ‘opéra comique’ is not, confusingly, merely
the equivalent of the English term ‘comic opera’; it meant specifically opera with spoken
dialogue. According to some ancient and arcane laws governing exactly what could or could
not be performed at the various Parisian theatres, only the Opéra itself was allowed to perform
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a work sung throughout in French. Dialogue was obligatory at the Opéra-Comique, but
librettists and composers were continually stretching out towards more serious subjects. For
Offenbach, the result was becoming closer and closer to ‘small grand operas’. He aspired
instead to cultivate a genre that was purely humorous.
For years he beat on the doors of Parisian theatre managements without managing to
persuade any of them to let him in. After several disappointments, he determined to promote
his own works in future. After a concert performance of his one-act L’alcôve in 1847, he staged
a handful of similar small pieces in 1853-5, then seized the opportunity of the International
Exhibition held in Paris in 1855 to hire and
renovate a tiny theatre near the Exhibition
site which he called the Bouffes-Parisiens.
Consider this: if Offenbach cannot
quite be credited for inventing
operetta, it was certainly he who
established the genre and gave it an
international presence.
The venue was minute, seating only 50
spectators and – by another Parisian
theatrical law – only three performers were
allowed to sing on its stage. But his triple bill
containing the wry comedy Les deux aveugles,
which opened on July 5 1855, was the hit of
the season, and both Parisians and other Exhibition visitors flocked in. Offenbach, as both
manager of and chief composer to the venture, kept up a steady production of new works for
the Bouffes-Parisiens, all in one act and necessarily small-scale. At the end of the year he
moved to a larger theatre, where he was allowed four people on stage. Only when such laws
were entirely relaxed in 1858 was he able to achieve a long-held ambition: to write a bigger,
two-act piece involving multiple principal roles and a chorus.
The subject, which his librettist Ludovic Halévy (nephew of the composer) had been pondering
for years, was the well-known classical legend of the musician Orpheus, who is grief-stricken
by the death of his wife Eurydice and is allowed to go down to the Underworld to bring her
back to the realm of the living. Unfortunately Halévy, whose day-job was as a civil servant, had
recently been appointed General Secretary to the Ministry for Algeria (then a French colony),
and in his new-found respectability had neither the time nor the inclination to sacrifice his
position in the cause of frivolous entertainment. His colleague Hector Crémieux thus did most
of the work, but Offenbach appealed to Halévy to supply some lyrics, which he did on
condition that his name should not appear on the bill. Instead, the work was dedicated to him.
Orpheus in the Underworld opened at the Bouffes-Parisiens on October 21 1858. The first-night
reception was mixed, but from the second night the piece began to win admirers. Offenbach
and his collaborators were undoubtedly helped a few weeks later by the attitude of an
important critic who had written a negative review. In fact, they seem to have laid a trap for
him, into which he duly fell. Jules Janin was France’s most eminent theatre critic, having
written for the influential Journal des Débats for nearly thirty years. He had been much amused
by Offenbach’s previous efforts and had said so in print. But to a high-minded individual
steeped in the world of classical antiquity, Orpheus in the Underworld was a step too far – a
vulgar profanation of the ancient authors who still provided the ultimate models for France’s
academic literary elite. He loathed and despised it.
Unfortunately, Janin had not noticed that the libretto put into the mouth of Pluto a
substantial speech that was lifted, bodily, from an article he himself had written only six
months previously. Once his negative review had appeared, Offenbach wrote a letter to Le
Figaro pointing this out. A contretemps ensued in the newspaper columns. The public
controversy ensured that Orpheus became a production that everyone simply had to see. It
was the talk of artistic Paris. It ran for an unprecedented 228 performances and was only taken
off because the cast was too exhausted to continue.
81
Offenbach now entered upon a decade of glory. He followed Orpheus with another piece based
on classical world, La Belle Hélène (1864), turned to French medieval legends for Geneviève de
Brabant (1859) and Barbe-bleue (1866), viewed modern Paris sceptically in La Vie Parisienne
(1866), took a sideswipe at Prussian militarism in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867), and
purloined recent French literature in La Chanson de Fortunio (1861) and La Périchole (1868).
Meanwhile, his works became ever more international in their appeal and did the rounds of
theatrical Europe. The Vienna Court Opera granted him musical respectability by
commissioning his three-act opera Die Rheinnixen in 1864. Even the Opéra-Comique, which
presumably still thought of him as an orchestral cellist, changed its mind and commissioned
Barkouf (1860), Robinson Crusoe (1867) and
Vert-Vert (1869) – musically slightly more
ambitious than his operettas, yet still sticking
to the comic vein in which he specialised.
The public controversy ensured that
Orpheus became a production that
everyone simply had to see. It was
the talk of artistic Paris.
The crisis of Offenbach’s career came as part
of a much greater disaster that engulfed the
French nation in 1870-1. The Prussian
chancellor Bismarck had long schemed to establish German dominance on the continent of
Europe by toppling the French. By some clever doctoring of a genuine telegram, he succeeded
in goading Emperor Napoléon III into declaring war on Prussia in July 1870. Within six weeks
Napoléon and his entire army were taken prisoner at the battle of Sédan. This catastrophic
humiliation resulted in Napoléon being deposed by a Government of National Defence which
hastily reassembled the remainder of France’s troops and endeavoured to fight on. This in turn
led to the miseries of the Siege of Paris, which was followed (after the exultant Germans had
left, taking Alsace and Lorraine with them) by the chaotic revolution of the Commune, which
was itself brutally quashed by French troops under General Thiers. By then much of Paris lay in
ruins, and many thousands of its citizens had died. Who would want operetta now?
Offenbach had additional problems. He was German by birth. His operettas, according to his
scapegoat-seeking critics, had not only been relished by Napoléon III and the leading lights of
his discredited regime but had also, through their incessant mockery and underlying cynicism,
helped to undermine France’s moral strength. Offenbach, who had wisely taken himself and his
family off to Spain for the duration, defended himself ably in print, was forgiven by the public,
welcomed back and resumed his activities.
The pieces he wrote following this great debacle contained less of the satire that had, in
retrospect, proved so controversial, and more of the sentiment that was the other side of his
unique coin. Even with more competition now –from composers like Charles Lecocq, whom he
had earlier helped to launch – he had further significant successes with pieces such as
Fantasio (1872), Madame Favart (1878) and La Fille du Tambour-Major (1879). Orpheus returned
in triumph in a much-expanded version in 1874 (at Holland Park you will hear the original,
which is widely preferred by Offenbach experts). He also worked, from 1877, on a major project
that he hoped would affirm his credentials as a composer of serious opera – The Tales of
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Jacques Offenbach – Orfée aux Enfers Caricature showing Pluto
stranded outside Bouffes Parisiens, while Orpheus marches in with
violin under arm.
Hoffmann, which, sadly, he did not live to
complete. As (largely) orchestrated,
rearranged and even rewritten by other
hands, the work became a mainstay of the
French repertoire following its premiere at
the Opéra-Comique on February 10 1881.
Offenbach had died four months previously.
He was buried in the cemetery in
Montmartre after a service at the Madeleine
(he had converted to Catholicism in 1844,
shortly before his marriage) with the full
military honours to which he was entitled as
a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
But were Offenbach’s contemporary enemies correct? Were works like Orpheus, La Belle Hélène
and La Vie Parisienne essentially flippant and destructive satires? The answer cannot be a
simple one. Offenbach and his collaborators, like W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, were not
bent on bringing down a society in which they were keen to play a prominent part and from
which they benefited significantly. But they could all see the ridiculous side of things. When
Jupiter is attacked in Orpheus for his constant amatory escapades, frowned on by his wife
Juno, the work’s creators and its first audiences would instantly have thought of Napoléon III’s
notorious string of mistresses, so thoroughly disapproved of by the Empress Eugénie. When
the inhabitants of Olympus rush in singing a parody of the Marseillaise and threatening
revolution, audiences might have thought of those who wanted to tear down the rackety
glitter of the Second Empire and everything it stood for – though it was not these opponents
that would eventually do so. And everything and everyone in Orpheus finally has to bow before
the hypocritical morality of Public Opinion.
One of Offenbach’s French biographers, Alain Decaux, defined his position vis-à-vis his own
society very neatly: ‘Second Empire society discovered in Offenbach a barometer of its own
sensibilities. Politically stifled, it liberated itself through laughter. Offenbach was that
laughter.’
Equally pertinently, early audiences, like today’s, might have seen in the reversal of the
traditional Orpheus and Eurydice story – in which, far from being devoted, the two cannot
stand each other – or in the carefree libidinousness of most of the operetta’s characters, a
wider satire on human nature that is not, arguably, such a parody of reality as idealists might
like to suppose. And all set, in Offenbach’s consistently inventive score, to music of a melodic
vitality, rhythmic buoyancy and orchestral elegance that would summon from Rossini an
enormous compliment when he dubbed its creator ‘the Mozart of the Champs-Elysées’.
George Hall writes widely on operatic matters and is a contributor to the New Oxford Companion
to Music and the Penguin Opera Guide.
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‘Viva Verdi’: Sense and
Censorship in Verdi’s
By Katharine Camiller
‘I am drowning in a sea of troubles’
The year is 1792, the setting the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. A masked ball, hosted by
King Gustavus III is in full swing. In spite of his mask, the King is easily recognisable as a result
of the silver Royal Order of the Seraphim star upon his costume and is approached by Captain
Jacob Johan Anckarström, along with revolutionary co-conspirators Claes Fredrik Horn and
Adolf Ribbing. Anckarström shoots the King at close range, using a pistol loaded with rusty
nails to ensure that if the initial shot is not fatal, the wound will become gangrenous. The King
dies thirteen agonising days later of an infection as a result of his injuries. Those interrogated
for the murder include the famous medium of the time, Ulrica Arfvidsson, who is alleged to
have predicted the King’s murder when he visited her anonymously some years earlier.
Anckarström is executed, Ribbing and Horn are exiled.
The year is now 1857, the setting the San Carlo Opera in Naples. Verdi begins work on an opera
based on Scribe’s libretto Gustave III ou Le Bal Masque, a dramatisation of the events that took
place in Stockholm some 60 years earlier. Mindful of potential objections from the censors
concerning the subject matter and following lengthy battles over previous operas, Verdi
submits a prose synopsis of his version of the libretto written by Antonio Somma at the end of
the year, expecting to have to make some minor changes to the location and specific
character references. Yet this is a period of great political unrest and the censors react far
stronger than Verdi anticipates. One of the King of Naples’ own soldiers had recently
attempted to attack the King with his musket during a military review at Naples, and in
January 1858, a bomb is thrown under the carriage of Napoleon III on his way to the Paris
Opéra, putting the nerves of the authorities in Bourbon-ruled Naples on edge. In a letter to
Somma in February 1858, Verdi writes:
‘I am drowning in a sea of troubles. It’s almost certain the censors will forbid our libretto... They
began by objecting to certain phrases and words, and then entire scenes and finally the whole
subject… So the subscribers won’t pay the last two instalments, so the government will
withdraw the subsidy, so the directors will sue everyone, and already threaten me with
damages of 50,000 ducats. What hell!’
Changes demanded by the censors include omitting the ball altogether from the piece, making
the murder take place off stage, and transforming Amelia from Ankarström’s wife into his
sister so as to avoid all references to adultery. What hell indeed.
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‘Arm yourself with courage and patience’
Eager to salvage the situation, the San Carlo management prepare an amended version of the
libretto that meets with all the censor’s requirements, which is set in Florence in the 14th
century and called Adelia degli Adimari, but Verdi refuses to accept these changes. Following
threats of legal action from the theatre, an agreement is eventually reached between the
composer and the management where Verdi is given permission to offer his controversial
work to another theatre if he then returns to Naples later that year to produce Simon
Boccanegra, which is yet to be staged in that city. Verdi immediately offers the opera to the
Teatro Apollo in Rome, where the Papal censor accepts the libretto but on condition some
alterations are made to the text and the piece is set in a non-European location. Verdi breaks
the news to Somma:
‘Arm yourself with courage and patience… the censor has sent a list of all the lines he
disapproves of. If on reading this, you feel a rush of blood to the head, lay it down and try it
again after you have eaten and slept well… The lines and expressions deleted by the censor are
numerous, but it could have been worse.’
Verdi and Somma move the setting to Boston at the time of the American War of
Independence, the King is downgraded to a colonial governor of Massachusetts and the title of
the piece is finalised: Un ballo in maschera. The two work tirelessly on the libretto over the
coming months, with the censors making their final amendments towards the end of 1858,
which Somma finds ‘nauseating’, according to Verdi in a letter to a friend. Finally, after two
arduous years of battles with the censors, the opera is premiered on 17 February 1859,
although Somma refuses to add his name to the printed libretto in protest against the
censors. It is at this performance that Verdi’s name becomes synonymous not just with a
battle for artistic freedom but with the Italian nationalists’ struggle for liberation from foreign
(particularly Austrian) oppression and the unification of Italy: the Risorgimento.
‘Viva VERDI!’
By the end of the 1850s, Verdi had become a household name in more ways than one. His
popularity as a composer had grown to the extent that operas such as Rigoletto, Il trovatore
and La traviata had become part of the core repertory in opera houses internationally. At the
same time, political unrest in Italy continued as the Italian Risorgimento gained momentum.
Perhaps unconsciously, Verdi’s choice of subject matter for his operas frequently reflected the
political situation of the moment, providing an insight into his political persuasions. Take
Simon Boccanegra, for example – an opera based on the 14th century Doge of Genoa, whose
vision had been the unification of Italy. The reverse is also true – following the defeat of the
Italian uprisings of 1848-1849, Verdi became disheartened by the political situation in his
country, and in his work he turned away from the more overtly political subjects of operas
such as La battaglia di Legnano, choosing to favour the intimate, domestic settings of operas
such as Luisa Miller and La traviata. Un ballo in maschera, with its topical (and highly
controversial) subject matter is a perfect example of a work borne of its time. It is perhaps for
this reason that Verdi so strongly desired for the piece to be staged, and why he persisted so
resolutely with it in spite of the discouraging number of setbacks he suffered. It is also perhaps
the reason that the Italian nationalists adopted Verdi as a national figure during the
Risorgimento. His name was used for a period as an acronym that represented Italian
nationalistic aspirations: ‘Viva VERDI’ (‘Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia’ – Vittorio Emanuele II
would become king of a united Italy in 1861), a slogan that is reported to have been shouted
for the first time at the premiere of Un ballo in maschera, and also appeared as graffiti on walls
across the country, on banners and in defiance against the Austrians in Northern Italy.
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Verdi was keen to encourage associations with the
nationalists and had already identified himself as a
strong supporter of the Risorgimento as far back as
1847. At this time, he had met Giuseppe Mazzini,
Italian nationalist and patriot and a driving force
behind the Risorgimento. Verdi demonstrated his
allegiance to the liberal uprisings and revolutions in
Milan of 1848 by rushing back to Italy from Paris. He
wrote to librettist Francesco Piave on the subject:
‘Honour to these heroes! Honour to all Italy, which
in this moment is truly great! The hour of liberation
has sounded… There must be only one music
Sketch produced in facsimile in C. Gatti , Verdi nelle
welcome to Italian ears in 1848. The music of the
immagini, Milan, Garzanti, 1941
cannon!’ At the request of Mazzini, he even
composed a patriotic anthem, Inno popolare, in
December 1848. Mazzini intended this anthem for a
chorus of unaccompanied male voices to be used as a national battle hymn for Italy, but Italian
patriotic hymns were banned within a few months and the Inno popolare was never used.
‘I am a Liberal to the utmost degree’
And so, amidst this backdrop of revolutionary fervour and agitated censors, what sort of work
did Verdi produce? It is perhaps unsurprising given this context that writer Gabriele
D’Annunzio later describes Un ballo in maschera as ‘the most operatic of operas’. It is also a
work that contains a skilful balance of comic and tragic elements and a bold spectrum of
musical aspects that demonstrates a fusion of techniques. Verdi was not only bold with his
choice of subject matter, but also with his musical approach. As Italy was undergoing
revolutionary reform, so too was Verdi’s music: the traditional, grander forms of his earlier
works were being broken down and adapted to a more intense and economical approach.
Countless examples of this exist, and characters are associated with different styles of music
for dramatic impact. Take the comic music of Oscar the page and Riccardo’s laughing aria, ‘È
scherzo od è follia’ where he mocks the predictions of the fortune teller Madame Arvidson,
whose music is deliberately melodramatic and dark. These passages contrast with some of the
more intense moments in the piece such as the Act II love duet between Amelia, whose music
is primarily Italianate in nature, and Riccardo, who sings in a number of styles and moves
seamlessly between worlds. Even within this duet there is great variety as the mood switches
between graceful lyricism and overwhelming passion as Riccardo convinces Amelia that their
love is more important than her reputation. Again, music is used to heighten the dramatic
tension in a similar method towards the end of the opera when Oscar brings Riccardo Amelia’s
note warning him that an attempt will be made on his life that night at the ball. The courtly
music from the ball that filters in from offstage is eventually overwhelmed by Riccardo’s love
theme heard in his duet with Amelia in the previous act as he sings of his love for Amelia.
The success of Un ballo in maschera is shaped undoubtedly by a desire for liberation from the
restrictions of the past and the unification of approaches. Within Verdi’s music, this is
demonstrated by the merging of a formal style typical of his earlier works with a more subtle
and concise approach; outside of his music, by the unification of Italy and liberation from
foreign oppression through the Risorgimento. What better way to surmise Verdi’s outlook than
with the words of the man himself: ‘I am a Liberal to the utmost degree without being a Red. I
respect the liberty of others and I demand respect for my own.’
Katharine Camiller is Associate Producer for Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park
86
Kát’a Kabanová
By Robert Thicknesse
Think of Russia in the 19th century and your images will no doubt be of polite society doing its
best to be French (to the extent where that’s often the language they speak), a country
struggling to be European, of people who spend their time in a grand urban social whirl or in
country houses in various states of genteel decay where the languid atmosphere conduces to
lengthy conversations about the state of the nation that rarely lead anywhere in particular.
It’s a cosy image that the West has chosen to adopt of the place, and which the Russians
themselves tend to prefer as the national myth. This is the country familiar from Pushkin,
Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov and Tchaikovsky. The dark side to the story is pushed into the
background: the urban nightmares of Nikolai Gogol’s hallucinatory stories, the apocalyptic
visions of Dostoyevski, the historical horrors documented by Musorgsky: a stranger, scarier
and rather more complicated hinterland that civilised Russia is always trying to forget or
rationalise, but which blows chilly winds from Asia across the imagination.
The Russia we are given by the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky is a part of this world: oldfashioned, feudal, governed by superstition and immemorial custom and ruled by a particular
breed of uneducated, violent despots from what was known as the merchant class, who so
terrorise the younger generation that they turn into tyrants in their turn. This caste of people
(more than a class) had somehow missed out on the modernising reforms of Peter the Great,
who had physically forced his boyars out of their mediaeval dress into European clothes and
himself shaved off a good number of their old-testament beards. But the merchants still
strolled around 19th century Moscow in oriental dressing-gowns and extravagant facial hair,
often held to the unreformed Orthodox faith,
tended to xenophobia and that rather
undefined Russian sense of mission, and their
manual was a 16th century householdmanagement book called Domostroi, which is
not precisely Mrs Beeton: one of its snippets
advises husbands to beat their wives
regularly, but not so severely as to make
them go blind. (This may be why Russian
women embarked on their campaign to grow
bigger and stronger than their men).
Janác̆ek writes “The chief character
is a woman with a gentle nature.
She disappears when you simply
think of her; a breeze would waft
her away – let alone the storm
which bursts upon her.”
Ostrovsky came across this money-grubbing gang when he was working as a clerk in the
Moscow Commercial Court; his early play, The Bankrupt, was about the kind of people he saw
coming and going in the Court (and the neighbouring debtors’ prison, the source of much of
the Court’s business). He wrote it in 1850 and it was banned from the stage by the censor, who
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said of it: “All the characters in the play
are first-rate villains. The dialogue is
filthy. The entire play is an insult to the
Russian merchant class.” But Ostrovsky
managed to get it published and it was
a great success; as a result he lost his
job and was placed under police
surveillance (itself not an uncommon
fate for a Russian writer). All rather
counter-productive, you might think:
now he had to become a full-time
writer simply to stay alive.
Costume Design for 'The Thunderstorm' (oil on canvas) by Kustodiev,
Boris Mikhailovich (1878-1927)
Private Collection/ RIA Novosti/ The Bridgeman Art Library
Nationality / copyright status: Russian / out of copyright
Ostrovsky went on to write 48 plays
and was instrumental in the foundation
of the Maly (“Small”) Theatre – a
stone’s throw from the Bolshoi – where
a statue of him still stands, and indeed
of the realistic tradition in Russian
theatre. The repressive Tsar Nicholas I
died in 1856 and was succeeded by son
Alexander II, a reforming figure who
later freed the serfs, and who lifted the
ban on Ostrovsky’s works being
performed. Under the new regime
Ostrovsky was one of several eminent
people sent out, as a prelude to
Alexander’s reforms, to report on the
state of the country in various remote
regions; the one he got was the upper
Volga, and one of the plays which
resulted from his travels was The
Thunderstorm (Groza), the source of
Janác̆ek’s opera Kát’a Kabanová.
Out in the country Ostrovsky found the merchants thriving and, in fact, running the show. But
the portrait he painted in Groza is not wholly gloomy: the traditions of Russian autocracy
might flow as unstoppably as the Volga, but there are stirrings of change: people are
discussing politics and society and the possibility of revolt is in the air. Still, Ostrovsky has
little love for the people who are top of the heap: Dikoj (literally “Wild man”) and Kabanicha
(the alarming “Warthog sow”) may be only petty tyrants but they can and do still ruin the lives
of everyone around them. They terrorise their offspring, nurture religious maniacs who set the
moral tone of the place, imprison Kát’a in the house, where this child of nature pines away (this
is the usual fate of young married women among the merchants – Domostroi favours a pretty
comprehensive immuring). Perhaps the censor who saw Kabanicha as a veiled portrait of
Nicholas I was not far off the mark.
It is Kát’a herself, managing to preserve her radiant nature in the face of this appalling
subjugation, who best represents hope in the play. The Russian critic Dobrolyubov, who had
earlier written about Ostrovsky’s world as “the Dark Kingdom”, called Kát’a “a ray of light in the
darkness”. At first sight it’s hard to find much that is hopeful in her story, which essentially
sees her crushed by the reactionary forces around her (and by the results of her own actions).
But Ostrovsky’s point is that at least she exists: this world would be even worse without her.
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“Simply from a human point of view we rejoice in Katĕrina’s release, even through death, since
no other way is possible. What a breath of fresh new life comes to us from a personality with
the strength and resolution to escape from that despicable life at any cost…” wrote
Dobrolyubov – indeed a very Slavic form of modified rapture. But the way Tichon turns on his
mother at the end, accusing her of murdering Kát’a, is the first sign of a rebellion that (this
being Russia) might lead anywhere.
As, indeed, had become abundantly clear by the time Janác̆ek came to write his opera based on
the play. In 1919, aged 65, the composer was embarking on the last decade of his life, a
remarkable explosion of creation that produced Kát’a, The Cunning Little Vixen, The
Makropoulos Case and From the House of the Dead. Since completing Jenůfa in 1904 he had
written only two other operas, both interesting but very rarely performed, Fate and Mr
Brouc̆ek’s Excursion.
The unlikely muse behind his final ten-year burst of energy was Kamila Stösslová, 40 years the
composer’s junior, the faithful wife of an antiques dealer, “undereducated, not terribly
attractive, rather large, and hardly with the intellect to satisfy someone as astute as Janác̆ek”,
is one upbeat description of her (by musicologist Diane Page – thanks, sister). Their affair was
sexually chaste (not that Janác̆ek wanted it that way) but produced 700 letters as well as
Janác̆ek’s creative impetus, and Kamila was with the composer when he died in 1928. And it
was certainly Kamila’s idealised image Janác̆ek had before him when writing Kát’a: “I always
placed your likeness on Kát’a Kabanová when I was writing the opera. Her love went a different
way, but nevertheless it was a great, beautiful love!” he wrote. There seems to be plenty of
wish-fulfilment in Janác̆ek’s opera. But more to the point, perhaps, is what he did to
Ostrovsky’s play and why – because his Kát’a and Ostrovsky’s are not quite the same creature.
It is a little surprising to learn, given the rather depressing subjects he took from it, that
Janác̆ek was a great lover of Russian literature, and indeed altogether a Russophile (a
reasonably common attitude in the smaller Slavic countries, who often looked on the place as
a kind of benign big brother, an attitude many later came to regret). And the world in 1919 was
an entirely surprising place: Janác̆ek was now living in the republic of Czechoslovakia, newly
liberated from Austro-Hungarian rule, and the whole world was watching in fascination (and
with liberal doses of horror on the part of the old monarchies) to see what would happen next
in the two-year-old Soviet Union. It is hardly fanciful to see Janác̆ek’s Kát’a in the light of these
historical events: it is an obvious fact, if often overlooked, that operas reflect the time in which
they are written; the spirit of revolt is in the air, and Kát’a is in some sense an embodiment of
them.
Then again, Janác̆ek’s Kát’a is a lot more delicate than her Russian sister, who is allowed a
passionate outburst of social criticism in Ostrovsky’s play which Janác̆ek cuts. The composer
wrote to Kamila: “The chief character is a woman with a gentle nature. She disappears when
you simply think of her; a breeze would waft her away – let alone the storm which bursts upon
her.” And again, he describes Kát’a as: “… of such a soft nature that I’m frightened that if the
sun shone fully on her it would melt her, yes, even dissolve her…” And yet this Kát’a, gentle,
religious, dutiful wife, is capable of falling into the arms of a fellow who amounts to pretty
much the first passing stranger and – perhaps less surprising – be driven to madness, public
confession and suicide as a result. Compare this to the fate of her friend and step-sister-in-law
Varvara: it’s easier for her, since she isn’t married, but the sunny simplicity of her affair with
Kudrjáš, and their elopement to Moscow, does at least suggest there is another way.
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By her own standards Kat’a is a
great sinner: adulteress and suicide.
The amazing thing about the opera
is that it manages to present both
transgressions in a mysteriously
positive way.
But not for Kát’a. In many ways she is a
standard moral product of the merchant
caste, indeed the most conventionally moral
person in the play and opera. More to the
point she is emotionally extravagant –
indeed entirely composed of emotion, a
dangerous thing, as everyone knows. Tichon
– weak, drunk, cowed by his mother – fails in
every way to match up to her idea of what a
husband should be, unable even to beat her
often or tenderly enough to convince her of his devotion. Boris, who has so capriciously
decided he’s in love with Kát’a, must be quite surprised to find his advances so enthusiastically
reciprocated. Kát’a’s act of infidelity is really an impulse of despair, expressed in a sexual and
therefore sinful way. By her own standards she is a great sinner: adulteress and suicide. The
amazing thing about the opera is that it manages to present both transgressions in a
mysteriously positive way. In this connection you might note that the Russian words for
“crime” (prestuplenie) and “transcendence” (perestuplenie), are, for historical and perhaps also
psychological reasons, virtually identical.
This is, perhaps, a matter of opinion and interpretation. There have been many ideas about
what symbols stand for in Kát’a, most importantly the Volga itself. Is it the inexorable tide of
Russian oppression, or the resistance to it? The implacable force of fate, or a polytheistic
celebration of the oneness of nature? Symbolism isn’t a precise science, thank God, so we are
left to ponder Janác̆ek’s music and how it treats its subject – but this is equally hard to pin
down. Janác̆ek was a composer sui generis, who followed no school and who probably didn’t see
the operas which are said to have influenced him most, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and
Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov. Kát’a was written in the same year as Alban Berg’s modernist
masterpiece Wozzeck and manages to be lyrical and swooningly romantic in comparison
without seeming remotely old-fashioned. Janác̆ek’s technique of building his works out of
small motifs is unique, the more so that the motifs themselves are so protean, can “mean”
different things, can crop up in situations that are apparently entirely unrelated. They are
feelings, things understood, forces that cannot be put into words (which is what music exists
for). The foreboding eight-note timpani theme that occurs first in the prelude comes right
back as a jaunty sleigh-bell number – and also returns at the end as Kabanicha crows in glee
over Kát’a’s body. The Volga “sings” to Kát’a in a typical Janác̆ek melody, but what do the voices
mean?
The opera won’t give you an answer. A conductor and director might try to, but the wonder of
Janác̆ek’s opera is really that it takes the heroine out of a realistic play and turns her into
something else: a symbol herself, who despite her fate is a representation of the possibilities
of being human – as well as an operatic figure with the pathos of a Butterfly, the unfettered
spirit of Carmen, the fate of Dido, the loneliness of Verdi’s Trovatore Leonora, the otherness of
Mélisande. It’s a lot to ask of a singer. But there’s nobody on the British stage who is likely to
do it better than Holland Park’s incomparable Anne-Sophie Duprels, and by any reckoning her
debut in the role promises to be one of the highlights of the entire opera calendar
Robert Thicknesse is a freelance writer and opera critic.
91
Holland Park:
Opera, Wildlife
Habitats and the
Ecology Service
It is easy to walk into Holland Park, on the
way to the opera, and miss so much of the
ecological wonders that exist here. Opera
Holland Park strives to be as integrated with our immediate environment as we can be and
would encourage our patrons to explore and discover the living nooks and crannies of what is
one of the country’s best urban parks. Saskie Lovell, The Royal Borough’s Ecology Service
Manager, explains the extensive work that she and her colleagues are carrying out as part of
the new and ongoing Biodiversity Action Plan.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is the most densely populated area in the
country and has some of the busiest roads in London traversing it. It may therefore be
surprising to learn that the Borough has a diverse range of green spaces from the famous
Holland Park to the smaller garden squares and raised beds that add colour to the street scene.
The challenge facing modern urban parks is multifaceted; they must provide usable open
spaces that meet the needs of the local community, provide freedom for leisure and
relaxation, preserve cultural heritage provide and provide habitats and space for wildlife. By
working with nature, we can create wildlife habitats and attractive places for people to enjoy,
which reduce pollution and enhance ecosystems. Future generations have the right to equity
of biological resources and we therefore need to ensure biodiversity is an integral part of the
urban environment – both in the present and the future.
The theatre in which you are sitting may seem, with its steel and fabric to
be an incongruous element in the park, but its existence in this space is an
example of what urban parks in London have been so good at historically.
Today, we seek to incorporate the aims of our biodiversity planning into
every aspect of park life so, for the opera, we have introduced some ideas
which bring it further into the strategy. In order to create habitats for
biodiversity within the opera site, we have placed invertebrate hotels in
the large flowerpots. These invertebrate hotels will attract a variety of
insects such as ladybirds, lacewings, Mason bees and other non-aggressive
solitary bees, which are helpful for pollination. Once the opera season is
over these hotels will be moved and fixed elsewhere in the park, where the
invertebrate hotel will provide a suitable habitat for over-wintering
ladybirds and lacewings.
Invertebrate hotel
However, one must look beyond the opera site to observe the areas that
provide the best opportunities for wildlife. Holland Park is a Site of Nature Conservation
Importance, Metropolitan Status. Its area is approximately 22 hectares (54 acres) and,
importantly for its population of mammals (including bats), birds and breeding amphibians,
comprises one of the larger areas of semi-natural habitat within central London. Uncommonly
92
Burnet Moth visiting wildflowers
for inner London, the park includes approximately 20 acres of woodland. We manage these
enclosures with ecology in mind, and provide suitable habitats for a variety of species. The
water features within the park, including two well-planted wildlife ponds contained by the
wildlife enclosure support common toads, common frogs and smooth newts and provide
habitats for aquatic invertebrates. The ponds also support Moorhens and Mallard ducks.
The birds of Holland Park are extremely diverse for an inner city park. Seventy one bird species
have been recorded in the park since 1964 and the breeding bird survey carried out in 2006
identified twenty seven breeding bird species including finches (green, gold and chaffinch), tits
(great, blue, coal, long-tailed) and tawny owls.
Provision is made to encourage birds within
Holland Park; a year round bird-feeding scheme is
in place, and fifty four new nest boxes were
erected around the park at the beginning of the
nesting season. Nest boxes are excellent
substitutes for the holes found in old trees and are
crucial because though many parks and gardens
may have plenty of food for small birds, they have
limited sites for hole-nesting birds to nest.
Invertebrates are also important features and are
crucial to ecosystem functioning. Invertebrates
are responsible for pollination and assist in the
breakdown of organic materials. One hundred and
twelve moth species have been recorded in
Out and about with kites
Holland Park of which several are very rare species
associated with the fungi living on dead and
decaying wood. Twenty-one butterfly species have also been identified, including uncommon
species such as the purple hairstreak and white letter hairstreak. In order to encourage a
variety of woodland species, wood is left to decay in the woodland enclosures, providing
essential habitats for species such as the Stag Beetle to complete their life cycle.
Within the Arboretum enclosure, we have carried out work to recreate the wildflower meadow
that historically covered this area. This will be a gradual process but once re-established, the
wildflowers will provide an excellent resource for biodiversity that will attract birds, butterflies
and other interesting species.
The Ecology Centre:
The Holland Park Ecology Centre (located adjacent to the Opera Holland Park box office) is a
key resource for local schools and youth groups to study the natural environment. Field study
trips and taught workshops are offered throughout the year and we operate a scheme of
outdoor and creative activities for five to ten year olds in the spring, summer and half-term
holidays. In addition, we offer a junior ecology club for local children aged 8–14, the Holland
Park Wildlife Club.
Holland Park Ecology Centre also hosts an ongoing programme of informative talks, guided
walks, training events, workshops and open days for adults focusing on the environment,
biodiversity and conservation.
Finally… Let us not forget that the environment has inspired musicians, painters, sculptors,
writers and other artists throughout time and therefore we should ensure that the diversity of
live is conserved for future inspiration.
Please feel free to contact the Ecology Service additional information – call 020 7938 8186,
email [email protected] or visit www.rbkc.gov.uk/EnvironmentalServices/Ecology
93
Working in Partnership
In the year since we all last met at Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park the world has altered
dramatically in so many ways and most of us have watched in awe as the global landscape has
changed. Not only has there been a global economic downturn, with once iconic names in the
banking sector disappearing into obscurity, but we have seen the first black president of the
United States voted in, China showed the world its might by hosting the most extravagant
Olympics ever, the French president married a supermodel just weeks after meeting her and
Lewis Hamilton became the youngest ever world F1 motor racing champion.
The extraordinary thing about every year is that records are broken, dreams created and
shattered and new chapters opened and closed, much as in the operas that are being
performed this season in the wonderful central London location of Holland Park. It is also
appropriate that Korn/Ferry is again supporting what is undoubtedly “The People’s” opera in a
year when the excesses of previous years dim into the distant past. More than ever we at
Korn/Ferry have to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of global business to reflect our
clients’ need for a different kind of talent and workforce in these difficult and challenging
times.
Many of the businesses that Korn/Ferry works for are looking for different qualities and boards
and management teams that have a totally different make up and dynamic to that of even a
year ago. Being able to adapt rapidly and to understand and deliver in the swiftly changing
environment is what sets Korn/Ferry apart.
More than ever what Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park offers the local community and Londoners
alike is the opportunity to experience world class opera at a reasonable price in a simple yet
magical setting. The choice of this year’s operas is even more indicative of the times we live in
and appropriate through their breadth and diversity with differing themes, time periods,
jurisdictions and intensity.
With Korn/Ferry being a truly internationally business with 70 offices in 41 countries we think
that the diverse selection of operas this season is reflective of the multicultural world we live
in today. The composers, conductors, directors, designers and singers bringing you this season
come from around the globe, just as the individuals we are identifying and placing in new roles
on a daily basis. Above all what is great about Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park is that with
limited funds operas are produced that appeal to everyone and break the stigma that
attending is only the privilege of the wealthy or musically knowledgeable.
Korn/Ferry International feels that identifying talent at an early stage is one of the most
important roles that it can play in nurturing businesses into becoming global players. More
than ever identifying true talent is absolutely key to the future of business and in many cases
over the next few years their survival. As always we are delighted to be supporting this
outstanding event at a time when more than ever to be able to have an affordable enjoyable
evening is increasingly becoming a rarity.
94
Our thanks to…
We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the following
supporters and donors of the 2009 season, including those who
wish to remain anonymous:
Benefactors
The Lord Phillimore
Trustees of the Phillimore
Kensington Estate
Associated Newspapers
Michael Lewis
The Worshipful Company
of Grocers
Jack & Grete Goldhill
Founder
Ambassadors
Mr & Mrs Anwar Al Qatami
David Colver
Colin Fletcher
David & Connie Freeman
Jack & Grete Goldhill
William Gronow Davis
Martin & Wendy Kramer
Edward Ocampo & Lisa
Erickson
Mr & Mrs Michael Parker
Posgate Charitable Trust
Miss Grace Rimmer
Michael & Jill Salmon
Victor & Bernice Sandelson
Mrs Peter Sykes
Eileen J Taylor
Antony & Carla Withers
Ambassadors
Simon A Aldridge
Mr Jose Miguel Alvarez
Mr Jose Alvarez-Stelling
Mr & Mrs Jeremy Amos
Caroline Amrolia
Mr & Mrs Christopher Bake
Mr Philip Bowman
Mrs Nigel Bromage
Mark & Rosemary Carawan
Mrs Angela Charatan
Mr Gino Frank Chiappetta
Mrs Christine Collins
Malcolm & Katharine
Colquhoun
Joan Constantinidi
Mr & Mrs Andrew Cormack
John & Jennifer Crompton
Jonathan & Belinda Davie
H Dodd
Pat & Linda Farrell
Tony Fathers
Nicholas & Jane Ferguson
Richard Fernyhough
Mrs John Fowler
Michael & Jackie Gee
Helene Gross
John & Clare Grumbar
Mr & Mrs R Harbour
Mr Blaise Hardman
Jocelin & Cherry Harris
Catherine Harrisson
John Henderson
Mr & Mrs John Heywood
Christopher & Jo
Holdsworth Hunt
Denzil & Kate How
John & Rowena Jackson
Richard & Angela Lascelles
George & Anne Law
M J Lee
Geoff & Linda Lewis
Paddy & Sue Linaker
Stuart Lyons CBE
David Mason
Mrs Elizabeth McManus
Henry & Fiona McWatters
Mr & Mrs S Metcalf
Ms V A Metter
Mr & Mrs Alan Morgan
Ms Mairead Murphy
Sherif & Dounia Nadar
Julian & Joan Nichols
Sean & Lucy Paterson
Andrew & Cindy Peck
Mr Derek Power
Neil & Julie Record
Lady Ripley
Mr Chris Rokos
Graham & Jean Ross
Russell
Ian G Salter
Richard & Ginny Salter
Dr Lewis Sevitt
Daniel Sigaud
Laurence Spiers
Anthony & Helen Spiro
Sarah Stingelin
Jonathan & Thalia Stone
Mrs Carolyn Townsend
Judith Treble
Mrs Kenneth Vere Nicoll
Mrs Nicholas Verey
Lady Winnington
Mr J W Woloniecki
Friends
Mr Monty Aaronberg
Ms E Aaviksaar
Mrs Flora Abadjian
Dr Shirley Abell
Mr Neville Abraham
Mrs Debbie Abrahams
Mrs Muriel Abt
Susannah Acland
Miss Sarah Addenbrooke
Mrs Elizabeth Jane Agha
Rowland Agius
Dr L Ahrell
Sir Richard & Lady Aikens
Mr Gavin Ailes
Mr Grahame Ainge
Dr Fiona Aitken
Mr Nader Alaghband
Mrs Celia Aldridge
Mr Ralph Aldwinckle
Mrs Jackie Alexander
Mr Campbell Allan
Mr Richard Allan
Mr Stephen Allcock
Mrs Hermione Allen
Ms Christine Allen-Laird
Mr Andrew Allner
Mr Abdullah Al-Saud
Mr Roger Amey
Mr Philip Amphlett
Mr Folmer Amtoft
Mrs Josephine Anders
Mrs Carole Anderson
Mr Mark Anderson
Mr Ross Anderson
Mr & Mrs Chris Andrew
Mr Brian Andrews
Mr Geoffrey Andrews
Mrs Linda Andrews
Mr Richard Andrews
Mrs Eleanor Angel
Mr William Ansell
His Hon Judge Anthony
Ansell
Mr Dennis Anthony
Dr Gordon Appelbe
Mr Dickie Arbiter
Mrs Jacqueline Ardeman
Christopher Argent
Mrs Sally Arnold
Mrs Gill Arnold
Mr & Mrs Christopher
Arratoon
Mrs Ruth Artmonsky
Mrs W A Ashdown
Mrs Roslyn Ashton
Ms Rosemary Astles
Mr Anders Astrom
Mrs Eithne Atashroo
Sir Harold Atcherley
Mr Robert Atkinson
Mrs Ino Atkinson
Alice Atkinson
Mrs Gioia J Attie
Mr Cyril Auerbach
Mr Guy Austin
Dr Julian Axe
Prof John Axford
Mr Joseph Ayala
Mrs Milly Ayliffe
Mr George Babbington
Mr William Baddeley
Mr Simon Baddeley
Mr N Bagge
Mr James Bagge
Mr John Bagwell
Mrs Lesley Bailey
Mr Richard Bailey
Mr Christopher Baird
Mrs Verona Baker
Mrs Yvonne Baker
Mr & Mrs Norman Baker
Mrs Kamal Bakhshi
Dr Nigel Balcombe
Mr Tony Baldry
Mr John Balfour
Mr Patrick Balfour
Ms Jennie Ball
Mr Edward Banister
Mrs Josephine Bankes
Tom Banks & Patty Taylor
Mrs Caroline Banszky
Miss Janine Barber
Mrs Glenda Barber
Mrs Diana Barbour
Mr Philip Jeremy Bard
Mr Nevil Barker
Mrs Anne Barnard
Miss Cecile Barnett
Mr Brian Barnett
Mrs Fiona Barrett
Miss Beth Barrington
Haynes
Mrs Elaine Barsotti
Mrs Barbara Bartlett
Mr Richard Baruch
Mr J W H Basing
Dr Neville Bass
Paul & Janet Batchelor
Mr Joseph Bate
Miss Susan Bates
Mr Paul Bates
Mr Robert Baty
Thierry & Isabelle Baudon
Prof Michael Baum
Mr Richard Bawden
Miss Elizabeth Baxter
Mr Hugh Bayne
Mrs Carol Beagelman
Mr Patrick Beal
Mr Nigel Beale
David Bean
Ms Tina Beattie
Mr Simon Beccle
Mr Chris Bechtle
Mr A S Behrman
Mr Atle Bekken
Mr Peter Belchamber
Ms Louisa Bell
Mr Christopher Bellamy
Mr Christopher Bellew
Mr Stefan Benedetti
Mr John Benjamin
Mrs Sally Benjamin
Mr Alan Benjamin
Mrs Elizabeth Bennett
Mrs Lesley Bennett
Dr Peter Bennett
Mrs Jean Margaret Bennett
Ms Felicity Benson
Mrs Sheila Benson
Mr Howard Berg
Mrs Josephine Bergbaum
Mr Laurent Bernard
Miss Patricia Bernays
Mr & Mrs A Bernhard
Mrs Veronica Berning
Mrs Ruth Bernstein
Mr Adrian Berrill-Cox
Prof Michael Besser
Mrs Victoria Beverley
Mr David Bewers
Mrs Louise Bicknell
Dr Roger Bilboul
Mr Andrew Binding
Mr Denis Birkett
Mrs Louise Black
Mr Michael Black
Mr Terence Blackburn
Mrs Patricia Blackburn
Mrs Chloe Blackburn
Mrs Z Sandra Blackman
Ms Sandy Blake
Mr Gary Blaker
Mr Graham Bleakley
Ms Sonia Blech
Prof & Mrs Philip Bloom
Mrs Joyce Blow Darlington
Mr Robert Boas
Carrie Boericke
Mr Harvey Bogard
Miss Maria Bogomolova
Ms Nitya Bolam
Mrs Elaine Bollinghaus
Mrs Anne Bond
Mrs Sheila Booth
Mr Daniel Borin
Miss Lucia Boswell
Mr Charles Bott
Miss Patricia Bottomley
Mr Richard Botwood
Mrs Sarah Bouet
Mr John Boulter
Mr Bernard Bourke
Mr Michael Bousfield
Mr Julian Bower
Miss Penelope Bower
Mrs Kate Bowes
Miss Hilary Bowman
Mr Geoffrey Ian Bowman
Mr Daniel Boxser
Dr Malcolm Boyce
Mrs Isabel Boyer
Mr Geoff Boyes
Mrs Catherine Boylan
Mrs Carolyn Boyle
Mr Mario Bozicevich
Mr Rodney Brack
Mrs Alessandra
Brackenbury
Dr Shirley Bradbrooke
Mrs Francelle Bradford
Mr Clive Bradley
Mrs Claire Bradley
Mr & Mrs R E Bradley
Ms Sophie Braimbridge
Mr Roger Bramble
Mr & Mrs Andrew Brannon
Mrs G M Brass
Ms Susan Bray
Mr Ivor Brecker
Mrs Jennifer Brehony
Miss Rosemarie
Breitenstein
Mrs Sandra Brendlor
Dr David Briggs
Mrs Shirley Brihi
Mr Richard Bristow
Sir Samuel Brittan
Mr Simon Broadbent
Mrs Penny Broadhurst
Mr Robin Broadley
Mr Michael Brod
Mr Owen Brolly
Mr Anthony Brooke
Mr Stanley Brooks
Mrs Dorothy Brooks
Mr Robert Brooks
Maggie Brooks
Mr Richard Brooman
Mr Edwin Brown
Mr Peter Brown
Mr & Mrs Leonard Brown
Prof Edwina Brown
Morris Brown
Mr Geoffrey Brown
Mr Jeremy Brown
Louisa Brown
Mr Stuart Brown
Mrs Anne Bruh
Ms Jenny Bryant
Mrs Elizabeth Buchanan
Mr Peter Bucher
Mrs Joan Buckenham
Mrs Anne Buckens
Cllr Christopher
Buckmaster
Mr David Buik
Mr Chris Bulford
Mr Tim Bullivant
Mr Roderic Bullough
Mr Anthony Bunker
Duncan Burchell
Ms Lila Burkeman
Mr Kenneth Burns
Mr John Burrows
Mrs Claudia Bush
Ms Janet Butchins
Mr Ian Butchoff
Mr Piers Butler
Mrs Stella Butler
Mrs Annoné Butler
Miss Susan Butler
Mr John Bywater
Mr Peter Cadbury
Mr & Mrs David Caddy
Miss Elizabeth Callender
Dr Moira Calveley
Mr Maurice Camilleri
Dr John Campbell
Mr Christopher Campbell
Mr & Mrs Duncan
Campbell
Ms Fiona Campbell
Tomas Campbell
Mr Quentin Campbell
Mr Philip Campbell
Cllr David Campion
95
Mrs Yvonne Cannell
Mr Robert Cannon
Mrs Encarnacion Cano
Mr Gary Capp
Mr Peter Cargin
Mr Andrew Carmichael
Dr Colin Carmichael
Dr Stuart Carne
Mr & Mrs James Carrabino
Mr Alain Carrier
Mr Michael Carter
Miss Miranda Carter
Mr Nicholas Carter
Mr Gavin Casey
Mrs Lanna Castellano
Mrs Sheila Castello
Mr Paul Casterton
Mr Joseph Cattermole
Mr Rupert Cavendish
Mr C J Cazalet
Lady Cazalet
Mr Dionisio Cerqueira
Miss Clarinda Chan
Mr Peter Chapman
Mrs Joan Chapman
Shelley Charing
Ms B Adele Charles
Mr David Charlesworth
Mrs J Chater Robinson
Mr Alexandre Chavarot
Ms Tracey Cherryman
Mr Andrew Cheseldine
Mrs Robin Chessex
Mrs Gay Cheyne
Mrs Frances Chidell
Mr Graham Child
Mrs Caroline Chivers
Mr Jonathan Choat
Mr Gavin Choyce
Dr Bryan Christopher
Mr Dieter Claassen
Mrs Sheila Clark
Mrs Claudia Clark
Roger Clark
Mr Norman Clarke
Mr David Clarke
John Clarkson
Mr Richard Clayton
Mr Bruce Cleave
Mrs Caroline Clegg
Lewis & Daphne Clein
Dr John Clements
Mrs Marlene Cleverley
David Clift
Michael Clifton
Mr Charles Clore
Gabriela Clouter
Bradley Cobb
Mrs Marian Cochrane
Mr & Mrs Howard Coffell
Mrs Louise Cohen
Mr & Mrs L Cohen
Mrs Maryon Cohen
Mr Kenneth Cohen
Mrs Pamela Cohn
Mr John Coke
Miss Eugenie Cole
Mrs Angela Cole
Mr Malcolm Coleman
Mrs Charlotte Collas
Mr Alex Collinson
Mrs Cynthia Colman
Mr Oliver Colman
Mr David Coltman
Mrs Anne Coney
Mr James Conlan
Mr H Ivor Connick
Mrs Muriel Conway
Mr Andrew Conway
Dr Caroline Conway
Mrs Lesley Cook
Ms Anna Cook
Mr Alistair Cooke
Mr S Cooke
96
Miss Penny Cooper
Mrs Carol Cooper
Miss Janet Cooper
Mrs Janey Cooper
Mrs Madeleine CopeThompson
Lady Diana Copisarow
Mrs Anne Copp
Mr George Copus
Mrs Deborah Copus
Mrs Rosanne Corben
Mrs Anna Corben
Mr John Corbet-Singleton
Ms Denise Corbett
Colonel & Mrs David
Corbin
Mrs Gillian Corbyn
Mr Charles Cormick
Mr Timothy Corner
Mr Roland Cornish
Irini Corrigan
Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Mr Bill Cosgrave
Mrs Morella Cottam
James Coulton
Mr Richard Courtney
Mr John Cowan
Cllr John Cox
Mrs Carole Cox
Mr Phillip Cox
Simon Cox
Mr Tim Crabtree
Mr John Crafts
Mrs Jean Craig
Mr Michael Crawcour
Mrs Barbara Crawford
Mr Eustace Crawley
Mrs Nicola Crichton-Brown
Mr Stuart Cripps
Mr John Crisp
Mr Piers Croke
Dr Colin Crosby
Mrs Margaret Cross
Mrs Judith Crossley
Mr Chris Crouch
Mr Jonathan Crow
Mr Gonzalo Cuadra
Mr Domingo Cuadra
Lady Cuckney
Mr Michael J Cullen
Mr James Culmer
Mr Christopher Cummins
Mrs Milena Currall
Lady Deidre Curteis
Dr Jean Curtis-Raleigh
Miss Marilyn Cutts
Miss Anne Cyron
Mr Richard Czartoryski
Ms Alan Da Costa
Mr Khosrow D Dabir-Alai
Mrs Diana Dajani
Dr Vera Dalley Lederman
Mrs Jean Dalton
Mrs Diane V Daly
Mr Kevin Danaher
Ikuko Danby
Mr Dany Dandin
Mrs Sonja T Daniel
Mrs Clare Daniels
Mr Peter Dannenberg
Mr R W Darke
Mr Peter Darvall
Piers & Nara Daubeney
Mrs Mary Dauman
Lady Patricia Daunt
Mr Berjis Daver
Mr Philip David
Mr Nicholas Davidson
Mr John Davies
Mrs J Davies
Mrs Joan Davies
David Davies
Mr Michael Davis
Dr Harold Davis
Mr Andrew Daws
Mr Oliver Dawson
Peter Dawson
Mr Hubert De Castella
Ms Marbill De Gracia
Mr Anthony De Groot
Mr Anthony De Lacey
Mrs Anne De Pinna
Julie De Rivaz
Mrs Beatrice Deal
Mrs Glad Deamer
Mr Kevin Dean
Mrs Elizabeth Dean
Mr Kenneth Dean
Mr & Mrs Sebastian
Deckker
Mrs Ruth Deeks
Mrs Louise Degenhardt
Mrs Pauline Del Mar
Mr John Delo
Lady Moya Denman
Mr Oliver Denniss
Mr Ken Dent
Ms Elizabeth Denton
Mr Anthony Depledge
Comte Jean Pierre
D’Herouville
Mr Joseph Di Prospero
Mr Bryan Diamond
Mr Dominico Dichiera
Dr Robert Dick
Mr Donald D Dick
John Dick
Miss Katrina Dick
Mrs Julia Dickinson
Mrs Donya Rose
Diejomaoh
Mr H E Diem
Dr Michael Dingle
Prof & Mrs Stanley Dische
Mr Andrew H Dismore
Mrs Melissa Disney
Mrs Angela Doe
Mrs Caroline Doggart
Mr & Mrs Patrick Doherty
Mr Anthony Doherty
Mrs Joan D’Olier
Philippa Dolphin
Mr Malcolm Domb
Mr Robert Dommett
Mrs Hazel Donovan
Mr Robert Dory
Mrs Elizabeth Douglas
Mrs Angela Douglas-Mann
Mrs Vanessa Dowell
Ms Elizabeth Downing
Noreen Doyle
Mr Kevin Doyle
Mrs Elizabeth Drake
Mrs Jill Dresden
Mrs Lesley Driscoll
Lady Evie Duff Gordon
Mr J Dufficy
Mr Robert Duffy
Mr Tim Duffy
Mr David Dulake
Mrs Pamela Dunfoy
Mr Martin Dunitz
Mr Francis Dunster
Mr Manfred Durst
Mr Sam Eadie
Miss Eleri Ebenezer
Ms Charmian Eberle
Ms Francesca EcseryMerrens
Mr Harry Eddis
Mrs Valerie Edward
Ms Freya Edwards
Mr & Mrs Mark Edwards
Mr Stuart Edwards
Mr & Mrs Ralph Ehrmann
Mr Alan Eisner
Mr Derek Elcock
Mrs Susan Eliot-Cohen
Carol Ellinas
Mrs Verena Elliott
Cathleen Ellis
Miss Anne-Marie Ellis
Mr Hamish Elvidge
Mrs Leila El-Yafi
Ronald Engelbert
Ms Sally England
Mr Robert Englehart
Mrs Elizabeth Engstrom
Mr Simon Enoch
Mr Robert Enslow
Mr Stephen Enthoven
Mrs Ragna Erwin
Mr F C Esson
Mr Patrick Etherington
Mr Daniel Ettinghausen
Ms Pam M Evans
Mr Hugh Evans
Mr Anthony Evans
Mrs Bridget Evans
Mrs Lydia Evans
Mr Charles Evans-Lombe
Mr John Everist
Mr Anthony Falcon
Mr Richard Fallowfield
Mrs Hilary Farley
Mrs Carole Farquharson
Mr Kit Farrow
Mrs Anne Brenda Farthing
Dr Dilniya Fattah
Mr Gordon Faultless
Ms Jane Faust
Mr Thomas Daniel Fearn
Mr Antony Feeny
Mrs Joan Feild
Mr David Fellows
Ms Serena Fenwick
Ms Clare M Ferguson
Mrs Alexia
Fetherstonhaugh
Mr Martin Feuer
Mr Chris Few
Mrs Denise Fiennes
Mrs Elizabeth Fincham
Mr Jonathan M Findlay
Mr Jeffrey Fine
Mrs Claudia Finlay
Miss Sheila Fish
Mr J A Fisher
Mr Jim Fisher
Mr Guy Fisher
Mr Jon Fitton
Dr Paul Fitzgerald
Mr Michele Fiumara
Mr Andrew FlemingWilliams
Mrs Claire Fletcher
Mr Tom Flood
Yoko Fogarty
Prof Ignac Fogelman
Mr Michael Foley
Lindy Foord
Kenneth Ford
Mr Nicholas Forde
Sir Denis Forman
Mr Jeffrey Forrest
David Forrester
Mr C M J Forshaw
Mr Patrick Foster
Lady Fiona Fowler
Mr Richard A Fox
Dr Alan Fox
Mrs Rosemary Fox
Mr Martin Frame
Mrs Jennifer Francis
Mrs Melanie Franke
Mr Rodney Franklin
Mr N A Fraser
Mrs Celia Frayling
Mr Ian Frazer
Mrs Liliane Fredericks
Mr Conrad Freedman
Mr Michael Freegard
Mr Philip Freeman
Mr Robert Freeman
Ms Olivia Freeman
Mr & Mrs Sydney Freilich
Miss Christina Fremantle
Mrs Fionnuala French
Mrs Samantha Fritz
Mr Sidney Frosh
Mr Anthony Fry
Mr P E Fudge
Mrs Elaine Funnell
Michael Furth
Mr Albert Fuss
Mrs Lynda Fussell
Mr Sidney Gale
Ms Anni Gallon
Mrs Audrey Galloway
Mr Michael Galloway
Dr Madeleine Gantley
Mrs Cristina Garcia-Peri
Mrs Adele Gardner
Mr David Garfield Davies
Ms Pam Garside
Mr Clive Garston
Mrs Stella Garton-Brown
Mr Daniel Garvey
Mr Paul Gascoigne
Howard Gatiss
Mrs E.S. Gauntlett
Mr David Gavigan
Mr Alastair Gavin
Mr Stephen Gee
Mr Ronald Gee
Mr & Mrs William Geldart
Mr David Gent
Mrs Anita George
Mrs Isabelle Georgeaux
Mr Michael Gerson
Mr Simon Gibbins
Mrs Vanessa Gibbon
Mr Anthony Gibbs
Mr John Gibbs
Ms Georgiana Gibbs
Mr Mark Gidney
Mr Michael Gifford
Mrs Wendy Gilbert
Mr Paul Giles
Mrs Lynne Gillon
Mr John Gittens
Mr James Glancy
Mrs Valerie Glasman
Dr David Glass
Mr David Glick
Mr & Mrs John Goble
Mr Simon Godfrey
Mrs Anne Godfrey
Sally Godley
Mr Nicholas Gold
Mrs Heidi Gold
Ms Caroline Golden
Mr Brian Goldich
Mrs Gloria Goldring
Bob Goldsmith
Mrs Sylvia Golz
Dr Bastien Gomperts
Mrs Cecilia Goodall
Mr Ronald Goodchild
Mrs Margaret Goodhart
Mrs Diana Goodhew
Mrs Zoe Goodway
Mr Peter Goodwin
Mr Chris Goodwin
Mr Angus B Gordon
Mrs Cecile Gordon
Mr & Mrs Bill Gordon
Mr Michael Gore
Mrs Jane Gorlin
Mr Paul Goswell
Mrs Ulla Gottlieb
Mrs Tessa Gough
Cecilia Gough
Mr David Grant
Mr Peter Grantham
Mrs Vaudine Gray
Ms Anita Gray
Mrs Margery Gray
Miss Clare Grayston
Mrs Sheila Green
Mr Brian Green
Mrs Barbara Green
Mr Brian Green
Mr & Mrs Alex Green
Christopher Greener
Mr Brian Kellett Greenhow
Mr John Greenway
Mr & Mrs David Greggains
Mrs Andrea Greystoke
Mrs Rosemary Griffiths
Mrs Antonia Griffiths
Mr Brian Groom
Dr Jeremy Gross
Mrs Caroline Ground
Mr & Mrs Edmund Grower
Mrs K Grussing
Mr & Mrs Robert Gubbay
Mr A Gubbay
Mr Paul Guenault
Mr Harry Gunn
Mr John Gunn
Ms Margaret Gunst
Jill Gurney
Mr Simon Hacker
Mr Nick Haimendorf
Mr Julian Hale
Mr Paul Hall
Dr Peter Hallgarten
Mr Lionel Halpern
Mr Michael Halpin
Mr Jon Halse
Mr Adrian Hamilton
Mrs Sophie Hamilton
Mrs Jenny Hamilton
Mrs Anne Hamilton
Mr Colin Hamilton
Mr Philip Hamilton
Mrs Daphne HamiltonFairley
Mrs Alexandra
Hammersley
Mr Kenneth Hampton
Mr William Hancock
Mr John Hann
Ian Hanreck
Frank Harding
Mr Christopher HardingEdgar
Mr George Hardy
Mrs Anna Harman
Mr B Harocopos
Mrs D Harris
Mrs Helen Harris
Miss R M Harris
Mr Derek Harris
Mr Tim Harris
Mr Colin D Harris
Mr Peter Harris
Mr Terence Harris
Mrs Siri Harris
Mr Alan Harrison
Mr Ray Hart
Mr Mark Harvey
Mrs Elizabeth Harvey
Mr Simon Harvey
Geoffrey Harvey
Mrs Nermine HarveyPhillips
Brenda Harwood
Mr Michael Hastings
Mr John Hastings-Bass
Mrs Marie-Therese Havard
Ms Sarah Havens
Mrs Jean Hawkins
Revd Canon Bruce Hawkins
Miss Rosemary Clare
Haworth
Mr David Hawtin
Mrs S Hayes
Ms Gillian Hayes
Mr Garrett Hayes
Mr Michael Hayes
Mr Antony Haynes
Mrs Joyce Heath
Ms Carol Heaton
Miss Sara Heaton
Mrs Priscilla
Hebblethwaite
Mrs Nicki Heenan
Mrs Madeleine Heggs
Mr F G Helps
Mr & Mrs Thomas
Hempenstall
Mrs Greta Hemus
Mrs Gillian Henchley
Mrs Catherine Henderson
Mr & Mrs Stuart
Henderson
Mr John Henderson
Mr Robert Henderson
Mrs Clare Henderson
David Henderson
Mr Charles A Heneage
Ms Ann Henshaw
Mrs Marian Herbst
Mr Roger Heron
Mr Malcolm Herring
Mr P D Hester
Mr John Hewett
Mrs Christine Heys
Mrs Gill Heywood
Mrs Pauline HeyworthDunne
Mr Bruce Hibbert
Mrs Maria Hibbert
Mrs Gillian Hickman
Mr Michael Higgin
Mr Nicholas Higham
Mr Peter Hildebrand
Mrs Margaret Hill
Mrs Maggie Hill
Miss Julia Hill
Mrs Kathleen Hill
Mr Nigel Hills
Mrs Kim Hills
Mr & Mrs Roy Hinds
Mr Eric George Hinds
Mrs Shirley Hinton
Mrs Debra Hinton
Mrs Cynthia Hipps
Mr John Hird
Mr Robin Hirshman
Mr Frank Hitchman
Mrs Victoria Hobbs
Mr Stephen Hocking
Dr Cyril Hodes
Mrs Madeleine Hodgkin
Mr Mark Hoffman
Mrs Elizabeth A Hogbin
Mr Roger Holden
Mrs Isobel Holland
Mr James Holloway
Ms Nancy Holloway
Mr Michael Holman
Miss Celia Holmes
Mr Leslie S Holmes
Mr Geoffrey Holt
Prof Martin Hooper
Ms Peggy Hooton
Mr Murton Hope
Mr David Hope-Mason
Mr Nicholas Hopkins
Mr Ian Hopkins
Mr John Horley
Mr Warwick Horlock
Mr Garry Horne
Mr Chris Horner
Mr Michael Horowitz
Mr Jonathan Horsfall
Turner
Ms Sharon Horwitz
Mrs Elizabeth HoskynsAbrahall
Ms Diana Houghton
Mrs Eileen Houlder
Mr & Mrs Peter Housden
Mr William Howard
Mr Kim Howell
Mr John Howes
Dr Desmond P Howlett
Brian Huckett
Mr David Hudd
Mrs Rosemary Hudson
Mrs Kay Huffner
Mr David M Hughes
Mr Gerald Hughes
Mrs Diana Hughes
Mr John Hull
Mrs Pauline Hulme
Mrs Shirley Humphrey
Mrs Elizabeth Ann Hunt
Ms Tania Hunter
Mrs Elizabeth Hurst
Ms Wendy Hyde
Mr Derek Hyde
Mr & Mrs Howard Hyman
Mr Harry Hyman
Mr Peter Ilias
Mr Martin Ingell
Mr Kenneth Inglis
Mrs Amanda Ingram
Mrs Lisa Irwin
Mr Alan Jackson
Mr Robin Jackson
Mr Jeremy Jacobs
Mrs Gloria Jacobson
Mrs Ingrid Jacobson Pinter
Mrs Rachel James
Mrs Rosemary James
Miss Lucinda Jamieson
Mr Mark Jarrad
Mr Marcus Jarvis
Mr Usama Jayyusi
Mr David Jeayes
Mr Roger Jenkins
Mr David Jenkins
Mr Derwin Jenkinson
Mr Anthony Jennens
Mr Ray Jenner
Mrs Sara Jenni
Ms Victoria Joel-Bobasch
Mr Victor Joffe
Mr Fredrik Johansen
Mrs Monika John
Mrs Harriet Johns
Mrs Christine Johns
Mrs Barbara Johnson
Mr Jonathan Johnson
Ms Valerie Johnston-Jones
Mr James Joll
Miss Carol Jollie
Mrs Kathleen Jones
Mr Stanley Jones
Mr Charles M Jones
Mr Douglas Jones
Mrs Margaret Jones
Ms Felicity Jones
John M Jones
Mr Ross Jones
Mr Gordon Jowett
Mrs Ruth Judes
Mr Bohdan Juren
Ms Ratna Kakkar
Mrs Basia Kapp
Mr Leo Katzen
Dr Leon Kaufman
Mrs Susan Kavanagh
Mrs Janina Kay
Mrs Denise Kaydar
Ms Nina Kaye
Mr L Kaye
Mrs Araceli Keelan
Mrs Caroline Keen
Mr Edward Kellow
Mrs Linda Kelly
Mr William R Kelly
Mrs Sally Kemmis-Betty
David Kempton
Mr Paul Kenyon
Dr Frank Kenyon
Mr Michael Kerr-Patton
Mr Tony Kerslake
Mr Roger Kerswell
Dr Alexander Kessler
James Khonjie
Mrs Tessa Kilgour
Mr Mervyn Kilpatrick
Ms Toni King
Mr John King
Mr Richard King
Mrs Anna King
Dr Alan King
Lady Valerie Kingman
Mrs Julie Kingsley
Mr Oliver Kinsey
Miss Amanda Kinsman
Mrs Margaret Kirkham
Mrs E A Kirkwood
Mrs Gillian Kisch
Ms Edna Kissmann
Mr Leonard Klahr
Mrs Manuela Kleeman
Mr Vernon Knapper
Mr George Knight
Mr Christopher Knight
Mrs Nancy Koeppel
Ms Eva Kohner
Mr David Korman
Mrs Latifa Kosta
Mrs Sara S Kramer
Mrs Ruth Kraus
Mrs M Kreps
Mrs Merete Kroll
Mr Michael Kuhlow
Mr Erdogan Kural
Mr Roger Kutchinsky
Count Natale Labia
Miss Mei Sim Lai
Mr & Mrs Imre Lake
Linda Lakhdhir
Mr Paul Lalwan
Mr Roger Lamb
Mr Alan H Lambert
Mrs Anne Lambirth
Mr Christopher Lambourne
Mr H A Lamotte
Mrs Sally Lamping
Mr Anthony Land
Mr Martin Langdon
Mr Jeremy Langshaw
Mr Steven Larbalestier
Mrs Caroline Lascelles
Mrs Carol Lashmar
Mr Martin Latham
Mrs Premi Latimer
Mr Desmond Lavery
Mr Richard Law
Mr Patrick Lawlor
Mr Richard Lawman
Mr Trevor Laws
Dr Spencer Lawson
Mrs Pauline Lawson
Mr James Layton
Mrs Lucy Le Fanu
Mr Jean-Claude Le Goater
Miss Valerie Le Moignan
Mr John Leach
Mr Robert Leather
Mr Lawrence Lederman
Mrs Penelope Lee
Mr Henry A Lee
Mr John Leek
Mrs Nancy Lees
Mr Brian Lees
Mr Paul Leese
Mr Andreas C J Lehmann
Ms Jan Leigh
Mrs Rose Leigh
Mr Richard Lemmon
Mr David Leon
Mr Paul Leonard
Mrs Hilary Leslie
Mr Alexander Leslie
Mrs Roseanna Leslie
Ms CN Lester
Ms Judy Lever
Mrs Diana Levine
Ms N Levinson
Mrs Caroline Levison
Cllr & Mrs Bryan Levitt
Mrs Jackie Levy
Prof Raymond Levy
Ms Agnieszka Lewinska
Dr Peter Lewis
Mr Elliot Lewis
Mr Michael A Lewis
Mr Peter Lewis
Mr Richard Lewis
Mr Christopher Lewis
Rupert Lewis
Ms Rosie Leyden
Mr Andre Liebenguth
Dr Max Lifschitz
Miss Heather Lightbody
Mrs Marguerite Lilley
Mr Keith Lindblom
Mrs Joan Lindh
Mr Robert Linn Ottley
Mr Chris Littmoden
Mr Roger Livesey
Mr Simon Llewellyn
Mr Robert Lloyd
Richard & Catriona Lloyd
Mrs Margaret Lloyd
Mrs Peta Lloyd
Sir Richard Lloyd
Mrs Susan Lloyd-Evans
Mr Barry Lock
Dr Stephen Lock
Mrs Jennifer Lock
Mrs Elli Loizou
Mr Peter Lomas
Ms Chiara Lombardi
Mr Peter Long
Mr John Long
Mr James Long
Mr Paul Loosley
Ms Barbara Lord
Mrs Patricia Lord
Mr William Loschert
Mrs Angela Loudon
Ms Jan Lougher
Lady Patricia Lousada
Mr John Louth
Mrs Chiyuki Lowenthal
Mrs Lila Lubin
Mr David Lucas
Mrs Jill Lumsden
Mrs Charlotte Lundqvist
Mr Tim Lupprian
Mr B K Lusher
Mrs J H Maby
Mr David Macfarlane
Mrs Maggie Macfarlane
Dr John Macginnis
Mrs Joanna Machin
Stephen Machin
Mr Alistair MackinnonMusson
Mr David Maclean Watt
Prof Margaret Maden
Mrs Ingrid Magaziner
Mr Patrick Maley
Mr John Mallet
Dr Gerald Mallon
Miss Marigold Mann
Mr Douglas Mansfield
Miss Una Marchetti
Mrs Anne Marden
Mr & Mrs Rodney Mariner
Mr Leonard Marks
Mr James C Markwick
Mr Andrew Marsden
Mrs Angela Marsden
Ms Katie Marsh
Mrs Rosemary Marshall
97
Mrs Hillie Marshall
Mrs Mary Marshall
Mrs Davida Marston
Mrs Philippa Martin
Mrs Anna Martin
Mrs Elizabeth Martin
Mr Nicholas Martin
Mr Charles Martineau
Mr Richard Mason
Mr Martin Mason
Mrs Charlotte Masterson
Dr H M Mather
Mr Jonathan Matheson
Mrs Lindsey Maunder
Mr & Mrs Michael
Maunsell
Mrs Ruth Maxted
Dr Victor Maxwell
Mr Stephen Mayer
Mr Piers Maynard
Mrs Kathryn Mayne
Mr Adrian McAllister
Mr John McCann
Mr Brian McDermott
Mr Roderick McDougall
Mrs Rosamund McDougall
Mrs Nicola McFarland
Mr Jon McGowan
Mr William McGuire
Dr Stuart McHardy-Young
Isabel McKenzie
Mr Daryl McKeown
Prof Brian McKibbin
Mr John McLean
Mrs Isil McLoughlin
Sir Kit McMahon
Mr John McNamara
Mr John McVittie
Ms Wendie McWatters
Mrs Ianthe McWilliams
Mrs Annabel Meadows
Mrs J Meads
Winifred Medd
Dr Phillip Meddings
Ms Audrey Meenan
Dr Brian Meldrum
Mrs Landa Melrose
Mr Robert Melville
Mr & Mrs Jean-Marc
Mercier
Mr Stephen Mertz
Mrs Elizabeth Meyer
Mrs K J Michael
Mr Tony Michaels
Mr Philip D. Middleton
Sir David Miers
Miss Freda Mietzel
Mrs Janice Miles
Mr Ray Miles
Diane Miles
Mrs Joanna Millan
Ms Felicity Miller
Mr Jonathan Miller
Jane Miller
Mrs Zara Milligan
Dr Millington-Saunders
Mr Jonathan Mills
Mr Rodney Milne-Day
Mr & Mrs Luke Miotte
Mr Ainsley Miranda
Mr David Mitchell
Mr Philip Mitchell
Mr Clive Mitchell
Michael Mitzman
Mr Peter Moffatt
Dr Marjan Mokhber
Mr Peter Molloy
Mrs Andree Molyneux
Mrs Brigid Monkhouse
Mr William Monroe
Mrs Ann Montier
Mr Patrick Moon
Ms Wendy Moor
Mrs Helen Moore
98
Mrs Margaret Moore
Mr Basil Morcas
Mr Daniel Morgan
Mr Richard Morgan
Mrs Rebecca Morgan
Eleanor Morgan
Mr Denis Moriarty
Mr Gerarld Moriarty
Mr Brian Moritz
Mr Charles Morland
Mr Brian Morris
Mr John V H Morris
Mr Gary Morris
Miss Julia Morris
Mr Roger Morris
Mr Stephen Morris
Sir Andrew Morritt
Mr Simon Mosley
Mr Monty Moss
Mr Andrew Moss
Mr David Moss
Mr Jon Moss
Mrs Mary Motture
Mr Russ Mould
Mr George Mouskas
Dr Michael Mower
Mr Ronald Mowlam
Mr Geoffrey Moy
Mr Edward Moylan
Lady Elaine Moylan
Ms S Moynihan
Mr & Mrs Jan Muelder
Mr Andrew Muir
Dr Barry Mulady
Ms Constance Mulshaw
Mr James Shaw Murdoch
Michael Murphy
Ms Elizabeth Murphy
Mr Kieron Murphy
Dr Stephen Murray
Mrs Sunny Murray
Mrs Anthea Murray
Dr Iain M Murray-Lyon
Mr A C Myer
Marion Myers
Mr Patrick Mylon
Mr Peter Mynors
Ms Hilary Naqvi
Mrs Dolores Nash
Dr Anthony Nathan
Dr Mona Nauphal
Mrs Vicki Naylor
Lady Sally Neill
Mr Morrie Neiss
Ms Rebecca J Nelson
Mr Michael Nelson
Mrs Rosemary Nettleton
Baroness Julia E Neuberger
Lady Angela Neuberger
Ms Anita Neuman
Mr Robert Neville
Mr Paul Newman
Mr Roger Newman
Mrs Freya Newman
Mr Thomas Newman
Mrs Antoinette Newman
Mr & Mrs Gerald Newton
Mr Ronny Nicholas
Karen Nicholls
Mr David Nicholson
Mrs Jane Nicholson
Mr Paddy Nolan
Mr William Norbury
Mr R L Buff Norgren
Mr Peter Norman
Mr David Norris
Mrs Rose Northedge
Mrs Jose Northey
Mr John Norton
Mrs Meena Nott
Mr Christopher Nourse
Mr Michael Noyce
Mrs Susan Oakden
Mrs J O’Brien
Mr Ben O’Bryan
Mr Matthew Odgers
Mr Kevin O’Duffy
Mrs J O Ogden
Mr Desmond O’Grady
Robin Oldham
Ms Eithne O’Leary
Mr Paul Olins
Mr Laurence Olins
Mr Tim Oliver
Miss Victoria O’Neill
Mr Chuck Onyiliogwu
Mrs Brenda Oppenheim
Ms Anne Oppetit
Mr & Mrs Alan Orchover
Ms Ksenia Orlova
Mr & Mrs Ged Ornstein
Mr Jonathon Orr-Ewing
Mr Andrew Osmond
Ms Lisa Osofsky
Mr Michael Osuch
Ms Lucy O’Sullivan
Teodorczuk
Mrs Rosemary Otter
Lady Helen Otton
Ms Siobhan Oudahar
Mrs Christine Ourmieres
Lady Suzannah Ouseley
Mrs Juliette Overlander
Mrs Sarah K Owen
Mrs Elizabeth Oyler
Valerio & Jenny Pace
Ms Alison Packer
Mr Robert A W Page
Mr Peter Pagnamenta
Sybil Pagnamenta
His Hon Denis Paiba
Mr John Paine
Mrs Judith Paisner
Mr Harold Paisner
Mrs Christine Palmer
Elizabeth Palmer
Mrs Yvette Palmer
Mr James PalmerTomkinson
Mr Edward Panek
Stephen Parish
Mr Michael Parker
Mr Stephen Parkinson
Mr Roger Parkyn
Mrs Miranda Parr
Mr David Parrish
Mrs Amanda Parry
Mr Edward Parry
Mrs Elizabeth Parson
Ms Mimi Parsons
Mrs Joyce Parsons
Susie Parsons
Mrs Frances Parton
Mrs Fatima Patel
Mr Ian Patt
Mr Stephen Pattinson
Mrs Aparajita Patwardhan
Mr George F Paulley
Mr Clive Payne
Mr John Paynter
Mr Roger Payton
Lady Ursula Pearce
Mr Robin Pearse Wheatley
Mr & Mrs Francis Pearson
Dr Gillie Pearson
Mr John Pearson
Mr John Brian Pearson
Hon William Pease
Mr Richard Peat
Mr Dominic Pegler
Mrs Rita Pell
Mrs Marie-Antoinette
Pereire
Mr Robin Perrot
Mr David Peters
Dr B Jane Pettifer
Mr Martin Pettman
Mr Eric Pfaff
Mr John Phelps Penry
Mrs Heather Phelps-Brown
Mr Nicholas Philbin
Mr George Philips
The Lord Phillimore
Mr Phil Phillips
Mrs Pim Phillips
Mr Mark Phillips
Mrs Carolyn E Phillips
Mr Nicolas Phillips
Mr Ranald Phillips
Mr Peter Phillips
Mrs Jocelyn Phillips
Mrs Kathy Philpot
Mrs Joy Pickard
Mrs Annick Pickavance
Mr James S Picton
Mr Chrles Pike
Mrs Virginia Pilbrow
Mr Nicholas Pilbrow
Mr Jan Pilkington-Miksa
Mrs Anne K Pinson
Mr David Piper
Mr Ian Plaistowe
Mrs Sarah Plastow
Mr Andrew F Pledge
Mr Robin Pleydell-Bouverie
Mr Malcolm Pollard
Dr Ronnie Pollock
Mr Richard Polo
Mrs Shirley Pond
Mr Richard Pool
Mr Shayne Pope
Mr & Mrs Adam Porges
Mr & Mrs Jeremy
Posnansky
Mr Michael Possener
Mr Sjoerd Post
Mr Gerry Postlethwaite
Prof N A Postma
Mrs Eileen Potter
Mrs Nicole Pound
Miss Christine Powell
Mr Mark Powell
Mrs Susan Prain
Mr Nick Prest
Mr Martin Prevezer
Mrs Susan Price
Mrs Valerie Price
Lady Shirley Prickett
Dr Neil Pride
Mrs May Prosser
Mr Derek Puddephatt
Mrs Madeleine Pugh
Ms Jessica Pulay
Mr Nigel Pullman
Mr James Pulsford
Sir Neville Purvis
Mrs Muriel Pusey
Mr Denis Pusey
Mr John Putnam
Mr Jonathan Putsman
Mr Frederick Pyne
Mr R Raber
Mr Michael Rabin
Mrs Nathalie Rachou
Mr Patrick Radcliffe
Dr Shirley Radcliffe
Mrs Sarah Radcliffe
Mrs Aviva Raingold
Mrs Patricia Ramsay
Lord & Lady Ramsbotham
Mr Siegfried Ramseyer
Mr John Ransom
Mr Montague Raphael
Ms Marianne Rasmussen
Mr William Rathbone
Mr Peter Ratzer
Mrs Elizabeth Rawson
Mrs Caroline Rayman
Miss Lesley Raymond
Miss Anne Read
Marian Read
Mr Michael Readey
Mrs Adrianne Reed
Mrs Jane Reed
Stephen Reeder
Mr David Reeks
Mrs Patricia Rees
Mr Richard Regan
Mrs Jean Regen
Mr & Mrs Patrick Regester
Peter Reichwald
Mrs Christine Reid
Mrs Alice Reid
Ms Jane Reid
Mr R Reid
Ms Elizabeth Reilly
Ms Volinka Reina
Mr Max Rendall
Mr Andrew Reynolds
Mr Paul Reynolds
Kate Reynolds
Dr Graham Rhodes
Dr Peter J Richardson
Mrs Carol Richardson
Mrs Sarah Richardson
Mrs Geraldine RichmondWatson
Mr Timothy Riddell
Mrs Estelle Ries
Mr Peter Rigg
Mr James Ritchie
Mr & Mrs Andrew Ritchie
Mr John Ritson
Lady Barbara Roberts
Mrs Glenys Roberts
Mrs Valerie Roberts
Mrs Lynn Roberts
Mr Richard Roberts
Mrs Sarah Roberts
Elizabeth Roberts
Mr & Mrs Gareth
Robertson
Ms Suzanne Robertson
Mr Nicolas Robertson
Mr Graham Robertson
Mr Herbert Robinson
Mr Mike Robinson
Mrs Emilia G Robinson
Mrs Margaret Robinson
Mr John Rochman
Mr Martin Roddy
Mr Duncan Roe
Dr J Michael Rogers
Mrs Jacqueline Rokotnitz
Mrs Elizabeth Rolleston
Mr Caspar Romer
Lord Rootes
Ms Emma Rose
Mrs Susan Rose
Mr David Rose
Mr Alexander Rosen
Dr Peter Roseveare
Mr Richard David Rosin
Mr Stephen Ross
Mark Ross
Miss Ann Rossiter
Mr Brendan Rossiter
David Rothwell
Ms Susan Rouse
Mr Olivier Roux
Mr Alessandro Rovelli
Mr M J Rowan
Mrs Marion Rubin
Mr Tony Rudd
Mr Roland Rudd
Mr Christopher Ruff
Mr Jonathan Ruffer
Mrs Susie Rumbold
Sir Henry Rumbold
Mrs Daria Russell
Mr David Russell
Ms Estelle Russell
Mr Piers Russell-Cobb
Mrs F P Rustin
Mr Nigel Rustin
Mr Joe Ruston
His Hon Judge John
Rylance
Dr P Sachs
Mrs Joyce Sack
Mrs Raya Sadi
Mr Richard Sage
Maura Saidenberg
Sir Timothy Sainsbury
Mr Sebastian Salama
Dr Negla Salem
Miss Vicki Salmon
Dr Alison Salt
Ms Maya Sama
Mr Yusuf Samad
Mr Stephen Samuel
Ms Stella Sandapin
Mrs Aline Sandberg
Mr Roger Saoul
Miss Carolyn Saunders
Mrs Monica Saunders
Ms Caren Saville-Sneath
Mr Guy Sayer
Mrs Karen Scarborough
Mr Derrick Schauerman
Mr Pasquale Schena
Mr Stephen Schick
Mr John Schlesinger
Mr Jurgen Schmidt
Dr Andrea Schneidau
Mrs Elisabeth
Schoenenberger
Mr Peter Scholes
Mrs Veronica Schroter
Dr Martin Schwartz
Dr John Scorey
Mrs Elizabeth Scott
Mr David Scott
Mr Michael Scott
Mrs Melissa Scott
Mrs Anne Scott
Mr & Mrs John Scott-Adie
Mr Thomas James ScottWebb
Jack Scrutton
George Scullard
Mr Peter Seager
Ms Hilary Sears
Mr David Segal
Mr Paul Sellars
Mr Jonathan Sellors
Mrs Valerie Semmens
Mr James B Serjent
Mr Babulal Sethia
Lady Anne Seymour
Mrs Billie Shamash
Brian Sharp
Mr David Sharpe
Mr Thomas Sharpe
Mr William Sharron
Mrs Jean Shaw
Mr Peter Shaw
Mr George Shaw
Mr Anthony Shearer
Mr John Shelley
Ms Elizabeth Shepperd
Mrs Diane Sheridan
Mrs Hedda Sherwood
Mr Martin Sherwood
Mrs Janis Shillito
Dr Elizabeth Shindler
Mr Justin Shinebourne
Mr Michael Shorrock
Mr Roy Shutz
Mr Hugh Siegle
Mrs Lya Silver
Mr Gerald Simler
Mr & Mrs Howard Simler
Mr Timothy Simon
Mr Sander Simonetti
Mr Mark Simons
Admiral Mike Simpson
Mrs Claire Simpson
Mr Christoper SinclairStevenson
Mr Joe Sinyor
Mr William Sketchley
Mr John Skinner
Mrs Eva Skinner
Dr Sylvia Sklar
Mr & Mrs Slawson
Mrs Amanda Slowe
Mr Brian Smith
Mrs Judy Smith
Mr Lindsay M Smith
Yvonne Smith
Mr Jonathan Smith
Penelope Smith
Mr John Snell
Lady Soames
Mr Phillip Sober
Mr Nathaniel Solomon
Mrs Sonja Soper
Mr Rick Sopher
Mr Terence Spackman
Mr & Mrs David Spackman
Mr Nicholas Spearing
Mr Sidney Spellman
Mrs Wendy Spencer
Mrs Paul Spencer
Mrs Valerie Spencer
Mr Richard Spiegelberg
Mrs Dimity Spiller
Mr Peter Spira
Mr Ivor Spiro
Les Spitz
The Duke of St Albans
Mrs Lucinda StaffordDeitsch
Mr Christopher Stainforth
Lindsay Stainton
Miss Maureen Staniforth
Mr Andrew Stanley
Mrs Airlie Staveley
Helen Steers
Susan Stephen
Mrs S Stevens
Mr Guy Stevenson
Mrs Jean Stewart
Mrs Anne Stewart
Lady Anne Stewart
Mrs D Claire StewartRichardson
Mr Geoff Stimson
Lady Morar Stirling
Mrs Beatrice Stirling
Mr Adrian Stokes
Mrs Gill Stone
Mr David Stone
Roger & Sylvia Storey
Mrs Sophie Stovin
Miss Ali Stow
Mr Graham Stradling
Mr & Mrs Henry Strage
Mr Tim Stranack
Mr Richard Strang
Mrs Joanna StrangwayesBooth
Mr Derek Strauss
Valerie Straw
Mr Keith Streams
Miss Yvonne Streatfield
Mrs Judith Strong
Mrs Venetia Strong
Prof John Studd
Mrs Maria Sturdy-Morton
Mr William Sturge
Paul Sturt
Mr Christopher
Summerfield
Mr George Suter
Mrs Susan Sutton
Mr Denis Sutton-Tuohy
Mr Takashi Suzuki
Ms Anne-Marie Svensson
Mr Nicholas Swan
Mr Robert Swift
Mr Haig Tahta
Ms Frances Tait
Mrs Claire Tallis
Miss Patricia Tallon
Mr & Mrs Martin Tamlyn
Mr Suresh Tanna
Miss M H Tarran
Rev & Mrs John Tattersall
Mr R Tattersall-Wright
Mrs A N Taylor
Mrs Gail Taylor
Mr Barton Taylor
Ms Susan Taylor
Barbara Taylor
Mr Michael Taylor
Mr Richard Taylor-Gooby
Mrs Ian Tegner
Mrs Moira Terry
Mr Peter Tett
Mr Andy Thacker
Ms Antigone Theodorou
Miss E Sian Thomas
Mr Robin Thomas
Sir Swinton Thomas
Mr Michael Thomas
Mr Nick Thomas
Mrs Joanna H Thomas
Mr Antony Thomlinson
Mr Philip Thompson
Ms Jane Thompson
Mr Brian Thompson
Mr David Thompson
Mr Philip Thompson
Mrs Evelyn Thompson
Ms Karen Thompson
Mrs Olivia Thomson
Mr Michael Thomson
Jane Thomson
Mr Gordon Thorburn
Mrs Sheila Thorncroft
Mr Robert Thorne
Mrs Jennifer Thorneycroft
Mr Edmund Thornhill
Mrs Margaret Thornhill
Dr Alexander Thurlow
Mrs Helen Titchmarch
Mr Charles Todd
Lady Tollemache
Mrs Christine Tomkin
Mr Paul Toogood
Mr Keith Tottem
Mrs Sarka Tourres
Mr P S Townend
Mr Richard Towner
Dr Christina Townsend
Mr Philip TozerPennington
Mrs Catrin Treadwell
Mr Gavin Trechman
Mr Remo Trompetto
Mr Robin Tuck
Lady Jacqueline Tucker
Mr Nicholas Tucker
Mr Kevin Tuffnell
Lady Tumim
Miss Sara Turnbull
Mr Ivor Turner
Mr Oswin Turner
Mr Richard Turner
Mr Edward Turner
Mr Mark Turner
Mr Christopher Turner
Mrs Heather Turner
Ms Teresa Turvey
Ms Miriam Twaalfhoven
Ms Karen Tyerman
Mrs Alix Tystad
Mr Thomas Ulrich
Mrs Ann Underwood
Mr Robert Urquhart
Stella Vaines
Ms Parisa Vakili
Mrs Clarissa Vallat
His Hon Jonathan Van Der
Werff
Mr Christian Van Praet
Mrs Phyllis Vangelder
Mr Alastair Vartan
David & Leslie Vaughan
Ms Caroline L Vaughan
Mrs Emma Verey
Mr H Anthony Vice
Ms Tina Villarosa
Mr Philip Vince
Mr & Mrs Anthony Vivian
Mr Mark Von Bergen
Mr Piers Von Simson
Mr John Voytal
Mrs Elizabeth Vyvyan
Col David Waddell
Mrs Vyvienne Wade
Mr Michael Waggett
Mrs Sally Wagner
Mr Sidney Wagner
Mrs Andrea Walker
Mr David Walker
Mr Gary Waller
Mr Roger Wallhouse
Mr Graham R Walsh
Mrs Prudence Walshe
Mrs Barbara Walters
Mrs Margaret Walton
Ms Alexandra Wand
Mrs Margaret Wanke
Mr John David Ward
Mr John Ward
Mrs Amanda Ward
Mr David Ward
Lady Sylvia Warner
Mr Richard Waterbury
Mr Trevor Waterman
Mr David Waters
Mrs Sonia Waters
Mrs Mary Waters-Sayer
Mrs Julia Wathen
Dr & Mrs Robert Watkins
Mr David Watson
David Watson
Dr Diane Watson
Sir Simon Watson
Mr Timothy Watts
Mr David Weaver
Mrs Lavinia Webb
Mr Stanley Webber
Mr Michael Webster
Mr Niels Weise
Mrs Anne Weitzman
Mr James M Wellwood
Mr Douglas Wem
Mr Martyn Wenzerul
Mrs Ulrika Werdelin
Mr Roger Westbrook
Mr Robert Westlake
Mr Melvin Weston
Mr Len Wharfe
Mr Richard Whatmoor
Mrs Iona Wheatley
Mrs Fiona Wheeler
Mr John Wheeler
Mr Paul Wheeler
Ms Maureen Wheeler
Mr Denis Whelan
Mr Michael Wheldon
Mrs Camille Whitaker
Mrs Joy Whitby
Mr David White
Mr & Mrs George White
Mr Simon Whitehouse
Mr Peter Whittaker
Mr David Whittaker
Mr Matt Whitticase
Mrs Susan Whittle
Miss Jane Whitworth
Mr John Wick
Mr Jeffry Wickham
Mr David Wickham
Miss Judith A R Wicks
Mr Robert Wieder
Mrs Christine Wigg
Mr Nigel Wiggins
Mr Ian Wightwick
Mrs Anne Wignall
Mr William Wilks
Mrs Mary Willett
Mr Steven William
Ms Andrea Williams
Mrs V Williams
Mrs Beverley Williams
Mr Eric Williams
Judith Williams
J G Williams
Mr Michael Williamson
Mrs Maureen Willson
Mrs Elvira Wilmot
Miss Diana Wilson
Mrs Catherine Wilson
Mr Michael Wilson
Mr Martin Wilson
Lady Margaret Wilson
Ms Maggie Wilson
Mrs Verena Wilson
Mr & Mrs Geoffrey Wilson
Mrs Dorothy Wilson
Sir Robert Wilson
David Wilson
Mrs Antoinette
Winckworth
Mrs Laura Winningham
Mr Nigel Wisden
Mr Arthur Wise
Mr Alan Wiseman
Mrs Sonia Withers
Mrs Nadine Wojakovski
Dr Edward Wojakovski
Mr Robert Wood
Mr Sydney Wood
Mrs Rosemary Woodburn
Miss Sylvia Woodcock
Mr R M Woodhouse
Mr Nicholas Woodifield
Mr Michael Woods
Lady Marguerite Woolf
Mr Jonathan Woolley
Mr John Wosner
Mr James Wrangham
Miss Diana Wray
Mr Benjamin Wrey
Mr Christopher Wright
Mrs Rosalind Wright
Mrs Judith Wright
Mr Peter Wulwik
Mrs Dorothy Wurtzburg
Mr George Wyatt
Dr Peter Wykes
Ms Ruth Wyman
Mr Huw Wynne-Griffith
Mr Dominic WynniattHusey
Ms Jenny Yamamoto
Mr David N Yates
Mr Derrick Yates
Miss Cynthia Yeadon
Mrs Adriane Yeo
Mr W E Ying
Mr George Yip
Mrs Jane Ylvisaker
Miss Carole Yorke
Mr Charles Yorke
Mrs Jenny Young
Mrs Fenella Young
Mrs Karen Maria Young
Ms Susanna E Young
Mr Sam Younger
Mrs Victoria
Younghusband
Mrs Ray Zenios
Names correct at time of
printing
99
The Theatre
Development Fund
A very special heartfelt thank you to all who supported the Theatre
Development Fund, including those who wish to remain anonymous:
Platinum donors
Thierry & Isabelle Baudon
Mr & Mrs Michael Parker
Eileen J Taylor
Gold donors
Lady Cazalet
Mr & Mrs Alan Morgan
The Pidem Fund
Lord & Lady Ramsbotham
The Reed Foundation
Mrs Christine Reid
The Headley Trust
Silver donors
Mr Robert Atkinson
Mr James Bagge
Keith & Verona Baker
Mrs Joyce Blow Darlington
Mrs Shirley Brihi
Mr Richard Bristow
Mr Anthony Brooke
Prof Edwina Brown
Mr Piers Butler
Mrs Annoné Butler
Miss Susan Casey
Mr & Mrs Julian Cazalet
Mr Gavin Choyce
Mr David Coltman
The David Uri Memorial
Trust
Mr Oliver Dawson
Kenneth Ford
Mrs John Fowler
Michael & Jackie Gee
Dr Bastien Gomperts
Mrs Rosemary Griffiths
Mr Malcolm Herring
Mr & Mrs John Heywood
Mr & Mrs Roy Hinds
Eric & Susan Hinds
John & Rowena Jackson
Jonathan & Jane Johnson
Count Natale Labia
Mr & Mrs H A Lamotte
Richard & Angela Lascelles
Dudley & Rose Leigh
Mark & Lisa Loveday
Mr Stuart Lyons CBE
Mrs Maggie Macfarlane
Stephen Machin
100
Mr Alistair MackinnonMusson
Mrs Anne Marden
Robert & Nicola McFarland
Mr Rodney Milne-Day
Ms Mairead Murphy
Mr Martin Pettman
Mr Nigel Pullman
Sir Timothy Sainsbury
Michael & Jill Salmon
Richard & Ginny Salter
Mrs Caren Saville-Sneath
Dr Elizabeth J Shaw & Mr
Michael Wright
Mr Martin Sherwood
Mr & Mrs David Spackman
Ms Frances Tait
Mr Stephen Tanner
Mr Antony Thomlinson
Mrs Carolyn Townsend
Miss Sara Turnbull
Mr Thomas Ulrich
Antony & Carla Withers
Bronze Donors
Mrs Caroline Banszky
Paul & Janet Batchelor
Ms Ann Beaton
Mr Stefan Benedetti
Mrs Lesley Bennett
Mr Julian Bower
Mrs Catherine Boylan
Mr MJ Bradlow
Mr & Mrs Leonard Brown
Miss Vanessa Brown
Mr Victor Buhler
Mr John Burrows
Ms Fiona Campbell
Mrs Claudia Clark
Mr Richard J Clayton
Lewis & Daphne Clein
Mrs Marlene Cleverley
Mr H. Ivor Connick
Mr Charles Cormick
J D Cowen Charitable Trust
Mrs Jean Craig
Dr Colin Crosby
Dr Jean Curtis-Raleigh
Ms Patricia Daniel
Lady Patricia Daunt
Mr Michael Davis
Mr Terry Davis
Mr Anthony De Groot
Lord Derwent
Mrs Melissa Disney
Mr Anthony Doherty
Mr Robert Duffy
Ruth & Martin Dunitz
Mr Francis Dunster
EIMASA Ltd
Mrs Susan Eliot-Cohen
Mrs Bridget Evans
Mrs Elizabeth Fincham
Miss Christina Fremantle
Mrs Audrey Galloway
Mr Michael Galloway
Mrs Cristina Garcia-Peri
Mr Alastair Gavin
Mrs Isabelle Georgeaux
Mrs Jane Gorlin
Mr John Hann
Mr Derek Harris
Mr David Harriss
Ms Ann Henshaw
Mr P D Hester
Mr Bruce Hibbert
Mrs Gillian Hickman
Mrs Margaret Hill
Mr Nigel Hills
Mr James Holloway
Mr Geoffrey Holt
Prof` Martin Hooper
Ms Peggy Hooton
Mr Murton Hope
Dr Desmond P Howlett
Mrs Elizabeth Ann Hunt
Mrs Susan Hunting
Mr Robin Jackson
Christopher & Colette
John
Dr Leon Kaufman
Dr Frank Kenyon
Mrs Gillian Kisch
Ms Eva Kohner
Mr & Mrs Imre Lake
Linda Lakhdhir
Mr Richard Law
Mrs B Lazarus
Mr G C G Light
Mr Richard Lister
Mr Barry Lock
Sir Andrew Longmore
Mr John Louth
Mrs J H Maby
Miss Elizabeth Mackenzie
Prof Margaret Maden
Mrs Susan Marshall
Mr Charles Martineau
Mr Jon P McGowan
Mr Colin McKerrow
Mickworth Charitable
Trust
Mrs Joanna Millan
Mr Clive Mitchell
Mr Michael Morris
Sir Andrew Morritt
Mr John Norton
Mr Rolf Noskwith
Lady Helen Otton
Mrs Sally Padovan
Mr Robert A W Page
Mr John Paine
Miss Christine Partridge
Mr Clive Payne
Mr Roger Payton
Mr John Pearson
W S Pease Charitable Trust
Mr Robin Perrot
Mr John Phelps Penry
Mr Ranald Phillips
Mr Malcolm Pollard
Mr Michael Possener
Mr Mark Powell
Mr Frederick Pyne
Mr Max Rendall
Mr Richard Sage
Mr Stephen Schick
Mr James B Serjent
Mr John Shelley
Dame Janet Smith
Lady Soames
Mr Nathaniel Solomon
Mrs Sonja Soper
Mr Rick Sopher
Lindsay Stainton
Miss Yvonne Streatfield
Mr Christopher
Summerfield
Mr Nicholas Swan
Mr Richard Taylor-Gooby
Mrs Ian Tegner
Mrs Beatrice Tiger
Mr John Took
Lady Jacqueline Tucker
Mr Richard Turner
Ms Teresa Turvey
Mr Len Wharfe
Mr & Mrs George White
Mr Peter Whittaker
Miss Diana Wilson
Mr Alan Wood
Names correct at time of
printing
What Will
Your Legacy Be?
Enjoy the performance tonight – remember Opera Holland Park tomorrow
For over 12 years Opera Holland Park has been committed to helping young singers, designers
and conductors in their quest to produce “opera for all” with outstanding success.
The production team has limitless vision and ambition, but limited resources. Opera Holland
Park cannot produce 6 operas a season at affordable ticket prices without your help. As one
critic put it – “pulling wildly ambitious operas out of a miniscule hat has become one of OHP’s
best annual conjuring tricks. No opera seems to defeat this burgeoning enterprise.”
Opera Holland Park reaches out to more than 50,000 people each year through performances,
education, projects with young people and the elderly in the community. If you have enjoyed
the work of Opera Holland Park, you may feel inspired to help the company by leaving it a gift
in your will.
Opera Holland Park Friends is the registered charity that helps Opera Holland Park to realise its
vision. When you give to this registered charity (No 1096273) you are giving a lasting, tax
effective gift to a charity which supports the opera company whose work you admire and
enjoy, so that future generations can be inspired by opera at its best and most affordable.
Your legacy gift would help Opera Holland Park:
• ensure the highest quality productions year on year
• encourage young, British based singers
• maintain the new theatre structure and seating to the highest standard
• organise lectures and workshops to inform people new to opera
• provide free tickets for young people and recitals and visits for the elderly in the
community
Including Opera Holland Park Friends in your will need not be complicated or expensive. A
solicitor will provide you with the necessary wording to include in your will. You can either
leave a legacy for general purposes so that your gift can be used where it is most needed, or to
support a specific area of Opera Holland Park’s work.
Whatever you decide, your legacy would be a lasting memorial to your generosity as well as
recognition of the wonderful achievements of Opera Holland Park, which you have enjoyed.
What to do next? It is easy to make a will or to update it by adding a codicil.
If you would like to leave a legacy gift to Opera Holland Park Friends, please speak with your
solicitor or contact Denise Fiennes, Head of Development, in confidence,
on 0207 361 3910 or write to OHPF, PO Box 50428, London W8 9AG.

Biographies - Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

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