Opera Holland Park Salutes Bonynge at Gala Event

Preparations for Opera Holland Park’s Summer season are hotting up (you can follow progress from the producers on Twitter @JamesOHP and @MikeOHP). The opening and closing shows – Debussy’s enigmatic Pelléas et Mélisande and the rarity Francesca da Rimini by Riccardo Zandonai – are particularly attractive and they are joined by productions of more familiar favourites.

Another evening promising spectacular music and a star-studded cast celebrates the veteran conductor Richard Bonynge on Sunday 13 June. OHP mark the Australian maestro’s 80th birthday with a Gala Concert, for which they’ve gathered together a dazzling line-up of artists.

The company has links with a number of Antipodean singers, including the sopranos Cheryl Barker and Yvonne Kenny and tenors Julian Gavin and Aldo di Toro, all of whom will pay homage to their countryman.

They will be joined by other artists well known to the Holland Park opera audience: Majella Cullagh, Anne Sophie Duprels, Amanda Echalaz, Lesley Garrett, Yvonne Howard and Donald Maxwell, with a special appearance by Sir John Tomlinson.

Bonynge conducted an acclaimed production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux in the park last year and he will return for this special event to conduct the City of London Sinfonia. Star-spotters may well find the conductor’s wife, Dame Joan Sutherland, one of the greats of the last half century, amongst them on the night.

Anyone nervous of alfresco opera should rest assured that stage and auditorium are fully protected by an overhead canopy (there are no washouts in Holland Park). Proceeds from the night will go to OHP Friends and the charity Mencap.

Tickets, priced between £35 and £65, are available on 0845 230 9769 and you can find further details at www.ohp.rbkc.gov.uk (although they are not bookable online).