London Opera Events

London Festival Opera at La Fenice in Venice

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London Festival Opera at La Fenice in VeniceOpera Interludes Ltd

La Fenice (The Phoenix) in Venice is one of the most renowned opera houses in the world and has a rich history marked by resilience, artistic innovation and architectural beauty.  London Festival Opera has been honoured to perform at La Fenice as a guest company on two occasion including once as part of the Cavalchina Masked Ball during the Carnival Season.

Opened in 1792 where new works by composers such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi had premiers of their operas during the annual Carnival Celebrations.  The theatre suffered a catastrophic fire in 1996 and was completely restored to the original beauty and opened in 2004. 

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Grand Hotel Eastbourne – Charity Opera Gala

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Opera for a charity eventOpera Interludes Ltd

St Wilfrid’s Hospice is an independent charity that supports local communities facing life-changing and terminal illnesses for over 30 years.  Her Majesty The Queen is the President of the charity.  London Festival Opera presented their ‘Opera at the Movies’ programme in the handsome setting of the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne as a fundraising event.  The Grand Hotel dominates the shoreline with its impressive 19th architecture and is like re-visiting a past era of elegant living.  It is regarded as one of the finest of its kind, having welcomed many distinguished guests including Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Conan Doyle and King Constantine of Greece.

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Gala Dinner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea

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London Festival Opera and The Chelsea Pensioners ChoirOpera Interludes Ld

London Festival Opera presented an opera entertainment at The Royal Hospital Chelsea as the entertainment at the end of the Annual Gala Dinner as thanks for supporters.  The event was hosted by the Governor, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw KCB OBE DL.  For the final three pieces the opera soloists were joined by the Chelsea Pensioners Choir which included singing the choruses of ‘Modern Major Genera’ and ‘Nessun Dorma’.

The Royal Hospital Chelsea was founded in 1682 by King Charles II as a retirement home for veteran soldiers and designed by Sir Christopher Wren inspired by the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.  The Hospital is the historic home of the Chelsea Pensioners – there are approximately 300 retired military personnel living in the complex, including 30 female residents.  The choir added real vocal body to the ensemble and a stunning extra visual element in wearing their handsome scarlet uniforms.  The choir was a pleasure to work with and soloists joined musical forces with them with pride!

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Opera at the Movies – a programme for theatres and events

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Opera Interludes Ltd

London Festival Opera’s programme ‘Opera at the Movies’ is proving popular for theatre and festival appearance, as well as for charity and special events.

Many celebrated filmmakers feature opera in their movies knowing that this will add an extra dramatic and emotional dimension to key scenes. Opera brings a depth and richness to the cinematic experience like no other music.

Opera at the Movies is a programme of passion, drama and humour of celebrated opera pieces featured in films including Pretty Woman, Shawshank Redemption, Quantum of Solace, The Witches of Eastwick, Gallipoli, Mrs Doubtfire, Amadeus, Family Man, Quartet, Rocky Balboa, The Father, Moonstruck, Chariots of Fire, The Godfather, Titanic and more…

Sit back and listen to some of the greatest music ever written in the company of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Bizet, Puccini, Offenbach and Gilbert & Sullivan.  This is a live performance with spoken introductions and accompanied by superb orchestral backing tracks.

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Goldsmiths’ Hall Opera Gala

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It was a great pleasure, as always, to return to the magnificent and historic Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City of London for an ‘in-house’ opera gala for the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths’ and their guests.  The evening began with a surprise burst of opera in the Drawing Room during the drinks reception, and then continued with the main performance during the courses of dinner in The Hall.  The performers wore Victoria evening gowns for an added visual impact.  The Goldsmiths’ Hall has one of the finest grand pianos in London: our pianist, Jenny, loves it so much she declared she would be prepared to lodge underneath it permanently! 

The Goldsmiths’ Company has been located on the site since 1339.The present Hall, by Philip Hardwick, was built in the 1830’s and remains much as he designed it.  The Hall and other state rooms have been used for a host of films including most recently for Buckingham Palace in ‘The Crown’. 

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Wedding Opera in Gstaad!

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Magical opera in an enchanting setting!

London Festival Opera has a wealth of experience in creating the perfect selection of opera for a weddings. We recently returned from a very special wedding in Switzerland at the Gstaad Palace Hotel (pictured) one of the most enchanting settings in the world! Gstaad has long been a destination for high society and the international jet set is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort.

We worked closely with the Bride and Groom and looked at the wide range of repertoire available. One Bride for a wedding in London wanted something very different and made her entry into the ceremony accompanied by the rock classic ‘Highway to Hell’ with a superb electric guitarist! After other arias (including from ‘La Traviata’ and ‘The Barber of Seville’) the grand final piece was an operatic version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ with singers and guitarist.

In Gstaad, after the surprise waiter start, the cutting of the cake was accompanied by a rousing opera version of ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’!! There is so much repertoire to choose from and live music never fails to add something extra-special and really memorable to the day…

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Travelling to far off places…

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One of the exciting part of performing opera is the opportunity to travel.  Performances overseas have taken us across Europe and as far afield as Hong Kong, Mumbai, as well as Canada and Barbados.  We travel extensively in Europe often presenting a ‘surprise opera’ entertainment where waiters or fellow party guests burst into song to the amazement of the real guests.  We are currently planning to return to Italy working with the client to create the perfect programme for the celebratory dinner – including special requests.  On this occasion that includes the Drinking Song from Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ and ending the evening with an operatic version of a pop song (the final decision will be between ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’!)

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Lesley Manville – Desert Island Discs

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The Actress Lesley Manville created a really special Desert Island Discs including opera. She revealed that as a girl classical singing was an important part of her life and that she could have perhaps chosen an operatic career. Had she done so, we would have been deprived of one of the country’s most accomplished performers. She played W S Gilbert’s life very touchingly in Mike Leigh film ‘Topsy Turvey’. Her Desert Island Discs is well worth listening to and still available on the BBC BBC Radio 4 – Desert Island Discs, Lesley Manville, actor

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Singing again!

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It has been a very challenging 18th months for performers or all kinds – some normality seems to be returning to our profession as we proceed with caution and start planning performances. Philip Blake-Jones (Baritone and Artistic Director of London Festival Opera) had the opportunity to sing last week at a charity event in an delightful garden in the Cathedral Close of Salisbury.

The surprise ‘burst of opera’ included Papageno’s Aria from Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’. The sunny day, trees and colourful flower beds provided the perfect enchanting setting!

Here’s to the future and the return of live performances of all kinds!

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Opera Choruses – with the Self Isolation Choir

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Anvil Chorus

Covid 19 has had a profound impact on the arts generally, particularly live music.  Some normality is returning but we seem far away from complete freedom from restrictions.  It is possible that things will not be as they were for a considerable time and that the online concepts, such as Zoom Opera Galas and Online Choirs, will remain a vital option for music making of all kinds. 

The Self Isolation Choir is a pioneering company – they presented their first mass ‘Messiah’ with a chorus of nearly 4,000 singers and instrumentalists from 35 different countries last year – and now continues to develop and offer choral experiences in many new areas.  The SIC now moves into the world of grand opera with their https://www.theselfisolationchoir.com/opera-choruses and London Festival Opera is thrilled to be involved in this new project of five celebrated choruses from the operas of Verdi, Bizet and Puccini.  Philip Blake-Jones has worked with four of his most talented soloists creating the rehearsal tracks to teach and inspire the international choristers, as well as the piano track which is the fundamental foundation of the whole musical creation. The rehearsal and concert will be under the baton of the very talented Ben England, who received the BEM in HM The Queen’s Honours marking his leadership in this new virtual creative world.  Additionally, the course will include the expert contribution of Donald Palumbo the Chorus Master from New York’s Metropolitan Opera New.  The Self Isolation Choir has once again assembled and impressive creative team!

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