As the summer 2018 festival season begins, Rayfield Allied are looking forward to performances by a number of our artists in prestigious summer opera festivals across the UK and beyond.
At Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Handel expert Laurence Cummings conducts the revival of Barrie Kosky’s production of Saul, which received great critical acclaim when it premiered at the festival in 2015. American baritone John Chest makes his house and role debut, singing Pelléas Pelléas et Mélisande, which also features in this year’s Proms programme. Nicholas Mogg makes his debut at Glyndebourne this summer appearing as Hausknecht in Der Rosenkavalier.
David Sawer’s new opera The Skating Rink, commissioned by Garsington Opera, receives its world premiere at Wormsley Estate on July 5th. Australian baritone Grant Doyle returns to Garsington following his well-received Forrester in The Cunning Little Vixen in 2014, stepping in to create the role of Enric in The Skating Rink opposite tenor Sam Furness, who creates the role of Gaspar. Furness also makes his role debut as Flamand and Benjamin Bevan returns to Garsington as Haushofmeister in Capriccio, a production in collaboration with Santa Fe Opera.
Julia Sporsén returns to Opera Holland Park in the role of Komponist Ariadne auf Naxos, which she sang at Scottish Opera earlier this season. A favourite of Holland Park audiences, she won outstanding reviews last year in the title role of Katya Kabanova. Nick Prichard also returns to Opera Holland Park in the role of Ferrando Cosi fan tutte, for which he has already received outstanding reviews.
Following the success of Tosca and Don Carlo at Grange Park Opera, Italian conductor Gianluca Marcianò returns to conduct Un ballo in maschera. Peter Auty also sings the title role of Pushkin in the stage premiere of Konstantin Boyarsky’s new opera of the same name, with Novaya Opera at Grange Park Opera. He previously appeared for Grange Park Opera as Cavaradossi Tosca. Mats Almgren sings the role of Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette under the baton of Stephen Barlow, and Phillip Rhodes performs Jud Fry in Oklahoma! at Grange Park Opera.
At The Grange Festival, Tim Reed has designed a new production of The Abduction from the Seraglio, directed by John Copley. David Parry also conducts The Barber of Seville, “drawing a vivid, effervescent sound from the Bournemouth Symphony” (Dominic Lowe, Bachtrack ****). Christopher Ainslie reprises the role of Ottone for The Grange Festival Agrippina, providing “the best moment of lyrical grace in his big third act aria, where for once real feeling silenced the cynical manoeuvring.” (Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph *****).
Adrian Dwyer appears in the role of the Electrician Powder Her Face at Nevill Holt Opera, after singing the role with great success at the inaugural performance of the new Irish National Opera, and also with Northern Ireland Opera. Anna Harvey reprises the role of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, which she previously sang for Longborough Festival Opera, and where she also returns this summer to sing Nerone in the festival’s new production of L’incoronazione di Poppea.
Further afield, in this year’s Buxton International Festival, Nicholas Kok conducts a new production of Idomeneo and the annual Buxton Gala performance with Lesley Garrett. Fflur Wyn makes her debut at West Green House Opera in the role of Cunegonde Candide, Shelley Jackson makes her debut with Dorset Opera in La Bohème as Mimi, a role she recently sang for the Salzburger Landestheater, and Peter Savidge appears in a new opera To See the Invisible by Emily Howard at Aldeburgh Festival. Julia Jones conducts a gala concert also featuring Aida Garifullina and Vittorio Grigòlo at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, where she previously appeared with the festival orchestra and Mnozil Brass, and Grant Doyle sings his first Rigoletto at the Opera de Baugé.
For more information on this year’s cohort of summer opera festival performers, visit our Rayfield Allied artist profile pages.
