Looking ahead: Opera Holland Park's 2018 season

Johane Ansell as Floriana, Anne Sophie Duprels as Zazà, James Cleverton as Bussy and the Opera Holland Park Chorus in Opera Holland Park’s production of Leoncavallo's Zazà in 2017, directed by Marie Lambert © Robert Workman

Opera Holland Park (OHP) has just announced the casting for its 2018 season, which will include performances of Mascagni's Isabeau, Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and Verdi's La traviata.

Having given us Mascagni's Iris in 2016, OHP continues its exploration of the composer's wider repertoire with Isabeau. The title role will be sung by Anne Sophie Duprels with a cast including David Butt Philip (who sang in the OHP chorus in 2009 and is currently singing the title role in Brett Dean's Hamlet with Glyndebourne on Tour, see my review), Mikhail Svetlov, Gerge von Bergen, and Nadine Benjamin. Martin Lloyd-Evans (who directed the 2017 production of Puccini's La Rondine, see my review) directs and Francesco Cilluffo conducts.

2018 will also see Opera Holland Park staging its first Richard Strauss opera. Antony McDonald's production of Ariadne auf Naxos is shared with Scottish Opera (where it premieres earlier in 2018). Ariadne and Bacchus are sung by Mardi Byers and Kor-Jan Dusseljee (both making OHP debuts), whilst Zerbinetta is sung by Jennifer France (currently singing Ophelia in Brett Dean's Hamlet), with Stephen Gadd as the Music Teacher and Eleanor Bron as the Major Domo. Brad Cohen conducts.

Verdi's La traviata  returns to Holland Park after a 10 year gap in a new production directed by Rodula Gaitanou and conducted by Matthew Kofi Waldren (who conducted La Rondine  at OHP last year). The title role is sung by Lauren Fagan (who sang Donna Anna in OHP's 2017 production of Don Giovanni), with Matteo Desole as Alfredo and Stephen Gadd as Giorgio Germont.

The final new production is Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, directed by Oliver Platt and conducted by Dane Lam, with a strong cast including Eleanor Dennis and Kitty Whately as the sisters and Nicholas Lester and Nick Pritchard as their lovers, Sarah Tynan as Despina and Peter Coleman-Wright as Don Alfonso.

Further information from the Opera Holland Park website.