SEASON 2009 - Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Opera Holland Park

KORN/FERRY

INTERNATIONAL

sponsored by SEASON 2009programme magazine

Programme MagazineEdited by Michael Volpe

Editorial by Lisa Leigh

Designed by Olley Design

Printed by GKD Litho

Website

Visit the Opera Holland Park website atwww.operahollandpark.com for online bookings,features, information, archive images and muchmore.

Box Office: 0845 230 9769

Please do not stand or sit in any of the gangwaysintersecting the seating, or stand or sit in any otherpart of the theatre during the performance withoutpermission.

Latecomers will not be admitted until a suitablebreak in the performance occurs, if possible, and atthe discretion of the management.

Opera images

This year’s images are by Zachary Walsh. Originallyfrom Manchester, Zachary graduated with an MAfrom the Royal College of Art. A figurative painter inthe truest sense he adopts minimalist abstractbackgrounds into which he installs his carefullycomposed figures to create a rare sense of calm andmystery. He has exhibited widely in the UK as wellas in France, Mexico and Ireland and is representedin private collections worldwide.

For further information you can reach the artist on07931 299 303 or [email protected].

The images are not representations of the productions but theartist’s interpretation of the operas

© Royal Borough of Kensington, Arts and Leisure Services 2009

Reproduction of this publication in full or in part is notpermitted without the written permission of the publisher.

ContentsThe Operas 10

Synopses

Roberto Devereux 36

Hänsel und Gretel 36

La bohème 38

Orpheus in the Underworld 39

Un ballo in maschera 41

Kát’a Kabanová 42

Biographies

Roberto Devereux 44

Hänsel und Gretel 47

La bohème 50

Orpheus in the Underworld 53

Un ballo in maschera 57

Kát’a Kabanová 61

Features

20 years at Holland Park 64Michael Volpe

Roberto Devereux 68Warwick Thompson

Hänsel und Gretel 72Peter Reed

A Bohemian State of Mind 76Gavin Plumley

Offenbach, operetta and Orpheus 80George Hall

‘Viva Verdi’: Sense and Censorship 84in Verdi’s Un ballo in mascheraKatharine Camiller

Kát’a Kabanová 88Robert Thicknesse

Holland Park: Opera, Wildlife 92Habitats and the Ecology ServiceSaskie Lovell

Working in partnership 94

OHP Friends and supporters 95

This programme is printed on paper sourced fromsustainable forests and printed using vegetablebased inks.

WINTON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

is delighted to support Opera Holland Park

and wish them every success for the 2009 season

WintonCapital.com

WelcomeOn behalf of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, I would like to welcome you toKorn/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 OHPbefore of course and on each occasion the company has weathered it well, mainly as a result ofdedicated audience support but partly because in hard times, we need to retain somepleasures in our troubled existence.

It is inevitable that in difficult times spending comes under close scrutiny. However, there arecertain things that this, and other councils do as part of a greater contribution to London as awhole. The Royal Borough has wonderful parks – we are in one of them tonight - and these areenjoyed by people from all over London and indeed the world. The Opera Holland Park season isone of my Council’s major contributions to London’s cultural offering and we will continue tosupport it.

One of the key elements of our support for Opera Holland Park is to ensure that opera isaccessible to a wide group of people. Therefore I am enormously pleased to see the schemegiving free tickets for young people from nine to 18 continue and develop. As well as freetickets for the young, we have ensured that many tickets are available at affordable prices byoffering thousands of £10 seats.

Of course not everyone can come to this splendid season but that won’t prevent us takingopera to them. The company and Friends have taken OHP into the community. This wasperhaps best illustrated by the ‘Big Day Out’ project in February when singers from thecompany visited ten venues in one day, including schools, residential homes, stores andhospitals.

I am again grateful to Korn/Ferry International for their support and to all sponsors and donorswho 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 CockellLeader of the Council

Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park is owned and managed by The Royal Borough of Kensington andChelsea

The Phillimore Kensington Estate

Investment Banking

Sales & Trading

Research

Asset Management

Jefferies International Limited

www.jefferies.com

Jefferies is proud to support Opera Holland Park’s production of

La bohème

Member SIPC • © 5/2009 Jefferies International Limited. Jefferies International Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Cabinet Member for Transportation, Environmentand Leisure Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown

Lead Members for Transportation, Environment and Leisure Cllr John Corbet-Singleton and Cllr Dr Iain Hanham

Executive Director Tot Brill

Director of Waste Management, Culture and Leisure Peter Ramage

For Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park

Producer James Clutton

General Manager Michael Volpe

Associate Producer Katharine Camiller

Publicity and Marketing Officer Lisa Leigh

Corporate Partnerships Lucy Paterson

Company Manager Douglas Turnbull

Production Manager T C Murphy

Production Assistant Sarah Crabtree

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 andRichard Dearsley

Orchestra Manager Claire Sainsbury for City of London Sinfonia

Stage Supervisors Bob Watts and Sam Riches

Deputy Stage Supervisors Sean Turner and Simon Evans

Electrician Warren Hutchinson

Box Office Assistants Hollie Ashton-Penketh, Beth Cunninghame Graham, Sara El-Araj, Paul Erbs,Tara Hanratty

Opera Holland Park Friends’ Head of DevelopmentDenise Fiennes

Opera Holland Park Friends’ Administrator Lisa Russell

Interns Lia Havard, Helen Lewis, Steven Watkins

Costumes supplied and made by Angels The Costumier www.angels.uk.com

Sets built by Capital Scenery 0207 7978 8822

Canopy Architen Landrell Associate

Technical Services Provider HSL Group Holdings Ltd

Seating Grandstands Worldwide

Security Chargecrest Ltd

Catering Cooks and Partners

Temporary Accommodation Wernick Hire

Marquees John M Carter Ltd

Washroom facilities John Anderson Hire Ltd

Our grateful thanks go to those who have offeredgenerous support

Korn/Ferry InternationalWinton CapitalJefferies InternationalAssociated NewspapersTrustees of the Phillimore Kensington EstateRensburg SheppardsBeaumont CornishClassic FM

We would like to acknowledge, in no particularorder, the support of the following

Carla Withers and all the Friends of Opera HollandPark who work so tirelessly in support of thecompany

Inspector Rumble and the parks police

Holland House Youth Hostel

Barrie Maclaurin Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Quadron Services

5

Acknowledgments

Delighted to support Opera Holland Park

in association with

Associated Newspapers is the publisher of

in association with

D l li h d O H ll d P P k

Assoc ciated Newspapers is the publish her of

When you take your seat at an Opera Holland Parkperformance, you’re sure to be surrounded by agreat many Friends. This is because the Friends arepassionate about opera and proud to contributetowards OHP’s artistic season, which goes fromstrength to strength.

In 2008 the Friends sponsored Ponchielli’s LaGioconda, a thrilling and rarely seen opera. Thisyear, the Friends supported the critically acclaimedrevival of Tosca at the Richmond Theatre inFebruary. Further, over this summer, OHPF will becontributing towards the much-awaited productionof Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux. These exceptionalefforts and the artistic excellence that resultedwere recognised by the Royal Philharmonic Societythrough OHP’s shortlist nomination for BestConcert Series and Festivals in 2008.

However, the stage at Holland Park is not the onlyfocus for the Friends. Education and communityengagement play a key role in the Friends’ efforts tobring opera to everybody. At a Children’s OperaWorkshop in March, 120 children aged 10 and 11from five local schools listened closely to arias fromHumperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel performed bymembers of the cast. The children took part bysinging a chorus from the opera, prepared inadvance in music lessons. Edible gingerbread menmay also have contributed to overall enthusiasm!Alongside this the Friends also fund an outreachprogramme for the elderly and disabled, whichinvolves OHP singers giving recitals at day carecentres for those unable to come to the theatre.The response to both programmes has beenoverwhelmingly positive.

The Friends continue to support the very successfulFree Tickets Scheme for Young People, now in itsfifth year, in association with the Trustees of thePhillimore Kensington Estate and AssociatedNewspapers. The scheme offers 1,200 free tickets toyoung people aged 9 to 18 for public performancesin the 2009 season. It encourages them to giveopera a try and, last year, nearly 40 per cent ofparticipants attended opera for the very first time.

Being a Friend of Opera Holland Park is not justabout raising money for a good musical cause. As aFriend you can book tickets in advance of thegeneral public and make sure you obtain seats forthe evenings you prefer. You also have theopportunity to join singers and the OHP team at anumber of musical and social events during theyear, including lectures, recitals and interval drinks.The next event, planned as a close to the season, is afundraising soirée at the Savile Club on 13 October.

This is a critical time for arts funding and thesupport of every Friend is vital to Opera HollandPark. In 2009 the Friends’ grant forecast of £187,000is the highest ever committed to Opera HollandPark – and more is needed. So if you love excellentopera and want to ensure that it will continue toflourish in Holland Park, join us and contributetowards something very special.

Please pick up a joining leaflet, contact OperaHolland Park Friends, PO Box 50428, London W89AG, telephone 020 7361 3910, or [email protected]. Information on theFriends is also available on the Opera Holland Parkwebsite at www.operahollandpark.com.

7

Be part of something special

Opera Holland Park Friends is an independent charitable organisation founded to promote, improve and advance theeducation and appreciation of the arts and in particular opera. It is a private company limited by guarantee in Englandand Wales number 4515375 and a registered charity number 1096273.

Oh La La!Sacrebleu! Stunning renovations in the heart of Kensington choreographed by The Phillimore Estate.

Phillimore EstateLiving 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]

9

2010Looking ahead…

Opera Holland Park would like to announce productions for the2010 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 byjoining our mailing list at www.operahollandpark.com

Opera Holland Park reserve the right to alter the advertised programme as necessary.

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

Roberto Devereux

11

Investment LedWealth Management

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 advicewith the aim of helping our clients to achieve their financial objectives.

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.

We manage funds for private clients,charities, trusts and pension funds.

For further information on our services please contact:

Chris Sandford2 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7QNTel: 020 7597 1038Email [email protected]

www.rensburgsheppards.co.uk

We are delighted to sponsor OperaHolland Park andwish everyone anenjoyable season

Canal Wharf Leeds LS11 5PU. O London Manchester Reigate Sheffield.

W

13

Cast

Elisabetta Majella Cullagh

Roberto Devereux Leonardo Capalbo

Sara, Duchessa di Nottingham Yvonne Howard

Duca di Nottingham Julian Hubbard

Lord Cecil Aled Hall

Sir Gualtiero Raleigh Graeme Broadbent

Un Paggio Henry Grant Kerswell

Un Familiare di Nottingham Henry Deacon

Conductor Richard Bonygne

Conductor (10th June) Richard Burgess Ellis

Director Lindsay Posner

Designer Peter McKintosh

Lighting Designer Peter Mumford

Choreographer Adam Cooper

Associate Lighting Designer William Reynolds

Costume Supervisor Sian Jenkins

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

SopranoMyvanwy BentallLisajane EllisAnna FlannaganSarahjane KingMerrin LazyanJaimee MarshallJulia McCulloughJoanna Tomlinson

MezzoMary BurmanCharlotte CollierJennifer FisherPollyanna HewetsonEmily KenwayTania ParkerRuth Trawford

TenorClement HetheringtonRobert JeffreyPeter KirkGeraint MilesPatrick MundyAlex RoutledgeBrian WardEdward Saklatvala

Bass/BaritoneJon BentonRoy ChalmersHenry DeaconNicholas EptonHenry Grant KerswellIan Massa-HarrisSeamus McGowanJohn Woods

Orchestra

Violin 1Nicholas Ward leaderFiona McCapraAnn MorfeePeter PopleRebecca Scott

Violin 2Peter DaleEdward BarryJane GommMarjory King

ViolaStephen TeesMichael PosnerSusan Dench

CelloJoely KoosRachel van der TangDavid Burrowes

BassLynda HoughtonBen Russell

FluteChristine MessiterJill CarterDeborah Davis

OboeDan BatesHelen McQueen

ClarinetDavid RixRamon Wodkowski

BassoonJo GrahamStephen Maw

HornStephen StirlingBeth RandellMark PainePeter Merry

TrumpetNicholas BettsJohn Young

TromboneDan JenkinsAmos MillerPeter Harvey

TimpaniCharles Fullbrook

PercussionGlyn Matthews

Roberto Devereux

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

Hänsel und Gretel

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17

Cast

Hänsel Catherine Hopper

Gretel Joana Seara

Mother/Witch Anne Mason

Father Donald Maxwell

Sandman Katherine Allen

Dew Fairy Pippa Goss

Echoes Mary Burman, Anna Flannagan, Sarahjane King, Joanna Tomlinson

Conductor Peter Selwyn

Director Stephen Barlow

Designer Paul Edwards

Lighting Designer Peter Mumford

Choreographer David Greenall

Associate Lighting Designer William Reynolds

Language Coach Norbert Meyn

Costume Supervisor Chrissy Maddison

Répétiteur Stuart Wild

Stage Manager Rebecca Maltby

Deputy Stage Manager Kate Astbury

Assistant Stage Manager Kirk Woodley

Millicent BarberJonathan BircumshawJack BlassJames CameronLara CosmetatosNoa CraigEdward Daly

Gabriella DiaferiaHarry ForsterAlex FranklinGrace FrazerLily GuenaultXenia HaslamMiranda Layton

Anna LushEleanor MaloneyStephen MasonGeorgina McCloud ShawShulamit Morris-EvansRachel NewellJordan Parker

Katie PorterMadeleine SinnottLouisa Stuart-SmithEleanor TennysonHenry YoungSophie Young

Hänsel und Gretel

Orchestra

Violin 1Nicholas Ward leaderJoan AthertonFiona McCapraAnn MorfeePeter PopleRebecca Scott

Violin 2Jane CarwardinePeter DaleEdward BarryJane GommMarjory King

ViolaStephen TeesSusan DenchMichael PosnerFay Sweet

CelloJoely KoosJudith HerbertRachel van der TangDavid Burrowes

BassLynda HoughtonBen Russell

FluteKaren JonesDeborah Davis


ClarinetDavid RixDerek Hannigan


HornStephen StirlingTimothy CaisterMark PainePeter Merry





HarpRachel Masters

Childrens Chorus Courtesy of New London Children’s Choir

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 BankingSales & TradingResearchAsset Management

19

La bohème

21

Cast

Mimi Linda Richardson

Rodolfo Aldo Di Toro (27 June – 11 July)Sean Ruane (11, 13 & 15 August)

Marcello Grant Doyle (27 June – 11 July)George von Bergen (11, 13 & 15 August)

Colline Tim Mirfin

Schaunard Njabulo Madlala

Musetta Hye-Youn Lee

Benoit/Alcindoro Eric Roberts

Parpignol Peter Kent

Customs Official Henry Grant Kerswell

Conductor Robert Dean

Director Elaine Kidd

Designer Colin Richmond

Lighting Designer Colin Grenfell

Choreographer Sarah Fahie


Répétiteur Kelvin Lim

Chorus Master Matthew Waldren


Stage Manager Heather Rose

Deputy Stage Manager Elaine Yeung

Assistant Stage Manager Rebecca Carnell

Student Stage Manager Beth Crock

Chorus

SopranoMyvanwy BentallKezia BienikJoanna BleachLeah JacksonCatrine KirkmanSophie Walby

MezzoMary BurmanJennifer FisherNaomi KilbyChloe MaloneyJennifer MarsdenTania Parker

TenorPeter KentGeraint MilesPatrick MundyBenjamin Newhouse-SmithSimon PontinEdward SaklatvalaJulian SmithGeoffrey Strum

Bass/BaritoneRoy ChalmersMichael DavisHenry DeaconThomas HumphreysHenry Grant KerswellMaciek O’SheaMark SyropoulosNicolas Simeha

La bohème

Children courtesy ofW11 Opera for YoungPeople and The CardinalVaughan MemorialSchool

Maya DanielsJack DentDominic DoutneyCalypso EatonDaniel HarraghyEllie HarrisonJack HartnettOlivia Hugh-JonesIsabelle KentAnna KovácsThomas LacyDaniel PughHarry RobertsonMelissa TraversEugenia Villarosa

Orchestra

Violin 1Martin Burgess leaderJoan AthertonFiona McCapoaPeter PopleRebecca ScottJulian Trafford

Violin 2Peter DaleEdward BarryKate CombertiJane GommMarjory KingJessica O’Leary

ViolaStephen TeesKatie HellerMichael PosnerSusan Dench

CelloJoely KoosJudith HerbertDavid BurrowesMiriam Lowbury

BassPaul ShermanBen Russell

FluteChristine MessiterJill Carter




HornMark PainePeter Merry




HarpRachel Masters

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

Orpheus in the Underworld

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

25

Cast in order of appearence

Public Opinion Nuala Willis

Eurydice Jeni Bern

Orpheus Benjamin Segal

Aristaeus/Pluto, ruler of the Underworld Daniel Broad

Morpheus, God of Sleep Benjamin Newhouse-Smith

Cupid, Son of Venus Jane Harrington

Venus, Goddess of Love Verity Parker

Mars, God of War Maciek O’Shea

Jupiter, King of the Gods Ian Caddy

Juno, his wife Jill Pert

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

Conductor John Owen Edwards

Director Tom Hawkes

Designer Peter Rice


Choreographer Jenny Weston


Répétiteur Charles Kilpatrick

Chorus Master Matthew Waldren


Stage Manager Alex Hale

Deputy Stage Manager Eleanor Pappworth

Assistant Stage Manager Kerry Sullivan

SopranoJoanna BleachSamantha CrawfordSarah GrosvenorCatrine KirkmanKatie LoweSophie WalbyJoanna Weeks

MezzoJennifer FisherPollyanna HewetsonMartha JonesNaomi KilbyChloe MaloneyJennifer Marsden

TenorDavid BellingerPeter KirkBenjamin

Newhouse-SmithSimon PontinAlex RoutledgeJulian Smith

Bass/BaritoneDavid Butt PhilipMichael DavisThomas HumphreysIan Massa-HarrisMaciek O’SheaMark SpyropoulosNicolas Simeha

Dancers Lauren Hall Leonie HollingumBronwyn Iten-ScottAbiona OmonuaGillian ParkhouseZarah Wyn

Orpheus in the Underworld

Orchestra

Violin 1Martin Burgess leaderAnn MorfeeFiona McCapraPeter PopleRebecca ScottJulian Trafford

Violin 2Jane CarwardineEdward BarryKate CombertiPeter DaleMarjory King


CelloWilliam SchofieldJoely KoosJudith Herbert

BassPaul ShermanBen Russell

FluteChristine MessiterDeborah Davis

OboeDan Bates


BassoonJo Graham

HornMark PainePeter Merry


TrombonePeter Harvey



Gods of Olympus including Apollo, Ceres, Flora, Faunus, Ganymede, Hebe, Iris, Janus, Neptune, The ThreeGraces, Vesta, Vulcan and attendants on Diana and Pluto.

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

Un ballo in maschera

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29

Cast

Amelia Amanda Echalaz

Gustavo Rafael Rojas

Ankarström (Renato) Olafur Sigurdarson

Oscar Gail Pearson

Madame Arvidson (Ulrica) Carole Wilson

Ribbing Paul Reeves

Horn Simon Wilding

Cristiano Benedict Nelson

A Judge Peter Kent

A Servant Niel Joubert

Renato’s son Gianluca Volpe

Conductor Peter Robinson

Director Martin Lloyd-Evans

Designer Jamie Vartan


Choreographer Victoria Newlyn

Assistant Director James Hurley


Répétiteur Catriona Beveridge

Chorus Master Matthew Morley

Stage Manager Andrew Holton

Deputy Stage Manager Helen Bowen

Assistant Stage Manager Gillian Marchbank

Chorus

SopranoLisajane EllisSarahjane KingJaimee MarshallJulia McCulloughNicola PulfordJoanna Weeks

MezzoMaria BrownCharlotte CollierCarolyn HarriesPollyanna HewetsonMartha McLorinanRuth Trawford

TenorHarry BagnallOliver BrignallOliver ClarkeRobert JeffreyNiel JoubertPeter KentPatrick MundyAlex Routledge

Bass/BaritonesJon BentonRoy ChalmersMichael DavisMike DrakeChristopher FaulkerChristian GoursaudIan Massa-HarrisSeamus McGowanJo PadfieldGeraint Miles

Un ballo in maschera

Orchestra

Violin 1Matthew Scrivener leaderJoan AthertonPeter PopleRebecca ScottJulian TraffordJudith Templeman

Violin 2Jane CarwardinePeter DaleJane GommMarjory KingJessica O’Leary

ViolaStephen TeesKatie HellerSue DenchFay Sweet

CelloSue DoreyWilliam SchofieldJudith Herbert

BassLynda HoughtonMarkus van Horn

FluteKaren JonesJill Carter

OboePhilip HarmerHelen McQueen



HornStephen StirlingTimothy CaisterMark PainePeter Merry



CimbassoStephen Wick



HarpThelma Owen

Leoš Janácek

Opera in three acts

Libretto by Leoš Janácek, 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

Kát’a Kabanová

City of London Sinfonia is delighted to return for its sixth year as

Resident Orchestra at Opera Holland Park

“A performance of SURGING ENERGY from the City of

London Sinfonia at Opera Holland Park.”

Fiona Maddocks, Evening Standard

www.cls.co.uk

“GLITTERING, ATMOSPHERIC

playing from the City of London

Sinfonia...” Hugh Canning, Sunday Times

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

33

Cast

Kát’a Anne Sophie Duprels

Kabanicha Anne Mason

Boris Tom Randle

Varvara Patricia Orr

Tichon Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts

Kudrjáš Andrew Rees

Dikoj Richard Angas

Glaša Nuala Willis

Kuligin Nicholas Lester

Fekluša Emma Carrington

Žena Carolyn Harries

Muž Peter Kent

Conductor Stuart Stratford

Director Olivia Fuchs

Designer Yannis Thavoris


Language Coach Lada Valešová


Répétiteur Elizabeth Rowe

Chorus Master Matthew Morley

Stage Manager Rebecca Maltby

Deputy Stage Manager Kate Astbury

Assistant Stage Manager Kirk Woodley

Chorus

SopranoLisajane EllisSarahjane KingJaimee MarshallJulia McCulloughNicola PulfordJoanna Weeks

MezzoMaria BrownCharlotte CollierCarolyn HarriesPollyanna HewetsonMartha McLorinanRuth Trawford

TenorHarry BagnallOliver BrignallOliver ClarkeRobert JeffreyNiel JoubertPeter KentPatrick MundyAlex Routledge

Bass/BaritonesJon BentonMike DrakeChristopher FaulkerChristian GoursaudIan Massa-HarrisSeamus McGowanJo PadfieldNicolas Simeha

Kát’a Kabanová

Orchestra

Violin 1Matthew Scrivener leaderFiona McCapraAnn MorfeeRebecca ScottJudith TemplemanJulian Trafford

Violin 2Jane CarwardineKate CombertiPeter DaleJane GommMarjory KingJessica O’Leary


CelloSue DoreyJo ColeWilliam SchofieldJoely Koos

BassLynda HoughtonMarkus van Horn

FluteKaren JonesJill Carter




HornStephen StirlingTimothy CaisterMark Paine





HarpThelma Owen

Synopses

36

Roberto DevereuxACT 1

Sara, Duchessa di Nottingham cannot hide her tearsas she yearns with love for Roberto Devereux, Earlof Essex while the other ladies-in-waiting try tocheer her. Elisabetta enters awaiting Roberto; sheconfides in Sara that without Roberto her life has nomeaning; despite claims of treason from Cecil andRaleigh, of which the Queen demands further proof,she suspects instead that he loves another woman.

Elisabetta receives Roberto, who despite his secretpassion for Sara, denies treason and proclaimsfidelity to his sovereign. Elisabetta reminds him ofthe ring she once gave him as a promise of pardon,which he only need produce to guarantee his safety;but despite Roberto’s protestations, Elisabettagrows suspicious and leaves him to lament hisincreasingly unhappy situation.

Duca di Nottingham, assuring Roberto of hissupport, confides in his friend that his wife Sara hasaroused his own jealous suspicion; lately he hasfound her melancholy and withdrawn and trying toconceal a blue scarf she has been working on.

Roberto goes to see Sara to reproach her formarrying Nottingham and bid her farewell. Sarapleads that her father’s sudden death while Robertowas in Ireland precipitated her loveless marriageand urges him to turn towards the Queen as shechides him for wearing the ring, which heimpulsively tears off and presents to her. In returnshe gives him the blue scarf which he swears towear near his heart.

INTERVAL

ACT 2

Lords and Ladies of the court consider Roberto’sfate; despite Nottingham’s defence, the Councilhave met and condemned Roberto to death. Cecilarrives to inform the Queen of the sentence; as heleaves Raleigh enters with news of Roberto’s arrest

and clutching the blue scarf which he reports wasfound near Roberto’s heart. No sooner has theQueen recognised it as Sara’s, than Nottinghamarrives to plead for Roberto’s life; Roberto himself isbrought in by guards and Elisabetta confronts himwith the scarf as proof that he lied; at the sight of it Nottingham explodes in a jealous fury, cappedonly by the rage of the Queen. Roberto is led off to the Tower.

ACT 3

Sara has received news of Roberto’s condemnationand plans to take the ring immediately to theQueen 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 acondemned man to prison are heard in the distance,he makes it clear that he intends to prevent herconveying the ring to the Queen. In the Tower,Roberto waits for news of pardon, certain that Sarawill succeed in delivering the ring to the Queen, butwith the sounds of a guard arriving to take him tohis death realises that it may not come.

In spite of the indications of Roberto’s betrayal,Elisabetta waits for the ring which she believes willbe sent to her. Too late, Sara arrives with the ring;Elisabetta orders a stay of execution as the canonshot is heard giving the signal to the headman. Theopera ends as Elisabetta, besides herself with griefsees visions of Roberto’s ghost carrying his ownhead and a tomb opening before her where herthrone once stood.

Hänsel und GretelACT 1

Afternoon

Hänsel and Gretel are doing their household chores.Gretel sings a nursery rhyme whilst darning herMother’s stockings. Hänsel is distracted from hisbroom-mending by pangs of hunger. His sister triesto reassure him by reminding him of Father’s belief

SynopsesHänsel und Gretel

37

that God will provide. Hänsel is not convinced andhis pangs intensify. Gretel scolds her brother forcomplaining and then reveals that Mother has beengiven a jug of creamy milk to make rice pudding,Hänsel’s favourite. His mood suddenly improvesespecially when he tastes the milk. Gretel suggeststhey get back to their chores before Mother returnsbut Hänsel wants to play instead so Gretel teachesher brother a dancing song.

Mother returns to find the children misbehavingand scolds them for neglecting their chores. In heranger the jug of milk accidentally gets knocked tothe floor and smashes. Furious, Mother marches thechildren off into the woods to find strawberries as areplacement supper. Exhausted and alone, shecontemplates the broken jug and the family’spoverty and sinks into despair.

Father is heard singing in the distance. His jollityfails to impress his wife who tells him off fordrinking. Father eventually reveals the reason for hischeer – he has had a profitable day selling his wares– and produces a bag full of precious groceries.Mother’s mood instantly brightens and theycelebrate their windfall. Father asks after thechildren. Mother explains their misbehaviour, thespilt milk and dispatching them into the woods.Father is shocked and angry. He tells his wife that anasty woman lives there who kidnaps children andeats them. Mother is mortified and together theparents rush out to find Hänsel and Gretel.

ACT 2

Late afternoon into evening

Gretel is wandering through the woods singing anursery rhyme whilst making a wreath from flowersshe has picked. Hänsel catches up with her andproudly produces the strawberries he has collected.He places the wreath of flowers on Gretel’s headand they pretend she is the Queen of the Woods.The call of a cuckoo interrupts their charade andthey mistakenly eat all the strawberries whilstimitating a cuckoo eating its eggs. They start tolook for more strawberries but it quickly grows darkand they become lost in the woods. Gretel panics,especially when she thinks she sees faces grinningat them through the trees in the darkness. Hänsel

bravely calls out to them and he and his sister arefrightened to hear their shouts answered in thedistance.

Through the mist a solitary man appears. TheSandman comforts and protects Hänsel and Greteland makes them sleepy. They say their eveningprayer and fall asleep.

And dream.

INTERVAL

ACT 3

Morning

The Dew Fairy arrives with the dawn to awaken thechildren. Gretel stirs first and feels renewed andtells a sleepy-headed Hänsel about her dream full ofangels. Hänsel reveals he has had the same dream.

Suddenly out of the morning mist a house made ofconfectionary appears. Hänsel and Gretel can hardlybelieve their luck and begin to eat from it.

A voice from inside the house calls to them. Theyconvince themselves that it is merely the wind andcontinue their eating. A strange lady appears fromthe house and tries to lure Hänsel and Gretel insidewith the promise of treats. They are suspicious ofher overly friendly manner and try to escape. TheWitch casts a spell on them so they cannot move.Hänsel is put into a cage for fattening up prior tobeing cooked. Gretel is perfect as she is. When theWitch goes inside to get some food Hänsel quicklytells his sister to stay alert and watch andremember everything the Witch does. The Witchreappears and begins to stuff Hänsel, who has losthis appetite, with food. She releases Gretel withanother spell so that Gretel can prepare the oven inwhich the children will be cooked. Whilst the Witchis preoccupied Gretel repeats the Witch’s spell,which she has memorised, to free Hänsel. The Witchasks Gretel to check that the oven is at the righttemperature. Gretel pretends she doesn’t know howto do this and asks the Witch to demonstrate. Asthe Witch does so, Hänsel creeps up behind her andwith his sister they push the Witch into the oven.Hänsel and Gretel celebrate their victory andanticipate a great feast.

SynopsesHänsel und Gretel – La bohème

38

As the Witch’s house disappears into the mist alarge group of lost children slowly emerge. They areall victims of the Witch, traumatised and stilltrapped by her spell. Hänsel repeats the same spellthat Gretel used to free him to release the childrenwho thank Hänsel and Gretel for saving them. Allthe children celebrate the end of the nightmare.

Father and Mother appear and are relieved to bereunited with Hänsel and Gretel. Father leads aprayer of thanksgiving and the victory feast begins.

Stephen Barlow, 2009

La bohèmeACT 1

Christmas Eve, early 1930s, Paris

In their freezing garret, Rodolfo, a poet, andMarcello, a painter, struggle to work. Rodolfo offersup his play manuscript as fuel for the stove. Colline,a philosopher, arrives to share in the warming‘spectacle’. The musician, Schaunard, bringsfirewood, food and hard cash – the spoils of severaldays violin-playing for the parrot of an eccentricEnglish lord. He tells his bizarre story while hisflatmates prepare to eat. They are interrupted bytheir landlord, Benoit, who has come to collect theirrent. Duped by their camaderie and alcohol, Benoitbrags of a female conquest. Pretending outrage athis adulterous behaviour, the bohemian artists sendhim packing without his money. Via the unlitstairwell, the three boys head to the Latin Quarterleaving Rodolfo to finish a magazine article. Mimi,an embroiderer living in the same building, disturbshim, seeking a light for her candle. She faints andmislays the key to her apartment. While searchingfor it, Rodolfo takes Mimi’s hand and engages her inconversation. The boys shout up to hurry him. Mimidecides to join them all.

ACT 2

The Latin Quarter, that evening

The streets are thronging with shoppers andtraders. Schaunard looks at second-handinstruments, Colline at coats and books, andMarcello at the girls. Rodolfo, meanwhile, buys abonnet for Mimi. They all meet up at the CaféMomus. The friends welcome Mimi with playfulformality. Rodolfo and Mimi’s doe-eyedromanticism is met with cynicism by Marcello. Hisex-lover, Musetta, arrives with a sugar-daddy,Alcindoro, in tow. Marcello feigns disinterest, whichpiques Musetta. Seeking to draw his attention, shemakes a scene with the waiter then embarrassesAlcindoro by vaunting her desirability in a song tothe crowd. Mimi recognises Musetta’s depth ofaffection for Marcello despite her façade.Complaining of an ill-fitting shoe, Musetta packsAlcindoro off to fetch a new pair. The bohemians arepresented 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 atthe city gates requesting entry. After an argument,Mimi has followed Rodolfo to a bar where Marcelloand Musetta live and work. Mimi confesses toMarcello that Rodolfo wants to leave her, upset byher interest in other men. Rodolfo stirs and Marcellosuggests Mimi leaves to avoid a scene. Instead shehides and overhears the real reason for Rodolfo’sdesire to separate; he is afraid that Mimi is mortallyill. A coughing fit betrays Mimi. Rodolfoimmediately regrets his words and apologises forhis over-anxiety. Mimi, however, agrees they shouldpart and starts to suggest arrangements. Rodolforeminisces about their time together. Mimi reflectson it too but without such rose-tinted spectacles.Increasingly feeling the pain of separation, they

SynopsesLa bohème – Orpheus in the Underworld

39

agree to delay it until the spring. In the meantime,Marcello is upset by Musetta’s flirtations with acustomer. She rejects his quasi-marital claims onher and vaunts her freedom.

ACT 4

Marcello and Rodolfo’s garret, one year later

Rodolfo and Marcello are trying to work; but canthink only of Mimi and Musetta, who have left themfor richer men. Schaunard and Colline arrive withmeagre food supplies. They play at beingdignitaries, then dance and fence. They areinterrupted by Musetta. She has found Mimi in thestreet, breathless and destitute. Mimi complains offreezing hands and expresses a desire for a muff.Musetta and Marcello leave to buy one and to find adoctor. Musetta decides to pawn her earrings andColline his beloved coat to pay for what Mimi needs.Left alone, Mimi reminds Rodolfo of their firstmeeting, then intimates that death is near. Musettareturns with a muff and lets Mimi believe it is a giftfrom Rodolfo. While Musetta prepares somemedicine and prays for Mimi’s recovery, Mimi driftsoff to sleep. As they wait for the doctor, Mimi dies.

Orpheus in the UnderworldACT 1

First Tableau: A cornfield near Thebes

Public Opinion interrupts the overture to introducethe characters. The marriage of Orpheus andEurydice is on the rocks. They have both fallen inlove with someone else and neither intends to giveup their new love for connubial bliss. Orpheus is inlove with a nymph, Maquilla, and Eurydice with ashepherd, Aristaeus. Aristaeus is in fact Pluto, Kingof the Underworld. Pluto has with the unwitting aidof Orpheus contrived Eurydice’s demise, and sheand Pluto descend to the underworld. Orpheus’sdiscreet rejoicings at his wife’s death are

interrupted by the interfering Public Opinion, whothreatens him with scandal if he does not go toMount Olympus, the home of the Gods, to beg forhis wife’s return. Reluctantly he sets out on hisjourney.

Second Tableau: Mount Olympus, just before dawn

On Olympus the Deities are discontent. They arefed up with a diet of Ambrosia and Nectar, andJupiter’s high handed, tyrannical ways, preachingmorality while philandering in a variety of disguises.Pluto, to defend himself against the charge ofseduction, urges the Gods to rebel against Jupiter.At this moment Orpheus and Public Opinion arriveto sue for the return of Eurydice. Jupiter orders Plutoto return Eurydice to her husband and to placate hisdiscontented family, agrees that they will all go toHell 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 twodays with only the drunken John Styx for company.Jupiter comes looking for her and in one of hisdisguises infiltrates the room. Together they planher escape.

Forth Tableau: The Underworld

Pluto’s party for the Olympian Gods is in full swing.Jupiter and Eurydice are making their escape whenPluto stops them just as Orpheus and PublicOpinion arrive. Jupiter agrees to let Orpheus leadEurydice back to Earth on condition that he doesnot turn and look at her. Jupiter himself ensuresthat the condition is not met and the opera endswith infernal rejoicing.

SynopsesOrpheus in the Underworld

40

Programme Note: Orpheus – mythology andOffenbach

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 ThracianKing Oeagnus and the Muse Calliope. He was themost famous musician and poet that ever lived. TheGod Apollo presented him with a lyre and the Musestaught him how to use it. His music enchanted notonly men and wild beasts but moved rocks andtrees from place to place to follow the sound!Orpheus joined Jason and the Argonauts and sailedwith them to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece,his music helping them to overcome manydifficulties. On his return he married the nymphEurydice and settled in Thrace. One day Eurydicemet Aristaeus who tried to rape her. As she fled shewas bitten by a snake and died. Distraught by griefOrpheus descended to the underworld hoping tobring her back. His music so charmed Charon, theferryman of the dead, the three headed dog,Cerberus, and the three Judges of the Dead that hewas given permission to restore Euridice to theworld of the living. However a single condition wasimposed on him – he must not look at his wife untilthey reached the upper world. Eurydice followedOrpheus, guided by the sounds of his lyre, and itwas only when he reached the sunlight again thathe turned to see if she was still behind him, and solost her forever. Orpheus met his own death at thehands of the Maenads, the intoxicated followers ofthe God Dionysus (Bacchus), who tore him limbfrom limb for failing to honour their master. Theythrew his head into the river Hebrus, but it floated,still singing, down to the sea, and was carried to theisland of Lesbos.

The myth of Orpheus was held both in antiquity andin the Renaissance to have immense significance.Orpheus was admired as a teacher and musicianwho brought a divine harmony into the world. Hislyre was seen as a symbol of musical harmony andwas mathematically analysed by Pythagoras.

Through the centuries the myth of the tragic singerOrpheus has continued to fascinate poets andcomposers. The New Grove Dictionary of Opera listssixty-one works inspired by the legend, rangingfrom Jacopo Peri’s Euridice (1600) to HarrisonBirtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus (1986). Two of theseminal works in operatic history are based on thesubject. Monteverdi’s La Favola d’Orfeo (1607) andGluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) or Orphée etEurydice (1774) if you prefer the Paris to the Viennaversion. But probably the most amusing musicalinterpretation of the story is Offenbach’s Orphéeaux enfers, Orpheus in the Underworld (1858).

Offenbach, the father of French operetta, took themyth and revealed to a shocked but delightedParisian public the ‘real’ reason for Orpheus’descent into the underworld. He not only sent upthe classical myth but also the great Gluck himself,borrowing Gluck’s lament ‘Che Faro’ for his Act Ifinale.

Orpheus: (sur le motif de Gluck) – I have beenrobbed of my Eurydice.

Such was the success of Orpheus in the Underworldthat Offenbach constantly revived and expandedhis original two act version into five acts. Tonightwe are performing the original two act version of1858. Orpheus in the Underworld was the first of astring of Offenbach operettas that have delightedaudiences ever since, and have becomesynonymous with the ‘joie de vivre’ of Paris.Orpheus may not be strict mythology but you willgo home singing and dancing the most famous can-can in the world, having enjoyed it in theunderworld.

© Tom Hawkes

SynopsesUn ballo in maschera

41

Un ballo inmascheraACT 1

Preparing for the Ball

‘…and let my people’s love keep watch over me.’

Several officials are waiting for Gustavo, amongthem a small group of disgruntled conspirators ledby Horn and Ribbing. Finally, Gustavo breezes in andexamines the list of guests for the coming ball. He’selated to see the name of the woman he loves -Amelia – but is horribly embarrassed when hisreverie is interrupted by her husband, Renato. He isGustavo’s friend and advisor, and has come toinform him of a major conspiracy he has caughtwind of. Gustavo makes light of the threat, andtheir disagreement over the seriousness of thematter is only stopped when Oscar, Gustavo’s aide,announces the arrival of a judge. He demands theexpulsion of the fortune-teller Ulrica, claiming sheis in league with the devil. Swayed by Oscar’s pleafor clemency, Gustavo decides to witness her‘witchcraft’ for himself, and proposes that they goto see her at work incognito.

Ulrica

‘Leave me to search into the truth.’

Arriving at Ulrica’s before the others, Gustavowitnesses her performing her ‘magic’ in front of agroup of credulous women and children. Sheprophesies wealth and status to Cristiano, a sailor.Gustavo ensures her prediction comes true byslipping a commission, unseen, into Cristiano’spocket. The crowd marvel at her powers, but areasked to leave when Ulrica agrees to meet a secretvisitor. Gustavo hides, and is shocked to see Ameliacreep in to seek Ulrica’s advice. She wants respitefrom a secret love which is torturing her and isadvised by Ulrica to go to find a drug which willhelp her forget her illicit passion. Astonished atAmelia’s revelation, Gustavo, still hiding, vows to bewith her when she goes to get hold of the drug.

‘Who among you will prove the oracle a liar?’

As Amelia slips away, the others arrive at Ulrica’s,including Horn and Ribbing’s faction, and they waitas the disguised Gustavo steps forward to have hisfortune told. Ulrica correctly identifies him as a manwho has ‘lived under the star of Mars’, but thenrejects him, refusing to say any more. When pushedby Gustavo, she finally relents and tells him he willbe killed, soon, by the man who next shakes hishand. The gathered crowd refuses Gustavo’soutstretched hand, but when Renato enters heautomatically shakes his friend’s hand in greeting.Gustavo dismisses Ulrica’s prediction as absurd,especially as it is his closest friend who has takenhis hand, and removes his disguise. The assembledcrowd are amazed to see Gustavo amongst them,while Horn and Ribbing rue another missedopportunity to assassinate him.

ACT 2

The Backstreets

‘You won’t go alone, for I shall follow you there.’

Amelia, conquering her fears, has ventured outalone to get hold of the drug Ulrica told her about.She is surprised by Gustavo, who declares his lovefor her.

Out of the darkness, Renato appears. His wifehurriedly covers her face before she is recognised.Explaining that the conspirators are pursuing him,and his life is in danger, Renato urges Gustavo toflee. As he makes his escape, Gustavo urges hisfriend to promise to escort the veiled woman safelyback 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 eludedthem. Amelia’s veil drops in the struggle andimmediately on seeing her Renato assumes that shemust have been having an affair with Gustavo. Heasks the two leaders of the conspiracy, Horn andRibbing, to meet him later.

INTERVAL

SynopsesUn ballo in maschera – Kát’a Kabanová

42

ACT 3

The Ball

‘Allow me at least to press my only child to mybreast.’

Renato has resolved to kill Amelia, but she protestsher 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 Renatoasks to join their plot, offering the life of his son tovouchsafe his sincerity. All three want the prize ofkilling Gustavo. To resolve the matter, they agree tocast 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 theassassination will take place.

‘…and let it be silent, the heart.’

Torn between love and duty, Gustavo has resolvedto renounce his love for Amelia and send her andher husband on a foreign posting. He is distractedby Oscar, who brings an anonymous note warningGustavo that an attempt will be made on his lifetonight.

‘I wanted unharmed your name, and her heart.’

With the party thudding away in the background,Renato tries to learn from Oscar which costumeGustavo is wearing. At first the aide refuses,taunting Renato, but finally answers. MeanwhileGustavo identifies Amelia as the author of theanonymous letter, and proceeds to tell her of hisdecision to send her and Renato away. As they saygoodbye, Renato attacks. The wounded Gustavodiscloses that though he loved Amelia, he neverbetrayed his friend, and she was never unfaithful toher husband. He pardons all the conspirators, sayinggoodbye to friends and country as he dies.

Kát’a KabanováACT 1

Scene 1, On the banks of the Volga

In the provincial Russian town of Kalinov, Kudrjas issitting on the banks of the Volga admiring the riverwhen he sees the rich merchant Dikoj grumbling athis nephew Boris. When Dikoj leaves, Kudrjas asksBoris how he can put up with this treatment andBoris explains that in the terms of hisgrandmother’s will, he and his sister will inherit themoney left to them only if they obey their uncleDikoj. Boris tolerates this situation only for hissister’s sake. He then confides in Kudrjas that he hasfallen in love with Kát’a Kabanova, a married woman.Kát’a then approaches with her husband Tichon, hermother-in-law Kabanicha and Varvara, the adopteddaughter of the Kabanova household. Kabanichaurges Tichon to leave on a business trip andproceeds to accuse him of not loving her since hehas got married. When Kát’a remonstrates,Kabanicha rebukes her and continues to abuseTichon.

Scene 2, A room in the Kabanov house

Kát’a and Varvara are sitting sewing when Kát’areveals how she would like to ‘fly’. She reflects onhow much she has changed since she has gotmarried and confesses to strange longings which fillher with fear. Varvara who is no innocentencourages her in her desires. Tichon then arrivesto take his leave and Kát’a begs him not to go, asshe is worried that something terrible will happenin his absence. Kabanicha interrupts theirconversation and orders Tichon to tell Kát’a how tobehave while he is away, culminating in theinstruction not to look at young men. Kát’a iscrushed by this humiliating leave-taking asKabanicha dominates the proceedings.

SynopsesKát’a Kabanová

43

ACT 2

Scene 1, A room in the Kabanov house

While they sit sewing Kabanicha criticises Kát’a fornot mourning Tichon’s departure moreostentatiously. When she has left Varvara tells Kát’aof her plan for them to sleep in the garden. She hastaken the key to the garden gate from Kabanicha,replacing it with another one so it will go unnoticedand she will tell Boris to come to the gate. She givesKát’a the key and goes off leaving Kát’a to wrestlewith her conscience. When Kát’a hears Kabanicha’svoice, she hides the key in her pocket, realising thatshe has made her decision. She leaves as Kabanichaand Dikoj enter the room. Dikoj is very drunk andbegs Kabanicha to tell him off. He says she is theonly person in the whole town who can put him inhis 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 seeKát’a. Kudrjas warns him of the consequences butthen goes off with Varvara leaving Boris alone. Kát’aarrives terrified. She tells Boris that she has had nofree will in this matter otherwise she would nothave come. Varvara, returning with Kudrjas,suggests they go for a walk. The two love affairsdevelop.

INTERVAL

ACT 3

Scene 1, A ruined building by the Volga

Two weeks later Kudrjas and Kuligin take shelterfrom a storm and are soon joined by a crowd ofpeople including Dikoj. Kudrjas explains the dangerof storms and the use of lightning conductors to

Dikoj who refuses to understand and declares thatstorms are punishments from God. The storm clearstemporarily and the people disperse. Varvara islooking for Boris to tell him that Tichon hasreturned and that Kát’a is in a terrible sate. Varvarais frightened that she will confess everything; whatis more Kabanicha is suspicious. Kát’a rushes in, herguilty conscience aggravated by the storm. WhenTichon and Kabanicha join them, she suddenly fallsto 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 hasspent 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 toMoscow.

Kát’a is alone. She regrets her confession and wantsto see Boris one last time. Boris hears her callinghim and rushes to her. He does not blame Kát’a forconfessing but as a consequence he is being sent toa trading post in Siberia. Kát’a tells him how Tichonhas been beating her and Kabanicha is persecutingher. Boris has to leave and as he is about to go, Kát’aasks him to give alms to every beggar he passes.Left on her own she contemplates the peacefulscene and jumps into the river. People comerunning and Tichon realises that it must be Kát’aand tries to go to her. When Kabanicha holds himback, Tichon finally rebels saying it is all her fault.Dikoj brings in the corpse and Kabanicha bows tothe people thanking them for their kind services.

Biographies

44

For Roberto DevereuxRichard Bonynge Conductor

Born in 1930 in Sydney, Australia Richard Bonynge studiedat the NSW Conservatorium of Music and the RoyalCollege of Music, London. In 1954 he married the sopranoJoan Sutherland. He has held the positions of ArtisticDirector of Vancouver Opera (1974-77) and MusicDirector of The Australian Opera (1976-86). He wasappointed CBE and invested with the AO (Order ofAustralia) in 1977, Commandeur de l’Ordre National desArts et des Lettres in 1989 and made “Soci d’onore”, R. Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, 2007.

Richard Bonynge is acknowledged as a scholar of belcanto opera, 19th century French opera and 19th centuryballet music. He has conducted at most of the world’sgreat opera houses including La Scala, MetropolitanOpera and Royal Opera Covent Garden. His repertoireconsists mainly of 18th century opera, the great bel cantorepertoire, French 19th century opera, 19th century balletand opera and many operettas.

Richard Bonynge has been responsible for the revival ofmany 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 operasas well as countless ballets and many video recordings.Richard Bonynge’s legendary knowledge of the humanvoice and his instinctive sympathy for singers has beenthe 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 inBristol before studying voice and piano at RoyalManchester College of Music.

Richard made his professional debut in 1968 inpantomime at York as a singer and Musical Directorwhilst continuing his studies. He worked regularly asrépétiteur, lighting designer and singer at the BarberInstitute, Birmingham University and was a member ofEnglish National Opera for five years.

In 1983 Richard was appointed House Musician/StaffConductor at L’Opera de Monte-Carlo where he assistedRostropovich, Rosenthal and Masini. He returned toBritain as Artistic Director of the ill-fated London Festivalof Opera and then went to Italy where he worked as a

vocal coach and conductor. He composed the variants forseveral singers in three Rossini operas for La Scala andothers.

Richard returned to London in 1995 when he lectured atBirkbeck College and coached singers. He also conductedconcerts with the English Symphony Orchestra andprepared several rare works for their British debut.Richard Bonynge and Richard Burgess Ellis havecollaborated on several recordings including a recital ofEnglish soprano arias, Herold’s La Sonambule, a verismodisc and a disc of 18th century songs. Straight afterRoberto Devereux they are recording Lurline by WilliamVincert Wallace.

OHP Début

Lindsay Posner Director

Lindsay was Associate Director at the Royal Court Theatrefrom 1987 to 1992 where his production of Death and theMaiden won two Laurence Olivier Awards. Lindsay’soperatic credits include Love Counts (Almeida), Jenufa(Opera Theatre Company, Dublin), and Dada: Man and Boyat the Almeida and Montclair Theatre, USA.

Theatre credits include A View From The Bridge by ArthurMiller (Duke of York’s), Carousel (Churchill Theatre, UKtour and Savoy), Fiddler On The Roof (Sheffield Crucibleand Savoy), 3 Sisters on Hope Street (Hampstead andLiverpool Everyman), Sam Shepherd’s Fool for Love(Apollo), Tom and Viv (Almeida), The Hypochondriac byMolière (Almeida), Romance by David Mamet (Almeida),The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter (Duchess), A Life in theTheatre by David Mamet (Apollo), Oleanna by DavidMamet (Garrick), the world premiere of Power by NickDear, and Tartuffe (NT), The Caretaker (Bristol Old Vic),Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Comedy), Twelfth Night, TheRivals, Volpone and The Taming of the Shrew (RSC), TheMisanthrope, American Buffalo (Young Vic), After Darwin(Hampstead), The Provok’d Wife (Old Vic), The Lady fromthe Sea (Lyric, Hammersmith / West Yorkshire Playhouse),The Seagull (Gate, Dublin) and The Robbers (The Gate).

OHP Début

Roberto Devereux

45

Peter McKintosh Designer

Peter’s opera credits include the world premiere of TheHandmaid’s Tale (English National Opera, Royal DanishOpera, Canadian Opera), Michael Nyman’s Love Countsand The Silent Twins (Almeida Opera).

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).

Also Entertaining Mr Sloane, Fiddler on the Roof, The DumbWaiter, Summer and Smoke, Donkeys’ Years, The BirthdayParty, Ying Tong, A Woman of No Importance, BostonMarriage (West End), King John, Brand, The Merry Wives ofWindsor, Pericles, Alice in Wonderland (Royal ShakespeareCompany), Honk!, Widowers’ Houses (National Theatre), BeNear Me, The Chalk Garden, John Gabriel Borkman, TheCryptogram (Donmar), Waste, Cloud Nine, Romance(Almeida), the world premieres of Brian Friel’s The HomePlace (Gate Theatre Dublin and London) and Kirikou etKaraba (Casino de Paris). Work for dance includes Cut ToThe Chase (English National Ballet).

OHP Début

Peter Mumford Lighting Designer

Peter’s recent work includes All’s Well that Ends Well, TheHothouse, The Rose Tattoo, The Reporter, Exiles (NationalTheatre), A View From The Bridge (Duke of York’s), Carmenset/lighting design (Scottish Ballet), Parlour Song(Almeida), Sweeney Todd (Vilnius), Girl With A Pearl Earringset/lighting design (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Carousel,Fiddler on the Roof (Savoy), Portrait of a Lady set/lightingdesign, A Doll’s House, Born in the Gardens (Peter HallSeason 2008, Bath), Sahdowlands (Wyndham’s), UncleVanya (The Rose Theatre), Rosmersholm, Cloud Nine,Hedda Gabler (Almeida), The Seagull, Drunk Enough to Say ILove You? (also Public Theater NYC), Dying City (RoyalCourt), The Entertainer, Richard II (Old Vic), Private Livesset/lighting design (Theatre Royal Bath), Brand, Macbeth,Hamlet (RSC), Private Lives (West End, Broadway), SleepingBeauty, 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, MadamaButterfly (Opera North) and Eugene Onegin, The BarteredBride (ROH).

He co-directed and designed the sets and lighting forL’Heure Espagnole and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (OperaZuid). He won the Olivier Award for OutstandingAchievement in Dance (1995) and the Olivier Award for

Best Lighting (The Bacchae, NT) in 2003.

For OHP: The Magic Flute and Tosca 2008, Tosca RichmondTheatre 2009

Adam Cooper Choreographer

Adam trained at the Arts Educational School and joinedThe Royal Ballet School in 1989, becoming a PrincipalDancer in 1994. He created the role of The Swan/Strangerin Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake in 1995. His choreographycredits include Carousel (Savoy Theatre & UK tour), Sideby 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 andThe Bawdy Song Travellers (Images of Dance).

Adam has also choreographed and directed SimplyCinderella (Curve Leicester), Les Liaisons Dangereuses(Japan, Sadlers Wells), Singin’ in the Rain (Sadlers Wells,Leicester Haymarket) and On Your Toes (LeicesterHaymarket, Japan, Royal Festival Hall).

Adam has made film and television appearances inMadame 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), SkyMasterson Guys and Dolls (West End), Valmont LesLiaisons Dangereuses (Japan, Sadlers Wells), DonLockwood Singin’ in the Rain (Sadlers Wells and LeicesterHaymarket), Dolan On Your Toes (Leicester Haymarket,Japan and Royal Festival Hall).

Adam’s future plans include Shall We Dance at SadlersWells.

OHP Début

William Reynolds Associate LightingDesigner

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 RoyalHaymarket). Set and lighting designs include La VoixHumaine (Riverside Studios) and Just So (TrafalgarStudios). Video designs as associate for 59 Productionsinclude Riders to the Sea (English National Opera). ForPeter Mumford he re-lit Portrait of a Lady (The RoseTheatre, Dir. Peter Hall) and The Girl with a Pearl Earring(Theatre Royal Haymarket).

OHP Début

BiographiesRoberto Devereux

ArtistsMajella Cullagh Elisabetta

Majella Cullagh trained with Maeve Coughlan at the CorkSchool of Music, and at the National Opera Studio inLondon. She now studies with Gerald Martin Moore.

Majella’s numerous operatic roles include Violetta Latraviata (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 AnnaDon Giovanni (Regensburg), Adina Elisir d’amore(Copenhagen) and Massenet’s Manon Manon (Opera NewZealand).

Future plans include Mathilde Guillaume Tell (QEH), AlziraAlzira and Sela Diluvio universale (St. Gallen) and Verdi’sMessa da Requiem (Amsterdam Konzertgebouw).

OHP Début

Leonardo Capalbo Roberto Devereux

Leonardo is garnering international acclaim for hisperformances throughout the United States and Europeand has appeared in theatres including the StaatsOperBerlin, SemperOper Dresden, Opera du Rhin, Strasbourg,Opera de Bordeaux, New Israeli Opera, Greek NationalOpera, Miami Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Northand others.

In 2007/2008 Leonardo made his debuts both in Bordeauxand in Athens as Rodolfo La bohème. He returned to theStaatsoper Berlin as Nemorino L’elisir d’amore and sanghis first Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (OperaNorth). He also sang his first Duca Rigoletto (L’Opera deToulon) and debuted with Alfredo La traviata (FloridaGrand Opera and New Orleans Opera) as well as Nemorino(Arizona Opera). In March 2009 Capalbo will debut asGerald 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 andThe National Opera Studio and was generously supportedby the Peter Moores Foundation and the Scottish OperaEndowment Fund.

Julian’s recent operatic roles include Fiorello Il barbiere diSiviglia (ENO), Huntsman Rusalka (La Monnaie), Dr. FalkeDie Fledermaus and Dandini La Cenerentola (ScottishOpera), Drunken Poet/Hymen Fairy Queen (AldeburghFestival), Guglielmo Così fan tutte (Garden Opera andCastleward Opera) and Juan in Henze’s DasWundertheater (Montepulciano Festival).

Future plans include Melisso Alcina for Opera TheatreCompany and Schaunard La bohème for Scottish Opera.

For OHP: Chorus Luisa Miller, Le nozze di Figaro 2004

Yvonne Howard Sara, Duchessa diNottingham

Yvonne Howard studied at the RNCM.

Recent engagements include Leonore Fidelio, MadamLarina Onegin, Ludmilla The Bartered Bride, Second NornDer Ring des Nibelungen (ROH), Lady Macbeth Macbeth,Maddalena Rigoletto‚ Eboli Don Carlos‚ Evadne Troilus andCressida and Meg Page Falstaff (Opera North), IreneTheodora (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 TheMarriage of Figaro (ENO), Amneris Aida (RAH), EduigeRodelinda (New York) and Norma (ETO).

For OHP: Leonore Fidelio 2003, Laura La Gioconda –winner of Opera Holland Park Friends Award for BestFemale 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 Schooland National Opera Studio.

Aled’s numerous operatic roles include Don Basilio Lenozze di Figaro (WNO, Garsington) Don Curzio Le nozze diFigaro (Aix en Provence, Tokyo, Baden Baden, WNO)Remendado Carmen (WNO, Raymond Gubbay) Mr UpfoldAlbert Herring (Salzburg Landestheater), Monostatos DieZauberflöte (WNO, Scottish Opera) Danilowitz L’Etoile duNord, Ippia Saffo (Wexford) Brundibar Brundibar (WNO),Goro Madama Butterfly, Spoletta Tosca (RaymondGubbay) Bardolph Falstaff, Frisellino Le Pescatrici(Garsington Opera) and L’Abate Andrea Chenier (ScottishOpera).

Future plans include Goro Madama Butterfly for RaymondGubbay.

For OHP: Don Basilio and Don Curzio Le nozze di Figaro2004, L’Abate Andrea Chenier 2005, Borsa Rigoletto andChekalinsky The Queen of Spades 2006, Gastone Latraviata and Flaminio L‘amore dei tre Re – winner OperaHolland Park Friends Award for Best Male in a SupportingRole 2007, Isepo La Gioconda 2008

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BiographiesRoberto Devereux

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Graeme Broadbent Sir Gualtiero Raleigh

Graeme Broadbent studied at the Royal College of Musicand at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. He has sung withEnglish National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North,Glyndebourne Festival and Glyndebourne on Tour andabroad with Opera Comique.

As a member of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, hehas sung Colline, Angelotti, Timur, Dr Grenvil,Nightwatchman, Leone, the King Aida and King Marke.Engagements include Caronte Orfeo (Monteverdi) andJonathan Dove’s Pinocchio (Opera North), Pistola Falstaff(Baden-Baden), Dr Grenvil (ROH) and Punch and Judy (ENO).

For OHP: Gremin Eugene Onegin 2005, Nilakantha Lakmé2007, Sulpice La Fille du régiment 2008

Henry Grant Kerswell Un Paggio

Henry trained at Guildhall and the Royal ScottishAcademy 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 MidsummerNight’s Dream (English Touring Opera & British YouthOpera), Antonio Le nozze di Figaro (British Youth Opera),Don Alfonso Così fan tutte (Grange Park YoungArtists/Pimlico Opera), The Mikado The Mikado – coveredand played (Carl Rosa Opera).

For OHP: Sciarrone Tosca and Second Prisoner Fidelio2003, Assassin Macbeth and Yakuside Madama Butterfly2005, Official Rigoletto 2006, Commissionario La traviata2007, Sciarrone Tosca 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre

Henry Deacon Un Familiare di Nottingham

Henry gained a scholarship to GSMD and studies therewith David Pollard. His operatic appearances include roleswith Edinburgh Studio Opera, Smirnov The Bear(Mahogany Opera), Secondo Soldato/LibertoL’Incoronazione di Poppea (The Complete Singer) andFiorello Il barbiere di Siviglia (Lyrique-en-Mer).

Future plans include Sheriff Will Kane Jacko’s Hour (OperaEngine), and Adonis Venus and Adonis (Hampstead GardenOpera).

OHP Début

For Hänsel und GretelPeter Selwyn Conductor

Peter read Modern Languages at Cambridge, then studiedpiano at RAM. He has conducted more than 40 operasincluding Peter Grimes, Carmen, La bohème, Rigoletto, Latraviata, Hänsel und Gretel, Orfeo ed Euridice, Iphiginie enTauride, Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte,Lustige Weiber (Staatstheater Nürnberg), Roméo et Juliette(Opera North), Jenufa, La Cenerentola (ETO), The Rape ofLucretia (European Opera Centre), The Magic Flute,Madama Butterfly (European Chamber Opera), DonGiovanni (Pimlico Opera), The Rape of Lucretia, The Turn ofthe Screw, Noye’s Fludde, Dido and Aeneas and dasbabylonexperiment (Nuremberg International ChamberMusic Festival); as Assistant Conductor Ring Cycle(Bayreuth Festival), Moses and Aaron (HamburgischeStaatsoper), Rheingold (Opera du Rhin Strasbourg), Deathin Venice (Aldeburgh and Bregenz Festivals), and atNorwegian Opera, ROH and ENO.

Other credits include Head of Music and Kapellmeister atthe Staatstheater Nürnberg 1999-2004, and ROH musicstaff 1994-7. Peter is currently Professor at the RCM andArtistic Director of Nuremberg International ChamberMusic Festival.

OHP Début

Stephen Barlow Director

Stephen was born in Melbourne, Australia. He made hisdirecting debut with Trial by Jury staging it in the BowStreet Magistrates Court for the Covent Garden Festival.

Subsequently, his productions have included La traviata(Singapore Lyric Opera), Dovetales – a collection ofJonathan Dove operas (Glyndebourne, Jerwood Studio),Carmen (Riverside Opera), the London premiere ofSchubert’s Alfonso und Estrella (UCOpera), Idomeneo withPeter Sellars (Glyndebourne Touring Opera) and Elegies forAngels, Punks and Raging Queens (Chelsea Theatre). Hehas worked on over fifteen productions at the RoyalOpera House, Covent Garden including Die Entführungaus dem Serail, The Bartered Bride, Attila, La bohème, TheCunning Little Vixen, Aida, Samson et Dalila, Il trovatore,Peter Grimes and the world premiere of Lorin Mazel’s1984. He worked as Assistant Director on two Olivieraward-winning productions at the National TheatreSinging in the Rain and Anything Goes, assisting TrevorNunn. Stephen has also worked very closely with JonathanKent on new productions of Tosca (Covent Garden), TheTurn of the Screw (Glyndebourne), Elektra (MariinskyTheatre, St Petersburg) and as Associate Director on themusical Marguerite.

BiographiesRoberto Devereux – Hänsel und Gretel

BiographiesHänsel und Gretel

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His current and future work includes a revival of La rondine(Metropolitan Opera, New York), a revival of Tosca (CoventGarden) and a revival of Otello (San Francisco Opera).

For OHP: Tosca – winner Opera Holland Park FriendsAward for Best Production 2008, Tosca Richmond Theatre2009, Don Giovanni 2010

Paul Edwards Designer

Paul studied design at the Royal Academy of DramaticArt, which he graduated with honours and was made anAssociate Member of the Academy.

He has designed stage productions around the worldincluding for the West End and Broadway. His designs foropera include Tosca (The Kirov Mariinsky Theatre, StPetersburg), Lucia di Lammermoor (Halle Opera), TheBartered Bride (Staatstheater Darmstadt), Cherubin(Calgiari), The Pearl Fishers (Kazah and Amsterdam) DieWalküre (Caracas), Eva and Jacobin (Wexford) TheMarriage of Figaro (Dublin), Die Fledermaus andCoronation of Poppea (Royal College of Music), L’egoiste(Royal Academy of Music), The Mikado (Cardiff), Orfeo edEurdice (Tel Aviv, Strasbourg, Valladolid, La Coruna), Otello(Welsh National Opera), Il mondo della luna and L’Italianain Algieri (Garsingon), The Bartered Bride and DieZauberflöte (Tel Aviv), Carmen (Richmond), La finitesemplice (Nice and Paris) and Il martrimonia segreto andLa fina giardiniera (Paris).

His future productions include Die Zauberflöte (HongKong and Beijing) Sunset Boulevard (Sweden) and A LittleNight Music (Norwegian Opera, Oslo).

OHP Début

Peter Mumford Lighting Designer

Please see listing for Roberto Devereux on page 45.

David Greenall Choreographer

David trained in acting and dance at Lewisham College,the West Street Ballet School and London ContemporaryDance School.

He danced with Adventures in Motion Pictures, RambertDance Company, Dance for all, DV8, Vienna Ballet Theatreand The Icelandic Ballet. David went on to choreographthree major works for the Icelandic Ballet and variousworks for the Icelandic Opera including Hänsel und Gretel,Eugene Onegin, and La traviata. He has also worked withthe Icelandic Symphony and Song School of Iceland. Hefounded a youth Dance Company with students from theIcelandic Ballet School and directed it for three years. Inthe years since returning to the UK David has taughtballet, pas de deux and contemporary dance at ArtEducational London. He is currently Deputy Head of

Dance and Head of First Year at the school. David has alsotaught for Campus Dance at Guildford University.

Outside of education David has worked with the King’sConsort on a tour to Spain and with the Globe CentreAids organisation performing in an arts project. For thepast two years David has choreographed the summermusical programme at the Scoop. He has alsochoreographed for the International Musical Theatresummer school, based at the Royal Academy of Music andfor Arts Educational he has choreographed productions ofNine, Hair, Caberet, Lady in the Dark, Seussical, SecretGarden, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Wild Party.

OHP Début

William Reynolds Associate LightingDesigner

Please see listing for Roberto Devereux on page 45.

ArtistsCatherine Hopper Hänsel

Catherine studied at Leeds University, in Weimar, at theRoyal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio.

Catherine’s operatic roles include Lucretia Rape ofLucretia, Ramiro La Finta Giardiniera, Mezzo-Actress Nightat 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 MadamePopova The Bear (Mahogany Opera).

Future plans include the understudies of Dorabella Cosìfan tutte (Opera North) and Pilgrim L’Amour de Loin (ENO).

OHP Début

Joana Seara Gretel

Joana Seara was educated in Lisbon and the GSMDgenerously supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation,Wingate Foundation, E.M Behrens Charitable Trust andthe Worshipful Company of Barbers.

Her numerous operatic roles include Dorinda Orlando(Independent Opera), Virtu l’Incoronazione di Poppea(ENO), Despina Così fan tutte (Castleward Opera), thecover of Gretel Hänsel und Gretel (Glyndebourne on Tour),Norma and Medee Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian andGalatea Acis and Galatea on tour throughout Europe. Hermany European concert appearances include the Ile deFrance, Ambronay and Marfra Baroque Festivals, Mahler’s2nd Symphony and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony.

OHP Début

BiographiesHänsel und Gretel

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Anne Mason Mother/Witch

Anne Mason has performed with all the major UK operahouses 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, AnnioLa Clemenza di Tito, Annina Der Rosenkavelier, EnrichettaPuritani, Dorabella Così fan tutte, Marcellina Le nozze diFigaro, Fenena Nabucco, Adalgisa Norma, Sextus LaClemenza di Tito, Mother/Witch Hänsel und Gretel, FrickaDie Walküre, Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Kostelnicka Jenufa,Azucena Il trovatore, Penelope Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria,Cornelia Giulio Cesare and Agnes Beatrice di Tenda.

Future engagements include Kostelnicka Jenufa(Glydenbourde Touring Opera) and Mrs AlexanderSatyagraha (ENO).

For OHP: Teresa La Sonnambula 2005, Kostelnicka Jenufa2007, Azucena Il trovatore 2008, Geneviève Pelléas etMélisande 2010

Donald Maxwell Father

Donald Maxwell has appeared with all the major UK operahouses 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, Ilbarbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto and Der Fliegende Holländer,Pizarro Fidelio, Baron Zeta The Merry Widow, ScarpiaTosca, The Count Le nozze di Figaro, Eisenstein DieFledermaus, Escamillo Carmen, and Marcello La bohème.

Future engagements include The Excursions of Mr Broucekand Werther (Opera North), Lucrezia Borgia, Veronique andDon Quixote (Buxton Festival) and performances at theRoyal Opera House.

For OHP: Dulcamara L’elisir d’amore 2005

Katherine Allen Sandman

Winner of the Ysgoloriaeth W. Towyn Roberts at theNational Eisteddfod 2006, Katherine Allen studied atCardiff University and London’s Royal Academy of Music.

She made her professional debut on the 2007 EssentialScottish Opera tour and sings regularly in concertthroughout the UK. Her recordings include CeciliaMcDowall’s Laudate (Dutton CD) and her broadcastsinclude In Tune (BBC Radio 3).

Engagements in 2008/2009 include Cherubino TheMarriage of Figaro (Mid Wales Opera), Tisbe LaCenerentola and Flora La traviata (Scottish Opera), OlgaEugene Onegin (Iford Arts) and Messiah (Raymond GubbayLtd).

OHP Début

Pippa Goss Dew Fairy

Winner of the 2008 Thelma King Competition, Pippa Gossstudied at Bristol University and the Royal Academy ofMusic.

Roles have included Emmie Albert Herring (SnapeMaltings), Flora The Turn of the Screw, and Norina DonPasquale (Opera Project), Polly Peachum The Beggar’sOpera (Handel House), Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro(Threestone Opera), Zerlina Don Giovanni (LongboroughFestival) and Flora The Knot Garden (Montepulciano).Recordings include J. S. Bach Cantata 80 and the CoffeeCantata for BBC Radio 3.

Future plans include Gretel Hänsel und Gretel(Julitafestivalen, Sweden) and Susanna The Marriage ofFigaro (Mid Wales Opera).

For OHP: Papagena The Magic Flute 2008

New London Children’s Choir

The New London Children’s Choir offers a uniqueopportunity for girls and boys aged between 7 and 18 tolearn to sing and enjoy all kinds of music. Launched byRonald Corp in 1991, the Choir has appeared in all themajor London concert halls with the UK’s finestsymphony orchestras and conductors, has collaboratedwith opera companies in the UK and abroad, and hasmade dozens of recordings and broadcasts, including itslatest release “Pigs Could Fly” on Naxos. It has alsoappeared with internationally renowned artists includingLou Reed with whom the choir toured in 2007 and 2008.2009 will see New London Children’s Choir memberssinging with the London Philharmonic Opera, EnglishNational Opera, and at St John’s Smith Square.

BiographiesLa bohème

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For La bohèmeRobert Dean Conductor

Robert studied at RCM, Durham University, RNCM and theNational Opera Studio. After a successful internationalsinging career, he made his conducting debut at theBatignano Festival in the Italian premières of Beethoven’sLeonora and in JC Bach’s Temistocle.

He was Head of Music at Scottish Opera where heconducted over 100 performances, including newproductions of The Magic Flute‚ Don Giovanni‚ Così fantutte‚ The Barber of Seville‚ Cav and Pag‚ Jenufa La traviata‚Fidelio‚ Madama Butterfly‚ Tosca‚ Eugene Onegin‚ Carmen‚Die Fledermaus and Iolanthe. During this period he alsoconducted concerts with Luciano Pavarotti‚ DennisO’Neill and Jane Eaglan. His Canadian debut was The PearlFishers in Edmonton‚ since when he has returned for LaCenerentola (recorded by CBC), Die Fledermaus, DieEntführung aus dem Serail and The Pearl Fishers.

He has conducted La Cenerentola‚ The Magic Flute‚ Roméoet 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, Ilbarbière di Siviglia for San Francisco Opera’s MerolaProgramme for young singers and Così fan tutte andIolanthe at Grange Park Opera.

For OHP: Il barbiere di Siviglia 2007, La Fille du régiment2008 Don Giovanni 2010

Elaine Kidd Director

Elaine studied Modern Languages and trained as a theatredirector before moving into opera.

Opera and music theatre credits include Le DocteurMiracle (Festival Les Azuriales), Così fan tutte, EugeneOnegin (Diva Opera), The rape of Lucretia (Latvian NationalOpera and Hermitage Theatre, St Petersburg), Il Maestrodi Capella and La Scala di Seta (Tibor Varga Festival,Switzerland), Peter Grimes (Scottish Opera), Into TheWoods, Brahms’ Liebeslieder, Mahagonny Songspiel andSuor Angelica (Trinity College of Music), Eloise (W11Children’s Opera), Bedtime Stories (Stratford Circus), DonGiovanni and La traviata (Opera Brava) and scenesprogrammes for New Israeli Opera and Guildhall School ofMusic and Drama.

As a Revival Director productions include Lady Macbeth ofMtsensk (Tokyo and La Scala, Milan), Don Carlo (NorwegianNational Opera) Eugene Onegin (ROH and Finnish NationalOpera), Katya Kabanova, Jenufa and Don Giovanni (WNO),La Clemenza di Tito (La Coruna, Spain), and Mottke derDieb (Stadtteater Görlitz).

Elaine is Head of Staff Directors at the Royal OperaCovent Garden and coaches on the Jette Parker YoungArtists Programme.

For OHP: La traviata 2007

Colin Richmond Designer

Colin Richmond trained at the Royal Welsh College ofMusic and Drama, Cardiff receiving a First Class BA Hons.He was a 2003 Linbury Prize Finalist and ResidentDesigner as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’sTrainee Programme 2004-2005.

Colin’s credits include Entertaining Mr Sloane (costumes),Touched…(set), Ring Round The Moon, Bad Girls-TheMusical, 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 YorkshirePlayhouse), L’Opera Seria (Italy), Hansel and Gretel(Northampton Theatre Royal), Play/Notl (BAC), HumanRites (Old Southwark Playhouse), House Of The Gods!(MTW/ ROH/ National Tour), Restoration (Bristol Old Vic,Headlong Theatre), The Shadow Of A Gunman (GlasgowCitizens), Hansel and Gretel (Dundee Rep), Suddenly LastSummer (TheatrClywd), Europe (Barbican), The May Queen(Liverpool Everyman), Amadeus (The Crucible, Sheffield),All the Fun of The Fair (Number 1 National Tour), When weare married (West Yorkshire Playhouse/ LiverpoolPlayhouse). Television credits include first series and pre-production 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 (SalisburyPlayhouse), Caucasian Chalk Circle (Shared Experience)and A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep Theatre).

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Colin Grenfell Lighting Designer

Colin’s recent productions include 365, The Bacchae, BlackWatch (National Theatre of Scotland), Mine (HampsteadTheatre), 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 (SalisburyPlayhouse), Enjoy (Watford Palace Theatre), Unprotected(Liverpool Everyman) and Casanova, Playing the Victim(Told by an Idiot).

His opera credits include Fidelio (Opera Touring CompanyDublin) and La bohème (English Touring Opera).

For OHP: Eugene Onegin and Andrea Chénier 2005, Cosìfan tutte, The Merry Widow, Rigoletto and The Queen ofSpades 2006, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Lakmé 2007, Iltrovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, Orpheus in theUnderworld, Un ballo in maschera and Kát’a Kabanová2009

Sarah Fahie Choreographer

Sarah Fahie trained at London Contemporary DanceSchool.

Sarah’s choreographic opera credits include The Birds (TheOpera Group), Masquerade, Mignon, Le nozze di Figaro,Rencontre Imprevue (GSMD), The Bartered Bride (Mid WalesOpera), and As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (Almeida).

She has worked as a staff director for Glyndebourne andROH assisting choreographer/director teams such asLinda Dobell & Richard Jones and Kate Flatt & DanielSlater, Denni Sayer & Nikolaus Lehnhoff. She has alsoworked as revival choreographer at ROH on Linda Dobell’sproduction of Eugene Onegin and Leah Hausman’sRigoletto.

In 2003 she received a Jerwood Choreography Award forher London-based independent dance choreography.

Sarah’s future plans include Revival Director of RichardJones’ production of Falstaff for Glyndebourne TouringOpera

For OHP: La traviata 2007

ArtistsLinda Richardson Mimi

Linda studied at RNCM and at the National Opera Studio.

Roles include Fiordiligi Così fan tutte, Lauretta GianniSchicchi, Micaëla Carmen, Gretel Hansel and Gretel, GildaRigoletto, Sophie Der Rosenkavalier, Mimi La bohème, TheFairy Queen, Alcina, Violetta La traviata, WoglindeRhinegold, Helena A Midsummer Night´s Dream andDonna Anna Don Giovanni (English National Opera), Kat’aKabanová (ETO), Gilda Rigoletto, Nannetta Falstaff andCountess The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North), Lisetta LaVera 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 AustralianConservatorium and studied at Teatro Comunale diBologna.

Aldo’s roles include Werther (Opera Australia), RoméoRoméo et Juliette and Pollione Norma (Innsbruck), RodolfoLa bohème (Opera Australia and Torino), Tamino TheMagic 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), BillFlight (Adelaide Festival), Nemorino L’elisir d’amore (StateOpera of South Australia).

Future engagements include Tebaldo Capuleti e iMontecchi (Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House).

For OHP: Loris Fedora 2006, Steva Jenufa 2007

Sean Ruane Rodolfo (11, 13 & 15 August)

Sean studied at the Royal Northern College of Musicsupported by the Peter Moores Foundation beforecontinuing his studies in Italy with Fernanda Piccini andat the Academia di Puccini studying with Magada Oliveroand Rania Kabiavanski.

Operatic roles include Sergei Paradise Moscow (OperaNorth), Rinuccio Gianni Scicchi (Italy), Cavaradossi Tosca(ETO), Ruggero La rondine (Castleward Opera), The DevilSchvanda Dudak (WFO), Antonio The Tempest (Opera duRhin, ROH) Turridu Cavalleria Rusticana, Canio Pagliacci(Haddo House).

This summer Sean will be seen on television singing forthe Ashes Cricket between England and Australia – seewww.seanruane.com


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Sean would like to thank the Swiss Global ArtisticFoundation for their continued and generous support.

For OHP: Edmondo Manon Lescaut 2001, Ruggero Larondine 2002, Federico L’arlesiana 2003, Rodolfo Labohème 2004, Nemorino L’elisir d’amore 2005, Des GrieuxManon Lescaut 2006, Alfredo La traviata 2007,Cavaradossi Tosca 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre, DonJosé 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 OperaHouse 2001-3 performing Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia,Harlequin Ariadne auf Naxos, Schaunard, Bello La Fanciulladel West, Morales Carmen and Demetrius (ROH). Furtherappearances include Der Einäugige Die Frau ohneSchatten and Demetrius (Madrid), Schaunard(Glyndebourne on Tour), Sacha Paradise Moscow (OperaNorth) and the title role Don Giovanni (Baugé). Herecorded Forester The Cunning Little Vixen (BBC TV),created Carlo in Judith Weir’s Armida (Channel 4) andportrayed 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 & 15August)

George von Bergen completed a post-graduate operastudies course at the Royal Academy of Music. George is arecent graduate of the National Opera Studio programmein London.

Opera roles include title role of Don Giovanni (ClonterOpera), Tarquinius The rape of Lucretia (RAO), title roleGianni Schicchi (RAO), title role Eugene Onegin (BritishYouth Opera), Germont pèr La traviata (Clonter Opera),Nick Shadow The Rake’s Progress (Dartington Opera),Edward The Sofa (Independent Opera), Marcello Labohème (Deutsche Grammophon/MR Productions filmalongside Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon).

Future plans include Demetrius A Midsummer Night’sDream (Garsington Opera).

OHP Début

Tim Mirfin Colline

Tim Mirfin read Law at Cambridge, later studying at theRoyal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio.With the Hamburg State Opera his many roles includedLeporello Don Giovanni, Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, Colline

La bohème, Publio La Clemenza di Tito and SparafucileRigoletto. Other roles include Sarastro with ScottishOpera, Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream (AldeburghFestival), Selim Il Turco in Italia (Buxton), Argante Rinaldo(Grange Park), Parson Cunning Little Vixen, TimurTurandot, Colline and Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia (WNO)and regular appearances for the Edinburgh Festival. Hewill make his debut with the Frankfurt Opera as Mr.Ratcliffe Billy Budd.

For OHP: Rodolfo La Sonnambula 2005, Sarastro TheMagic Flute 2008

Njabulo Madlala Schaunard

Njabulo was born in South Africa and studied at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama. Credits includeFisherman Bird of Night (Royal Opera House), Porgy Porgyand Bess (Cheltenham Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall,Wigmore Hall, Sadler’s Wells), Rangwan Koanga (SadlersWells), the Disciple and an Angel in Mysteries (BBC) andPeachum Three Penny Opera (Hawaii Performing ArtsFestival). He made his debut as Mel in Tippett’s The KnotGarden for Montepulciano Festival. Other operatic rolesinclude Forester Cunning Little Vixen, and Morales andDancairo Carmen.

Recent performances include Le Calender La RencontreImprevue, Mozart Requiem with Cheltenham Bach Choirand King in Sallinen’s The King goes forth to France at theGuildhall.

For OHP: Bello La fancuilla del West 2004

Hye-Youn Lee Musetta

Hye-Youn Lee trained at Hanns-Eisler in Berlin under JuliaVarady. Subsequently, she worked at the opera studios inStrasbourg and at the Bastille in Paris.

Selected operatic roles include Lucia Lucia diLammermoor, Oscar Un ballo in maschera, Popelka LaComedie sur le Pont, Berta Euryante, Junge Frau Reigen,First flowergirl Parsifal (Opera Strasbourg), Despina Cosìfan tutte (Theatre Nanterre), Hedwig Fruehling (OperaComique Paris), First Knappe Parsifal, Donna CreteseIdomeneo, Une Voix Sopran Le Journal d’un Disparu,Eurydice Orphée et Eurydice (Opera Bastille), Sylvia L’isoladisabitata (Opera Caen, Rennes, Poitiers) and First BlindWomen at Prayer Les Aveugles (Almeida theatre).

For OHP: Marie La fille du régiment 2008

Eric Roberts Benoit/Alcindoro

Eric Roberts studied at the RMCM.

Recent appearances include Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia(Welsh National Opera, Brisbane), Onegin Eugene Onegin(Omaha), Elder Son The Prodigal Son (La Fenice), baritoneroles Death in Venice (Antwerp), Major General The Pirates

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of Penzance (Vancouver), Faninal Der Rosenkavalier(Spoleto), Don Magnifico La Cenerentola (Frankfurt, OperaZuid and Dublin), Solon The Fortunes of King Croesus andbaritone roles One Touch of Venus (Opera North), Ko-KoThe Mikado (ENO and Carl Rosa Opera).

For OHP: Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia 2007

Peter Kent Parpignol

Peter Kent trained privately, studying with AdrianThompson and Tony Roden and has sung with OperaHolland Park since 1999. Peter has recently sung the FirstArmed Man The Magic Flute (Grange Park Opera). He hassung in the Chorus for Opera North, Grange Park Opera,Carl Rosa Opera and Raymond Gubbay.

For OHP: Remendado Carmen 2001, Kromov The MerryWidow 2001, Giuseppe La traviata 2001, First PrisonerFidelio 2003, Parpignol La bohème 2004, First PrisonerFidelio 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 aCharitable Trust. The Company was set up to enableyoung people between the ages of 9 and 18 to take partin professionally directed music theatre and is committedto promoting equality, access and opportunity for anyonewishing to take part. Since its inception W11 hascommissioned 30 new pieces of work from contemporarycomposers and librettists. This unique achievement hasprovided a rich repertoire of works for all groups withyoung casts and W11 commissions have been performedthroughout Europe, North America and Canada. Auditionsfor any child wishing to take part occur in earlySeptember for performances in December.

For further information see www.w11opera.org or call 0207937 9283.

The Boys Choir of The Cardinal VaughanMemorial School

The Cardinal Vaughan School in Holland Park has a longtradition of singing and the School's choirs regularlyappear 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 andMendelssohn’s Elijah. Recent tour destinations haveincluded France, Spain, Austria, Germany and the USA. Theboys sing with professional groups, including the LondonSymphony Orchestra and the Bach Choir and they areregular members of the Chorus of the Royal Opera House,Covent Garden.

For Orpheus in theUnderworldJohn Owen Edwards Conductor

Born in Cartmel, John Owen Edwards studied atWorcester College, Oxford.

He conducts opera, music theatre and concertsworldwide. Highlights include the Broadway productionof Show Boat (Opéra du Rhin), The King and I (West End),Oklahoma! (including cast recording and video) withTrevor Nunn (National Theatre), West Side Story (VlaamsRadio Orkest), The Yeomen of the Guard (BYO), The Wizardof Oz (RSC at the Barbican) and The Tales of Hoffmann(Victoria State Opera). For a number of years he wasMusic Director of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, andhas 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 RoyalAcademy of Music. His appointments include ArtisticDirector of Phoenix Opera, Director of Morley Opera andDirector of Productions for Lyric Theatre Singapore. AsDirector of Productions for Castleward Opera hisproductions included L’Etoile, Martha, Lucia diLammermoor, La rondine and Rigoletto, La bohème, Cosìfan tutte which were all nominated for best production,Irish Theatre Awards 2005/2006/2008 respectively.

As Director of Productions of the Handel Opera Societyhe directed new productions of Esther, Ezio, Hercules,Partenope, Radamisto, Rodrigo, and Xerxes at Sadler’sWells Theatre. For English National Opera he directed fiveproductions including Un ballo in maschera, La GazzaLadra and La vie Parisisnne. His productions for TheEnglish Bach Festival have been seen at the Royal OperaHouse, Covent Garden and in Paris, Monte Carlo,Versailles, and at international festivals throughoutEurope. Productions for the company include Castor etPollux, Platée, Gluck’s Alceste and Orphée, and Mozart’sMitridate and Idomeneo. He has directed manyproductions internationally including in Austria, Belgium,Yugoslavia, Eire, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong,Malaysia and Trinidad. In September 2002 he directedCavalli’s Pompeo Magno for the Varazdin Baroque Festivalwinning the coveted Ivan Lukacic prize.

For OHP: Iris 1996, L’Arlesiana 1997, Le nozze di Figaro1998, Così fan tutte, Un ballo in maschera 2000, Latraviata 2001, Adriana Lecouvreur 2002, Werther 2003, DieFledermaus 2004, Eugene Onegin 2005, The Merry Widow2006, Lakmé 2007

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Peter Rice Designer

Peter Rice studied Painting at the Royal College of Art.Peter Rice’s numerous operatic credits include designs forArabella and Manon (ROH), Arlecchino (Glyndebourne),Falstaff, La bohème and Tosca (Scottish Opera), Carmenand La Sonnambula (Castleward). International worksinclude Ottone (Tokyo), Carmen and Così fan tutte (HongKong), The Marriage of Figaro (Augsburg), La Cenerentola(Wiesbaden), Die Fledermaus (St. Louis), Death in Venice(Antwerp), Otello (South Africa) and The Fairy Queen(Bilbao).

Peter designed Sir Fredrick Ashton’s version of the balletRomeo and Juliet (Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen andEnglish National Ballet, London). He also designed twoother ballets for Sir Frederick, Rinaldo and Armida andSinfonietta.

Theatre Credits include the Musicals Where’s Charley?and Ann Veronica, the Reviews Living for Pleasure and Onthe Avenue as well as many plays and farces in Londonincluding Don’t Dress for Dinner, Shut you eyes and thinkof England, and The Italian Straw Hat, 40 years on and TheImportance of being Earnest (Chichester Festival Theatreand Theatre Royal Haymarket) the last of which touredAustralia after a London season.

Future Plans includes productions of Tosca (Orviedo andMurcia) in the autumn.

For OHP: Così fan tutte and The Yeomen of the Guard2000, The Merry Widow and La traviata 2001, AdrianaLecouvreur and La rondine 2002, L’arlesiana and Werther2003, La bohème and Die Fledermaus 2004, Eugene Oneginand Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore and Andrea Chénier2005, Così fan tutte and The Merry Widow 2006, Lakmé2007, winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award forOutstanding Achievement 2008




For OHP: Eugene Onegin and Andrea Chénier 2005, Cosìfan tutte, The Merry Widow, Rigoletto and The Queen ofSpades 2006, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Lakmé 2007, Iltrovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, La bohème, Unballo in maschera and Kát’a Kabanová 2009

Jenny Weston Choreographer

Born in Oxford Jenny originally trained as a dancer beforeperforming in music theatre and opera for companiesincluding English National Opera and GlyndebourneFestival Opera. Interest in movement and mime led her towork with Jacques Lecoq and the Theatre De Movement.

Choreography includes Richard Strauss’ Cappriccio, Lenozze di Figaro, (Glyndebourne Festival Opera), Cendrillon(Royal Academy of Music), Company (RADA), L’Enfant et lesSortileges and L’Heure Espagnol (New York City Opera andGlyndebourne), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hong KongFestival), Un ballo in maschera, Death in Venice, PhilipGlass’ The Fall of the House of Usher and Nixon in China byJohn Adams (Austria), Dido and Aeneas (Syria), Peter andthe Wolf (DVD) conducted by Claudio Abbado, DonGiovanni, Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale, Carmen, LaBelle Helene, Hansel and Gretel and Orpheus in theUnderworld (Diva Opera).

As director Porgy and Bess (Lisbon), Les Pecheurs De Perles(The Theatre Royal Northampton) Jenny is also movementdirector 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 andAdriana Lecouvreur 2001, Die Fledermaus 2004, EugeneOnegin and Madama Butterfly 2005, Fedora and The MerryWidow 2006, Lakmé 2007


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ArtistsJeni Bern Eurydice

Born in Glasgow, Jeni studied at the Royal ScottishAcademy of Music and Drama and the Royal College ofMusic.

Stage roles have included Paquette Candide and ZdenkaArabella (Théâtre du Châtelet and La Scala), Trixie Let ‘emeat cake, Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream, SusannaThe Marriage of Figaro and concert performance of GretelHansel and Gretel (Opera North), Mabel The Pirates ofPenzance, Yum-Yum The Mikado, Sophie Rosenkavalier andAmor Orpheo and Eurydice (ENO), Oscar Un ballo inmaschera (Opera Zuid), Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro andBlumenmädchen Parsifal (Royal Opera House), AmorOrphée et Eurydice (WNO) and Jano Jenufa (GlyndebourneFestival Opera).

OHP Début

Ian Caddy Jupiter

Ian Caddy was born in Southampton and studied at theRoyal Academy of Music (where he won the President’sPrize) and subsequently with Otakar Kraus.

He made his debut as Schaunard La bohème withGlyndebourne Touring Opera and has since appeared withRoyal Opera, Covent Garden, English National Opera,Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, Kent Opera,Castleward Opera, Glyndebourne Festival and Opera deNantes. His repertoire includes Baron Zeta The MerryWidow, Pooh-Bah The Mikado, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte,Frank Die Fledermaus, Theseus Hippolyte et Aricie, PolluxCastor et Pollux and Telenus Nais.

For OHP: Frank Die Fledermaus 2004, Baron Zeta TheMerry Widow 2006

Daniel Broad Aristaeus/Pluto

Daniel Broad was a boy chorister at ManchesterCathedral, a scholar at Chetham’s School of Music and avocal scholar at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Roles for British and international opera houses haveincluded 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 andNed Keene Peter Grimes.

Current work has focused on principal roles incontemporary opera including title role in Julian Grant’sOdysseus Unwound, Howard Goodall’s Eternal Light aRequiem and the European première of Michael Berkeley’sFor You.

OHP Début

Benjamin Segal Orpheus

Benjamin Segal trained at the Guildhall School of Musicand Drama and National Opera Studio where his rolesincluded Ferrando Così fan tutte, Belmonte/Pedrillo DieEntführung aus dem Serail, Tamino Die Zauberflöte,Oronte Alcina, Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress, LenskyEugene 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’sDream (British Youth Opera), Don Ottavio Don Giovanniand Nathanial/Spalanzani/Franz The Tales of Hoffmann(Mid Wales Opera) and Mr Upfold Albert Herring(Aldeburgh Festival).

Future engagements include Don Basilio and Don CuzioThe Marriage of Figaro (Mid Wales Opera).

For OHP: Bogdanowich The Merry Widow 2006, SpolettaTosca 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre

Nuala Willis Public Opinion

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 BBCTV), Sphinx The Second Mrs Kong (Glyndebourne), OlderWoman Flight (Glyndebourne, Adelaide), Mother GooseThe Rake’s Progress (Glyndebourne, Reisopera, ChampsElysees), Mistress Quickly Falstaff (Birmingham Touring,Stanley Hall Opera), Widow Begbick Mahagonny (Nantes,Angers, Lille) as well as productions and concerts inLausanne, Geneva, Nancy, Luxembourg, Berlin, Marseillesand Antwerp amongst others.

Future plans include workshops for Opera Genesis (ROH),cabaret and concert engagements in UK and USA.

For OHP: Burya Jenufa – winner Opera Holland ParkFriends Award for Best Female in a Supporting Role 2007,La Duchese de Crakentorp La Fille du régiment and LaCieca La Gioconda 2008

John Lofthouse John Styx

John Lofthouse studied at Guildhall School of Music andDrama and National Opera Studio.

Roles include Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream,Guglielmo Così fan tutte, Chef Bake for One Hour, PirateKing The Pirates of Penzance, Vicomte Cascada The MerryWidow, Fiuta La Capricciosa Corretta, Ford The MerryWives of Windsor, Danilo The Merry Widow, Papageno TheMagic Flute, Eisenstein/Dr Falke Die Fledermaus, ImeneoImeneo, Dancairo Carmen and Chao Sun A Night at theChinese Opera


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Recent performances include a repeat of Imeneo, HighCommissioner Madama Butterfly, Mr Bluff The Impresario,Dona Nobis Pacem and Belshazzar’s Feast. Future plansinclude Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia.

For OHP: Cascada The Merry Widow 2006, Sacristan Tosca2008 & 2009 Richmond Theatre

Oliver White Mercury

Oliver graduated in music from Durham and won ascholarship 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, RalphHMS Pinafore, Lely/Duke Patience (Carl Rosa), RobinsonRobinson Crusoe (Opera Della Luna/Iford Arts), YoungMan/Frederic The Parson’s Pirates and Orlofsky DieFledermaus (Opera Della Luna), Basilo/Curzio The Marriageof Figaro and Monostatos The Magic Flute (ArmonicoConsort), Frederic Pirates of Penzance (BournemouthSymphony Orchestra), tenor lead in ten of the SavoyOperas (G&S Opera Company), and Pluto Orpheus in theUnderworld (British Youth Opera).

Future plans include Hilarion Princess Ida and Prosper Notin front of the waiter.

For OHP: Njegus The Merry Widow 2006

Nicola Stonehouse Diana

Nicola Stonehouse studied at the Benjamin Britten OperaSchool at the Royal College of Music generouslysupported by The Leverhulme Trust. She now studiesprivately with Marie McLaughlin.

Nicola’s operatic roles include Adult Chorus On the Rim ofthe World (ROH), cover for Megan The Sacrifice (WNO),Sian/Susan Another Life by Karen Wimhurst (WNO MaxProject), Amour Platee (English Bach Festival, Athens),Pamina The Magic Flute (Dartington, Supported by a JoanHoward 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), Titlerole Savitri (Montepulciano) Miss Jessel Turn of the Screw(BBIOS).

For OHP: Lay Sister Suor Angelica 2002, Wowkle LaFanciulla del West 2004, Annina La traviata 2007.

Jane Harrington Cupid

Jane Harrington graduated from the Royal Academy ofMusic, where her operatic debuts included Pamina TheMagic Flute, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, Marina Schoolfor Fathers, Clarice Il mondo della luna and Rooster TheCunning Little Vixen, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Her professional roles include Die Fledermaus (OperaProject), Madame Silberklang The Impresario and MrsGobineau The Medium (Second Movement Opera). Shesang Pamina (English Pocket Opera), Serpina La servapadrona (Aldeburgh Festival), Jano Jenufa and mostrecently 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, studyingunder Susan Roper, and her Masters degree at the GSMD,studying with Susan Waters and Laura Sarti. She is aSamling Scholar.

Operatic experience includes Nannetta Falstaff (GrangePark Opera), The Controller Flight (British Youth Opera),Johanna Sweeny Todd (Pimlico Opera), Gianetta L’elisird’amore (cover GTO), Marzelina Fidelio (Jerwood Scenes,Glyndebourne Festival Opera). Concert work includesCarmina Burana at Snape Maltings and Haydn’s NelsonMass under Wilcocks. In 2005 she won the Great ElmVocal Award. She was also a member of Glyndebournechorus for two years.

Future plans include Adina (cover Scottish Opera). Verityis currently at the National Opera Studio supported by anAlan Beurrier Memorial Scholarship, The Derek ButlerTrust and a Susan Chilcott Scholarship.

OHP Début

Louise Crane Minerva

Louise trained at the Guildhall, RNCM and National OperaStudio.

She has worked as a principal artist with ENO,Glyndebourne, Opera de Lyon, Aldeburgh Festival, LaMonnaie (Brussels), Chelsea Opera Group, Mid WalesOpera, ETO, European Chamber Opera, the Irish OperaticRepertory Company, Co-Opera, the International Gilbertand Sullivan Festival, Opera della Luna, and D’Oyly Carte.Her repertoire includes Mistress Quickly Falstaff, Flora Latraviata, Marcellina The Marriage of Figaro, Third Lady TheMagic Flute, Filipyevna Eugene Onegin and JocastaOedipus Rex. Louise enjoys a successful concert careersinging at major concert halls in Europe and the Far Eastas well as across the UK.

For OHP: Praskowia The Merry Widow 2007

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Jill Pert Juno

Jill’s professional career began in Canada with theCanadian Opera Company and the Ottawa Festival Opera.Returning to London in 1979, she joined the D’Oyly CarteOpera Company where she has since performed all buttwo of the contralto roles. Appearances at EnglishNational Opera include Clarissa and Princess Ida.

Musical theatre credits include Carousel, The Sound ofMusic, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Annie, Oliver! and Into theWoods. Concert engagements include Galas with theToronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras,and the RTE Orchestra in Dublin.

She also has her own solo concert programme entitled, InThe Dusk With A Light Behind Them.

OHP Début

Maciek O’Shea Mars

Maciek studied History at UCL and went on to study voiceat Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was thewinner of the English Song Competition.

Operatic engagements include covering First Priest andSecond Armed Man The Magic Flute (ETO), GamekeeperRusalka (ETO), covering Death Savitri (Buxton FestivalOpera), Daedalus Voithia (ETO), Pinellino Gianni Schicchi(GSMD), Fiorello Il barbiere di Siviglia (Hand Made Opera),Adonis Venus and Adonis (New Chamber Opera).

OHP Début

Ste Clough Baccus

Ste is just about to graduate from Arts Educational.Whilst in training he has appeared in The DrowsyChaperone, Oscar D’Armano and Michael John LaChiusa’sThe Wild Party.

Theatre Credits include Ensemble WhatsOnStage Awards2009 (Prince of Wales Theatre), Bewtwixt! in Concert(Ambassadors), Flying with the stars (Palladium),Understudy Prince Cinderella (Assembly Hall, Kent). FilmCredits include Like Minds (Bluewater Productions) and hehas just recorded vocals with Nigel Richards on his débutalbum.

OHP Début

Benjamin Newhouse-Smith Morpheus

Ben trained in musical theatre at the Royal Academy ofMusic. Previous roles include KoKo The Mikado, CalHalliday They Shoot Horses… Don't They?, Kleito Atlantidesand James/Monteagle Remember! Remember!.

For OHP: Chorus 2006, 2007, 2008

For Un ballo inmascheraPeter Robinson Conductor

Peter Robinson studied as Organ Scholar of St. John’sCollege, Oxford. His operatic career began as ChorusMaster at Glyndebourne and continued as ResidentConductor and Head of Music Staff for the AustralianOpera at the Sydney Opera House. He then joined ENO asAssistant Music Director, where repertoire includes TheMastersingers of Nuremberg, Otello, Rigoletto, Carmen,Orfeo, Hansel and Gretel, The Turn of the Screw and all themajor Mozart operas.

He returns to Australia regularly to conduct their leadingopera companies and symphony orchestras. Televisioncredits include Jonathan Miller’s productions of TheMikado and Così fan tutte and, for Channel 4, TheMarriage of Figaro. In the concert hall, he has conductedthe 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 Marriageof Figaro (West Australian Opera), Turandot, MadamaButterfly, 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.

For OHP: Fidelio 2003, Luisa Miller 2004, Andrea Chénier2005, Rigoletto 2006, L’amore de tre Re 2007, La Gioconda2008, Fidelio 2010

Martin Lloyd-Evans Director

Martin studied physics at Manchester University andTheatre Arts at Bretton Hall College.

Martin’s recent productions include Mitridate and Re diPonto (Classical Opera Company at Sadler’s Wells and theBuxton Festival), The King Goes Forth to France (GSMD), Labohème, 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’sThe Little Green Swallow, The rape of Lucretia, Maskarade,Postcard from Morocco, The Beggar’s Opera, the UKpremiere of The Aspern Papers (RPS Award nominee) andWeill-Krenek-Ullmann Triple Bill (GSMD), La bohème, Cosìfan tutte, La Cenerentola, Don Giovanni, Carmen and TheBarber of Seville amongst many others (Garden Opera),the premiere of Spirit Child (Lontano), Carmen, TheMikado (Penang State Festival), RPS award-winning

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premiere of On London Fields (HMDT), Cendrillon, Falstaff,Le nozze di Figaro and l’Heure Espagnol/Gianni Schicchiwith 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 andLondon) as well as extensive work with internationallyacclaimed theatre company Cheek by Jowl.

Future plans include Roméo et Juliette for Operosa inBulgaria, and a devised opera based on The Taming of theShrew for Xynix Opera in the Netherlands.

www.martinlloyd-evans.co.uk

For OHP: Don Giovanni 2002, Stiffelio 2003, Le nozze diFigaro 2004, Andrea Chenier 2005, The Queen of Spades –winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for BestProduction 2006, L’amore de tre Re – winner OperaHolland Park Friends Award for Best Production 2007, LaGioconda 2008, Francesca da Rimini 2010

Jamie Vartan Designer

Jamie trained at Central School of Art and Design and in1988 was awarded an Arts Council Bursary to work asAssociate Designer for Nottingham Playhouse Theatre. Hewas part of the British submission to Prague Quadrenalein 2007, with designs for Carmen, Cagliari 2005.

Opera Credits include Il Pirata (Opera de Marseille), Latraviata (Malmo revival), Ariadne auf Naxos and Death inVenice (Salzburg), Albert Herring (Salzburg Landestheater),Don Giovanni (Operosa, Bulgaria), Manon Lescaut (TeatroRegio, Parma), May Night (Garsington Opera), Così fantutte 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 ofSpades (La Scala) and Carmen, Aida, Romeo e Giulietta delVillaggio (Teatro Lirico di Cagliari).

Jamie’s theatre Credits include Alice in Wonderland(Dublin), The Third Policeman and The Chairs (BlueRaincoat), Tom’s Midnight Garden (Library Theatre,Manchester), Vertigo, Breaking the Silence, In the Spirit ofThe 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 Searchof an Author (Blue Raincoat).

For OHP: Pearl Fishers 2002, Fidelio and Tosca 2003, LuisaMiller and Le nozze di Figaro 2004, Rigoletto and TheQueen of Spades – winner Opera Holland Park FriendsAward for Best Production 2006, L’amore de tre Re –winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for BestProduction 2007, La Gioconda 2008, Fidelio 2010




For OHP: Eugene Onegin and Andrea Chénier 2005, Cosìfan tutte, The Merry Widow, Rigoletto and The Queen ofSpades 2006, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Lakmé 2007, Iltrovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, La bohème,Orpheus in the Underworld and Kát’a Kabanová 2009

Victoria Newlyn Choreographer

Victoria Newlyn trained in Acting at Guildhall School ofMusic and Drama and has worked as an actresspredominantly in repertory and touring theatre.

Choreography credits include Falstaff, La vie Parisienneand L’occasione fa il ladro (Guildhall School), two fullystaged theatre pieces devised by Iain Burnside Seducedand Lads in their Hundreds (Guildhall School and KingsPlace), Rinaldo and La Calisto (Royal Academy of Music)and Ariodante (Cambridge Handel Opera Group).

Victoria is a Movement & Drama teacher, working withsingers from undergraduate to opera course level at theGuildhall School and the Royal Academy of Music.

OHP Début


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ArtistsAmanda Echalaz Amelia

South African born Soprano, Amanda Echalaz, representedher country in Cardiff Singer of the Year 2005. Since then,she has sung the title roles in Così fan tutte, Alcina, Jenufaand Tatiana in Eugene Onegin. Her Royal Opera Housedebut was in the world premiere of Sir HarrisonBirtwistle’s opera, The Minotaur.

Recent engagements include covering Marie in Die toteStadt (Royal Opera House) and the title role in Tosca(Opera Project, Bristol).

Future plans include Butterfly in Madama Butterfly (CapeTown Opera) and Liu in Turandot (English National Opera).

For OHP: Manon Manon Lescaut – winner Opera HollandPark Friends Award for Best Female in a Leading Role2006, Fiora in L’amore dei tre Re 2007, Tosca Tosca –winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for Best Femalein a Leading Role 2008 & 2009 at Richmond Theatre

Rafael Rojas Gustavo

Mexican born and educated at the University ofGuadalajara, RSAMD and RNCM.

Rafael’s roles include Alfredo La traviata, Nemorino L’elisird’amore and Rodolfo La bohème (Seattle), PinkertonMadama Butterfly (Glimmerglass, New York, Tel Aviv,Boston and Opera North), Wether Werther, Alfredo Latraviata, Macduff Macbeth (Houston), Ismaele Nabucco(Houston and Berlin), Gustavo Un ballo in maschera(Bregenz and Graz), Rodolfo (Bregenz, Sydney andDresden), Carlo Don Carlo (Leipzig), José Carmen and CalafTurandot (WNO), Radames Aida (Savonlinna), CavaradossiTosca, Faust La damnation de Faust, Ruggero La rondineand Duca Rigoletto (Opera North).

His future plans include Turiddu/Canio Cav/Pag(Saarbrücken), Pollione Norma (Zagreb) and Otello (BBCSymphony Orchestra).

For OHP: Manrico Il trovatore 2008

Olafur Sigurdarson Ankarström (Renato)

Icelandic born, Olafur studied in Reykjavik, at the RoyalAcademy of Music and at the Royal Scottish Academy ofMusic and Drama.

Roles include Mozart’s and Rossini’s Figaro, Scarpia Tosca,Verdi’s Macbeth, Papageno, Schaunard La bohème, AlfioCavalleria Rusticana and Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia(Iceland), title roles Kullervo, Blaubart’s Burg, EscamilloCarmen, Alfio/Tonio Cav/Pag and Jochanaan Salome

(Saarbrücken), Mozart’s Figaro and Jack Rance La Fanciulladel West (Grange Park Opera), Escamillo and Sulpice LaFille 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 delWest 2004, Macbeth Macbeth 2005, Gérard AndreaChénier 2005, Rigoletto Rigoletto – winner Opera HollandPark Friends Award for Best Male in a Leading Role 2006,Manfredo L’amore de tre Re 2007, Barnaba La Gioconda2008

Gail Pearson Oscar

Gail Pearson graduated from the RNCM, quickly rising tofame as Jano Jenufa, Priestess Iphigenie en Tauride andPernille Maskarade (all at ROH). She sang FrasquitaCarmen, Naiad Ariadne auf Naxos and Pousette Manon (allat ENO), as well as Pamina Die Zauberflöte (ScottishOpera), Lisette La rondine (Opera North) and GildaRigoletto, Gretel Hänsel und Gretel, and Musetta Labohème (all at WNO). International engagements haveincluded Jano Jenufa (Opéra de Lyon), BlumenmädchenParsifal (Bastille) and Ann Truelove The Rake’s Progress(Opéra de Nantes).

Future engagements include Antonia For You (MTW) andMozart 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. Afterher debut in 1995, Carole has appeared regularly with allmajor British opera companies, making her CoventGarden debut in 2002.

Carole’s European career has taken her to Amsterdam,Monte Carlo, Geneva, Vienna and Brussels. She made herdebut at La Scala in 2006 and at the Bastille in 2008.Carole’s concert venues include notably the Royal AlbertHall, Usher Hall, Festival Hall, Concertgebouw inAmsterdam 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 Lammermoor2003, Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro 2004, Contessa AndreaChénier 2005, Countess The Queen of Spades – winnerOpera Holland Park Friends Award for Best Female in aSupporting Role 2006, Martha Iolanta 2008


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Paul Reeves Ribbing

Paul Reeves studied at the Guildhall and the NationalOpera Studio.

He has appeared at the Staatsoper Berlin, the LinburyStudio Theatre and the Wexford Festival, as well as withGarsington Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, ENO,ETO, Opera North, The Opera Group and Raymond Gubbayin repertoire ranging from Handel to Birtwistle.Recordings include The Shops (NMC).

He sang at the première of Rachel Portman’s The WaterDiviner’s Tale (BBC Proms) and current engagementsinclude Dikoj Kát’a Kabanová (Scottish Opera On Tour),Don Basilio The Barber of Seville (WNO), AbimelechSamson et Dalila and Sparafucile Rigoletto (Anna LiviaFestival), Mr Olsen Street Scene (Opéra de Toulon) andBeethoven’s Choral Symphony (Brighton PhilharmonicOrchestra).

For OHP: Wurm Luisa Miller 2004, Sparafucile Rigoletto2006, Angelotti Tosca at Richmond Theatre 2009

Simon Wilding Horn

Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Wilding became the youngestmember of the Bayreuth opera festival in 1989.

Recent roles include Lt. Ratcliffe Billy Budd (ENO), FasoltDas Rheingold and Hagen Gotterdammerung conductedby Anthony Legge, Alfonso Così fan tutte and Kecal TheBartered Bride on tour in the UK, the Doctor (and otherroles) The Nose on tour (Opera Group), Zaccaria Nabucco(Macedonian National Opera), Zuniga Carmen (RaymondGubbay) and Colline La bohème (Mid Wales Opera).

Future Plans include Zuniga Carmen (Raymond Gubbay &OHP), Bartolo & Antonio Le nozze di Figaro (Mid WalesOpera).

For OHP: Alessio La Sonnambula 2005, High PriestNabucco 2007, Angelotti Tosca 2008, Zuniga Carmen2010

Benedict Nelson Cristiano

Benedict Nelson trained at GSMD under Robert Deangenerously supported by Samling, Countess of MunsterTrust and the MBF. He is currently continuing his studiesat the National Opera Studio.

Ben’s operatic roles include Sid Albert Herring, Marcello Labohème (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 ofWilliam Blake at Aldeburgh Festival and Cover BelcoreL’elisir d’amore for Scottish Opera.

For OHP: Un Barnabotto La Gioconda 2008

Peter Kent A Judge



Niel Joubert A Servant

Niel studied at the RAM with the support of numerousbursaries and scholarships.

Operatic roles include Don Ottavio, Nemorino, Pelléas,Pedrillo, Adolphe Die Opernprobe, Hot Biscuit Slim PaulBunyan, Monostatos and Eisenstein.

Concert appearances include the Houses of Parliament,Auditorio Nacional de Música, Duomo Montepulciano andThéâtre des Champs-Élysées.

For OHP: Messenger Il trovatore 2008, Chorus La Fille durégiment 2008

BiographiesKát’a Kabanová

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For Kát’a KabanováStuart Stratford Conductor

Born in Preston, Stuart Stratford read music at TrinityCollege, Cambridge, and studied conducting at the St.Petersburg Conservatoire.

His opera engagement include Don Giovanni (ENO), AMidsummer Night’s Dream (Opera North), The Turn of theScrew, Falstaff and Pagliacci (English Touring Opera),Tobias and the Angel and Ion (Almeida Opera Festival)Candide (Birmingham Opera Company), for Channel 4 afilm of The Eternity Man in Australia, concerts with theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia,the Manchester Camerata and the Orquestra Nacional.

Stuart’s future plans include a recording of Mercadante’s Inormanni a Parigi for Opera Rara, and the première ofJonathan Dove’s The Swan on Death’s River for OperaNorth.

For OHP: Eugene Onegin 2005, The Queen of Spades –winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award for BestProduction 2006, Jenufa – winner Opera Holland ParkFriends Award for Best Production 2007, Iolanta 2008, Laforza 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), TheMarriage of Figaro (ENO), Rigoletto (Danish NationalOpera), Don Giovanni, Rusalka and The Pied Piper (OperaNorth), The Rake’s Progress, Cherevichki, May Night, Osudand Šárka (Garsington Opera), Roméo et Juliette (BritishYouth Opera) and The Italian Songbook (Linbury). Herrepertory also includes La traviata (ETO), The Turn of theScrew (Brighton Festival), the world premiere of Lunn’sThe Maids (ENO, Lyric Hammersmith), Apollo etHyacinthus (Classical Opera Company). She has createdprojects including Burning Mirrors (ENO Studio) andPleasure Palaces (Lyric Hammersmith). Theatre creditsinclude Yerma, The Madman and the Nun and UlyssesBlooms as well as Woyzeck, Le Malade Imaginaire and theBritish premieres of Washday and The Round Table, in herown translations.

Olivia’s future plans include Rusalka (Opera North), Kát’aKabanová and La traviata (Danish National Opera).

For OHP: Fidelio 2003, Luisa Miller 2004, Macbeth 2005,Jenufa – winner Opera Holland Park Friends Award forBest Production 2007, Pelléas et Mélisande and Fidelio(revival) 2010

Yannis Thavoris Designer

Yannis Thavoris was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. In 1994he graduated in architecture from the AristotleUniversity of Thessaloniki. He was awarded the LilianVoudouris Foundation scholarship in Athens to study atCentral Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design where hewon the 1997 Linbury prize for stage design.

Yannis’ opera designs include The Marriage of Figaro andThe Rake’s Progress (English National Opera), The rape ofLucretia (Aldeburgh Festival, ENO and BBC TV), LaClemenza di Tito (Copenhagen and ENO), Così fan tutteand Madama Butterfly (Scottish Opera), Aida (sets –Welsh National Opera), Candide (Birmingham Opera),Carmen and The Daughter of the Regiment (EnglishTouring Opera), Così fan tutte (Strasbourg), Les contesd’Hoffmann and Opera Seria (Nationale Reisopera,Netherlands), Tchaikovsky’s Oprichnik (Cagliari, Sardinia),The King Goes Forth to France (Guildhall School), A Night atthe Chinese Opera (Royal Academy of Music) and NationalOpera 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, Jenufa – winner Opera Holland ParkFriends Award for Best Production 2007, Tosca – winnerOpera Holland Park Friends Award for Best Production2008, Tosca at Richmond Theatre 2009




For OHP: Eugene Onegin and Andrea Chénier 2005, Cosìfan tutte, The Merry Widow, Rigoletto and The Queen ofSpades 2006, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Lakmé 2007, Iltrovatore and La Fille du régiment 2008, La bohème,Orpheus in the Underworld and Un ballo in maschera 2009


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ArtistsAnne Sophie Duprels Kat’a

Anne Sophie Duprels was born and studied in Paris. Heroperatic roles include Jenufa (Opera New Zealand),Violetta La traviata (New York City Opera), Amanda LeGrand Macabre (San Francisco), Madama Butterfly, Manonand Violetta (Opera North), Manon (Scottish Opera), Thaïsand Rusalka (Grange Park), Marguerite Faust (Opera NewZealand), Salud Vida Breve (Greek National Opera), Mimi(Grange Park, Scottish Opera, RAH), Oksana Tcherevichki(Garsington), Fiordiligi Così fan tutte (Glimmerglass andStrasbourg) and Theresa Benvenuto Cellini (Strasbourg).

Future plans include Malinka‚ Etherea and Kunka TheExcursions of Mr Broucek (Opera North and ScottishOpera) and Mimi (Opera North).

For OHP: Violetta La traviata 2001, Magda La rondine2002, Lucia Lucia di Lammermoor 2003, Luisa Luisa Miller2004, Jenufa Jenufa – winner Opera Holland Park Friendsfor Best Female in a Leading Role 2007, Mélisande Pelléaset Mélisande 2010

Anne Mason Kabanicha

Anne Mason has performed with all the major UK operahouses 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, AnnioLa Clemenza di Tito, Annina Der Rosenkavelier, EnrichettaPuritani, Dorabella Così fan tutte, Marcellina Le nozze diFigaro, Fenena Nabucco, Adalgisa Norma, Sextus LaClemenza di Tito, Mother/Witch Hänsel und Gretel, FrickaDie Walküre, Orlofsky Die Fledermaus, Kostelnicka Jenufa,Azucena Il trovatore, Penelope Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria,Cornelia Giulio Cesare and Agnes Beatrice di Tenda.

Future engagements include Kostelnicka Jenufa(Glydenbourde Touring Opera) and Mrs AlexanderSatyagraha (ENO).

For OHP: Teresa La Sonnambula 2005, Kostelnicka Jenufa2007, Azucena Il trovatore 2008 Geneviève Pelléas etMélisande 2010

Tom Randle Boris

Tom Randle includes among his roles Tamino (ENO, Berlin,Glyndebourne, Hamburg), Don Ottavio (Munich, LosAngeles), title roles in Oedipus Rex, Monteverdi’s Orfeo(Madrid), Hasse’s Solimano (Innsbruck, Berlin), Peter Grimes(Antwerp), Pelléas (ENO, Paris), Essex Gloriana (ROH, OperaNorth), Rakewell (Amsterdam, Lausanne, Paris), Judas TheLast 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 Jenufa (ENO), Molqui The Death of Klinghoffer(Channel 4), Frére Massée St Francois d’Assise (Amsterdam,

Paris) and Nunez in Turnage’s The Country of the Blind(Aldeburgh Festival/QEH).

For OHP: Laca Jenufa – winner Opera Holland Park FriendsAward for Best Male in a Leading Role 2007, FlorestanFidelio 2010

Patricia Orr Vavara

Patricia studied at Glasgow University, the RCM and theNational Opera Studio and continues to study with AnneMason.

Opera credits include Sorceress Dido and Aeneas,Orimeno Erismena (English Touring Opera), EnfantL’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 TisbeLa Cenerentola and Flora La traviata (Scottish Opera) andcover Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (ENO).

Future plans include Second Lady Die Zauberflöte (EnglishTouring Opera).

For OHP: Laura Iolanta 2008

Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts Tichon

Jeffrey read music at Lancaster University beforestudying at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Opera Credits include title role Peter Grimes, AndresWozzeck, Matteo Arabella, Laca Jenufa, Jenik The BarteredBride, Herod Salome (Opera North), Erik Flying Dutchmanand Florestan Fidelio (London Lyric Opera), Max DerFreischütz (Zwingenberg), Don José Carmen, MacduffMacbeth (ETO), Lawyer Punch and Judy (Music TheatreWales), Janek The Makropulos Case (WNO), Peter QuintThe Turn of the Screw, Lenski Eugene Onegin, Yuri TheEnchantress, Nicias Thaïs, Alexei The Gambler, The PrinceRusalka, (Grange Park Opera), Alwa Lulu (ENO), GherardoGianni Schicchi (ROH) and Judas The Last Supper(Glyndebourne).

Future Plans include Gambler at Covent Garden, TheAdventures of Mr Broucek for Opera North and ScottishOpera and Love for Three Oranges for Grange Park Opera.

OHP Début

Andrew Rees Kudrjáš

Andrew Rees trained at the RNCM and at the GSMDbefore joining ENO.

Operatic roles include Alfredo (Mid Wales Opera),Pinkerton (New Zealand), The Lawyer Punch and Judy(Porto), Cavaradossi (CBSO/Oramo), Macduff (COG), BorisKát’a Kabanová (St. Gallen), Sergei Lady Macbeth ofMzensk (St. Gallen and Weimar), Jim Aufstieg und Fall derStadt Mahagonny (Nantes/Angers and Lille),Walther/Hugo/Old Woman Blond Eckbert (Weir, NDRHamburg), Narraboth Salome recording forChandos/Mackerras.


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Andrew created the roles of Ryan When She Died/Death ofa Princess Dove (Channel 4) and Dudley The Cumnor AffairTête a Tête (Cashian).

For OHP: Ismaele Nabucco 2007

Richard Angas Dikoj

Opera credits include Swallow Peter Grimes (Zurich andOpera North), Abbot Curlew River (Trento and Pisa),Sacrestano Tosca, Angelotti Tosca, Great Referee PlayingAway (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 theDead (Strasbourg and Palermo), Julietta (Opera North,Prague, Ravenna), L’enfant et les sortilèges, WaldnerArabella, Water Sprite Rusalka, Basilio Barber (OperaNorth), 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 BBCTV), Sphinx The Second Mrs Kong (Glyndebourne), OlderWoman Flight (Glyndebourne, Adelaide), Mother GooseThe Rake’s Progress (Glyndebourne, Reisopera, ChampsElysees), Mistress Quickly Falstaff (Birmingham Touring,Stanley Hall Opera), Widow Begbick Mahagonny (Nantes,Angers, Lille) as well as productions and concerts inLausanne, Geneva, Nancy, Luxembourg, Berlin, Marseillesand Antwerp amongst others.

Future plans include workshops for Opera Genesis (ROH),cabaret and concert engagements in UK and USA.

For OHP: Burya Jenufa – winner Opera Holland ParkFriends Award for Best Female Supporting Role 2007, LaDuchese de Crakentorp La Fille du régiment and La CiecaLa Gioconda 2008

Nicholas Lester Kuligin

Nicholas Lester studied at Adelaide Conservatorium ofMusic and the National Opera Studio, London.

Roles include Don Alfonso Così fan tutte, Theseus AMidsummer Night’s Dream, Antonio The Marriage ofFigaro, Colonel Calverly Patience, Pirate King The Pirates ofPenzance, Sir Joseph Porter HMS Pinafore, Paris Roméo etJuliette, The Speaker The Magic Flute, Kagler Wiener Blut,Pasha Selim The Seraglio, Leporello Don Giovanni, MarcelloLa bohème, Louis The Wandering Scholar, Fiorello andOfficer 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 andMarcello La bohème.

He has appeared with Glyndebourne Festival Opera,Glyndebourne on Tour, British Youth Opera and EnglishTouring Opera. Future engagements include The ForemanJenufa for Glyndebourne on Tour.

For OHP: Flora’s servant La traviata 2007, Moralès Carmen2010

Emma Carrington Fekluša

Emma Carrington studied at the RNCM and the OperaProgramme at the RAM and was a finalist in the OperaRara bel canto competition 2008.

Operatic roles include Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro withSir Colin Davies, Masha Paradise Moscow, ClorindaTancredi e Clorinda, Monteverdi, (Batignano Festival),Third Lady The Magic Flute, Older Woman Flight (BritishYouth Opera), Mistress Quickly Falstaff (Grange ParkYoung Artists’ Programme and Pimlico Opera). Emmarecently appeared in the 5.15 Programme at ScottishOpera.

Emma has a busy concert diary with broad repertoireincluding Monteverdi’s Vespers, Janácek’s Diary of OneWho Disappeared at the Wigmore Hall and Tippettt’sChild of Our Time at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.She will return to Scottish Opera in the autumn to singthe 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 inVenice (Aldeburgh Festival), Russian Lady Playing Away(Bregenzer Festspiele), Third Lady The Magic Flute, BertheBarber of Seville, Mrs Noye Noye’s Fludde, Mrs Grose Turnof the Screw (New Devon Opera).

Teachers include Paul Hamburger, Ian Comboy, TeresaCahill, and Claire Powell. Carolyn has gained diplomasfrom Guildhall School and the Open University.

For OHP: Chorus The Magic Flute, La Gioconda, Iolanta2008

Peter Kent Muž



Twenty years at Holland Park

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Michael Volpe

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hearsa different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured orfar 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 toindicate that twenty years later I would be writing a piece like this; one of the two peopleinterviewing me for the job had fallen soundly asleep, which the less generous have suggestedhelped 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 andtagging them – in Scotland – and it was the travelling, rather than my droning, that hadtuckered him out. The job back then was to promote the entire Libraries and Arts serviceincluding the mélange of activities at The Holland Park Theatre, the museums and three artgalleries. Those among you who frequented the season through the early nineties will recallthe variegated quality of visiting companies and in my memory resides one gloriouslyambitious 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 clearlya book is necessary to document the many people, events, joys, disasters, pleasures and painthat bleed through those two decades – and I’d never remember them all anyway. Holland Parkhas provided the backdrop for my marriage, my divorce and the birth of my three children; mytwo daughters have operatic names, one is on the cusp of adulthood, the other on thethreshold of teething. My son is named after an Italian footballer. A dozen or so Mayors havebeen to our first nights, two council leaders have worried about us, we have moved businessgroups twice, two recessions have threatened us and several major wars in the Middle Easthave occupied us, with the backwash of one filtering into a production of Fidelio in 2003. Anew theatre has risen to stand astride the entire house and site, our audiences haveblossomed, peacocks have been devoured by foxes and new infuriatingly fertile flocksreintroduced, ensuring that management’s most unwelcome accompaniment to our workcontinues. Desolation (yes, really) has sat alongside exhilaration on nights of gut-wrenchinglows or intoxicating highs, new talent has emerged to replace those whose light has dimmedor 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 decisionsin our history that shine brightly. James Clutton joining as Producer wasn’t a bad moment,

bringing West End edge to the reverential world of opera and an attitude that presentedmiscreants with not one, but two bloody-minded obstacles to negotiate. Our partnership hasbeen more rewarding than I can say. But perhaps the very first critical event was mydetermination in 1997 to produce Mascagni’s Iris, an opera that London had not seen forninety-three years. Having persuaded the Royal Borough to guardedly embark on theenterprise of managing an opera company, I proceeded to drive home the advantage by tryingto convince them that producing an expensive, unknown piece was brilliance personified. I wasmaking hard work of it as I recall, and in truth, I didn’t stand much of a chance. But fortunefavours the brave (or is it the stupid?) and an enlightened (unsuspecting) businessmanpresented himself as an eager potential sponsor. He had something a little more mainstreamin mind of course, but one listen to the CD and he was hooked; Iris took flight and such was itssuccess we gave the production again in 1998, alongside another unknown opera, Cilea’sl’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 firstproposed the idea to a room full of patrons, Carla Withers stepped forward and quicklyassembled a band of helpers to build a charity that today pumps hundreds of thousands intothe OHP pot. I genuinely feel that the Friends are as remarkable an achievement as any we canlay claim to. External help has been forthcoming as well, from The Evening Standardsponsorship that spanned six years, to Cadogan Estates and our current partners Korn/FerryInternational. These and many other companies have allowed me to impinge on their budgetsfor what now totals millions so that we could make immeasurable progress. I have severalenlightened individuals and friends to thank for their progressive thinking and determinationin this regard.

It hasn’t always been plain sailing of course. There have been threats, insecurities and wolves atthe door, individuals and groups who either wanted to see us gone or who thought they knewbetter how to build our future. It felt like a relentless series of battles through the nineties butnobody managed to land a fatal blow. The battles remain ever present – perhaps now they arenot so brutal – but we nevertheless continue to sing for our supper, which is maybe how itshould be? Building and fighting for the life of Opera Holland Park has taken its toll and itmakes great demands, emotionally exploiting all who commit to it; it doesn’t forgive or permitcomplacency and the opera we have created has been the soundtrack to great joys and despairin my own life. Far too frequently it has come first when it shouldn’t have but that’s whatobsession 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 mightotherwise have allowed it to pass them by has persisted. As our capacity has grown (from sixhundred in 1990 to over a thousand now) so have the number of seats we have made availableat cheaper prices. It is a great source of pride that we invite over five thousand people tospend no more than ten pounds on a seat every season with a thousand more getting them forfree. ‘Opera is only for toffs’ they say; not at Holland Park where the ‘toffs’ give generously forthose who can afford little. It still rankles – depresses me even – that many of those whochallenge our validity as a cultural enterprise are those who came from the under-privilegedside of the fence from where many of us in the company emerged. We can but continue totake 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. Daycentres for the elderly, schools, hospitals and even supermarkets have all received operaticvisits in recent times and our exertions in this area grow with every month, as does theclamour for further visits. In time, a new project will emerge, taking this aspect of thecompany to new heights. Whether the audience is an old soldier, primary school child, frazzledshopper or worried patient, the thrill and wonder of the human voice is potent and for afleeting moment, life enhancing. Who said opera was a minority interest?

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It is fair to say that the ideas I first set out for the nascent company in 1996 are still at the coreof what we do; the message has never changed, despite the world around us trying to put usinto one box or another. We have remained stubbornly informal, trying to blend the eleganceof 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 nonsensicalideas often found fertile ground. The risks with our repertoire define us as a company – anyseason without a true rarity is frowned upon – so those who provide for us must find theconfidence to allow the company to do something of real worth and value. I hope in thisregard, 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 theaudience is focused totally upon it so it is something of a miracle that with the myriaddistractions of the park and London airspace, we have succeeded in creating memories thatwill forever live with those who were here to receive them. My own memories of productionspast are rich and vivid, almost countless in number and if truth be told, some merge into thefog of the past. But there is no clouding the recollection of the bright, burning talent of artistswhose job is mind-bogglingly difficult; that first opulent production of Iris, the beguiling vocalmarriage of Nelly Miricioiu with Diana Montague in Norma, the earthy passions of l’arlesianaand Rosalind Plowright’s soaring Mama Rosai, the chilling first sight of the prisoners in OliviaFuchs’s Fidelio that sent shockwaves through the audience, or Sonora’s conciliatory reprieve ofJohnson in La fanciulla del West, words that made me weep on every giving of them and whichpreface the conclusion to Puccini’s greatest musical achievement. More recently I have beenstaggered by the ferocious eroticism and monumental soundscape of L’amore dei Tre Re andthe scintillating revelation in that piece of the sort of performer Amanda Echalaz promises tobe 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 anotherplanet in a duet I find it hard to imagine us topping. Even with these few reminiscences I havebeen 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 havehad love, loathing or both. The steel and fabric of our bravura new canopy and the spaciousnew theatre beneath it are part of the experience but twenty years of that alone wouldn’tcount 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 havecommitted to memory. And they are the very same things that still drive the company. Nomatter how many plans I have or how many dazzling structures and facilities I ask the RoyalBorough to build or how much money I hound them for, regardless of how many rare and crazyoperas 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 thismini-memoir sounds like a goodbye letter, but whilst one never knows the future, and as muchas I like to think I have already achieved here, there is still much to be done and the ambition ofthe company is boundless. Our patrons have grown with us and in the process have helped usto grow, to realise the dreams for which many had nothing but ridicule when I first laid thembare. The Royal Borough has shown resolve and vision to persist but as unorthodox as OHPcontinues to be, as awkward as it may appear to sit among the plethora of life-saving, life-giving, vital services we as a council provide, there is no questioning OHP’s colossal value. And Idon’t suppose I could have hoped for more than that back in 1996.

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By Warwick Thompson

It’s hard to repress a smile when the opening sinfonia to Roberto Devereux strikes up. Theincongruous sound of our dear old national anthem is now more likely to herald the ratherstaid prospect of a royal ribbon-cutting than the spectacle of a queen of England chopping herlover’s head off. This kind of thing is usually the sticking point for people who say that theydon’t like bel canto operas. Maybe it also partly lay behind Wagner’s gibe that that bel cantoaccompaniments all sound like ‘a big guitar.’ But hang on. If you’ve ever burst out withinappropriate laughter while hearing a piece of devastating news, or cried tears of joy, you’llappreciate that emotions can be surprisingly complicated. Maybe Donizetti was ontosomething profound here, even modern. After all, his comedies like L’elisir d’amore and La filledu régiment (both of which have been produced with enormous success at Holland Park) are allthe truer and funnier for their moments of pathos. Could it not be the case that his tragediesare emotionally sharper for their moments of jollity?

I certainly think so. Roberto’s prison/execution aria (Bagnato il sen di lagrime – ‘My breast isbathed in tears’) does not signal a lapse of Donizettian judgement, but a thrilling operatichysteria in the face of death. Or take the astonishing trio in Act 2 (Va, la morte sul capo tipende – ‘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’sbetrayal. Nottingham’s statement (No, l’iniquo non muoia di spada – ‘No, do not let the villaindie 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 afascinating aspect of Nottingham’s personality: his near-psychopathic sadism. He’s singing achipper melody, even while imagining rivers of blood, because he’s enjoying himself. It’s sort ofQuentin Tarantino avant le lettre.

It’s not surprising that Donizetti should mix tears with smiles for, despite his extraordinarylyric instinct for high drama, he himself was a particularly jovial character. In his very earlycareer, he had great reason to be. Born into a poor family in Bergamo in 1797, his life wouldundoubtedly have been one of grubbing drudgery were it not for an extraordinary stroke ofgood luck. The second-rate composer, first-rate teacher, and all-round good egg Johann SimonMayr 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 ofMusic’ to be performed by his students, and based on their characters. The hero, naturally, isDonizetti himself, and Mayr gives us an invaluable insight into how the fourteen year-oldcomposer was then regarded. In the piece, he’s a lively lad, bubbling over with high spirits,comic inventiveness, and not a little buffo pomposity.

Roberto Devereux

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He says at one point:

Vasta ho la mente, rapido l’ingegno,Pronta la fantasia, e nel comporreUn fulmine son io...

That is: ‘My mind is huge, my wit speedy / My fancy ready, and in composition / I’m likelightning...’ – prophetic words indeed about a composer who was to go on to write well over60 operas, sometimes at a rate of four a year.

In his later letters, Donizetti reveals himself as a gregarious and good-humoured man who wastremendously supportive of his fellow composers: a fact which is rare enough in itself, but allthe more remarkable when one considers how cut-throat and competitive the world of Italianopera 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-actcomic 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 thebox office, and were easier to get past the famously twitchy censors. When Donizetti tackledhis first gory and tragic plot in Gabriella di Vergy (1826), an opera in which the heroine ispresented the freshly butchered heart of her lover, he even wrote it as a kind of dry run. Hecomposed it without a commission – a unique occurrence in his working life – and neverexpected to see it staged. (It wasn’t produced until 1869, twenty-one years after his death.) Ina letter of 1828 he expresses his desire to get his teeth into more death scenes; as late as 1835he was still crying out for more passion from his librettists – ‘I want love, without whichoperatic subjects are cold, violent love.’

When he found a writer who could supply him with violent love – a violence he could mix withhis particular talent for happy melodies – the deepest springs of his talent were tapped. Hisfirst indisputable triumph was his thirty-fifth opera Anna Bolena (1830). It was this work whichwon him commissions from all the leading Italian opera houses, and established him as ahousehold name. More importantly, perhaps, it was not until after Anna Bolena that hisbeloved 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 hisrange as a properly tragic composer comparatively late. It was only to be expected then, thathe should bring an emotional palette as varied as possible when writing a work like RobertoDevereux (1837).

His personal circumstances during composition, however, were anything but happy. Hisbeloved wife Virginia, whom he had certainly infected with the undiagnosed venereal diseasefrom which he himself was suffering, died after a particularly painful stillbirth in July 1837: hertwo previous pregnancies had already ended unhappily. On top of this, he was anxiouslywaiting to hear about the promised confirmation of his appointment as Director of the RoyalCollege of Music in Naples, his present home town. The situation was a tense one for him, andin the end dragged on for a further three years. It was not until 1840 that he was eventuallyrejected in favour of a native Neapolitan. As if that weren’t enough, a cholera epidemic wasraging through Naples too. By the end of June 1837, there were more than five hundred newcases 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 avaluable emotional safety valve – a release both for his mourning and the repression of hisnatural exuberance in grief. He threw himself into its composition with furious energy, andproduced a score which immediately established itself on lyric stages all over the world.

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The story is based on the colourful relationship between Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) andRobert Devereux, Second Earl of Essex (1565-1601). In his youth, the proud and dashingDevereux had been one of the queen’s favourites, but after a disastrous campaign to subduean Irish rebellion, he fell out of favour. His pride began to curdle into arrogance, and after afailed 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 onseveral occasions, but Donizetti and his librettist Salvatore Cammarano took as their principalsource the French play Elisabeth d’angleterre by Jacque-Arsène-Francois Ancelot. This versionadds the fictional characters of the Duke of Nottingham and his wife Sara, and exploits thelegend – which, surely, is simply too operatic to be false – that Elizabeth gave Essex a ringwhich 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 Ilcastello di Kenilworth (1829), and Maria Stuarda (1835), as well as the Anna Bolena mentionedabove. Why was Tudor history so popular? Partly the answer lies in the genre itself. Opera hadalways relied on splashy costumes, lavish scenery and naughty nobs in a pickle, and in thissense Tudor England must have seemed like a hundred Christmases come at once for any

jobbing composer. He could assume that theprima donna would appear in elaborate lacesand ringlets. He could be confident that theset would include a brilliant palace and anightmarish prison. He could give the world ahead-chopping king, or a queen torn betweenher cares of state and her feminine instincts.

But this wasn’t all, of course. The Italiancensors who controlled stage works in theearly 1800s were a particularly gloomy bunchof bloodhounds who barked loudly at any hint

of sedition or blasphemy on stage. To show a Catholic king or queen behaving badly wastantamount to treason. But a Protestant king or queen, well, that was another matter. SinceProtestants 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 backthe premiere by several weeks. But after the first night on October 28, 1837 at the Teatro SanCarlo, critics were unanimous in their praise, both for the piece and the performance. ‘Themusic is a collection of exquisite beauties... varied and profound harmony,’ wrote one critic. ‘Aremarkable diversity of expression,’ wrote another.

Soon after the first night, Donizetti decided to continue his career away from the hothouse ofNaples, and move to Paris. One of his first tasks was to revise Roberto Devereux for the Théâtre-Italien, the capital’s second opera company, and for this production in 1838 he added anopening sinfonia and a new Act 1 duet for Elizabetta and Roberto, both of which we will heartonight. 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 theoriginal Italian version.

Donizetti, who could be a dispassionate critic of his own work, was pleased with Roberto. ‘Evenin 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 Naplespremiere. ‘It’s not for me to tell you how it went. I am more modest than a whore, and I shouldblush,’ he wrote with a return of his earthy vivacity in another. As ever, even at a time ofbittersweet 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

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It was in this period of emotionalturmoil that Roberto Devereux was

composed. The opera, commissionedfor the prestigious Teatro San Carlo

in Naples, proved to be a valuableemotional safety valve.

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By Peter Reed

It must have come as something of a relief to the guardians of the flame of 19th centuryGerman opera, as well as to its composer Engelbert Humperdinck, that from its firstperformance in 1893, Hänsel und Gretel proved to be such a huge success. Wagner, who haddied ten years earlier, was an impossible act to follow, as many minor composers discovered totheir cost. Moreover, as the presentation of Wagner’s masterpieces entered a lengthy periodof ossification under the inflexible guidance of his widow Cosima, Italian verismo operas bycomposers such as Leoncavallo, Mascagni and, most potently, Puccini were rushing in to fill thevacuum so abhorred by opera-house box offices. Gods and monsters yielded to the moralvagaries of Manon Lescaut. Of course, Humperdinck’s music didn’t single-handedly deflect theflow of German opera back into comfort-zone conservatism, nor did it attempt to stretch theboundaries of late Romanticism in the way that Schoenberg and, to a lesser extent, RichardStrauss did. Yet in spite of its clearly audible debt to Wagner, Hänsel und Gretel has a stronglydefined 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 ofCologne and Bonn and the Rhine. After a brief and dutiful period studying architecture, heturned to music in 1871. His teachers included the piano virtuoso and pedagogue FerdinandHiller, Joseph Rheinberger (remembered now mostly for his fine church and organ music) andthe composer Franz Lachner, all of them at the centre of the German musical and academicestablishment.

Humperdinck first met Wagner in Naples in 1880 (Wagner was 67, Humperdinck 26), and themeeting led to Wagner inviting him to Bayreuth to help with preparing Parsifal forperformance. As well as copying the score, Humperdinck’s most significant contribution wasto supply a few bars of music (subsequently removed) to cover an unexpectedly lengthy scenechange. The young man became part of Wagner’s ‘court’ until Wagner’s death in 1883; andwhile 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 tothe Wagners’ 20-year-old son Siegfried, briefly playing an important part in the young man’sdevelopment as a composer of fairy-tale operas, and that in 1894 Cosima directed aproduction of Hänsel und Gretel.

Academic posts, editing work for Schott’s publishing house and music criticism show what adynamic, 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 tocomposing operas, incidental music, and a large number of songs and choral works. He wrotemusic for Max Reinhardt’s Shakespeare productions in Berlin, and Reinhardt commissionedHumperdinck to write the music for Das Wunder, described as a ‘Mysterienpantomime’,

Hänsel und Gretel

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performed at Olympia in London at the end of 1911, aspiritual spectacular with a cast of 2,000, a 500-voicechoir and an orchestra of 200 players. In this nun-on-the-run prototype, a novice tests her vocation byexperiencing life’s fleshpots; but when she returns toher convent, a sadder but wiser nun, none of thesisters has missed her because the Virgin Mary tookher place. Alongside the lofty and philosophic idealisminherent in Wagner’s operas, there ran in all the artforms at the turn of the century a pronounced strainof mawkish sentimentality that took the Germanconcept of ‘gemütlich’ to saccharine extremes,involving squadrons of angels, cloying mysticism andflagrantly manipulative and emotional death scenes.Humperdinck knew the German appetite for suchmorbid extravagances, but in Hänsel und Greteltempered the potential for rampant sentimentality –in particular the angel pantomime at the end of Act II– with robust humour and, of course, the beauty andnatural charm of his music.

His later opera Königskinder (to the play of 1897 byErnst Rosmer, the pen name of the playwright ElsaBernstein, who survived the concentration campTheresienstadt and died in 1949) was nearer in spirit tothe symbolist movement, a Maeterlinck-like fairy-taleplay for sophisticated adults. Humperdinck consideredit to be his finest work and the premiere, at theMetropolitan 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. Inspite of that, however, it has not enjoyed anything like the popularity of Hänsel und Gretel – inspite of having two children and a witch in common – possibly because the heavily symbolicplot ends with the Royal Children of the title dying starved and frozen in the snow. In his otherfour operas, he had problems with the librettos and they have never made their way into themainstream repertoire.

The first version of Konigskinder was as a melodrama. Humperdinck had great faith in thevalidity of this genre peculiar to German theatre, in which a dramatic recitation is spoken overa musical accompaniment. It was a device used by many composers, including Beethoven andMozart, and Humperdinck raised it to a new level of expression by notating the pitch of thespeech (Sprechnoten), an innovation that in time became known as Sprechstimme, the weird-sounding half-speech, half-singing Schoenberg would use later to unforgettable effect inGurrelieder and Pierrot Lunaire.

Similarly, the first version of Hänsel und Gretel was a mere four songs with words, based on oneof 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 YoungGoats’). Humperdinck then expanded this into a Singspiel, with 16 songs and pianoaccompaniment, with spoken text; and then early in 1891 he started work on developing itinto the opera as we now know it.

The Grimms’ version of the folk tale, supposedly related to the two brothers by an old Germanpeasant woman, underwent some significant acts of censorship in the course of variouseditions. The original had the mother, with the father’s collusion, deliberately abandoning the

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854 – 1921).

Lebrecht Music & Arts

children to die in the forest. In an attempt tomaintain the cosy ‘Kinder Kuche Kirche’(children, kitchen, church) ethos of hallowedGerman family life as promulgated in the 19th

century, the mother became a stepmother, awicked stepmother familiar to all from thestory of Snow White, for a later edition, andthe father’s active participation in getting ridof the children was considerably reduced. Theversion that Adelheid presented to herbrother for their opera concentrated all the

wickedness into the figure of the cannibalistic witch, with the stepmother reverting to realmother, and both parents benign and protective of the two children, but at the end of theirtethers through hunger and want.

Richard Strauss conducted the 1893 premiere, having described the work as a masterpiece, andHumperdinck’s potent mix of Wagnerian harmony and instantly memorable, almost nursery-rhyme melody, along with some highly effective orchestral passages and an unerring sense oftheatre, never disappoints. Despite the debt to Wagner, Humperdinck’s music never soundslike parody or pale imitation, promising a profound philosophical subtext that is neverdelivered (a fate of many opera composers in thrall to Wagner – think of Chausson and his KingArthur).

Hänsel und Gretel is conventionally put on as a Christmas treat for children, as much as for therollicking grotesqueries of wicked witches being pushed into ovens and gingerbread childrenrestored to life as for its edifying and reassuring celebration of family values and for the factthat it is a fail-safe introduction to opera. Children respond to its boundary-defining realismand sense of justice (however rough), and the magical and spiritual elements have a logic bornout 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 withthe same degree of tact and assurance, it shines a light back onto the half-forgotten needs andimperatives of childhood that never stop clamouring to be understood, although at the sametime it has an inherent grasp of the relationship of child to parent and the dark forest ofexperience that is often closer, say, to a good episode of the cartoon series Family Guy or theimplacable horror of Charles Laughton’s 1955 film The Night of the Hunter than to the blue-remembered, slightly clammy nostalgia of Peter Pan.

Hänsel und Gretel has been going strong for more than a century, and the anxieties about theharm we inflict on children have come on apace from the psychologically implicit to theviolently and physically explicit, to which any number of cases involving child abuse and childpornography bear witness, and the opera has the trampoline-like flexibility to bounce aroundmany contemporary concerns. For example, David Pountney’s 1987 production for EnglishNational 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 motherand witch by the same singer. Richard Jones’s 1998 production for Welsh National Opera had agreat deal to say about the effects of hunger and need. Last year’s Glyndebourne stagingturned hunger into rampant consumerist greed, but rather overdid the slapstick humour in theWitch act. Most recently, the Royal Opera’s more conventional staging was more obviouslychild-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

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Humperdinck’s potent mix ofWagnerian harmony and instantly

memorable, almost nursery-rhymemelody, along with some highly

effective orchestral passages and anunerring sense of theatre, never

disappoints.

By Gavin Plumley

The word Bohemia conjures up a world of misinterpretations. In Shakespeare the country has acoast, in modern Europe it has disappeared in a marriage with Moravia to form the CzechRepublic and in Puccini’s 1896 masterpiece La bohème, Bohemia is the student world of 1840sParis. Whether a real state or simply a state of mind, it has become a watchword forromanticism and a lust for life. For the characters in The Winter’s Tale, Bohemia represents anescape from the political wrangling of the Court of the King of Sicily. At the time Puccini waswriting his tragic vignette, Bohemia proper was a hotbed of intellectual and artistic change,contravening the overbearing Austro-Hungarian rule. Although Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunardand 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. Itis only when Mimi enters Rodolfo’s garret for the second time at the close of the opera thatthe stakes are raised and the mirage of bohemian life becomes truly squalid. At that pointPuccini unleashes all the power of his musico-dramatic skill, thus perfecting one of the mosttelling tragedies in the operatic repertoire.

But who can blame the four men at the heart of this opera? They are part of a much largerfigment of the romantic imagination called Paris. From Victor Hugo’s grandiloquent vision ofmedieval machinations in Notre-Dame de Paris, through Violetta Valéry’s demise in La traviataand finally the chic of Doisneau’s lovers or Jules et Jim, the French capital has become a bastionof starry-eyed posing. Yet against this parade of couples kissing in front of the Châtelet orrailing against the heavens from the rooftops of the city is a much denser socio-politicalmovement. The Paris uprising in 1832, which happened just before Rodolfo and Marcellowalked doe-eyed in through the city’s gates, was in some respects the beginning of this free-thinking anti-monarchist movement, though it too had its roots further back, in the FrenchRevolution of the previous century. In the wake of these insurrections, figures such as CharlesBaudelaire arose. Baudelaire not only managed to write the liberal high-romantic polemic Lesfleurs du Mal, but also to die in a heady concoction of laudanum, opium and alcohol, thusbecoming the true exemplar of the Bohemian lifestyle. Despite his great literaryachievements, it was not Baudelaire who ‘created’ Bohemia in Paris; rather it was down toHenri Murger. Murger’s 1849 play La vie de bohème gave a textbook illustration of that artisticand liberal existence, discovered and mimicked by a whole generation of young Parisians. Inthe aftermath of the toppling of the government in 1848, a bloody civil war and the SecondRepublic, a febrile and troubled period of rule, Paris was filled with youths willing toimpersonate art, which had, to some extent reflected life.

While Murger’s characters proved inspirational to a whole new youth, he never sought to bepolitical or avant-garde. Some directors have depicted Rodolfo, Marcello, Colline and Schaunardas proto-revolutionaries, snorting drugs and burning rioting pamphlets in order to be able toheat their home, yet this seems to miss an essential point. As Jerrold Seigel has explained,

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A Bohemian State ofMind

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‘Murger’s Bohemians did their dance of closeness and distance to bourgeois life to a rhythm ofconstant ambivalence’. In short, this quartet of poet, artist, philosopher and musician, canmore easily be seen as bourgeois boys playing at being poor. Marcello is perhaps the only oneof the quartet actually to be seen at his work. As the opera begins he is found painting areligious canvas “Il passaggio del Mar Rosso” on the subject of the Flight of the Israelites fromPharaoh’s clutches, perhaps indicating that Marcello is under commission, perhaps in thepatronage of the church. Rodolfo may appear the very picture of the struggling poet, watchingthe smoke from the Parisian chimneys climbing up to the sky, yet he is more concerned withthe lack of heat in the garret than getting on with his work. His latest play is a means to an endwhen they burn the manuscript for warmth. Colline arrives in a relatively idealistic mood, butan audience member would question immediately how an amateur philosopher could scrape aliving in 1840s Paris. Schaunard is the only one of the friends to proffer any materialcontribution, yet has he been selling his musical skills to Lord Milord or merely playing withthe aristocrat’s maid? While it would be churlish to view the first act, replete with its

bonhomie and Christmas Eve magic, as atrifle, at no point do the flatmates indicatethat they are hard working artists. As theother three skip off to the Café and Rodolfostays behind to complete his article (whichone doubts he has even started) the moodchanges completely.

While contemplating work, Rodolfo hears a woman, Mimi, coughing on the stairs. Incomparison to Rodolfo’s ardent yet futile promises of building ‘castle in the air’ and living ‘inmy 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 loverslaunch into their first duet. Rather than horsing around with his mates, here our tenor is thepoet serious. Yet it is one of his failings that neither he, nor Mimi are able to maintain suchcommitment. However flawed their relationship, Mimi remains the emotional centre of Labohème. Marcello’s Musetta is, of course, a totally different kind of woman. Bold, brazen and afast worker with Alcindoro, the rich man attracted to her, she is a courtesan in all but name. Itis she who gets the flatmates out of their scrap when paying the bill at the Café Momus, but itis also Musetta who brings Mimi back to the garret when the true frailty of her nature isexposed. She is, perhaps, the mirror image of Mimi: her unabashed waltzing aria ‘Quando men’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 musico-dramatic challenge for Puccini. Likewise, the composer was confronted with a drama in whichRodolfo might seem frivolous one minute, but is convincingly capable of the terrible cries withwhich he greets Mimi’s death. It is no coincidence that La bohème follows Manon Lescaut inPuccini’s career. In his earlier opera, Puccini also had present two very different worldssimultaneously. There he first had to deal with the Manon who is sexual tempter both to hermaster Geronte and to her young student lover Des Grieux, flitting vivaciously from one to theother. Secondly, the libretto called upon the horrendously degraded scene of the Penal Colonyin New Orleans. While geographically more localised, La bohème follows that tragic descentand the four acts of its synopsis very distinct moods. Act one moves from japing around tofull-blooded romance in very quick succession. The second act is a veritable party, while thethird act is its mirror image, frozen in winter and pregnant with hope for the spring. The finalact seems to repeat the first, though this second time Mimi’s appearance brings a muchgloomier prognosis than her and Rodolfo’s first glorious meeting. It is during this final act thatall the larking around ceases and the flatmates’ professions and personalities are reduced tonothing in the face of real tragedy.

Puccini unleashes all the power ofhis musico-dramatic skill, thus

perfecting one of the most tellingtragedies in the operatic repertoire.

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 collaboratorsLuigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa’s part, it is now more readily seen as an example of Puccini’struly ingenious skill as an opera composer. With our return to the Bohemians’ garret, thecomposer launches us into the Allegro vivace theme with which he began the first act. AmongMarcello and Rodolfo’s conversation we can hear strains of the love duet and Musetta’sglorious waltz from act two. Schaunard and Colline return and the mood becomes increasinglysilly, with the flatmates leaping through gavottes, fandangos and quadrilles. This is pureteenage prankishness and it is interrupted by an incredibly brutal change of gear. Musetta’sarrival 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 briefaria concludes with a doom-laden motif that will return in the final bars of the piece. Puccinihas 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 pointin the first act. Constantly referring back to themes from the previous acts, Puccini unfoldsMimi’s final painful hour; the music drips with nostalgia and regret. Once Colline has gone outto sell his coat, we hear strains of the duet, ‘O Soave fanciulla’. But unlike when these tunes areheard 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 haspreceded it. As well as being totally truthful to the mood of the drama, Puccini shows aremarkable development in his characters’ emotions. Rodolfo, the lazy and rather whimsicalpoet of the first act, has become the true operatic tenor, his feelings larger than life when helearns that his lover has died. Being cynical, one feels that Mimi’s horrendous passage willprovide Rodolfo the poet with the inspiration he needs. It is, after all, her entrance and exit inhis life on which Puccini focuses his and our attention; it is her death that sadly makes thisopera the true picture of Bohemian life. Even Musetta, seemingly the most resilient of thecharacters, is irrevocably changed. All pragmatism, her voice throughout the fourth act neverrises above a medium dynamic and no longer scaling the heights of her more outlandishpassages at the Café.

When Puccini was working on this incredible work, his Italian contemporaries had becomeobsessed with naturalistic drama. The verismo tradition in Italian opera, which arose through afascination with gritty slice-of-life realism, became dominant across the continent. What is soremarkable about Puccini’s La bohème, in comparison with his peer Leoncavallo’s opera basedon the same subject, is that it moves far beyond a slavish representation of Murger’s Bohemianworld. As all the flatmates leave behind their joking when confronted by Mimi’s arrival in thefourth act, so to does Puccini’s dramatic style. No longer content to parrot the calls of themilkmaids 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 bohèmeis uniformly rich and detailed, it is in the repetition of gorgeous melodies and simple musicaltouches in the tragic circumstances of Mimi’s final moments that each and every character onstage bursts into three-dimensional life. The posing of the Bohemian movement ends and thethrob of real life bursts over the footlights and grabs the audience by the throat – more realthan anything you will encounter in one of the model examples of verismo. Only the very hard-hearted could afford not to weep.

© Gavin Plumley, 2009

Gavin has written and broadcast widely about twentieth century opera. He has contributed toOpera, Opera Now and The Guardian and writes a blog at entartetemusik.blogspot.com

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By George Hall

Jacques Offenbach is one of the most significant creative figures in the entire history of musicand theatre. That may seem a large claim, but consider this: if Offenbach cannot quite becredited for inventing operetta, it was certainly he who established the genre and gave it aninternational presence. In Vienna, he encouraged and was emulated by Johann Strauss II, whoprovided 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 Straussgrew the entire later tradition of Viennese operetta, while from Gilbert and Sullivan and theirfollowers came the musical comedy and later the American musical. All the musicals playing inthe West End or on Broadway today, and thousands of other pieces of lighter musical theatreperformed 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 fromthe city of Offenbach-am-Main, and in Cologne became known as ‘der Offenbacher’ and laterjust ‘Offenbach’. He pursued a career variously as a bookbinder, musician and cantor in asynagogue. He also encouraged the musicality of his two sons, Julius and Jacob, the younger ofwhom 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 histwo talented boys to Paris, then the centre of the musical world, and auditioned them for thecelebrated Conservatoire. As foreigners, they were not qualified for admittance, but thedirector, Luigi Cherubini, decided to relax the rule on this occasion. Leaving his sons behind atthis 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, composerof the hugely successful grand opera La Juive, meanwhile gaining work as a cellist in variousorchestras and eventually settling into the pit of the Opéra-Comique. Gradually he becameknown as a soloist, launching a career as a virtuoso and in 1844 making the first of his visits toEngland, where he performed with Mendelssohn and Joseph Joachim and played for QueenVictoria and Prince Albert as well as the Tsar at Windsor Castle. He must clearly have been anoutstanding 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 forthe genre to become more serious over the years. The theatre known as the Opéra-Comiquewas its natural home, though the form known as ‘opéra comique’ is not, confusingly, merelythe equivalent of the English term ‘comic opera’; it meant specifically opera with spokendialogue. According to some ancient and arcane laws governing exactly what could or couldnot be performed at the various Parisian theatres, only the Opéra itself was allowed to perform

Offenbach, operettaand Orpheus

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a work sung throughout in French. Dialogue was obligatory at the Opéra-Comique, butlibrettists and composers were continually stretching out towards more serious subjects. ForOffenbach, the result was becoming closer and closer to ‘small grand operas’. He aspiredinstead to cultivate a genre that was purely humorous.

For years he beat on the doors of Parisian theatre managements without managing topersuade any of them to let him in. After several disappointments, he determined to promotehis own works in future. After a concert performance of his one-act L’alcôve in 1847, he stageda handful of similar small pieces in 1853-5, then seized the opportunity of the International

Exhibition held in Paris in 1855 to hire andrenovate a tiny theatre near the Exhibitionsite which he called the Bouffes-Parisiens.

The venue was minute, seating only 50spectators and – by another Parisiantheatrical law – only three performers wereallowed to sing on its stage. But his triple billcontaining 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 bothmanager of and chief composer to the venture, kept up a steady production of new works forthe Bouffes-Parisiens, all in one act and necessarily small-scale. At the end of the year hemoved to a larger theatre, where he was allowed four people on stage. Only when such lawswere 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 ponderingfor years, was the well-known classical legend of the musician Orpheus, who is grief-strickenby the death of his wife Eurydice and is allowed to go down to the Underworld to bring herback to the realm of the living. Unfortunately Halévy, whose day-job was as a civil servant, hadrecently 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 hisposition in the cause of frivolous entertainment. His colleague Hector Crémieux thus did mostof the work, but Offenbach appealed to Halévy to supply some lyrics, which he did oncondition 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-nightreception was mixed, but from the second night the piece began to win admirers. Offenbachand his collaborators were undoubtedly helped a few weeks later by the attitude of animportant critic who had written a negative review. In fact, they seem to have laid a trap forhim, into which he duly fell. Jules Janin was France’s most eminent theatre critic, havingwritten for the influential Journal des Débats for nearly thirty years. He had been much amusedby Offenbach’s previous efforts and had said so in print. But to a high-minded individualsteeped in the world of classical antiquity, Orpheus in the Underworld was a step too far – avulgar profanation of the ancient authors who still provided the ultimate models for France’sacademic literary elite. He loathed and despised it.

Unfortunately, Janin had not noticed that the libretto put into the mouth of Pluto asubstantial speech that was lifted, bodily, from an article he himself had written only sixmonths previously. Once his negative review had appeared, Offenbach wrote a letter to LeFigaro pointing this out. A contretemps ensued in the newspaper columns. The publiccontroversy ensured that Orpheus became a production that everyone simply had to see. Itwas the talk of artistic Paris. It ran for an unprecedented 228 performances and was only takenoff because the cast was too exhausted to continue.

Consider this: if Offenbach cannotquite be credited for inventing

operetta, it was certainly he whoestablished the genre and gave it an

international presence.

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Offenbach now entered upon a decade of glory. He followed Orpheus with another piece basedon classical world, La Belle Hélène (1864), turned to French medieval legends for Geneviève deBrabant (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), andpurloined 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 oftheatrical Europe. The Vienna Court Opera granted him musical respectability bycommissioning his three-act opera Die Rheinnixen in 1864. Even the Opéra-Comique, whichpresumably still thought of him as an orchestral cellist, changed its mind and commissioned

Barkouf (1860), Robinson Crusoe (1867) andVert-Vert (1869) – musically slightly moreambitious than his operettas, yet still stickingto the comic vein in which he specialised.

The crisis of Offenbach’s career came as partof a much greater disaster that engulfed theFrench nation in 1870-1. The Prussian

chancellor Bismarck had long schemed to establish German dominance on the continent ofEurope by toppling the French. By some clever doctoring of a genuine telegram, he succeededin goading Emperor Napoléon III into declaring war on Prussia in July 1870. Within six weeksNapoléon and his entire army were taken prisoner at the battle of Sédan. This catastrophichumiliation resulted in Napoléon being deposed by a Government of National Defence whichhastily reassembled the remainder of France’s troops and endeavoured to fight on. This in turnled to the miseries of the Siege of Paris, which was followed (after the exultant Germans hadleft, taking Alsace and Lorraine with them) by the chaotic revolution of the Commune, whichwas itself brutally quashed by French troops under General Thiers. By then much of Paris lay inruins, 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 hisscapegoat-seeking critics, had not only been relished by Napoléon III and the leading lights ofhis 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 hisfamily 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, inretrospect, proved so controversial, and more of the sentiment that was the other side of hisunique coin. Even with more competition now –from composers like Charles Lecocq, whom hehad earlier helped to launch – he had further significant successes with pieces such asFantasio (1872), Madame Favart (1878) and La Fille du Tambour-Major (1879). Orpheus returnedin 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 projectthat he hoped would affirm his credentials as a composer of serious opera – The Tales of

The public controversy ensured thatOrpheus became a production thateveryone simply had to see. It was

the talk of artistic Paris.

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Hoffmann, which, sadly, he did not live tocomplete. As (largely) orchestrated,rearranged and even rewritten by otherhands, the work became a mainstay of theFrench repertoire following its premiere atthe Opéra-Comique on February 10 1881.Offenbach had died four months previously.He was buried in the cemetery inMontmartre after a service at the Madeleine(he had converted to Catholicism in 1844,shortly before his marriage) with the fullmilitary honours to which he was entitled asa Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

But were Offenbach’s contemporary enemies correct? Were works like Orpheus, La Belle Hélèneand La Vie Parisienne essentially flippant and destructive satires? The answer cannot be asimple one. Offenbach and his collaborators, like W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, were notbent on bringing down a society in which they were keen to play a prominent part and fromwhich they benefited significantly. But they could all see the ridiculous side of things. WhenJupiter is attacked in Orpheus for his constant amatory escapades, frowned on by his wifeJuno, the work’s creators and its first audiences would instantly have thought of Napoléon III’snotorious string of mistresses, so thoroughly disapproved of by the Empress Eugénie. Whenthe inhabitants of Olympus rush in singing a parody of the Marseillaise and threateningrevolution, audiences might have thought of those who wanted to tear down the racketyglitter of the Second Empire and everything it stood for – though it was not these opponentsthat would eventually do so. And everything and everyone in Orpheus finally has to bow beforethe hypocritical morality of Public Opinion.

One of Offenbach’s French biographers, Alain Decaux, defined his position vis-à-vis his ownsociety very neatly: ‘Second Empire society discovered in Offenbach a barometer of its ownsensibilities. Politically stifled, it liberated itself through laughter. Offenbach was thatlaughter.’

Equally pertinently, early audiences, like today’s, might have seen in the reversal of thetraditional Orpheus and Eurydice story – in which, far from being devoted, the two cannotstand each other – or in the carefree libidinousness of most of the operetta’s characters, awider satire on human nature that is not, arguably, such a parody of reality as idealists mightlike to suppose. And all set, in Offenbach’s consistently inventive score, to music of a melodicvitality, rhythmic buoyancy and orchestral elegance that would summon from Rossini anenormous 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 Companionto Music and the Penguin Opera Guide.

Jacques Offenbach – Orfée aux Enfers Caricature showing Plutostranded outside Bouffes Parisiens, while Orpheus marches in withviolin under arm.


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 byKing Gustavus III is in full swing. In spite of his mask, the King is easily recognisable as a resultof the silver Royal Order of the Seraphim star upon his costume and is approached by CaptainJacob Johan Anckarström, along with revolutionary co-conspirators Claes Fredrik Horn andAdolf Ribbing. Anckarström shoots the King at close range, using a pistol loaded with rustynails to ensure that if the initial shot is not fatal, the wound will become gangrenous. The Kingdies thirteen agonising days later of an infection as a result of his injuries. Those interrogatedfor the murder include the famous medium of the time, Ulrica Arfvidsson, who is alleged tohave 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 operabased on Scribe’s libretto Gustave III ou Le Bal Masque, a dramatisation of the events that tookplace in Stockholm some 60 years earlier. Mindful of potential objections from the censorsconcerning the subject matter and following lengthy battles over previous operas, Verdisubmits a prose synopsis of his version of the libretto written by Antonio Somma at the end ofthe year, expecting to have to make some minor changes to the location and specificcharacter references. Yet this is a period of great political unrest and the censors react farstronger than Verdi anticipates. One of the King of Naples’ own soldiers had recentlyattempted to attack the King with his musket during a military review at Naples, and inJanuary 1858, a bomb is thrown under the carriage of Napoleon III on his way to the ParisOpéra, putting the nerves of the authorities in Bourbon-ruled Naples on edge. In a letter toSomma in February 1858, Verdi writes:

‘I am drowning in a sea of troubles. It’s almost certain the censors will forbid our libretto... Theybegan by objecting to certain phrases and words, and then entire scenes and finally the wholesubject… So the subscribers won’t pay the last two instalments, so the government willwithdraw the subsidy, so the directors will sue everyone, and already threaten me withdamages of 50,000 ducats. What hell!’

Changes demanded by the censors include omitting the ball altogether from the piece, makingthe murder take place off stage, and transforming Amelia from Ankarström’s wife into hissister so as to avoid all references to adultery. What hell indeed.

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‘Viva Verdi’: Sense andCensorship in Verdi’sUn ballo in maschera

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‘Arm yourself with courage and patience’

Eager to salvage the situation, the San Carlo management prepare an amended version of thelibretto 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. Followingthreats of legal action from the theatre, an agreement is eventually reached between thecomposer and the management where Verdi is given permission to offer his controversialwork to another theatre if he then returns to Naples later that year to produce SimonBoccanegra, which is yet to be staged in that city. Verdi immediately offers the opera to theTeatro Apollo in Rome, where the Papal censor accepts the libretto but on condition somealterations are made to the text and the piece is set in a non-European location. Verdi breaksthe news to Somma:

‘Arm yourself with courage and patience… the censor has sent a list of all the lines hedisapproves of. If on reading this, you feel a rush of blood to the head, lay it down and try itagain after you have eaten and slept well… The lines and expressions deleted by the censor arenumerous, but it could have been worse.’

Verdi and Somma move the setting to Boston at the time of the American War ofIndependence, the King is downgraded to a colonial governor of Massachusetts and the title ofthe piece is finalised: Un ballo in maschera. The two work tirelessly on the libretto over thecoming 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 twoarduous 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 thecensors. It is at this performance that Verdi’s name becomes synonymous not just with abattle 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. Hispopularity as a composer had grown to the extent that operas such as Rigoletto, Il trovatoreand La traviata had become part of the core repertory in opera houses internationally. At thesame 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 thepolitical situation of the moment, providing an insight into his political persuasions. TakeSimon Boccanegra, for example – an opera based on the 14th century Doge of Genoa, whosevision had been the unification of Italy. The reverse is also true – following the defeat of theItalian uprisings of 1848-1849, Verdi became disheartened by the political situation in hiscountry, and in his work he turned away from the more overtly political subjects of operassuch as La battaglia di Legnano, choosing to favour the intimate, domestic settings of operassuch as Luisa Miller and La traviata. Un ballo in maschera, with its topical (and highlycontroversial) subject matter is a perfect example of a work borne of its time. It is perhaps forthis reason that Verdi so strongly desired for the piece to be staged, and why he persisted soresolutely with it in spite of the discouraging number of setbacks he suffered. It is also perhapsthe reason that the Italian nationalists adopted Verdi as a national figure during theRisorgimento. His name was used for a period as an acronym that represented Italiannationalistic aspirations: ‘Viva VERDI’ (‘Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia’ – Vittorio Emanuele IIwould become king of a united Italy in 1861), a slogan that is reported to have been shoutedfor the first time at the premiere of Un ballo in maschera, and also appeared as graffiti on wallsacross the country, on banners and in defiance against the Austrians in Northern Italy.

Verdi was keen to encourage associations with thenationalists and had already identified himself as astrong supporter of the Risorgimento as far back as1847. At this time, he had met Giuseppe Mazzini,Italian nationalist and patriot and a driving forcebehind the Risorgimento. Verdi demonstrated hisallegiance to the liberal uprisings and revolutions inMilan of 1848 by rushing back to Italy from Paris. Hewrote to librettist Francesco Piave on the subject:‘Honour to these heroes! Honour to all Italy, whichin this moment is truly great! The hour of liberationhas sounded… There must be only one musicwelcome to Italian ears in 1848. The music of thecannon!’ At the request of Mazzini, he evencomposed a patriotic anthem, Inno popolare, inDecember 1848. Mazzini intended this anthem for a

chorus of unaccompanied male voices to be used as a national battle hymn for Italy, but Italianpatriotic 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 workdid Verdi produce? It is perhaps unsurprising given this context that writer GabrieleD’Annunzio later describes Un ballo in maschera as ‘the most operatic of operas’. It is also awork that contains a skilful balance of comic and tragic elements and a bold spectrum ofmusical aspects that demonstrates a fusion of techniques. Verdi was not only bold with hischoice of subject matter, but also with his musical approach. As Italy was undergoingrevolutionary reform, so too was Verdi’s music: the traditional, grander forms of his earlierworks 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 musicfor dramatic impact. Take the comic music of Oscar the page and Riccardo’s laughing aria, ‘Èscherzo 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 themore intense moments in the piece such as the Act II love duet between Amelia, whose musicis primarily Italianate in nature, and Riccardo, who sings in a number of styles and movesseamlessly between worlds. Even within this duet there is great variety as the mood switchesbetween graceful lyricism and overwhelming passion as Riccardo convinces Amelia that theirlove is more important than her reputation. Again, music is used to heighten the dramatictension in a similar method towards the end of the opera when Oscar brings Riccardo Amelia’snote warning him that an attempt will be made on his life that night at the ball. The courtlymusic from the ball that filters in from offstage is eventually overwhelmed by Riccardo’s lovetheme 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 therestrictions of the past and the unification of approaches. Within Verdi’s music, this isdemonstrated by the merging of a formal style typical of his earlier works with a more subtleand concise approach; outside of his music, by the unification of Italy and liberation fromforeign oppression through the Risorgimento. What better way to surmise Verdi’s outlook thanwith the words of the man himself: ‘I am a Liberal to the utmost degree without being a Red. Irespect the liberty of others and I demand respect for my own.’

Katharine Camiller is Associate Producer for Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park

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Sketch produced in facsimile in C. Gatti , Verdi nelleimmagini, Milan, Garzanti, 1941


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By Robert Thicknesse

Think of Russia in the 19th century and your images will no doubt be of polite society doing itsbest to be French (to the extent where that’s often the language they speak), a countrystruggling to be European, of people who spend their time in a grand urban social whirl or incountry houses in various states of genteel decay where the languid atmosphere conduces tolengthy 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 Russiansthemselves 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 thebackground: the urban nightmares of Nikolai Gogol’s hallucinatory stories, the apocalypticvisions of Dostoyevski, the historical horrors documented by Musorgsky: a stranger, scarierand rather more complicated hinterland that civilised Russia is always trying to forget orrationalise, 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: old-fashioned, feudal, governed by superstition and immemorial custom and ruled by a particularbreed of uneducated, violent despots from what was known as the merchant class, who soterrorise 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 andhimself shaved off a good number of their old-testament beards. But the merchants stillstrolled around 19th century Moscow in oriental dressing-gowns and extravagant facial hair,

often held to the unreformed Orthodox faith,tended to xenophobia and that ratherundefined Russian sense of mission, and theirmanual was a 16th century household-management book called Domostroi, which isnot precisely Mrs Beeton: one of its snippetsadvises husbands to beat their wivesregularly, but not so severely as to makethem go blind. (This may be why Russianwomen embarked on their campaign to growbigger and stronger than their men).

Ostrovsky came across this money-grubbing gang when he was working as a clerk in theMoscow Commercial Court; his early play, The Bankrupt, was about the kind of people he sawcoming and going in the Court (and the neighbouring debtors’ prison, the source of much ofthe Court’s business). He wrote it in 1850 and it was banned from the stage by the censor, who

Kát’a Kabanová

Janácek writes “The chief characteris a woman with a gentle nature.She disappears when you simply

think of her; a breeze would wafther away – let alone the storm

which bursts upon her.”

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said of it: “All the characters in the playare first-rate villains. The dialogue isfilthy. The entire play is an insult to theRussian merchant class.” But Ostrovskymanaged to get it published and it wasa great success; as a result he lost hisjob and was placed under policesurveillance (itself not an uncommonfate for a Russian writer). All rathercounter-productive, you might think:now he had to become a full-timewriter simply to stay alive.

Ostrovsky went on to write 48 playsand was instrumental in the foundationof the Maly (“Small”) Theatre – astone’s throw from the Bolshoi – wherea statue of him still stands, and indeedof the realistic tradition in Russiantheatre. The repressive Tsar Nicholas Idied in 1856 and was succeeded by sonAlexander II, a reforming figure wholater freed the serfs, and who lifted theban on Ostrovsky’s works beingperformed. Under the new regimeOstrovsky was one of several eminentpeople sent out, as a prelude toAlexander’s reforms, to report on thestate of the country in various remoteregions; the one he got was the upperVolga, and one of the plays whichresulted from his travels was TheThunderstorm (Groza), the source ofJanácek’s opera Kát’a Kabanová.

Out in the country Ostrovsky found the merchants thriving and, in fact, running the show. Butthe portrait he painted in Groza is not wholly gloomy: the traditions of Russian autocracymight flow as unstoppably as the Volga, but there are stirrings of change: people arediscussing politics and society and the possibility of revolt is in the air. Still, Ostrovsky haslittle 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 livesof everyone around them. They terrorise their offspring, nurture religious maniacs who set themoral tone of the place, imprison Kát’a in the house, where this child of nature pines away (thisis the usual fate of young married women among the merchants – Domostroi favours a prettycomprehensive immuring). Perhaps the censor who saw Kabanicha as a veiled portrait ofNicholas I was not far off the mark.

It is Kát’a herself, managing to preserve her radiant nature in the face of this appallingsubjugation, who best represents hope in the play. The Russian critic Dobrolyubov, who hadearlier written about Ostrovsky’s world as “the Dark Kingdom”, called Kát’a “a ray of light in thedarkness”. At first sight it’s hard to find much that is hopeful in her story, which essentiallysees 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.

Costume Design for 'The Thunderstorm' (oil on canvas) by Kustodiev,Boris Mikhailovich (1878-1927)

Private Collection/ RIA Novosti/ The Bridgeman Art LibraryNationality / copyright status: Russian / out of copyright

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“Simply from a human point of view we rejoice in Katerina’s release, even through death, sinceno other way is possible. What a breath of fresh new life comes to us from a personality withthe strength and resolution to escape from that despicable life at any cost…” wroteDobrolyubov – indeed a very Slavic form of modified rapture. But the way Tichon turns on hismother at the end, accusing her of murdering Kát’a, is the first sign of a rebellion that (thisbeing Russia) might lead anywhere.

As, indeed, had become abundantly clear by the time Janácek came to write his opera based onthe play. In 1919, aged 65, the composer was embarking on the last decade of his life, aremarkable explosion of creation that produced Kát’a, The Cunning Little Vixen, TheMakropoulos Case and From the House of the Dead. Since completing Jenufa in 1904 he hadwritten only two other operas, both interesting but very rarely performed, Fate and MrBroucek’s Excursion.

The unlikely muse behind his final ten-year burst of energy was Kamila Stösslová, 40 years thecomposer’s junior, the faithful wife of an antiques dealer, “undereducated, not terriblyattractive, rather large, and hardly with the intellect to satisfy someone as astute as Janácek”,is one upbeat description of her (by musicologist Diane Page – thanks, sister). Their affair wassexually chaste (not that Janácek wanted it that way) but produced 700 letters as well asJanácek’s creative impetus, and Kamila was with the composer when he died in 1928. And itwas certainly Kamila’s idealised image Janácek had before him when writing Kát’a: “I alwaysplaced your likeness on Kát’a Kabanová when I was writing the opera. Her love went a differentway, but nevertheless it was a great, beautiful love!” he wrote. There seems to be plenty ofwish-fulfilment in Janácek’s opera. But more to the point, perhaps, is what he did toOstrovsky’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, thatJanácek was a great lover of Russian literature, and indeed altogether a Russophile (areasonably common attitude in the smaller Slavic countries, who often looked on the place asa kind of benign big brother, an attitude many later came to regret). And the world in 1919 wasan entirely surprising place: Janácek was now living in the republic of Czechoslovakia, newlyliberated from Austro-Hungarian rule, and the whole world was watching in fascination (andwith liberal doses of horror on the part of the old monarchies) to see what would happen nextin the two-year-old Soviet Union. It is hardly fanciful to see Janácek’s Kát’a in the light of thesehistorical events: it is an obvious fact, if often overlooked, that operas reflect the time in whichthey are written; the spirit of revolt is in the air, and Kát’a is in some sense an embodiment ofthem.

Then again, Janácek’s Kát’a is a lot more delicate than her Russian sister, who is allowed apassionate outburst of social criticism in Ostrovsky’s play which Janácek cuts. The composerwrote to Kamila: “The chief character is a woman with a gentle nature. She disappears whenyou simply think of her; a breeze would waft her away – let alone the storm which bursts uponher.” And again, he describes Kát’a as: “… of such a soft nature that I’m frightened that if thesun 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 prettymuch the first passing stranger and – perhaps less surprising – be driven to madness, publicconfession and suicide as a result. Compare this to the fate of her friend and step-sister-in-lawVarvara: it’s easier for her, since she isn’t married, but the sunny simplicity of her affair withKudrjáš, and their elopement to Moscow, does at least suggest there is another way.

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But not for Kát’a. In many ways she is astandard moral product of the merchantcaste, indeed the most conventionally moralperson in the play and opera. More to thepoint she is emotionally extravagant –indeed entirely composed of emotion, adangerous thing, as everyone knows. Tichon– weak, drunk, cowed by his mother – fails inevery way to match up to her idea of what ahusband should be, unable even to beat her

often or tenderly enough to convince her of his devotion. Boris, who has so capriciouslydecided he’s in love with Kát’a, must be quite surprised to find his advances so enthusiasticallyreciprocated. Kát’a’s act of infidelity is really an impulse of despair, expressed in a sexual andtherefore sinful way. By her own standards she is a great sinner: adulteress and suicide. Theamazing thing about the opera is that it manages to present both transgressions in amysteriously positive way. In this connection you might note that the Russian words for“crime” (prestuplenie) and “transcendence” (perestuplenie), are, for historical and perhaps alsopsychological reasons, virtually identical.

This is, perhaps, a matter of opinion and interpretation. There have been many ideas aboutwhat symbols stand for in Kát’a, most importantly the Volga itself. Is it the inexorable tide ofRussian oppression, or the resistance to it? The implacable force of fate, or a polytheisticcelebration of the oneness of nature? Symbolism isn’t a precise science, thank God, so we areleft to ponder Janácek’s music and how it treats its subject – but this is equally hard to pindown. Janácek was a composer sui generis, who followed no school and who probably didn’t seethe operas which are said to have influenced him most, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande andMusorgsky’s Boris Godunov. Kát’a was written in the same year as Alban Berg’s modernistmasterpiece Wozzeck and manages to be lyrical and swooningly romantic in comparisonwithout seeming remotely old-fashioned. Janácek’s technique of building his works out ofsmall 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 arefeelings, things understood, forces that cannot be put into words (which is what music existsfor). The foreboding eight-note timpani theme that occurs first in the prelude comes rightback as a jaunty sleigh-bell number – and also returns at the end as Kabanicha crows in gleeover Kát’a’s body. The Volga “sings” to Kát’a in a typical Janácek melody, but what do the voicesmean?

The opera won’t give you an answer. A conductor and director might try to, but the wonder ofJanácek’s opera is really that it takes the heroine out of a realistic play and turns her intosomething else: a symbol herself, who despite her fate is a representation of the possibilitiesof being human – as well as an operatic figure with the pathos of a Butterfly, the unfetteredspirit of Carmen, the fate of Dido, the loneliness of Verdi’s Trovatore Leonora, the otherness ofMélisande. It’s a lot to ask of a singer. But there’s nobody on the British stage who is likely todo it better than Holland Park’s incomparable Anne-Sophie Duprels, and by any reckoning herdebut in the role promises to be one of the highlights of the entire opera calendar

Robert Thicknesse is a freelance writer and opera critic.

By her own standards Kat’a is agreat sinner: adulteress and suicide.The amazing thing about the operais that it manages to present both

transgressions in a mysteriouslypositive way.

Holland Park: Opera, Wildlife Habitats and the Ecology Service

It is easy to walk into Holland Park, on theway to the opera, and miss so much of theecological wonders that exist here. OperaHolland Park strives to be as integrated with our immediate environment as we can be andwould encourage our patrons to explore and discover the living nooks and crannies of what isone of the country’s best urban parks. Saskie Lovell, The Royal Borough’s Ecology ServiceManager, explains the extensive work that she and her colleagues are carrying out as part ofthe new and ongoing Biodiversity Action Plan.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is the most densely populated area in thecountry and has some of the busiest roads in London traversing it. It may therefore besurprising to learn that the Borough has a diverse range of green spaces from the famousHolland 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 openspaces that meet the needs of the local community, provide freedom for leisure andrelaxation, preserve cultural heritage provide and provide habitats and space for wildlife. Byworking 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 equityof biological resources and we therefore need to ensure biodiversity is an integral part of theurban environment – both in the present and the future.

The theatre in which you are sitting may seem, with its steel and fabric tobe an incongruous element in the park, but its existence in this space is anexample of what urban parks in London have been so good at historically.Today, we seek to incorporate the aims of our biodiversity planning intoevery aspect of park life so, for the opera, we have introduced some ideaswhich bring it further into the strategy. In order to create habitats forbiodiversity within the opera site, we have placed invertebrate hotels inthe large flowerpots. These invertebrate hotels will attract a variety ofinsects such as ladybirds, lacewings, Mason bees and other non-aggressivesolitary bees, which are helpful for pollination. Once the opera season isover these hotels will be moved and fixed elsewhere in the park, where theinvertebrate hotel will provide a suitable habitat for over-winteringladybirds and lacewings.

However, one must look beyond the opera site to observe the areas thatprovide the best opportunities for wildlife. Holland Park is a Site of Nature ConservationImportance, 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

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Invertebrate hotel

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for inner London, the park includes approximately 20 acres of woodland. We manage theseenclosures with ecology in mind, and provide suitable habitats for a variety of species. Thewater features within the park, including two well-planted wildlife ponds contained by thewildlife enclosure support common toads, common frogs and smooth newts and providehabitats 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 specieshave been recorded in the park since 1964 and the breeding bird survey carried out in 2006identified 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 withinHolland Park; a year round bird-feeding scheme isin place, and fifty four new nest boxes wereerected around the park at the beginning of thenesting season. Nest boxes are excellentsubstitutes for the holes found in old trees and arecrucial because though many parks and gardensmay have plenty of food for small birds, they havelimited sites for hole-nesting birds to nest.

Invertebrates are also important features and arecrucial to ecosystem functioning. Invertebratesare responsible for pollination and assist in thebreakdown of organic materials. One hundred andtwelve moth species have been recorded inHolland Park of which several are very rare speciesassociated with the fungi living on dead anddecaying wood. Twenty-one butterfly species have also been identified, including uncommonspecies such as the purple hairstreak and white letter hairstreak. In order to encourage avariety of woodland species, wood is left to decay in the woodland enclosures, providingessential 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 meadowthat historically covered this area. This will be a gradual process but once re-established, thewildflowers will provide an excellent resource for biodiversity that will attract birds, butterfliesand other interesting species.

The Ecology Centre:

The Holland Park Ecology Centre (located adjacent to the Opera Holland Park box office) is akey resource for local schools and youth groups to study the natural environment. Field studytrips and taught workshops are offered throughout the year and we operate a scheme ofoutdoor and creative activities for five to ten year olds in the spring, summer and half-termholidays. In addition, we offer a junior ecology club for local children aged 8–14, the HollandPark Wildlife Club.

Holland Park Ecology Centre also hosts an ongoing programme of informative talks, guidedwalks, 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 oflive 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

Burnet Moth visiting wildflowers

Out and about with kites

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In the year since we all last met at Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park the world has altereddramatically in so many ways and most of us have watched in awe as the global landscape haschanged. Not only has there been a global economic downturn, with once iconic names in thebanking sector disappearing into obscurity, but we have seen the first black president of theUnited States voted in, China showed the world its might by hosting the most extravagantOlympics ever, the French president married a supermodel just weeks after meeting her andLewis Hamilton became the youngest ever world F1 motor racing champion.

The extraordinary thing about every year is that records are broken, dreams created andshattered and new chapters opened and closed, much as in the operas that are beingperformed this season in the wonderful central London location of Holland Park. It is alsoappropriate that Korn/Ferry is again supporting what is undoubtedly “The People’s” opera in ayear when the excesses of previous years dim into the distant past. More than ever we atKorn/Ferry have to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of global business to reflect ourclients’ need for a different kind of talent and workforce in these difficult and challengingtimes.

Many of the businesses that Korn/Ferry works for are looking for different qualities and boardsand management teams that have a totally different make up and dynamic to that of even ayear ago. Being able to adapt rapidly and to understand and deliver in the swiftly changingenvironment is what sets Korn/Ferry apart.

More than ever what Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park offers the local community and Londonersalike is the opportunity to experience world class opera at a reasonable price in a simple yetmagical setting. The choice of this year’s operas is even more indicative of the times we live inand 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 thinkthat the diverse selection of operas this season is reflective of the multicultural world we livein today. The composers, conductors, directors, designers and singers bringing you this seasoncome from around the globe, just as the individuals we are identifying and placing in new roleson a daily basis. Above all what is great about Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park is that withlimited funds operas are produced that appeal to everyone and break the stigma thatattending 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 mostimportant roles that it can play in nurturing businesses into becoming global players. Morethan ever identifying true talent is absolutely key to the future of business and in many casesover the next few years their survival. As always we are delighted to be supporting thisoutstanding event at a time when more than ever to be able to have an affordable enjoyableevening is increasingly becoming a rarity.

Working in Partnership

BenefactorsThe Lord PhillimoreTrustees of the Phillimore

Kensington EstateAssociated NewspapersMichael LewisThe Worshipful Company

of GrocersJack & Grete Goldhill

FounderAmbassadorsMr & Mrs Anwar Al QatamiDavid ColverColin FletcherDavid & Connie FreemanJack & Grete GoldhillWilliam Gronow DavisMartin & Wendy KramerEdward Ocampo & Lisa

EricksonMr & Mrs Michael ParkerPosgate Charitable TrustMiss Grace RimmerMichael & Jill SalmonVictor & Bernice SandelsonMrs Peter SykesEileen J TaylorAntony & Carla Withers

AmbassadorsSimon A AldridgeMr Jose Miguel AlvarezMr Jose Alvarez-StellingMr & Mrs Jeremy AmosCaroline AmroliaMr & Mrs Christopher BakeMr Philip BowmanMrs Nigel BromageMark & Rosemary CarawanMrs Angela CharatanMr Gino Frank ChiappettaMrs Christine CollinsMalcolm & Katharine

ColquhounJoan ConstantinidiMr & Mrs Andrew CormackJohn & Jennifer CromptonJonathan & Belinda DavieH DoddPat & Linda FarrellTony FathersNicholas & Jane FergusonRichard FernyhoughMrs John FowlerMichael & Jackie GeeHelene GrossJohn & Clare GrumbarMr & Mrs R HarbourMr Blaise HardmanJocelin & Cherry HarrisCatherine HarrissonJohn HendersonMr & Mrs John HeywoodChristopher & Jo

Holdsworth HuntDenzil & Kate HowJohn & Rowena JacksonRichard & Angela LascellesGeorge & Anne LawM J LeeGeoff & Linda Lewis

Paddy & Sue LinakerStuart Lyons CBEDavid MasonMrs Elizabeth McManusHenry & Fiona McWattersMr & Mrs S MetcalfMs V A MetterMr & Mrs Alan MorganMs Mairead MurphySherif & Dounia NadarJulian & Joan NicholsSean & Lucy PatersonAndrew & Cindy PeckMr Derek PowerNeil & Julie RecordLady RipleyMr Chris RokosGraham & Jean Ross

RussellIan G SalterRichard & Ginny SalterDr Lewis SevittDaniel SigaudLaurence SpiersAnthony & Helen SpiroSarah StingelinJonathan & Thalia StoneMrs Carolyn TownsendJudith TrebleMrs Kenneth Vere NicollMrs Nicholas VereyLady WinningtonMr J W Woloniecki

FriendsMr Monty AaronbergMs E AaviksaarMrs Flora AbadjianDr Shirley AbellMr Neville AbrahamMrs Debbie AbrahamsMrs Muriel AbtSusannah AclandMiss Sarah AddenbrookeMrs Elizabeth Jane AghaRowland AgiusDr L AhrellSir Richard & Lady AikensMr Gavin AilesMr Grahame AingeDr Fiona AitkenMr Nader AlaghbandMrs Celia AldridgeMr Ralph AldwinckleMrs Jackie AlexanderMr Campbell AllanMr Richard AllanMr Stephen AllcockMrs Hermione AllenMs Christine Allen-LairdMr Andrew AllnerMr Abdullah Al-SaudMr Roger AmeyMr Philip AmphlettMr Folmer AmtoftMrs Josephine AndersMrs Carole AndersonMr Mark AndersonMr Ross AndersonMr & Mrs Chris AndrewMr Brian AndrewsMr Geoffrey Andrews

Mrs Linda AndrewsMr Richard AndrewsMrs Eleanor AngelMr William AnsellHis Hon Judge Anthony

AnsellMr Dennis AnthonyDr Gordon AppelbeMr Dickie ArbiterMrs Jacqueline ArdemanChristopher ArgentMrs Sally ArnoldMrs Gill ArnoldMr & Mrs Christopher

ArratoonMrs Ruth ArtmonskyMrs W A AshdownMrs Roslyn AshtonMs Rosemary AstlesMr Anders AstromMrs Eithne AtashrooSir Harold AtcherleyMr Robert AtkinsonMrs Ino AtkinsonAlice AtkinsonMrs Gioia J AttieMr Cyril AuerbachMr Guy AustinDr Julian AxeProf John AxfordMr Joseph AyalaMrs Milly AyliffeMr George BabbingtonMr William BaddeleyMr Simon BaddeleyMr N BaggeMr James BaggeMr John BagwellMrs Lesley BaileyMr Richard BaileyMr Christopher BairdMrs Verona BakerMrs Yvonne BakerMr & Mrs Norman BakerMrs Kamal BakhshiDr Nigel BalcombeMr Tony BaldryMr John BalfourMr Patrick BalfourMs Jennie BallMr Edward BanisterMrs Josephine BankesTom Banks & Patty TaylorMrs Caroline BanszkyMiss Janine BarberMrs Glenda BarberMrs Diana BarbourMr Philip Jeremy BardMr Nevil BarkerMrs Anne BarnardMiss Cecile BarnettMr Brian BarnettMrs Fiona BarrettMiss Beth Barrington

HaynesMrs Elaine BarsottiMrs Barbara BartlettMr Richard BaruchMr J W H BasingDr Neville BassPaul & Janet BatchelorMr Joseph Bate

Miss Susan BatesMr Paul BatesMr Robert BatyThierry & Isabelle BaudonProf Michael BaumMr Richard BawdenMiss Elizabeth BaxterMr Hugh BayneMrs Carol BeagelmanMr Patrick BealMr Nigel BealeDavid BeanMs Tina BeattieMr Simon BeccleMr Chris BechtleMr A S BehrmanMr Atle BekkenMr Peter BelchamberMs Louisa BellMr Christopher BellamyMr Christopher BellewMr Stefan BenedettiMr John BenjaminMrs Sally BenjaminMr Alan BenjaminMrs Elizabeth BennettMrs Lesley BennettDr Peter BennettMrs Jean Margaret BennettMs Felicity BensonMrs Sheila BensonMr Howard BergMrs Josephine BergbaumMr Laurent BernardMiss Patricia BernaysMr & Mrs A BernhardMrs Veronica BerningMrs Ruth BernsteinMr Adrian Berrill-CoxProf Michael BesserMrs Victoria BeverleyMr David BewersMrs Louise BicknellDr Roger BilboulMr Andrew BindingMr Denis BirkettMrs Louise BlackMr Michael BlackMr Terence BlackburnMrs Patricia BlackburnMrs Chloe BlackburnMrs Z Sandra BlackmanMs Sandy BlakeMr Gary BlakerMr Graham BleakleyMs Sonia BlechProf & Mrs Philip BloomMrs Joyce Blow DarlingtonMr Robert BoasCarrie BoerickeMr Harvey BogardMiss Maria BogomolovaMs Nitya BolamMrs Elaine BollinghausMrs Anne BondMrs Sheila BoothMr Daniel BorinMiss Lucia BoswellMr Charles BottMiss Patricia BottomleyMr Richard BotwoodMrs Sarah BouetMr John BoulterMr Bernard BourkeMr Michael BousfieldMr Julian BowerMiss Penelope BowerMrs Kate BowesMiss Hilary BowmanMr Geoffrey Ian BowmanMr Daniel BoxserDr Malcolm BoyceMrs Isabel BoyerMr Geoff Boyes

Mrs Catherine BoylanMrs Carolyn BoyleMr Mario BozicevichMr Rodney BrackMrs Alessandra

BrackenburyDr Shirley BradbrookeMrs Francelle BradfordMr Clive BradleyMrs Claire BradleyMr & Mrs R E BradleyMs Sophie BraimbridgeMr Roger BrambleMr & Mrs Andrew BrannonMrs G M BrassMs Susan BrayMr Ivor BreckerMrs Jennifer BrehonyMiss Rosemarie

BreitensteinMrs Sandra BrendlorDr David BriggsMrs Shirley BrihiMr Richard BristowSir Samuel BrittanMr Simon BroadbentMrs Penny BroadhurstMr Robin BroadleyMr Michael BrodMr Owen BrollyMr Anthony BrookeMr Stanley BrooksMrs Dorothy BrooksMr Robert BrooksMaggie BrooksMr Richard BroomanMr Edwin BrownMr Peter BrownMr & Mrs Leonard BrownProf Edwina BrownMorris BrownMr Geoffrey BrownMr Jeremy BrownLouisa BrownMr Stuart BrownMrs Anne BruhMs Jenny BryantMrs Elizabeth BuchananMr Peter BucherMrs Joan BuckenhamMrs Anne BuckensCllr Christopher

BuckmasterMr David BuikMr Chris BulfordMr Tim BullivantMr Roderic BulloughMr Anthony BunkerDuncan BurchellMs Lila BurkemanMr Kenneth BurnsMr John BurrowsMrs Claudia BushMs Janet ButchinsMr Ian ButchoffMr Piers ButlerMrs Stella ButlerMrs Annoné ButlerMiss Susan ButlerMr John BywaterMr Peter CadburyMr & Mrs David CaddyMiss Elizabeth CallenderDr Moira CalveleyMr Maurice CamilleriDr John CampbellMr Christopher CampbellMr & Mrs Duncan

CampbellMs Fiona CampbellTomas CampbellMr Quentin CampbellMr Philip CampbellCllr David Campion

Our thanks to…We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the followingsupporters and donors of the 2009 season, including those whowish to remain anonymous:

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Mrs Yvonne CannellMr Robert CannonMrs Encarnacion CanoMr Gary CappMr Peter CarginMr Andrew CarmichaelDr Colin CarmichaelDr Stuart CarneMr & Mrs James CarrabinoMr Alain CarrierMr Michael CarterMiss Miranda CarterMr Nicholas CarterMr Gavin CaseyMrs Lanna CastellanoMrs Sheila CastelloMr Paul CastertonMr Joseph CattermoleMr Rupert CavendishMr C J CazaletLady CazaletMr Dionisio CerqueiraMiss Clarinda ChanMr Peter ChapmanMrs Joan ChapmanShelley CharingMs B Adele CharlesMr David CharlesworthMrs J Chater RobinsonMr Alexandre ChavarotMs Tracey CherrymanMr Andrew CheseldineMrs Robin ChessexMrs Gay CheyneMrs Frances ChidellMr Graham ChildMrs Caroline ChiversMr Jonathan ChoatMr Gavin ChoyceDr Bryan ChristopherMr Dieter ClaassenMrs Sheila ClarkMrs Claudia ClarkRoger ClarkMr Norman ClarkeMr David ClarkeJohn ClarksonMr Richard ClaytonMr Bruce CleaveMrs Caroline CleggLewis & Daphne CleinDr John ClementsMrs Marlene CleverleyDavid CliftMichael CliftonMr Charles CloreGabriela ClouterBradley CobbMrs Marian CochraneMr & Mrs Howard CoffellMrs Louise CohenMr & Mrs L CohenMrs Maryon CohenMr Kenneth CohenMrs Pamela CohnMr John CokeMiss Eugenie ColeMrs Angela ColeMr Malcolm ColemanMrs Charlotte CollasMr Alex CollinsonMrs Cynthia ColmanMr Oliver ColmanMr David ColtmanMrs Anne ConeyMr James ConlanMr H Ivor ConnickMrs Muriel ConwayMr Andrew ConwayDr Caroline ConwayMrs Lesley CookMs Anna CookMr Alistair CookeMr S Cooke

Miss Penny CooperMrs Carol CooperMiss Janet CooperMrs Janey CooperMrs Madeleine Cope-

ThompsonLady Diana CopisarowMrs Anne CoppMr George CopusMrs Deborah CopusMrs Rosanne CorbenMrs Anna CorbenMr John Corbet-SingletonMs Denise CorbettColonel & Mrs David

CorbinMrs Gillian CorbynMr Charles CormickMr Timothy CornerMr Roland CornishIrini CorriganSir Hugh CortazziMr Bill CosgraveMrs Morella CottamJames CoultonMr Richard CourtneyMr John CowanCllr John CoxMrs Carole CoxMr Phillip CoxSimon CoxMr Tim CrabtreeMr John CraftsMrs Jean CraigMr Michael CrawcourMrs Barbara CrawfordMr Eustace CrawleyMrs Nicola Crichton-BrownMr Stuart CrippsMr John CrispMr Piers CrokeDr Colin CrosbyMrs Margaret CrossMrs Judith CrossleyMr Chris CrouchMr Jonathan CrowMr Gonzalo CuadraMr Domingo CuadraLady CuckneyMr Michael J CullenMr James CulmerMr Christopher CumminsMrs Milena CurrallLady Deidre CurteisDr Jean Curtis-RaleighMiss Marilyn CuttsMiss Anne CyronMr Richard CzartoryskiMs Alan Da CostaMr Khosrow D Dabir-AlaiMrs Diana DajaniDr Vera Dalley LedermanMrs Jean DaltonMrs Diane V DalyMr Kevin DanaherIkuko DanbyMr Dany DandinMrs Sonja T DanielMrs Clare DanielsMr Peter DannenbergMr R W DarkeMr Peter DarvallPiers & Nara DaubeneyMrs Mary DaumanLady Patricia DauntMr Berjis DaverMr Philip DavidMr Nicholas DavidsonMr John DaviesMrs J DaviesMrs Joan DaviesDavid DaviesMr Michael DavisDr Harold Davis

Mr Andrew DawsMr Oliver DawsonPeter DawsonMr Hubert De CastellaMs Marbill De GraciaMr Anthony De GrootMr Anthony De LaceyMrs Anne De PinnaJulie De RivazMrs Beatrice DealMrs Glad DeamerMr Kevin DeanMrs Elizabeth DeanMr Kenneth DeanMr & Mrs Sebastian

DeckkerMrs Ruth DeeksMrs Louise DegenhardtMrs Pauline Del MarMr John DeloLady Moya DenmanMr Oliver DennissMr Ken DentMs Elizabeth DentonMr Anthony DepledgeComte Jean Pierre

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DiejomaohMr H E DiemDr Michael DingleProf & Mrs Stanley DischeMr Andrew H DismoreMrs Melissa DisneyMrs Angela DoeMrs Caroline DoggartMr & Mrs Patrick DohertyMr Anthony DohertyMrs Joan D’OlierPhilippa DolphinMr Malcolm DombMr Robert DommettMrs Hazel DonovanMr Robert DoryMrs Elizabeth DouglasMrs Angela Douglas-MannMrs Vanessa DowellMs Elizabeth DowningNoreen DoyleMr Kevin DoyleMrs Elizabeth DrakeMrs Jill DresdenMrs Lesley DriscollLady Evie Duff GordonMr J DufficyMr Robert DuffyMr Tim DuffyMr David DulakeMrs Pamela DunfoyMr Martin DunitzMr Francis DunsterMr Manfred DurstMr Sam EadieMiss Eleri EbenezerMs Charmian EberleMs Francesca Ecsery-

MerrensMr Harry EddisMrs Valerie EdwardMs Freya EdwardsMr & Mrs Mark EdwardsMr Stuart EdwardsMr & Mrs Ralph EhrmannMr Alan EisnerMr Derek ElcockMrs Susan Eliot-Cohen

Carol EllinasMrs Verena ElliottCathleen EllisMiss Anne-Marie EllisMr Hamish ElvidgeMrs Leila El-YafiRonald EngelbertMs Sally EnglandMr Robert EnglehartMrs Elizabeth EngstromMr Simon EnochMr Robert EnslowMr Stephen EnthovenMrs Ragna ErwinMr F C EssonMr Patrick EtheringtonMr Daniel EttinghausenMs Pam M EvansMr Hugh EvansMr Anthony EvansMrs Bridget EvansMrs Lydia EvansMr Charles Evans-LombeMr John EveristMr Anthony FalconMr Richard FallowfieldMrs Hilary FarleyMrs Carole FarquharsonMr Kit FarrowMrs Anne Brenda FarthingDr Dilniya FattahMr Gordon FaultlessMs Jane FaustMr Thomas Daniel FearnMr Antony FeenyMrs Joan FeildMr David FellowsMs Serena FenwickMs Clare M FergusonMrs Alexia

FetherstonhaughMr Martin FeuerMr Chris FewMrs Denise FiennesMrs Elizabeth FinchamMr Jonathan M FindlayMr Jeffrey FineMrs Claudia FinlayMiss Sheila FishMr J A FisherMr Jim FisherMr Guy FisherMr Jon FittonDr Paul FitzgeraldMr Michele FiumaraMr Andrew Fleming-

WilliamsMrs Claire FletcherMr Tom FloodYoko FogartyProf Ignac FogelmanMr Michael FoleyLindy FoordKenneth FordMr Nicholas FordeSir Denis FormanMr Jeffrey ForrestDavid ForresterMr C M J ForshawMr Patrick FosterLady Fiona FowlerMr Richard A FoxDr Alan FoxMrs Rosemary FoxMr Martin FrameMrs Jennifer FrancisMrs Melanie FrankeMr Rodney FranklinMr N A FraserMrs Celia FraylingMr Ian FrazerMrs Liliane FredericksMr Conrad FreedmanMr Michael Freegard

Mr Philip FreemanMr Robert FreemanMs Olivia FreemanMr & Mrs Sydney FreilichMiss Christina FremantleMrs Fionnuala FrenchMrs Samantha FritzMr Sidney FroshMr Anthony FryMr P E FudgeMrs Elaine FunnellMichael FurthMr Albert FussMrs Lynda FussellMr Sidney GaleMs Anni GallonMrs Audrey GallowayMr Michael GallowayDr Madeleine GantleyMrs Cristina Garcia-PeriMrs Adele GardnerMr David Garfield DaviesMs Pam GarsideMr Clive GarstonMrs Stella Garton-BrownMr Daniel GarveyMr Paul GascoigneHoward GatissMrs E.S. GauntlettMr David GaviganMr Alastair GavinMr Stephen GeeMr Ronald GeeMr & Mrs William GeldartMr David GentMrs Anita GeorgeMrs Isabelle GeorgeauxMr Michael GersonMr Simon GibbinsMrs Vanessa GibbonMr Anthony GibbsMr John GibbsMs Georgiana GibbsMr Mark GidneyMr Michael GiffordMrs Wendy GilbertMr Paul GilesMrs Lynne GillonMr John GittensMr James GlancyMrs Valerie GlasmanDr David GlassMr David GlickMr & Mrs John GobleMr Simon GodfreyMrs Anne GodfreySally GodleyMr Nicholas GoldMrs Heidi GoldMs Caroline GoldenMr Brian GoldichMrs Gloria GoldringBob GoldsmithMrs Sylvia GolzDr Bastien GompertsMrs Cecilia GoodallMr Ronald GoodchildMrs Margaret GoodhartMrs Diana GoodhewMrs Zoe GoodwayMr Peter GoodwinMr Chris GoodwinMr Angus B GordonMrs Cecile GordonMr & Mrs Bill GordonMr Michael GoreMrs Jane GorlinMr Paul GoswellMrs Ulla GottliebMrs Tessa GoughCecilia GoughMr David GrantMr Peter GranthamMrs Vaudine Gray

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Ms Anita GrayMrs Margery GrayMiss Clare GraystonMrs Sheila GreenMr Brian GreenMrs Barbara GreenMr Brian GreenMr & Mrs Alex GreenChristopher GreenerMr Brian Kellett GreenhowMr John GreenwayMr & Mrs David GreggainsMrs Andrea GreystokeMrs Rosemary GriffithsMrs Antonia GriffithsMr Brian GroomDr Jeremy GrossMrs Caroline GroundMr & Mrs Edmund GrowerMrs K GrussingMr & Mrs Robert GubbayMr A GubbayMr Paul GuenaultMr Harry GunnMr John GunnMs Margaret GunstJill GurneyMr Simon HackerMr Nick HaimendorfMr Julian HaleMr Paul HallDr Peter HallgartenMr Lionel HalpernMr Michael HalpinMr Jon HalseMr Adrian HamiltonMrs Sophie HamiltonMrs Jenny HamiltonMrs Anne HamiltonMr Colin HamiltonMr Philip HamiltonMrs Daphne Hamilton-

FairleyMrs Alexandra

HammersleyMr Kenneth HamptonMr William HancockMr John HannIan HanreckFrank HardingMr Christopher Harding-

EdgarMr George HardyMrs Anna HarmanMr B HarocoposMrs D HarrisMrs Helen HarrisMiss R M HarrisMr Derek HarrisMr Tim HarrisMr Colin D HarrisMr Peter HarrisMr Terence HarrisMrs Siri HarrisMr Alan HarrisonMr Ray HartMr Mark HarveyMrs Elizabeth HarveyMr Simon HarveyGeoffrey HarveyMrs Nermine Harvey-

PhillipsBrenda HarwoodMr Michael HastingsMr John Hastings-BassMrs Marie-Therese HavardMs Sarah HavensMrs Jean HawkinsRevd Canon Bruce HawkinsMiss Rosemary Clare

HaworthMr David HawtinMrs S HayesMs Gillian Hayes

Mr Garrett HayesMr Michael HayesMr Antony HaynesMrs Joyce HeathMs Carol HeatonMiss Sara HeatonMrs Priscilla

HebblethwaiteMrs Nicki HeenanMrs Madeleine HeggsMr F G HelpsMr & Mrs Thomas

HempenstallMrs Greta HemusMrs Gillian HenchleyMrs Catherine HendersonMr & Mrs Stuart

HendersonMr John HendersonMr Robert HendersonMrs Clare HendersonDavid HendersonMr Charles A HeneageMs Ann HenshawMrs Marian HerbstMr Roger HeronMr Malcolm HerringMr P D HesterMr John HewettMrs Christine HeysMrs Gill HeywoodMrs Pauline Heyworth-

DunneMr Bruce HibbertMrs Maria HibbertMrs Gillian HickmanMr Michael HigginMr Nicholas HighamMr Peter HildebrandMrs Margaret HillMrs Maggie HillMiss Julia HillMrs Kathleen HillMr Nigel HillsMrs Kim HillsMr & Mrs Roy HindsMr Eric George HindsMrs Shirley HintonMrs Debra HintonMrs Cynthia HippsMr John HirdMr Robin HirshmanMr Frank HitchmanMrs Victoria HobbsMr Stephen HockingDr Cyril HodesMrs Madeleine HodgkinMr Mark HoffmanMrs Elizabeth A HogbinMr Roger HoldenMrs Isobel HollandMr James HollowayMs Nancy HollowayMr Michael HolmanMiss Celia HolmesMr Leslie S HolmesMr Geoffrey HoltProf Martin HooperMs Peggy HootonMr Murton HopeMr David Hope-MasonMr Nicholas HopkinsMr Ian HopkinsMr John HorleyMr Warwick HorlockMr Garry HorneMr Chris HornerMr Michael HorowitzMr Jonathan Horsfall

TurnerMs Sharon HorwitzMrs Elizabeth Hoskyns-

AbrahallMs Diana Houghton

Mrs Eileen HoulderMr & Mrs Peter HousdenMr William HowardMr Kim HowellMr John HowesDr Desmond P HowlettBrian HuckettMr David HuddMrs Rosemary HudsonMrs Kay HuffnerMr David M HughesMr Gerald HughesMrs Diana HughesMr John HullMrs Pauline HulmeMrs Shirley HumphreyMrs Elizabeth Ann HuntMs Tania HunterMrs Elizabeth HurstMs Wendy HydeMr Derek HydeMr & Mrs Howard HymanMr Harry HymanMr Peter IliasMr Martin IngellMr Kenneth InglisMrs Amanda IngramMrs Lisa IrwinMr Alan JacksonMr Robin JacksonMr Jeremy JacobsMrs Gloria JacobsonMrs Ingrid Jacobson PinterMrs Rachel JamesMrs Rosemary JamesMiss Lucinda JamiesonMr Mark JarradMr Marcus JarvisMr Usama JayyusiMr David JeayesMr Roger JenkinsMr David JenkinsMr Derwin JenkinsonMr Anthony JennensMr Ray JennerMrs Sara JenniMs Victoria Joel-BobaschMr Victor JoffeMr Fredrik JohansenMrs Monika JohnMrs Harriet JohnsMrs Christine JohnsMrs Barbara JohnsonMr Jonathan JohnsonMs Valerie Johnston-JonesMr James JollMiss Carol JollieMrs Kathleen JonesMr Stanley JonesMr Charles M JonesMr Douglas JonesMrs Margaret JonesMs Felicity JonesJohn M JonesMr Ross JonesMr Gordon JowettMrs Ruth JudesMr Bohdan JurenMs Ratna KakkarMrs Basia KappMr Leo KatzenDr Leon KaufmanMrs Susan KavanaghMrs Janina KayMrs Denise KaydarMs Nina KayeMr L KayeMrs Araceli KeelanMrs Caroline KeenMr Edward KellowMrs Linda KellyMr William R KellyMrs Sally Kemmis-BettyDavid Kempton

Mr Paul KenyonDr Frank KenyonMr Michael Kerr-PattonMr Tony KerslakeMr Roger KerswellDr Alexander KesslerJames KhonjieMrs Tessa KilgourMr Mervyn KilpatrickMs Toni KingMr John KingMr Richard KingMrs Anna KingDr Alan KingLady Valerie KingmanMrs Julie KingsleyMr Oliver KinseyMiss Amanda KinsmanMrs Margaret KirkhamMrs E A KirkwoodMrs Gillian KischMs Edna KissmannMr Leonard KlahrMrs Manuela KleemanMr Vernon KnapperMr George KnightMr Christopher KnightMrs Nancy KoeppelMs Eva KohnerMr David KormanMrs Latifa KostaMrs Sara S KramerMrs Ruth KrausMrs M KrepsMrs Merete KrollMr Michael KuhlowMr Erdogan KuralMr Roger KutchinskyCount Natale LabiaMiss Mei Sim LaiMr & Mrs Imre LakeLinda LakhdhirMr Paul LalwanMr Roger LambMr Alan H LambertMrs Anne LambirthMr Christopher LambourneMr H A LamotteMrs Sally LampingMr Anthony LandMr Martin LangdonMr Jeremy LangshawMr Steven LarbalestierMrs Caroline LascellesMrs Carol LashmarMr Martin LathamMrs Premi LatimerMr Desmond LaveryMr Richard LawMr Patrick LawlorMr Richard LawmanMr Trevor LawsDr Spencer LawsonMrs Pauline LawsonMr James LaytonMrs Lucy Le FanuMr Jean-Claude Le GoaterMiss Valerie Le MoignanMr John LeachMr Robert LeatherMr Lawrence LedermanMrs Penelope LeeMr Henry A LeeMr John LeekMrs Nancy LeesMr Brian LeesMr Paul LeeseMr Andreas C J LehmannMs Jan LeighMrs Rose LeighMr Richard LemmonMr David LeonMr Paul LeonardMrs Hilary Leslie

Mr Alexander LeslieMrs Roseanna LeslieMs CN LesterMs Judy LeverMrs Diana LevineMs N LevinsonMrs Caroline LevisonCllr & Mrs Bryan LevittMrs Jackie LevyProf Raymond LevyMs Agnieszka LewinskaDr Peter LewisMr Elliot LewisMr Michael A LewisMr Peter LewisMr Richard LewisMr Christopher LewisRupert LewisMs Rosie LeydenMr Andre LiebenguthDr Max LifschitzMiss Heather LightbodyMrs Marguerite LilleyMr Keith LindblomMrs Joan LindhMr Robert Linn OttleyMr Chris LittmodenMr Roger LiveseyMr Simon LlewellynMr Robert LloydRichard & Catriona LloydMrs Margaret LloydMrs Peta LloydSir Richard LloydMrs Susan Lloyd-EvansMr Barry LockDr Stephen LockMrs Jennifer LockMrs Elli LoizouMr Peter LomasMs Chiara LombardiMr Peter LongMr John LongMr James LongMr Paul LoosleyMs Barbara LordMrs Patricia LordMr William LoschertMrs Angela LoudonMs Jan LougherLady Patricia LousadaMr John LouthMrs Chiyuki LowenthalMrs Lila LubinMr David LucasMrs Jill LumsdenMrs Charlotte LundqvistMr Tim LupprianMr B K LusherMrs J H MabyMr David MacfarlaneMrs Maggie MacfarlaneDr John MacginnisMrs Joanna MachinStephen MachinMr Alistair Mackinnon-

MussonMr David Maclean WattProf Margaret MadenMrs Ingrid MagazinerMr Patrick MaleyMr John MalletDr Gerald MallonMiss Marigold MannMr Douglas MansfieldMiss Una MarchettiMrs Anne MardenMr & Mrs Rodney MarinerMr Leonard MarksMr James C MarkwickMr Andrew MarsdenMrs Angela MarsdenMs Katie MarshMrs Rosemary Marshall

Mrs Hillie MarshallMrs Mary MarshallMrs Davida MarstonMrs Philippa MartinMrs Anna MartinMrs Elizabeth MartinMr Nicholas MartinMr Charles MartineauMr Richard MasonMr Martin MasonMrs Charlotte MastersonDr H M MatherMr Jonathan MathesonMrs Lindsey MaunderMr & Mrs Michael

MaunsellMrs Ruth MaxtedDr Victor MaxwellMr Stephen MayerMr Piers MaynardMrs Kathryn MayneMr Adrian McAllisterMr John McCannMr Brian McDermottMr Roderick McDougallMrs Rosamund McDougallMrs Nicola McFarlandMr Jon McGowanMr William McGuireDr Stuart McHardy-YoungIsabel McKenzieMr Daryl McKeownProf Brian McKibbinMr John McLeanMrs Isil McLoughlinSir Kit McMahonMr John McNamaraMr John McVittieMs Wendie McWattersMrs Ianthe McWilliamsMrs Annabel MeadowsMrs J MeadsWinifred MeddDr Phillip MeddingsMs Audrey MeenanDr Brian MeldrumMrs Landa MelroseMr Robert MelvilleMr & Mrs Jean-Marc

MercierMr Stephen MertzMrs Elizabeth MeyerMrs K J MichaelMr Tony MichaelsMr Philip D. MiddletonSir David MiersMiss Freda MietzelMrs Janice MilesMr Ray MilesDiane MilesMrs Joanna MillanMs Felicity MillerMr Jonathan MillerJane MillerMrs Zara MilliganDr Millington-SaundersMr Jonathan MillsMr Rodney Milne-DayMr & Mrs Luke MiotteMr Ainsley MirandaMr David MitchellMr Philip MitchellMr Clive MitchellMichael MitzmanMr Peter MoffattDr Marjan MokhberMr Peter MolloyMrs Andree MolyneuxMrs Brigid MonkhouseMr William MonroeMrs Ann MontierMr Patrick MoonMs Wendy MoorMrs Helen Moore

Mrs Margaret MooreMr Basil MorcasMr Daniel MorganMr Richard MorganMrs Rebecca MorganEleanor MorganMr Denis MoriartyMr Gerarld MoriartyMr Brian MoritzMr Charles MorlandMr Brian MorrisMr John V H MorrisMr Gary MorrisMiss Julia MorrisMr Roger MorrisMr Stephen MorrisSir Andrew MorrittMr Simon MosleyMr Monty MossMr Andrew MossMr David MossMr Jon MossMrs Mary MottureMr Russ MouldMr George MouskasDr Michael MowerMr Ronald MowlamMr Geoffrey MoyMr Edward MoylanLady Elaine MoylanMs S MoynihanMr & Mrs Jan MuelderMr Andrew MuirDr Barry MuladyMs Constance MulshawMr James Shaw MurdochMichael MurphyMs Elizabeth MurphyMr Kieron MurphyDr Stephen MurrayMrs Sunny MurrayMrs Anthea MurrayDr Iain M Murray-LyonMr A C MyerMarion MyersMr Patrick MylonMr Peter MynorsMs Hilary NaqviMrs Dolores NashDr Anthony NathanDr Mona NauphalMrs Vicki NaylorLady Sally NeillMr Morrie NeissMs Rebecca J NelsonMr Michael NelsonMrs Rosemary NettletonBaroness Julia E NeubergerLady Angela NeubergerMs Anita NeumanMr Robert NevilleMr Paul NewmanMr Roger NewmanMrs Freya NewmanMr Thomas NewmanMrs Antoinette NewmanMr & Mrs Gerald NewtonMr Ronny NicholasKaren NichollsMr David NicholsonMrs Jane NicholsonMr Paddy NolanMr William NorburyMr R L Buff NorgrenMr Peter NormanMr David NorrisMrs Rose NorthedgeMrs Jose NortheyMr John NortonMrs Meena NottMr Christopher NourseMr Michael NoyceMrs Susan OakdenMrs J O’Brien

Mr Ben O’BryanMr Matthew OdgersMr Kevin O’DuffyMrs J O OgdenMr Desmond O’GradyRobin OldhamMs Eithne O’LearyMr Paul OlinsMr Laurence OlinsMr Tim OliverMiss Victoria O’NeillMr Chuck OnyiliogwuMrs Brenda OppenheimMs Anne OppetitMr & Mrs Alan OrchoverMs Ksenia OrlovaMr & Mrs Ged OrnsteinMr Jonathon Orr-EwingMr Andrew OsmondMs Lisa OsofskyMr Michael OsuchMs Lucy O’Sullivan

TeodorczukMrs Rosemary OtterLady Helen OttonMs Siobhan OudaharMrs Christine OurmieresLady Suzannah OuseleyMrs Juliette OverlanderMrs Sarah K OwenMrs Elizabeth OylerValerio & Jenny PaceMs Alison PackerMr Robert A W PageMr Peter PagnamentaSybil PagnamentaHis Hon Denis PaibaMr John PaineMrs Judith PaisnerMr Harold PaisnerMrs Christine PalmerElizabeth PalmerMrs Yvette PalmerMr James Palmer-

TomkinsonMr Edward PanekStephen ParishMr Michael ParkerMr Stephen ParkinsonMr Roger ParkynMrs Miranda ParrMr David ParrishMrs Amanda ParryMr Edward ParryMrs Elizabeth ParsonMs Mimi ParsonsMrs Joyce ParsonsSusie ParsonsMrs Frances PartonMrs Fatima PatelMr Ian PattMr Stephen PattinsonMrs Aparajita PatwardhanMr George F PaulleyMr Clive PayneMr John PaynterMr Roger PaytonLady Ursula PearceMr Robin Pearse WheatleyMr & Mrs Francis PearsonDr Gillie PearsonMr John PearsonMr John Brian PearsonHon William PeaseMr Richard PeatMr Dominic PeglerMrs Rita PellMrs Marie-Antoinette

PereireMr Robin PerrotMr David PetersDr B Jane PettiferMr Martin PettmanMr Eric Pfaff

Mr John Phelps PenryMrs Heather Phelps-BrownMr Nicholas PhilbinMr George PhilipsThe Lord PhillimoreMr Phil PhillipsMrs Pim PhillipsMr Mark PhillipsMrs Carolyn E PhillipsMr Nicolas PhillipsMr Ranald PhillipsMr Peter PhillipsMrs Jocelyn PhillipsMrs Kathy PhilpotMrs Joy PickardMrs Annick PickavanceMr James S PictonMr Chrles PikeMrs Virginia PilbrowMr Nicholas PilbrowMr Jan Pilkington-MiksaMrs Anne K PinsonMr David PiperMr Ian PlaistoweMrs Sarah PlastowMr Andrew F PledgeMr Robin Pleydell-BouverieMr Malcolm PollardDr Ronnie PollockMr Richard PoloMrs Shirley PondMr Richard PoolMr Shayne PopeMr & Mrs Adam PorgesMr & Mrs Jeremy

PosnanskyMr Michael PossenerMr Sjoerd PostMr Gerry PostlethwaiteProf N A PostmaMrs Eileen PotterMrs Nicole PoundMiss Christine PowellMr Mark PowellMrs Susan PrainMr Nick PrestMr Martin PrevezerMrs Susan PriceMrs Valerie PriceLady Shirley PrickettDr Neil PrideMrs May ProsserMr Derek PuddephattMrs Madeleine PughMs Jessica PulayMr Nigel PullmanMr James PulsfordSir Neville PurvisMrs Muriel PuseyMr Denis PuseyMr John PutnamMr Jonathan PutsmanMr Frederick PyneMr R RaberMr Michael RabinMrs Nathalie RachouMr Patrick RadcliffeDr Shirley RadcliffeMrs Sarah RadcliffeMrs Aviva RaingoldMrs Patricia RamsayLord & Lady RamsbothamMr Siegfried RamseyerMr John RansomMr Montague RaphaelMs Marianne RasmussenMr William RathboneMr Peter RatzerMrs Elizabeth RawsonMrs Caroline RaymanMiss Lesley RaymondMiss Anne ReadMarian ReadMr Michael Readey

Mrs Adrianne ReedMrs Jane ReedStephen ReederMr David ReeksMrs Patricia ReesMr Richard ReganMrs Jean RegenMr & Mrs Patrick RegesterPeter ReichwaldMrs Christine ReidMrs Alice ReidMs Jane ReidMr R ReidMs Elizabeth ReillyMs Volinka ReinaMr Max RendallMr Andrew ReynoldsMr Paul ReynoldsKate ReynoldsDr Graham RhodesDr Peter J RichardsonMrs Carol RichardsonMrs Sarah RichardsonMrs Geraldine Richmond-

WatsonMr Timothy RiddellMrs Estelle RiesMr Peter RiggMr James RitchieMr & Mrs Andrew RitchieMr John RitsonLady Barbara RobertsMrs Glenys RobertsMrs Valerie RobertsMrs Lynn RobertsMr Richard RobertsMrs Sarah RobertsElizabeth RobertsMr & Mrs Gareth

RobertsonMs Suzanne RobertsonMr Nicolas RobertsonMr Graham RobertsonMr Herbert RobinsonMr Mike RobinsonMrs Emilia G RobinsonMrs Margaret RobinsonMr John RochmanMr Martin RoddyMr Duncan RoeDr J Michael RogersMrs Jacqueline RokotnitzMrs Elizabeth RollestonMr Caspar RomerLord RootesMs Emma RoseMrs Susan RoseMr David RoseMr Alexander RosenDr Peter RoseveareMr Richard David RosinMr Stephen RossMark RossMiss Ann RossiterMr Brendan RossiterDavid RothwellMs Susan RouseMr Olivier RouxMr Alessandro RovelliMr M J RowanMrs Marion RubinMr Tony RuddMr Roland RuddMr Christopher RuffMr Jonathan RufferMrs Susie RumboldSir Henry RumboldMrs Daria RussellMr David RussellMs Estelle RussellMr Piers Russell-CobbMrs F P RustinMr Nigel RustinMr Joe Ruston

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His Hon Judge JohnRylance

Dr P SachsMrs Joyce SackMrs Raya SadiMr Richard SageMaura SaidenbergSir Timothy SainsburyMr Sebastian SalamaDr Negla SalemMiss Vicki SalmonDr Alison SaltMs Maya SamaMr Yusuf SamadMr Stephen SamuelMs Stella SandapinMrs Aline SandbergMr Roger SaoulMiss Carolyn SaundersMrs Monica SaundersMs Caren Saville-SneathMr Guy SayerMrs Karen ScarboroughMr Derrick SchauermanMr Pasquale SchenaMr Stephen SchickMr John SchlesingerMr Jurgen SchmidtDr Andrea SchneidauMrs Elisabeth

SchoenenbergerMr Peter ScholesMrs Veronica SchroterDr Martin SchwartzDr John ScoreyMrs Elizabeth ScottMr David ScottMr Michael ScottMrs Melissa ScottMrs Anne ScottMr & Mrs John Scott-AdieMr Thomas James Scott-

WebbJack ScruttonGeorge ScullardMr Peter SeagerMs Hilary SearsMr David SegalMr Paul SellarsMr Jonathan SellorsMrs Valerie SemmensMr James B SerjentMr Babulal SethiaLady Anne SeymourMrs Billie ShamashBrian SharpMr David SharpeMr Thomas SharpeMr William SharronMrs Jean ShawMr Peter ShawMr George ShawMr Anthony ShearerMr John ShelleyMs Elizabeth ShepperdMrs Diane SheridanMrs Hedda SherwoodMr Martin SherwoodMrs Janis ShillitoDr Elizabeth ShindlerMr Justin ShinebourneMr Michael ShorrockMr Roy ShutzMr Hugh SiegleMrs Lya SilverMr Gerald SimlerMr & Mrs Howard SimlerMr Timothy SimonMr Sander SimonettiMr Mark SimonsAdmiral Mike SimpsonMrs Claire SimpsonMr Christoper Sinclair-

Stevenson

Mr Joe SinyorMr William SketchleyMr John SkinnerMrs Eva SkinnerDr Sylvia SklarMr & Mrs SlawsonMrs Amanda SloweMr Brian SmithMrs Judy SmithMr Lindsay M SmithYvonne SmithMr Jonathan SmithPenelope SmithMr John SnellLady SoamesMr Phillip SoberMr Nathaniel SolomonMrs Sonja SoperMr Rick SopherMr Terence SpackmanMr & Mrs David SpackmanMr Nicholas SpearingMr Sidney SpellmanMrs Wendy SpencerMrs Paul SpencerMrs Valerie SpencerMr Richard SpiegelbergMrs Dimity SpillerMr Peter SpiraMr Ivor SpiroLes SpitzThe Duke of St AlbansMrs Lucinda Stafford-

DeitschMr Christopher StainforthLindsay StaintonMiss Maureen StaniforthMr Andrew StanleyMrs Airlie StaveleyHelen SteersSusan StephenMrs S StevensMr Guy StevensonMrs Jean StewartMrs Anne StewartLady Anne StewartMrs D Claire Stewart-

RichardsonMr Geoff StimsonLady Morar StirlingMrs Beatrice StirlingMr Adrian StokesMrs Gill StoneMr David StoneRoger & Sylvia StoreyMrs Sophie StovinMiss Ali StowMr Graham StradlingMr & Mrs Henry StrageMr Tim StranackMr Richard StrangMrs Joanna Strangwayes-

BoothMr Derek StraussValerie StrawMr Keith StreamsMiss Yvonne StreatfieldMrs Judith StrongMrs Venetia StrongProf John StuddMrs Maria Sturdy-MortonMr William SturgePaul SturtMr Christopher

SummerfieldMr George SuterMrs Susan SuttonMr Denis Sutton-TuohyMr Takashi SuzukiMs Anne-Marie SvenssonMr Nicholas SwanMr Robert SwiftMr Haig TahtaMs Frances Tait

Mrs Claire TallisMiss Patricia TallonMr & Mrs Martin TamlynMr Suresh TannaMiss M H TarranRev & Mrs John TattersallMr R Tattersall-WrightMrs A N TaylorMrs Gail TaylorMr Barton TaylorMs Susan TaylorBarbara TaylorMr Michael TaylorMr Richard Taylor-GoobyMrs Ian TegnerMrs Moira TerryMr Peter TettMr Andy ThackerMs Antigone TheodorouMiss E Sian ThomasMr Robin ThomasSir Swinton ThomasMr Michael ThomasMr Nick ThomasMrs Joanna H ThomasMr Antony ThomlinsonMr Philip ThompsonMs Jane ThompsonMr Brian ThompsonMr David ThompsonMr Philip ThompsonMrs Evelyn ThompsonMs Karen ThompsonMrs Olivia ThomsonMr Michael ThomsonJane ThomsonMr Gordon ThorburnMrs Sheila ThorncroftMr Robert ThorneMrs Jennifer ThorneycroftMr Edmund ThornhillMrs Margaret ThornhillDr Alexander ThurlowMrs Helen TitchmarchMr Charles ToddLady TollemacheMrs Christine TomkinMr Paul ToogoodMr Keith TottemMrs Sarka TourresMr P S TownendMr Richard TownerDr Christina TownsendMr Philip Tozer-

PenningtonMrs Catrin TreadwellMr Gavin TrechmanMr Remo TrompettoMr Robin TuckLady Jacqueline TuckerMr Nicholas TuckerMr Kevin TuffnellLady TumimMiss Sara TurnbullMr Ivor TurnerMr Oswin TurnerMr Richard TurnerMr Edward TurnerMr Mark TurnerMr Christopher TurnerMrs Heather TurnerMs Teresa TurveyMs Miriam TwaalfhovenMs Karen TyermanMrs Alix TystadMr Thomas UlrichMrs Ann UnderwoodMr Robert UrquhartStella VainesMs Parisa VakiliMrs Clarissa VallatHis Hon Jonathan Van Der

WerffMr Christian Van Praet

Mrs Phyllis VangelderMr Alastair VartanDavid & Leslie VaughanMs Caroline L VaughanMrs Emma VereyMr H Anthony ViceMs Tina VillarosaMr Philip VinceMr & Mrs Anthony VivianMr Mark Von BergenMr Piers Von SimsonMr John VoytalMrs Elizabeth VyvyanCol David WaddellMrs Vyvienne WadeMr Michael WaggettMrs Sally WagnerMr Sidney WagnerMrs Andrea WalkerMr David WalkerMr Gary WallerMr Roger WallhouseMr Graham R WalshMrs Prudence WalsheMrs Barbara WaltersMrs Margaret WaltonMs Alexandra WandMrs Margaret WankeMr John David WardMr John WardMrs Amanda WardMr David WardLady Sylvia WarnerMr Richard WaterburyMr Trevor WatermanMr David WatersMrs Sonia WatersMrs Mary Waters-SayerMrs Julia WathenDr & Mrs Robert WatkinsMr David WatsonDavid WatsonDr Diane WatsonSir Simon WatsonMr Timothy WattsMr David WeaverMrs Lavinia WebbMr Stanley WebberMr Michael WebsterMr Niels WeiseMrs Anne WeitzmanMr James M WellwoodMr Douglas WemMr Martyn WenzerulMrs Ulrika WerdelinMr Roger WestbrookMr Robert WestlakeMr Melvin WestonMr Len WharfeMr Richard WhatmoorMrs Iona WheatleyMrs Fiona WheelerMr John WheelerMr Paul WheelerMs Maureen WheelerMr Denis WhelanMr Michael WheldonMrs Camille WhitakerMrs Joy WhitbyMr David WhiteMr & Mrs George WhiteMr Simon WhitehouseMr Peter WhittakerMr David WhittakerMr Matt WhitticaseMrs Susan WhittleMiss Jane WhitworthMr John WickMr Jeffry WickhamMr David WickhamMiss Judith A R WicksMr Robert WiederMrs Christine WiggMr Nigel Wiggins

Mr Ian WightwickMrs Anne WignallMr William WilksMrs Mary WillettMr Steven WilliamMs Andrea WilliamsMrs V WilliamsMrs Beverley WilliamsMr Eric WilliamsJudith WilliamsJ G WilliamsMr Michael WilliamsonMrs Maureen WillsonMrs Elvira WilmotMiss Diana WilsonMrs Catherine WilsonMr Michael WilsonMr Martin WilsonLady Margaret WilsonMs Maggie WilsonMrs Verena WilsonMr & Mrs Geoffrey WilsonMrs Dorothy WilsonSir Robert WilsonDavid WilsonMrs Antoinette

WinckworthMrs Laura WinninghamMr Nigel WisdenMr Arthur WiseMr Alan WisemanMrs Sonia WithersMrs Nadine WojakovskiDr Edward WojakovskiMr Robert WoodMr Sydney WoodMrs Rosemary WoodburnMiss Sylvia WoodcockMr R M WoodhouseMr Nicholas WoodifieldMr Michael WoodsLady Marguerite WoolfMr Jonathan WoolleyMr John WosnerMr James WranghamMiss Diana WrayMr Benjamin WreyMr Christopher WrightMrs Rosalind WrightMrs Judith WrightMr Peter WulwikMrs Dorothy WurtzburgMr George WyattDr Peter WykesMs Ruth WymanMr Huw Wynne-GriffithMr Dominic Wynniatt-

HuseyMs Jenny YamamotoMr David N YatesMr Derrick YatesMiss Cynthia YeadonMrs Adriane YeoMr W E YingMr George YipMrs Jane YlvisakerMiss Carole YorkeMr Charles YorkeMrs Jenny YoungMrs Fenella YoungMrs Karen Maria YoungMs Susanna E YoungMr Sam YoungerMrs Victoria

YounghusbandMrs Ray Zenios

Names correct at time ofprinting

100

Platinum donorsThierry & Isabelle BaudonMr & Mrs Michael ParkerEileen J Taylor

Gold donorsLady CazaletMr & Mrs Alan MorganThe Pidem FundLord & Lady RamsbothamThe Reed FoundationMrs Christine ReidThe Headley Trust

Silver donorsMr Robert AtkinsonMr James BaggeKeith & Verona BakerMrs Joyce Blow DarlingtonMrs Shirley BrihiMr Richard BristowMr Anthony BrookeProf Edwina BrownMr Piers ButlerMrs Annoné ButlerMiss Susan CaseyMr & Mrs Julian CazaletMr Gavin ChoyceMr David ColtmanThe David Uri Memorial

TrustMr Oliver DawsonKenneth FordMrs John FowlerMichael & Jackie GeeDr Bastien GompertsMrs Rosemary GriffithsMr Malcolm HerringMr & Mrs John HeywoodMr & Mrs Roy HindsEric & Susan HindsJohn & Rowena JacksonJonathan & Jane JohnsonCount Natale LabiaMr & Mrs H A LamotteRichard & Angela LascellesDudley & Rose LeighMark & Lisa LovedayMr Stuart Lyons CBEMrs Maggie MacfarlaneStephen Machin

Mr Alistair Mackinnon-Musson

Mrs Anne MardenRobert & Nicola McFarlandMr Rodney Milne-DayMs Mairead MurphyMr Martin PettmanMr Nigel PullmanSir Timothy SainsburyMichael & Jill SalmonRichard & Ginny SalterMrs Caren Saville-SneathDr Elizabeth J Shaw & MrMichael WrightMr Martin SherwoodMr & Mrs David SpackmanMs Frances TaitMr Stephen TannerMr Antony ThomlinsonMrs Carolyn TownsendMiss Sara TurnbullMr Thomas UlrichAntony & Carla Withers

Bronze DonorsMrs Caroline BanszkyPaul & Janet BatchelorMs Ann BeatonMr Stefan BenedettiMrs Lesley BennettMr Julian BowerMrs Catherine BoylanMr MJ BradlowMr & Mrs Leonard BrownMiss Vanessa BrownMr Victor BuhlerMr John BurrowsMs Fiona CampbellMrs Claudia ClarkMr Richard J ClaytonLewis & Daphne CleinMrs Marlene CleverleyMr H. Ivor ConnickMr Charles CormickJ D Cowen Charitable TrustMrs Jean CraigDr Colin CrosbyDr Jean Curtis-RaleighMs Patricia DanielLady Patricia DauntMr Michael DavisMr Terry Davis

Mr Anthony De GrootLord DerwentMrs Melissa DisneyMr Anthony DohertyMr Robert DuffyRuth & Martin DunitzMr Francis DunsterEIMASA LtdMrs Susan Eliot-CohenMrs Bridget EvansMrs Elizabeth FinchamMiss Christina FremantleMrs Audrey GallowayMr Michael GallowayMrs Cristina Garcia-PeriMr Alastair GavinMrs Isabelle GeorgeauxMrs Jane GorlinMr John HannMr Derek HarrisMr David HarrissMs Ann HenshawMr P D HesterMr Bruce HibbertMrs Gillian HickmanMrs Margaret HillMr Nigel HillsMr James HollowayMr Geoffrey HoltProf` Martin HooperMs Peggy HootonMr Murton HopeDr Desmond P HowlettMrs Elizabeth Ann HuntMrs Susan HuntingMr Robin JacksonChristopher & Colette

JohnDr Leon KaufmanDr Frank KenyonMrs Gillian KischMs Eva KohnerMr & Mrs Imre LakeLinda LakhdhirMr Richard LawMrs B LazarusMr G C G LightMr Richard ListerMr Barry LockSir Andrew LongmoreMr John LouthMrs J H Maby

Miss Elizabeth Mackenzie Prof Margaret MadenMrs Susan MarshallMr Charles MartineauMr Jon P McGowanMr Colin McKerrowMickworth Charitable

TrustMrs Joanna MillanMr Clive MitchellMr Michael MorrisSir Andrew MorrittMr John NortonMr Rolf NoskwithLady Helen OttonMrs Sally PadovanMr Robert A W PageMr John PaineMiss Christine PartridgeMr Clive PayneMr Roger PaytonMr John PearsonW S Pease Charitable TrustMr Robin PerrotMr John Phelps PenryMr Ranald PhillipsMr Malcolm PollardMr Michael PossenerMr Mark PowellMr Frederick PyneMr Max RendallMr Richard SageMr Stephen SchickMr James B SerjentMr John ShelleyDame Janet SmithLady SoamesMr Nathaniel SolomonMrs Sonja SoperMr Rick SopherLindsay StaintonMiss Yvonne StreatfieldMr ChristopherSummerfieldMr Nicholas SwanMr Richard Taylor-Gooby Mrs Ian TegnerMrs Beatrice TigerMr John TookLady Jacqueline TuckerMr Richard TurnerMs Teresa TurveyMr Len WharfeMr & Mrs George WhiteMr Peter WhittakerMiss Diana WilsonMr Alan Wood

Names correct at time ofprinting

The Theatre Development FundA very special heartfelt thank you to all who supported the TheatreDevelopment Fund, including those who wish to remain anonymous:

Enjoy the performance tonight – remember Opera Holland Park tomorrow

For over 12 years Opera Holland Park has been committed to helping young singers, designersand conductors in their quest to produce “opera for all” with outstanding success.

The production team has limitless vision and ambition, but limited resources. Opera HollandPark cannot produce 6 operas a season at affordable ticket prices without your help. As onecritic put it – “pulling wildly ambitious operas out of a miniscule hat has become one of OHP’sbest 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 enjoyedthe work of Opera Holland Park, you may feel inspired to help the company by leaving it a giftin your will.

Opera Holland Park Friends is the registered charity that helps Opera Holland Park to realise itsvision. When you give to this registered charity (No 1096273) you are giving a lasting, taxeffective gift to a charity which supports the opera company whose work you admire andenjoy, 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 thecommunity

Including Opera Holland Park Friends in your will need not be complicated or expensive. Asolicitor will provide you with the necessary wording to include in your will. You can eitherleave a legacy for general purposes so that your gift can be used where it is most needed, or tosupport a specific area of Opera Holland Park’s work.

Whatever you decide, your legacy would be a lasting memorial to your generosity as well asrecognition 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 yoursolicitor or contact Denise Fiennes, Head of Development, in confidence,

on 0207 361 3910 or write to OHPF, PO Box 50428, London W8 9AG.

Opera Holland Park

Season 2007

What Will Your Legacy Be?

SEASON 2009 - Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Documents

Transcript of SEASON 2009 - Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea