Eugene Onegin: 2 – 26 June 2020

Tchaikovsky’s perfect tragedy of first love, Eugene Onegin, opens the 2020 season on 2 June. Critically acclaimed for her role as Violetta in La traviata for Scottish Opera in 2017, and nominated in the 2018 International Opera Awards, Anush Hovhannisyan makes her OHP debut as Tatyana. Also appearing at OHP for the first time is the Australian baritone Samuel Dale Johnson who sings Onegin.

We are thrilled to welcome lyric soprano Amanda Roocroft to the production. An internationally acclaimed Tatyana, she makes her company and role debut as Madame Larina, Tatyana’s mother. Fresh from success at Opera North and the Royal Opera, Nicky Spence returns to OHP as Lensky. Emma Stannard sings the role of Tatyana’s sister Olga, with Kathleen Wilkinson as their nurse, Filippyevna.

A finalist in the Newcomer category of the 2019 International Opera Awards, and winner of the 2019 Off West End Award for Best Opera Production, director Julia Burbach makes her OHP debut with Eugene Onegin. The designer takis returns to OHP for the first of three productions in the 2020 Season (previous production include 2019’s Un ballo in maschera). Familiar to OHP audiences for his work in repertoire from Mozart to Cilea, Dane Lam conducts. Mark Jonathan, winner of the 2019 Knight of Illumination Award for lighting in opera, is the lighting designer.

The 2020 Young Artists Performance will be Eugene Onegin, a work originally composed for students at the Moscow Conservatory. The conductor is Lada Valesova and the director is Rebecca Meltzer. The Young Artist cast will be announced at the start of next year.

For the full cast list, and to find out more, click here. To find out more about the Young Artists Scheme, click here.

 

Rigoletto: 6 – 27 June 2020

Verdi’s Rigoletto opens on 6 June, with Stephen Gadd in the title role and Anna Patalong as Gilda, Rigoletto’s daughter. Italian tenor Matteo Desole, who made his OHP debut as Alfredo in 2018’s La traviata, returns in the role of the Duke of Mantua. Hannah Pedley sings Maddalena. Former Young Artists Blaise Malaba and Georgia Mae Bishop sing the roles of Sparafucile and Giovanna. Yolanda Grant-Thompson, the first recipient of OHP’s Laura Monaghan Bursary, is the Page.

Matthew Kofi Waldren returns to conduct his third Verdi opera in three consecutive OHP seasons, following outstanding reviews for La traviata and Un ballo in maschera in 2018 and 2019.

British director Natascha Metherell, fast acquiring a reputation internationally for her work at the Royal Danish Opera and the Liceu, Barcelona, makes her OHP debut. Alyson Cummins, praised for her designs for OHP’s L’arlesiana and Così fan tutte, is the designer. The lighting designer Rory Beaton also returns.

For the full cast list, and to find out more, click here.

 

The Merry Widow: 18 July – 1 August 2020

The third production of the 2020 Season is Lehár’s romantic comedy, The Merry Widow, sung in the English translation by Kit Hesketh-Harvey with Giles Havergal.

The lead couple of Hanna Glawari and Count Danilo will be sung by Julia Sporsén and Alex Otterburn, last seen at OHP in Ariadne auf Naxos (2018). Alison Langer, singing Valencienne, and Stephen Aviss, singing Camille, performed together at OHP in 2017’s La traviata. John Savournin, last seen at OHP in Il segreto di Susanna in 2019, will sing Baron Zeta.

Christopher Luscombe, an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, makes his OHP debut as director of The Merry Widow. John Andrews is the conductor, Simon Higlett the designer, Mark Jonathan the lighting designer and Ewan Jones the choreographer.

For the full cast list, and to find out more, click here.

 

Double Bill: Margot la Rouge and Le Villi: 21 – 31 July 2020

Generously supported by the Delius Trust, Margot la Rouge, Delius’s only verismo opera, receives its first major UK staging in the 2020 Season. The two-act version of Puccini’s Le Villi completes a double bill on the theme of lost love and corrupted innocence.

Martin Lloyd-Evans (director), takis (designer), Francesco Cilluffo (conductor) and Jake Wiltshire (lighting designer) form the creative team for both works.

French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels sings the roles of Delius’s Margot and Puccini’s Anna. Peter Auty and Stephen Gadd return to OHP as Roberto and Guglielmo in Le Villi. In Margot la Rouge, Paul Carey Jones will sing The Artist. Samuel Sakker and Nadine Benjamin return to OHP as Sergeant Thibault and Lili Béguin, joined by George von Bergen, Laura Woods and Jack Holton.

For the full cast list, and to find out more, click here.

 

Pirates of Penzance: 4 – 8 August

Described as ‘the masters of G&S in small spaces’, Charles Court Opera joins forces with Opera Holland Park, the Opera Holland Park Chorus and City of London Sinfonia in a production of WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s comedy, The Pirates of Penzance, directed by John Savournin. Savournin’s recent directing credits include Trial by Jury for Opera North. Opening on 4 August, The Pirates of Penzance will be the first production of a G&S operetta at Holland Park for twenty years.

 

Discovery Matinee of Rigoletto: Sunday 21 June 2020, 2pm

The Discovery Matinee, a new Inspire initiative for 2020, offers more than 250 tickets for free and the rest greatly discounted. Aimed at all first-time opera-goers including families, young and older people, and community groups, this will also be a relaxed performance to provide a welcoming environment for children with special educational needs

 

The Royal Ballet School: Summer Performances

The Royal Ballet School returns in 2020 for their Summer Performances. The dates are: 

Thursday 2 July, 7pm (predominantly Upper School)
Friday 3 July, 7pm (predominantly White Lodge)
Saturday 4 July, 2pm (predominantly White Lodge)
Saturday 4 July, 7pm (predominantly Upper School)

 

Schools’ Matinee: Eugene Onegin with the OHP Young Artists

Opera Holland Park invite school groups from the local community to join us for a matinee performance of Eugene Onegin in 2020. Tickets (including resource pack) from £5 per person and workshop packages for schools also available

For more information and to register interest, click here. 

 

Artworks by Rebecca Campbell 

The artworks for this year’s season were created by artist Rebecca Campbell. Click here for an introduction to the pieces, and the inspiration behind them. 

 

*

General booking opens on 26 February 2020. Find out more about the season on our Seasons and Events page.