The Latest Breaking News from Opera Holland Park

Die Fledermaus review – Strauss staging has flourish and froth, but not enough fizz

Liam Steel relocates Johann Strauss’s operetta to London 1929 to create the feel of a Noël Coward-style farce. Rebecca Bottone, Olivia Carrell and Clare Presland shine amid a strong cast.

The Guardian - UK · Jul 30

Turandot review – Opera Holland Park celebrate 30 years with Puccini’s grand guignol

A concert performance in an orchestral reduction of Puccini’s colossal final opera was stylishly led by conductor Naomi Woo with José de Eça’s Calaf heading a strong cast

The Guardian - UK · Jun 24

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland review – Lewis Carroll’s familiar characters move in from the garden

Alice gets a musical-theatre belter, the ‘Drink Me’ Bottle performs soprano acrobatics and the Caterpillar smokes his hookah like Audrey Hepburn

The Guardian - UK · Jun 21

Trial by Jury/A Matter of Misconduct! review – gags and Spads in Scottish Opera’s sparkling double bill

Gilbert and Sullivan’s 150-year-old comic opera gets a lively update, while there is plenty of fun to be had at the expense of politicians in Toby Hessian’s pacy new operetta

The Guardian - UK · May 15, 2025

Acis and Galatea review – a hectic take on Handel’s perfectly formed confection

The pared down City of London Sinfonia are exquisite and the main singers splendid – although the overworked ensemble hop around, draining the work of sincerity

The Guardian - UK · Jul 21, 2024

The week in classical: Andrea Chénier; The Barber of Seville review – brio and ballistic B-flats

Antonio Pappano bows out with a blazing performance of Giordano’s red-blooded opera, while a fine cast brings out the vitality of Rossini’s classic in spite of the weather

The Guardian - UK · Jun 8, 2024

Birmingham Royal Ballet: Black Sabbath – The Ballet; English National Ballet: Our Voices – review

The fathers of heavy metal have gained at least one new fan thanks to an inspired new Carlos Acosta commission. And the music’s the star in the English National Ballet ambitious new mixed bill

The Guardian - UK · Oct 1, 2023

Ruddigore review – straight staging maroons G&S’s silly satire in the Victorian age

It’s a stretch to make this slight 19th-century satire speak to a modern audience, and tremendous singing is not enough to make it do so here

The Guardian - UK · Aug 10, 2023

La Bohème review – fine performances but Puccini is swamped by busy staging

Although musically very strong and with Katie Bird a lovely Mimi, Natascha Metherell’s relocation of Puccini’s bohemians to a 1950s film studio brings as many distractions as it does insights

The Guardian - UK · Jul 20, 2023

Rigoletto review – Verdi’s jester locks horns with the Bullingdon Club

In an engaging but problematic staging, the Duke’s court is relocated to interwar Oxford, with Alison Langer’s beautifully sung Gilda a standout

The Guardian - UK · May 31, 2023