On Saturday 4 July we were delighted to take our first steps towards a homecoming. We were determined to make music in Holland Park this summer, with City of London Sinfonia, and rehearsed and recorded a selection of arias from our principal artists to be incorporated into a film.
The open-air recording took place outside Holland House, in the heart of Holland Park, in the space where the theatre normally stands. Social distancing was observed throughout, with a one-way system of entrances and exits, to ensure the safety of the artists and passers by.
The recording features singers David Butt Philip, Aigul Akhmetshina, Anush Hovhannisyan, Nardus Williams, Lucy Schaufer, Alison Langer and Ross Ramgobin performing music by Bizet, Mozart, Puccini, Judith Weir and Verdi. The programme was conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren with a string quartet drawn from the company’s resident orchestra, City of London Sinfonia.
Opera Holland Park’s Director of Opera, James Clutton said, “It was an emotional day to be back making music at our home and thrilling to hear live music soaring across Holland Park again. It was great to see the excitement of all of the artists at being able to perform again, and heartwarming to see the reaction of the passers by who stopped to listen. It felt important that we should start to show how live music can be performed safely while still providing ‘food for the soul’. We are Opera Holland Park.”
The film will be made available to watch online, at first exclusively for our Members and Supporters, then to the general public for a limited period.
To gain exclusive access to the film, become a Member of Opera Holland Park today for just £75 and help secure our return to the stage in 2021. To join or donate, click here.
