A long-awaited revival of Stephen Barlow’s highly-acclaimed 2008 production of Barlow is set amid the corruption of 1960s Rome, where opera singer Floria Tosca and her political activist artist lover are pursued by a state official. Casting is yet to be announced. Evening performances are on 28, 30 May and 1, 7, 12, 15, 20 and 22 June at 7:30PM.
Rossini’s breakneck comedy The Barber of Seville lightens the mood, in a new production. A wealthy suitor disguises himself as a penniless student, with the help of wily barber-surgeon Figaro, to win the hand of a young woman trapped by her elderly guardian. Evening performances on 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 19 and 21 June at 7:30PM.
Next come just three semi-staged performances of a less-well-known Puccini opera, Edgar (2, 4 and 6 June, 7:30PM). With a chequered performance history, the composer’s second opera test’s its hero’s chivalry in love and heroism.
Another revival, of Wolf-Ferrari’s comedy Il Segreto di Susanna is coupled with Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci in a double-bill of operas about challenges to marital love. But the two wives harbour very different secrets: one is a cigarette-smoker, the other has a lover…. Performances 17, 20, 23, 25, 27 and 30 July, 1 and 3 August at 7:30PM.
In its fruitful history, Opera Holland Park has never before staged an opera by Handel, and so breaks new ground with a production of Acis and Galatea (19, 24, 26, 31 July and 2 August at 7.30pm). Two lovers are rent asunder by the jealous attentions of lumbering Polyphemus – and the music is simply glorious.
Charles Court Opera presents a coda to the season with The Yeomen of the Guard, another of its freshly-minted Gilbert and Sullivan productions (7, 8, 9 and 10 August at 7:30PM).
Full details and booking dates are yet to be announced. Operas are sung in the original languages (Italian and English, with English surtitles).
| What | Opera Holland Park 2024 |
| Where | Opera Holland Park, Stable Yard, Holland Park, London , W8 6LU | MAP |
| Nearest tube | High Street Kensington (underground) |
| When |
28 May 24 – 10 Aug 24, Five productions. Start and running times vary |
| Price | £TBC |
| Website | Click here for details and booking |