Opera Holland Park Diary

Christmas

2011-12-22T08:30:00.001Z

It is well known in our office that I am never at my best at Christmas. It is too expensive, I find the enforced jolly demeanour a bit tedious and age has rendered me less able to cope with the hangovers. I had a very nice time at the annual Christmas party of two of our donors last Sunday which included having to sing alongside two accomplished opera singers. The mulled wine being liberally distributed (which is in fact a warmed up punch) did nothing for my demeanour on Monday and the Christmas tree came under serious threat as I stumbled around the living room on arriving back home.

But nothing annoys me more than the "chuggers" (obsequious young charity collectors) at train stations who proliferate at this time of year. Approaching Fulham Broadway recently, I was accosted by one cheerily insincere fellow who asked for my name. "Don't worry about my name", I growled back at him. But he persisted, "Come on, what's your name?!".

"Ebenezer", came the reply, as I continued on my way.
"Have a nice Christmas" he called sarcastically after me. And I remembered I should go and see Simon Callow in his one man version of A Christmas Carol.

Hotting up

2011-12-08T08:43:00.001Z

It is tradition in our office to begin worrying about the next season as Christmas approaches; once the new year has turned, the race to the first night is a quick one. We begin building in early March, a month that will see the very first OHP Spring Party, a delicious and very unique event (for a select few I am afraid - we have to raise money somehow!)

So much is going on right now. We have recently secured Wealth & Investment as our season sponsors for a further two years and we are a hair's breadth away from announcing our 2013 season which we hope will feature one of our most adventurous repertoire choices for some while. We published our first edition of our new magazine "Scenario" and are soon to put the preview edition to bed.

First, of course, there is Christmas to get out of the way and that means lots of carol concerts, visits to care homes and other such delights. One tradition that we have begun to participate in over the past few years is the house party of two of our supporters. It is a lovely affair with the best mulled wine (it includes brandy among its ingredients) and compels all attendees to join in with raucous and often well sung renditions of traditional carols, often in German, Latin and sundry other languages as well as English. Our hosts are most definitely concerned with our academic development!

Kefalonia Day two

2011-09-07T19:54:00.001+01:00

Spent the morning in Agostolli, the capital of the island an where a cruise ship loaded with a thousand Italians had just docked. I got outta there fast on the back of a motorbike and set out for the famous Myrtos beach. I spent the afternoon in Sami. Which is on the other side of the island from Myrtos entirely but I now have a map and fully intend to post a picture of Myrtos tomorrow. The ride across the central mountains was, however, uplifting and whilst it strikes me that there is nothing totally unique about Kefalonia, it is nevertheless a beautiful island...with shit -very shit- road signs.

After lunch back in the capital, I returned to the hotel pool and found, to my glee, that the Little Greek Gits had vanished for the day. The cacophonous music was still there but less intrusive when I stuffed my lugholes with earphones and listened to I gioielli della Madonna. As I write, sitting at the pool bar after dinner and a chat on Skype with Sally and Fiora, Greek pop music has begun to emanate from the speakers so this might be a short blog.
In fact, that's it. I am off to bed with Lady Antonia Fraser (her book).

Kefalonia Day one

2011-09-06T14:52:00.000+01:00

Leaving London was a double edged sword. Fiora and Sally were sorry to see me go and I will miss them. On the other hand it was pissing with rain and cold at 3 in the morning so sunshine was something to look forward to. The flight was uneventful other than I had the misfortune to be sat next to a large woman. Now, I don't mind sharing my seat (and she ensured I did) but did she have to fidget so incessantly - and from time to time have these weird and violent paroxysms that shook the entire row? I was a little horrified to notice she was sitting behind me on the transfer bus and I had visions of a juddering poolside. She fidgeted on the bus too, rocking my seat back and forth but I breathed a sigh of relief when she got off before me.

Kefalonia is pretty much like every other Greek island I have been too; lots of oleander, bougainvillaea and wispy pines. That's it more or less. The hotel pool, high on a mountain, has a wonderful view; a mile away is the Ionian and before that a plain of olive groves. Between the olive groves and the Ionian is the airport runway, which is not as depressing as it sounds since I quite like watching planes land and take off, especially when a few hundred metres above them.

Things of immediate concern; shit music played around the pool and a bunch of Greek kids playing on lilos. The lilos will be punctured by the morning so that is not too difficult to deal with. The music I understand is an ever present and will be something of a greater challenge. As for the kids themselves, I don't think they quite realise the danger they are in. But they will. Oh, they will. I have already taken a particularly virulent dislike to the older of the group - about sixteen - with bum fluff and a hair style so heavily adorned with gel it stays spiky even in water. He shouts and dunks the other kids. If he escapes without getting half drowned, the recipient of my specialist underwater and unseen punch in the solar plexus, I will be very surprised. It is a technique I developed for my deeply irritating younger cousins in Italy and it is lethal.

Hey ho, here we go!

Films and Harvest Festival

2011-08-22T08:36:00.001+01:00

Today the deconstruction of the theatre begins. In six months we will be putting it back up. Oh well...

The weekend was taken up by Nomad Cinema and three films. They seemed to do very well and a whole new crowd were wowed by the spectacular "cinema" with the huge screen stood in the orchestra pit. But what a messy crowd! The wandering in and out of the auditorium took some getting used to as well. Give me an opera crowd any day of the week. Still, it was a great success - and is there a better place to watch "Cinema Paradiso"? (Not the director's cut, which upset me a bit). They had a band of Macedonian musicians playing chirpy folk music from the
Balkans which is of course the wrong side of the Adriatic for this particular film but it had moderately local flavour. Well done to the Nomad and maybe we will see them back again sometime.

After a short break, the office will be back into full flow in September with much to be settled before Christmas and the intensity of the New Year. It is a short window of opportunity to confirm the details of the next build, set budgets in stone and strike deals with sponsors and supporters. And of course there are the productions to bring to life. The next year is going to be intense with not only the 2012 season to get ready but also the future structure of the company to establish, ready for the 2013 season - the contents of which will be hopefully agreed in short order.

In the immediate future, Fantastic Mr Fox goes to Alex James's Harvest Festival in Oxfordshire. I will be sunning myself atop a Greek mountain at the time but my thoughts will be with them all!

That's all folks....

2011-08-16T08:33:00.001+01:00

So the season drew to a triumphant close with the final performance of the brilliant production of Rigoletto and I feel that all future productions, anywhere, must be forced to do the ending in the way that Lindsay Posner staged it. No arguments. Verdi got it wrong. Not that everybody agrees of course. I had a long letter yesterday from a patron who was outraged that we had "updated" (his quote marks) the opera and had subverted the composer's original intentions. I am not sure that there is a record of Verdi demanding a particular kind of production but I pointed out that the opera was written 160 years ago and the play on which it is based twenty years earlier. The correspondent did, however, think the musical standards to be very good indeed. I consider it my duty to convert patrons from having this one dimensional view of how we should produce opera. I find it hard to imagine that they would want to see essentially the same production of Rigoletto every time but it would appear so.

It has been another amazing season; one that took all the twists and turns that we have come to expect and in the early part of the summer, one that was very much a struggle. As ever, the company pulled through. An average of 98% houses is testament to the magnificent support we get from patrons and now it is on to the next two...news on 2013 soon we hope.

There is a small film festival taking place this weekend and features "Some like it hot", "Cinema Paradiso" and a new film being given a special gala screening' "First Night" which tells the story of a group of amateurs creating a production of Cosi. You can get details on our website.

Open Day

2011-08-08T10:17:00.000+01:00

Shirt post just to say that the Open Day yesterday was a brilliant success, even with intermittent monsoon rain. Loads of people gave up their Sunday to help. Highlights; minute maestro and the chance fir lots of people to realise their dream of conducting an orchestra. The CLS nightmare of me conducting them was realised too. They have never sounded so good though... ;-)
And the scratch chorus who sang Va Pensiero was absolutely magnificent.

Spoilers...shut up!

2011-08-01T09:07:00.001+01:00

And so the great mystery is solved; how would we do the avalanche? Rarely has an element of an opera so pre-occupied a nation! It is worth pointing out that the story is, in fact, that Wally sees the avalanche and throws herself to her death. Does the opera even call for an avalanche?

It has been a bit disappointing to see the closing element of the show revealed in some reviews because its effect at the dress, when nobody knew what would happen was dramatic on those who saw it. But that is a common theme these days; in Rigoletto, the reimagined ending has been given away several times. On that I am stridently with the director, Lindsay Posner, to such a degree that I think Verdi made a ricket of it. A genuine, if rare, case of the stage director knowing better than the composer (ooh, controversial).

As for La Wally, I think there is immense beauty at times in the production and it draws one in- spellbindingly at times.

One almost universal aspect has been approval for the opera's gorgeous score. Perhaps a reappraisal of it as a one aria opera is about to occur? Richard Morrison said in The Times that the Act four prelude is "as haunting as Mahler's First Symphony" which is praise indeed. Of course, we have been saying this sort of thing about these operas for years and it is good to see credible voices raised in acceptance of this fact. For too long, it has been as if people cannot really bring themselves to accept that there is a whole school of neglected operas that actually do feature some quite breathtaking music. If it is neglected, then there must be a good reason for it, right? Well no actually. It is usually because opera house managements all around the world are simply not inventive, knowledgeable or imaginative enough. One thing is for absolutely sure, there is an enormous appetite for it, as has been proven by our selling out La Wally and pretty much every other opera in this vein over the years. Still, why mine the repertoire of the past 100 years when you can spunk a few hundred grand on another new opera by a pop star? There was a piece in the Guardian today (a decent one, too) by a composer who wonders whether opera singers can sing pop? Why? Because he wants to write an opera and is not sure that opera singers can sing his kind of music. Write a bloody musical then and get Alfie Boe to sing it!

Still, you can always rely on us at OHP....

Holiday to Kefalonia booked. I am already worried I might hate it.

An avalanche of interest

2011-07-29T09:26:00.001+01:00

With the opening of La Wally tonight, the question occupying everybody it seems is "how will they do the avalanche?" I have never been asked a question more often. However, whilst I am not giving anything away, I am happy to report that this is one hell of a score; inventive, never standing still, never stagnating, rich, sumptuous and oh so Wagnerian at times but at others gorgeously Italian. Anybody coming to see it should pay very close attention to the orchestra. That isn't to say that the cast don't sing up a storm, because they do, but it is a total experience that goes way, way beyond the famous aria. There are some very beautiful visuals too..

It is always exciting opening one of our rarities because there is such a great sense of discovery among the audience. Invariably, there is a period of contemplative unfamiliarity but as is so often the case, the brew begins to bubble and the music works it's magic. Can't wait.

Oh dear ACE

2011-07-14T09:42:00.001+01:00

Interesting news from the Arts Coucil that 66 applications for funding in the March round were the victims of computer error when documents that formed part of the applications were not uploaded to the assessors. Some of you may recall that back then I mentioned that I believed we had suffered such an error although I don't know if we are included in the 66.
My suspicion is that 66 is a hell of a lot more than that.

To recap, we had applied for funding of our growing and brilliant Inspire Project. The ACE have five core criteria of which applicants should meet at least two. At worst, we met four of the five and at best, all of them. Because of the success of the project and because of plenty of match funding from donors, we felt it had a strong chance. When the assessor's report refusing the application arrived I was pretty flabbergasted to find that a great many of the reasons given for refusing the funding were attached to what were called "failures to provide information". This missing information included things like feedback, evidence of participation, of service user profiles etc.

Stunned, I called the assessor and expressed my surprise that she had obviously missed the very substantial annual report for the project that I had included with our application and which featured the data she required and much more besides. After a moment of perplexed silence (I swear I could hear her gulp) at the other end of the phone, she said she would call me back. Some time passed and she telephoned to insist that the document had not been uploaded. She added that in any case, it wouldn't have made a difference. I commented that having said the missing information was the reason for refusal, I found it surprising that HAD it been provided, we would still have been refused!

And that was that.

The news this morning will no doubt stir up much protest and the general approach from the ACE appears to be that none of this missing data would make any difference. A truly breathtaking statement in the circumstances.

One good thing comes out of it - my colleagues who probably thought I had mucked up the application can think again!

Inspire tickets

2011-07-12T12:10:00.000+01:00

With the last period of booking for our Inspire tickets having passed I thought it would be a good moment to recap how we got to this point and why the system we have was introduced. First, though, a comment about the costs of calls to our 0300 number. The 0300 numbers are designed for charities, not for profit and public sector organisations who wish to have recognisable, memorable numbers. Calls to 030 numbers are included in any bundled and mobile tariffs. Any additional minutes costs 1.5p per minute. There has been some concern that those who have had to wait on the telephone will have been charged a great deal. If you have a bundled mobile package with minutes then the call would not have cost any money other than using up minutes on that package. One caveat to that is if you are calling from aborad of course.

We introduced the telephone only system because the previous system of having them first available online, and then half online and half on the phone was unfair to those who did not have internet access. Given the nature of these tickets, it is entirely possible that some people taking advantage of them do not have access to the internet. We also stopped the ability of patrons to visit the box office since clearly those who live nearer have an advantage. Finally, we introduced caps on the number of tickets per person for the season. all of this is designed to make the Inspire tickets as fairly distributed as possible.

Clearly, people find the need to be on the telephone all day to be tiresome and we understand the frustration this causes but the demand is such that this would probably still be the case if we had 100 people on the telephones! Having said that, we are entirely unhappy that people have to spend so long on the phone and then run the risk of not being successful in acquiring tickets. If we could process calls more quickly that would be preferable then at least people havent wasted too much of their time and we recognise that.

But how to improve things? We will look at it again but be assured no matter what system we come up with, there will be many who will be dissappointed; with so many people wanting the Inspire seats that is inevitable. We have looked at postal ballot but that feels like a retrograde step and requires a lot of cost, effort on the part of patrons and a great deal more administration. Email ballot or internet forms would help that but would people be convinced of the fairness of ticket distribution? I am more than happy to listen to suggestions. Clearly, when offering several thousand seats at £12, there are going to be those who miss out but making it fair and easy is our primary goal.

feedback and suggestions can be sent to info(at) operahollandpark.com.

Finishing on a high

2011-06-27T09:12:00.001+01:00

The toughest most endlessly problematic two weeks of recent years came to a triumphant closeon Saturday night when the gorgeous L'amico Fritz ended it's run in warm weather and in front of a packed out, ecstatic audience. Everybody was sad to see it ending which is the sign of a happy company and a good show. The reviews, culminating in a fabulous one in the Sunday Times said everything that needs to be said; "this was vintage Opera Holland Park".

Naturally, with the recently arrived hot weather comes the threat of rain and so it is that today we expect torrential downpours later on. The exciting Figaro and La rondine are working in the theatre this week so hopefully it will be brief.

This week is also about meeting and assessing companies who want the job of helping us set up as a private company and charity - a development we are currently exploring. Exciting times ahead...

Web worries

2011-06-21T08:55:00.000+01:00

I am struggling with a sore back today so will seek out the magic hands of a Chinese doctor who I call Dr Death. When driving his thumbs into your spinal cord he intones gravely that the instant pain you suffer is because either of your organs is not functioning well. It isn't because he has just reduced your spine to mush of course.

Anyway, I am contemplating removing all Google alerts. I get links to obscure websites who talk about OHP...some reporting on all manner of erroneous facts. One gentleman who left a review on Trip Advisor said he had enjoyed it immensely and that he thought the local people must have been keeping it to themselves because there are no reviews on us anywhere! If someone fancies registering with TA in order to point out that we are quite well reviewed I would be grateful.

Outfox-ing the weather

2011-06-20T08:43:00.001+01:00

Well what a weekend. Two performances of Fantastic Mr Fox had to be moved to the deck inside the theatre because of the threatening clouds. One of them was for Liccy Dahl and supporters of the Dahl charity so we were disappointed they didn't get the full version. However, it proved to be a good call because within minutes of kicking off a storm of biblical proportions broke right above us delivering hail and the sort of torrential rain you usually see in the tropics. James and I, soaked through in suits, could be found trying to stem the tide of water running into the deck with yard brooms. We are nothing if not an egalitarian company. It was a Herculean effort by all concerned and the show went on. Another performance later in the day and another yesterday passed off with little dramatic weather intervention. We really must be out of our minds.

This week we look forward to the final performances of Don Pasquale and Fritz before Figaro and Rondine move into the theatre next week. Exciting times...again.

Week won

2011-06-13T08:24:00.001+01:00

So the first week of OHP 2011 ended with a lovely fundraising event at Chickenshed in north London - for fitting it in James deserves a medal. It was very unusual for us to do such a thing both in that place and at that time and a very full evening, suffused with great humour and informality, delivered opera to what seemed like a lot of newcomers. And the young thesps of Chickenshed did themselves proud as they showcased the results of this week's workshop (yes, time was found for that too!) Congrats and thanks to all.

Back at OHP itself we have had an emotional and brilliantly successful week with both Don Pasquale and L'amico Fritz opening to fantastic reviews in general. With the weather turning chilly it hasn't been easy for them all...nor for us! Investec Wealth & Investment had their first event too which went terrifically well and we met some lovely clients who found the whole experience a delight. They are a really enthusiastic and imaginative sponsor and we simply need more companies like them to underpin the work of the arts in this country.

It has also been a week in which hundreds of new opera goers have enjoyed L'amico Fritz on the Opera Challenge and as occupiers of our £12 Inspire seats which is ironic since good old Alfie has been in the press again droning on about his working class roots and how all of us in the world of opera look down on him. Bless.

The vagaries of scheduling meant that we have had a ratio of three to one performances of Don P and Fritz so we look forward to the more balanced week. Anna Leese is shuttling between Cardiff Singer of The World and Fritz so a tiring week is in store for all. If you are coming in to the shows, we shall see you there. A word of advice; the Met Office and the BBC appear to be making up their forecasts as they go along. I cannot tell you how catastrophically bad and inaccurate their reports have been. Truly awful and inaccurate to the point of absurdity.
Listen to me.....if it is sunny and warm, bring a coat or blanket.

Up and galloping

2011-06-09T09:52:00.000+01:00

Tuesday night saw us get underway with Don Pasquale...a fantastic reaction from the audience and a respectful one from the press so far with occasional florid praise from certain quarters. Lots of crits to come so we shall see what picture merges. Nevertheless, there is some wonderful singing and comedy gold to be had.

Patrons have been full of praise too, for the theatre and the large zebras (yes, zebras) look surreal and beautiful and give quite a few shocks as people round various corners! I am growing to love our zebras and at the Fritz dress last night, I barked at two young people who approached them menacingly to have their photos taken with one of them. Don't touch the zebras!

Speaking of the Fritz dress....well, I know I get emotional about these things and that this repertoire pushes all my buttons but it really is gorgeous. It is delightful for sure, but it has real heart when it matters. And the music....inventive, emotional, huge at times. Stuart Stratford and the CLS rendered the intermezzo thrillingly and powerfully. As for Anna Leese....I think I am going to let you all decide on that one.....but it is a treat, as is Eric Margiore as Fritz, making his London debut. A smashing reaction from the dress rehearsal audience gives us great hope and we cannot wait.

Almost there

2011-06-03T08:20:00.000+01:00

I haven't completed this blog for a wee while...the wedding intervened and things have been hectic at the theatre. It looks in great shape and having the orchestra in the new pit has been great although of course giving them such a bright new toy has led to further expectation! Two sitzprobes have been a joy when it comes to the kind of sound we can now produce.

Both of the first productions look terrific. Stephen Barlow's take on Don Pasquale is as well observed as ever and cuts right to the heart of the piece. Annalise Miskimmon's Fritz is delicious fun and throughout both there is some top class singing. Richard Bonynge is bringing masterful delicacy and insight to the music of Donizetti and Stuart Stratford, fully engaged as he is on his Mascagni odyssey, is drawing all the heart and soul from Fritz...including some revelatory detail that I had previously allowed to pass me by; there really is some quite astounding invention in Mascagni's writing.

This weekend is all about cleaning, sprucing up, raking, clipping and flourishes of invention. And then we are off. Wish us luck.

Spliced

2011-05-23T08:11:00.001+01:00

So I finally tied the knot with Sally on Saturday. We had a wonderful day surrounded by friends and family. Sally looked gorgeous and Fiora behaved herself, even managing to sleep in the corner of the party for a couple of hours. Things got a little blubby at times and I managed to let the word "shit" slip out during the vows but I had a good excuse. Don't think the registrar was too impressed though. My children did me very proud; Lea gave a speech that, had I been wearing any, would have ruined the mascara and Gianluca sang and played a few songs brilliantly. Sally's brother delivered words from her Dad and sister. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Well neither of mine were.

So it is back to the season build up with the company moving into the theatre with sets arriving to be built soon. The lace is looking better than it ever has so a big round of applause for Kasete Skeen, our operations manager. Things are really taking shape in the rehearsals with two happy companies and great reports. Not long now.

Curtain up

2011-05-12T11:05:00.000+01:00

The traditional curtain raiser to the season - the "Prelude" - took place last night with a big turn out of friends and supporters for an evening of fantastic music with singers from the upcoming season. There we some really impressive performances from all of them. It was lovely to see two representatives of Investec Wealth & Investment as well, both attending what is essentially the first event of their sponsorship. It is an event that always feels as though you amongst friends in the very real sense and we are lucky to have such dedicated supporters. Richard Bonynge took time out from rehearsing Don Pasquale to join us and it is most encouraging to hear how positive he is about the production and cast. There is likely to be some fragility in the office today.

James and I are off to record an interview with Ed Seckerson of the Independent for transmission on their website. Links to follow.

Messy

2011-05-09T07:54:00.001+01:00

A week of press interviews and photographs beckons.
At the theatre kilometres of cable with pretty lights attached to the ends is being laid and everything seems to need painting. Whilst almost complete, the place still manages to look like a bomb site (well, the house is a bomb site of course!) The continuing good weather helps the cause no end but this being Britain there is always a fear that you end up paying for it at some point along the line. We spend such a lot of time working on the aesthetics of the place - a curious intent I sometimes think, since we are an 'outdoor' venue. I often wonder if I am substantially more concerned about such things than our audience. We had a good site visit with representatives of our new sponsor Investec Wealth & Investment on Friday. They thought the place looked great whilst I spent the whole time apologising for the mess it was in. Perhaps it is best that way?

The pits

2011-05-04T08:29:00.001+01:00

With two productions in full rehearsal now, time is running out on the theatre build. It is good to report, then, that we are nearly finished with only the beautification (and a mammoth clean)to come. The biggest aesthetic change this year that most will notice is a lovely new orchestra pit and floor to the front of the seating. Deeper, with sweeping curves, it is a very significant development, giving conductors a more condensed and focused orchestral set up. Conducting will feel less like watching a tennis match now. We have also introduced a riot of colour into the site with lots of new planting and some new exotically filled pots to come. The frilly shirts are out again.

Artistically, the first two productions are very strongly cast with two brilliant directors at the helm so hopes are high. L'amico Fritz really is a lovely way to spend a summer evening and Stephen Barlow has some great ideas about Don Pasquale. Here's hoping for a splendid start to the season.

Conspiracy theories

2011-04-28T08:26:00.000+01:00

The idea that a President of the US needs to produce his birth certificate is bewildering. I l like conspiracy theories, even though I usually think them all to be lunacies. It is fun trying to make them fit the outcome that is desired.
I have a conspiracy theory about Opera Holland Park too. I like to fantasise that there is a large contingent in the world of opera who don't like us very much. Like all good CT, there is often one or two things that reinforce the theory; like a recent national newspaper arts editor who decided there would be no reviews of our productions because we are not adventurous enough. That is true. The fact it is specious bollocks doesn't, however, mean that there is a conspiracy theory. It just means the editor in question doesn't get out enough.
There are others too. I am toying with becoming an official pariah in the world of opera, volunteering myself as a rent a quote who criticises all the unspeakable nonsense that happens in the business. One tends to avoid doing that because there is a fear that people won't like you very much if you do that....(erm, hold on. Ed.)

Anyway, back to reality. The theatre is nearly finished and will soon be ready for the company to move in. I shall have a word with James about our adventurousness and enquire firmly about our plans to engage a unicyclist to direct our production of Gerhard Rosenkrone Schjelderup's 'Sampo Lapolil'. That should get that arts editor salivating.

An Everest to climb

2011-04-21T08:24:00.000+01:00

The wavy line of progress with the build continues to frustrate. Every year we make it more efficient and quicker too, but that only demonstrates how much quicker still we could make it. One solution often produces another problem or even more enraging is the solution that only solves ninety percent of the problem! Still, we are ahead of schedule and the theatre stands tall. The fantastic cent weather has ben a lift but means we haven't yet been able to test the new drainage we installed along the canopy line. Now we are into finishing and aesthetics so the frilly shirt needs an airing. I have some sympathy with those erecting the new house at Garsington because I remember the strange blend of excitement and dread that a brand new temporary building can give you. Good luck to them.

Yesterday morning was spent conducting a photo shoot at Leighton House with two of our leading ladies for the season - Anna Leese and Elizabeth Llewellyn. Both are very much on the rise in this business and they took to their modelling tasks with aplomb. The terrific photographer Laurie Lewis (still works with film, no lights..aaah) did the shots so I look forward to seeing the results.

Rehearsals begin on Tuesday so the office is buzzing with anticipation. I have a wedding to plan as well and a two year old to toilet train although to be fair, Sally tends to deal with the consequences more than I do.

I shouldn't complain. I just learned that a friend is near the summit of Everest on his latest jaunt. He does that sort of thing. He once won a foot slog man-hauling race to the North Pole.

Pah!

2011-04-08T08:09:00.002+01:00

The first day of online booking was yesterday and I haven't had a perforated ulcer, punched anybody or even had to raise my voice. This is news because that first day is normally a catalogue of minor technical hitches or once in a while, major calamities. A nice orderly queue formed in our virtual waiting room (although I believe some had problems with that) and a few thousand tickets were politely sold. To be fair, I think the removal of the Inspire seats from online sale probably helped since a few thousand people would normally be bombarding the site at 10am. I understand that many are not hugely enamoured of our decision to do that but I think things will be a little fairer at least.

It has been a week of continued building. Many of the structures are up and the seating stand should be all finished and dressed by Wednesday.

I have now recovered from the martini fest I partook of with the great director of our brilliant Forza Martin Duncan. Which brings me to my latest irritation. We are all a little gruff in the office because having been nominated in five categories for the Royal Philharmonic Society awards (including one for the aforementioned Forza which was hailed as something of a miracle of it's type) we haven't made the shortlist of any. I ought to beware what I say here but suffice to say I think there is more than a strange whiff surrounding the whole process. I wonder if they are desperate to merely distinguish themselves from the Classical Brits? Still, in an attempt to elbow our way into the elite (we can't get 400k from the arts council for four performances of a new opera so we don't stand a chance in the education category) we are initiating a nose flute weekend in Castle Douglas. Albanian folk music will be the subject and a real ale from the area will be our sponsor.I think we will be a shoe-in. I'm not bitter, but the beer will be.

Back in the real world, we are very close to the start of rehearsals. So much wonderful music and drama is in store, delivered by some gloriously talented people to full houses every night. Who needs awards eh?

Odd times

2011-04-04T08:48:00.002+01:00

Crisp, bright mornings are a good way to start the week. They also help blow away the cobwebs of a late night, incurred as a result of a very nice charity event that OHP contributed to last night. The evening's entertainment was punctuated by a fall by a guest that required the attendance of the London Ambulance Service. Thankfully she appears to be more or less fine. I think she had been momentarily dazzled by the diamanté strip running through Sean Ruane's bow tie. He prefers to think she merely swooned at his "una furtive lagrima" but I fear I heard her muttering "I was waiting for it to spin" as she was gently lifted onto the gurney.The accident didn't, however, spoil a very nice evening for all there and we wish the charity luck.

Today the seating structure arrives and by this time next week we will have the major bones of the theatre. It is April and we are a heartbeat away from the season.

It is a very strange time in the arts world. Last week's Arts Council cull saw some very unexpected winners and losers. If I could only tell you of the weirdness of my conversations with them - we had applied for some funding for the Inspire Project. We shall carry on with that project regardless of course, but it was odd to think that it fulfilled all five of their aims yet still fell short. More odd still is the mystery of what happened to a major document we submitted but never reached the assessor...I am not too bothered. However, getting back to the strangeness of the times, it is undoubtedly a rare moment in the fiscal life of British Arts but I have to say I have rarely had so much interest from sponsors and donors. That might just be part of the natural development of a company whose work is getting so much attention and praise (ahem) but I think there is more to it. It might not materialise into everything it promises but the signs are very hopeful in this regard at least.

On that same note, it was good to see Opera Northern Ireland getting a good review for their Tosca and nice to see Giselle Allen come out of it so well. Thirteen years ago when she was still quite green she fearlessly took on Mascagni's "Iris" for us. It is a tough time to launch a new opera company and one can only hope the people in that part of the world support them. The idea of a Tosca in different locations is not a new one but it appears to have worked well ...risky too! Our Tosca of 2008 was set in the late sixties when Europe was in danger of meltdown....James and I need to discuss reviving it!

Fantastic Mr Fox rides again

2011-03-25T09:22:00.002Z

Yesterday, our annual brainstorm by the river in Barnes (well Hammersmith, but Barnes sounds better) was blessed for the third year running by beautiful weather. Today the forecast is for 18 degrees. I am making the most of it since there is every chance the sun will go back into hiding for weeks. It is a very useful exercise, the away day. So much from last years ideas 'dump' has been implemented since and it helps focus the mind. Having breaks by the sun drenched Thames helps.

Our production of Fantastic Mr Fox seems to be occupying much of our time in the office at the moment because there is a ridiculous demand for it. I think we could sell performances of it until Christmas. We have increased the number for this season already but we still have people calling us and offering to buy private performances! That is obviously a testament to Dahl of course but the real reason, I think -in our case at least- is the way in which we have set it. James made a perfect call on both that and the decision to cut the piece to a very palatable length. It is a very up close and personal production and kids really do love that. If I might say so, there is a very good little film about our production here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aww45RP9eQU

More 'stuff' arrives at the theatre everyday and the build is well and truly underway. The canopy gleams after a good scrub too..http://yfrog.com/f/h75wkvzj/

Spring cleaning

2011-03-22T08:24:00.000Z

A glorious day for cleaning the canopy. And I suppose the men clambering around on top of the roof were grateful for that as it slowly dawned on them what 1200 sq metres feels like when you are scrubbing it with a brush whilst hanging from a harness. Rather them than me..
Tonight we all decamp to Christies South Ken for a Friends event with music and general jollification. We are introducing the company to lots of new people and I am very much looking forward to it.

At the end of this month we hear whether our funding application to the ACE for our Inspire Project has been successful or not. It would be terrific to get some assistance to expand this hugely successful scheme into all sorts of new areas. I can't say I'm terribly confident given the fact that so many have applied for the money in the pot but you never know I suppose. It would be the first time we ever received support from ACE so we are not, as you might say, on their radar. You will be the first to know if I am wrong to be pessimistic.

Quick update

2011-03-14T08:28:00.000Z

After many months of discussion it was nice to be able to finally speak of our new sponsor, Investec Wealth & Investment. It is certainly a tough time for the arts so we can take some comfort in the fact that companies who see the value of what we do to their own business are still out there. Here is to a successful partnership. The next two years will be challenging and exciting in equal measure as we build a plan for OHP's future structure. I will of course keep you all informed!

The roof lifts off the ground today so having a sunny, still day is a bonus. Once up, the hard work to build the rest of the theatre begins in earnest and Kasete, our operations manager has much to do. The box office is extremely busy processing Friends bookings and it won't be too long before rehearsals begin.

We are all at Christies next week for a very special event to introduce the company to new supporters and friends - about two hundred of them. We have some lovely entertainment laid on and the guest list is impressive indeed, so it is an important evening for us with everybody front and centre for the cause.

On the home front, Fiora is being toilet trained. For parents, no further explanation is necessary.

Spring HAD sprung

2011-02-28T09:08:00.000Z

Two or three recent days had lulled us into thinking the seasons were turning. Crocuses and daffodils were poking their heads above ground and there was discernible warmth in the sunshine but alas, no more as icy wind and rain return. In one week the roof arrives and in two and half weeks it will be there in it's full spectacular glory.

My morning has shifted from chuckling at Arsenal's misadventure to the wonders of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West. There is no link, just the myriad offerings of an iPad - news, music and flick football too (PikPok's 'Flick Kick' in case you were wondering).

La Stupenda remembered

2011-02-16T08:50:00.001Z

The Thanksgiving service for Dame Joan Sutherland took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday and a gathering of the great and good from the world of music seemed a fitting remembrance. Richard Bonynge's reading was very touching and delicate and it was appropriate to have the orchestra of the ROH, with Pappano conducting, providing the pre service music and accompaniment. I still think there ought to have been a ritzy send off concert for her at the house itself but the Abbey is grand enough.

I did feel for the singer who performed a couple of lovely pieces; at one point she had to immediately follow on from the playing of a recording of La Stupenda singing Casta Diva. That's pressure but she sang admirably. It was strange to hear the recording floating through the huge Abbey with what must have been a couple of thousand people hushed in contemplation. I was struck by the natural theatricality of it and theatres don't come much bigger or more dramatic than that huge church. The music was impeccably chosen and performed and all in all I think Richard will be immensely pleased with a dignified and majestic service. We look forward to Don Pasquale with him in June.

At the close of the service, it took a while to get out because of the old friends and colleagues one kept bumping into. I was sitting next to David Whelton of the Philharmonia Orchestra, a very nice colleague with whom I had some dealings a few years back. He has one of the more interesting culinary interests; he is a connoisseur of the tomato which being of southern Italian stock I find highly commendable indeed. As if to prove my point, as I write this, a nearby market trader has dropped a mango which has rolled to my feet by my table. A mango is a mango whatever and wherever it is but the tomato is as varied as the peoples of the planet. I raise a glass of passata to men like David Whelton and the mammas like mine who perform miracles with it.

Back in the real world, I have issues to deal with...like French drains and dimmer racks.

Attenshun

2011-02-10T08:09:00.000Z

It was a lovely evening at the National Army Museum last night where we provided some music for the opening of their exhibition about wives and sweethearts. Meeting Dame Vera Lynn, a genuine claimant to the title of 'Force's Sweetheart' was a real pleasure. Meeting Kate Adie, another legend in my eyes, was an added bonus although the instinct is to check there are no explosions behind her. Among the top brass, MOD and other guests were a pleasingly large number of supporters of OHP although I did happen across a General threatening James with a court martial if we ever turned into Glyndebourne. I could have sworn he was standing to attention at the time -and so was James. I gave out lots of business cards so I expect some instructional emails soon but if the Green Jackets turn up in armoured personnel carriers I will know that James's General has had enough.

The exhibition is very touching and there has been a lot of press for it recently - I suppose it really is 'of the moment', sadly. Good luck to them with it.

I am itching to talk about our new sponsors (I am at another museum tonight for an event with them) but unfortunately the time is not yet right - another fortnight or so should do it.

2011-02-07T08:13:00.001Z

A week of events to which we are contributing. I say contributing because they are not ours but they all indicate the growing web of relationships that the company continues to develop. One is of particular significance because it is our first with our new sponsor, news of which I will hopefully be able to give soon. The other is at the National Army Museum who we are in the early stages of a relationship with. You may wonder what the Army has to do with opera but the imperatives of a museum are not too dissimilar to that of an opera company in the same borough; both are looking to engage with youngsters and to draw links between all kinds of history and culture. When you stop and think about it, you tend to find all manner of ways in which to work together.

It is only one month until we begin the build. Ambassadors and Friends begin booking this week too, which is always the most obvious sign things are on the move and although it is still cold, the light available during the day is increasing. Phones in the office light up once patrons start to receive information so Julia will have her hands full with that for a while!

2012 ahoy

2011-02-02T08:37:00.001Z

It was pleasing to finally start talking about 2012 in a non Olympic way. If you missed it, we have announced four of our operas for that season: Lucia di Lammermoor, Cosi, Onegin and Falstaff. We have a new way of working planned for 2012 and there are two operas to be announced. All good stuff and Falstaff is certainly one of the greater challenges from the Verdi repertoire.

We have also been heavily engaged in the process of securing new partners and I am keen to unburden myself of some good news there as well. Such things are not just down to me so much much vaunted patience is being tested.

Annoyed

2011-01-24T08:22:00.000Z

A new box office server has been causing sleepless nights. Essentially what happens is this; the network team is required to run certain bits of equipment that comply with government security regulations. This has all come about since those few data losses government suffered a couple of years ago. A few hundred millions are then thrown at replacing bits of computer equipment around the country. Our box office, which was on a two year old server needed to be changed pronto, or we would be switched off. OK, so we buy a new server, move the software to it and hey presto. That really is all there is to it. However, 14 people, about four companies, acquirers, banks and sundry other individuals become involved and you very quickly understand why government IT projects grow to huge costs and over runs. What also happens is that this army of people begin to use me as the conduit for speaking to everybody else. And of course, they have their own language too. Thousands of emails seem to buzz between us all, cc, bcc, in triplicate, most of them establishing for the sender the position of NOT being responsible for doing something or other. In such circumstances, it isn't very long before my propensity to shout and swear comes to the fore. There is one distinct blessing amid the thousand and one elements of producing opera; it is, almost entirely, a human process. Today the transfer of software finally happens (I think) but there are other elements to complete before we can make a transaction through the bank. And the bank work at their own pace too. Doesn't matter a jot that we own them either.

Loaded with promise - again

2011-01-17T09:06:00.000Z

It was a good Christmas for OHP. We went out into the community armed with mulled wine and sang in a variety of places, garnering, we hope, new friends and fans. But it culminated with the Sunday Times decision to award us with the accolade of Best Opera Company of 2010.

For a company of our size and constitution, that is a hell of an award really. But it presents another problem of course; how to follow it up. There is no question that the repertoire for 2011 offers ample opportunity for fantastic work and there are some exciting prospective performances to look forward to. It would be unfair to single any out but a glance at our cast lists will provoke some thought among you. Some terrific directors are back with us too along with debutantes, always an exciting mix. I have no doubt James will make all of the right calls. But this is the beauty of what we are engaged in, the 'on paper' season holds masses of promise but at this moment in time, we have nothing but the concept of our operas. People are about to buy tickets for something that is not yet created and I find that exciting and daunting in equal measure.

The rain is back with a vengeance so it is appropriate that the first technical meeting of the year is with the canopy company. The roof, which is always the first element of the build arrives in about seven weeks would you believe? We await decisions on sponsorships and a new box office server occupies rather more of my time than I would like. But the 2011 season is starting to feel pressing and immediate, a feeling that tends to bring out the best in us.

Question Time

2011-01-12T09:58:00.000Z

Tonight at Leighton House, James and I will be subjected to a gentle grilling by around 100 of our patrons. It is an annual event but this year we have spruced it up by taking it to this beautiful house and by adding a singer or two. Actually, I say 'grilling' but it is never quite as bad as that. What is fascinating are the varied views of patrons who seem to want so many different things from the OHP experience. In the parlance of democracy, the OHP customer base is a broad church. I think there is probably a bit of High Church in there too, some no church probably as well. But it is fun and often extremely informative when it comes to designing the seasons ahead and the services we provide. You can never really talk to your audience too much although quite honestly, through any season, James and I will be stopped and lectured to by hundreds of people...our patrons and Friends have never been afraid to voice their opinions.

I can recall many evenings when we stand by the stage at curtain call, audience cheers and applause ringing in our ears, when a patron will rush past and say 'wonderful production, well done!', only to be immediately followed by a glum and ferocious looking patron saying 'awful, worst thing you have ever done'. T'was ever thus I suppose.

Anyway, I am very much looking forward to tonight. If you are going to be there, be gentle with me. With James you can do what you want.

Bang

2011-01-04T18:22:00.001Z

The starter gun has sounded. Dougie, our company manager, was haranguing me about lighting needs today, a sure sign things are hotting up. Heavy snow warnings are in place for London this weekend which means it must be time to encourage our audience to think about the summer, we are about to report on the first year of our Inspire Project and the new box office server needs attention. the 2012 season is a whisker away from being finalised (and announced) and meetings to see the set models of upcoming productions are imminent. Site work begins soon and the contractors will all be in for a briefing within a fortnight or so.
Charities having gala nights are coming in to discuss things and there is, as ever a this time of year, the ridiculously familiar realisation that we only have six months to go! You would think we would be used it it by now wouldn't you? Perhaps it is good we feel the pressure as opposed to having a more relaxed and calm approach. Who wants that, eh?

That was then...

2011-01-02T08:42:00.004Z

The 2010 season seems a distant memory already; somebody asked me what productions we had done and I struggled to remember them all. That might be an age thing but it is more likely to have been the fact that we are so embroiled in the next one - and the one after that too. Such is the way of things in the office of an annual festival, the months between the seasons just fly by.

But 2011 is, for so many reasons a year of significance. Britain will be entering a profound period of austerity - or so we expect - and few in the arts are predicting the outcome for sponsorships, ticket sales or pretty much anything at all. This time last year, the recession was an undefined thing for many and not everybody knew how it might affect them. Now, there is some clarity in our world but the public are still waiting - certainly those not in the public sector.The theory that people seek relief from all this misery in entertainment is some reassurance for us all but it wouldn't be wise to take that for granted.

The year ended well for OHP with the Sunday Times naming us as the Best opera company of the year, a huge accolade in the circumstances. Obviously that gives us much to live up to 2011 but I have no doubt we can given the delicious programme (all Italian) and some of the artistic personnel we have on board, starting with the brilliant Stephen Barlow directing the opening production of Don Pasquale, which also sees the return of Richard Bonynge. That first night, as I have frequently pointed out in this blog, arrives with alarming speed and there is much to be done before then. The theatre will see further improvements and changes (that never seems to stop!) and our impact on the aesthetics of the park will be further upgraded which will keep Barrie, the parks manager, happy. Talking of our presence in the park, it is also lovely to inform that Fantastic Mr Fox will be back on the yucca lawn too.
So plenty to keep us busy through January and into the Spring (remember that?)

Here we go again, I suppose

2010-12-28T19:53:00.000Z

As the turn of the year approaches, I feel a need to begin droning on to the public again - it helps configure my thoughts for the myriad details that need attention. Once entered, the first few months of the New Year pass at the speed of a blink and then the first night is upon us. It is a peculiar phenomenon I haven't once failed to be amazed by.

2010 was a good year; a hit season, the birth of Fantastic Mr Fox (returning in 2011) and the accolade from the Sunday Times at the end of the year as Best Opera Company. But the politics of the nation place pressure on us, our paymasters and our audience. A wonderful selection of operas in 2011 will need to deliver on their promise. We have new donors, new partners, much interest and growing support. The next few years hold so much to look forward to - and many potential pitfalls to avoid.

So as we step back onto the roller coaster, I will try, for whatever it is worth, to keep you abreast. I can't promise I will be terribly disciplined about it but I'll do my best.

Francesca da Rimini

2010-07-29T09:14:00.001+01:00

Today's entry is simple
Francesca da Rimini ...oh my God.
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Challenges

2010-07-20T09:11:00.001+01:00

Two rather mountainous challenges are approaching fast - Forza and Francesca. Both are magnificent and Francesca presents us with another opportunity to establish parts of the repertoire in our audience's collective minds. Indeed, we are presenting the public with a challenge of their own - and its not without its benefits to either side. Seven hundred people will have the chance to explore Francesca (and we hope that many of them will be first time opera goers too) free of charge - the 'challenge' is that if, as we believe they will, they like it they can make a donation to our Friends and thus help continue the Inspire Project among other things. Restaurants have been doing this for years; pay what you think the meal is worth etc. So it isn't as innovative a scheme as it first sounds but I am not sure it has been done in opera before. Point is, we believe people take these challenges in the spirit they are intended and we look forward to the feedback. Someone has to expand the rep! Anyway, if you want to take up the Opera Challenge, call the box office on 0845 2309769.
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The final furlong..almost

2010-07-12T12:28:00.001+01:00

Four almost down and three (including Fantastic Mr Fox) to go. Forza and Francesca are not exactly small though and in their own ways all three of the final operas upon which we are now embarked are possibly the most challenging in our history but each is a mouthwatering prospect.
It has been a startlingly consistent season thus far and that counts for much in this business. The return of Fidelio has been uplifting and Don Giovanni has given me pause for thought with regard to my opinion of Mozartian opera (only a pause mind you). Audiences have been enraptured by the both and the house is packed to the gunnels. No complaints there then.
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Never go back?

2010-06-30T08:37:00.001+01:00

Seeing Fidelio on stage again after seven years was something of a shock; not just because of the time warp element, seeing that set again, those costumes and some of the same singers. No, what was most affecting was how magnificently it still works, a conclusion one could never presume to reach after such a long time. It is of course a terribly moving opera, but I have to think that a bit of nostalgia was blended in with the emotion. As soon as the early Act one quartet began I knew precisely why it was right for us to bring the show back to life. And when we see the prisoners for the first time and the audible once again emit their gasps (has there been a more chilling moment of stage business in London in the last decade?) the correctness of the decision was rammed home. I wouldn't have thought it possible to be more proud to be associated with the production than we were in 2003. Along with our terrific Don Giovanni, the next two weeks will be a lovely experience.
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2010-06-21T09:15:00.001+01:00

There is a fresh burst of creative energy and anticipation in the theatre this week with the arrival of the Don Giovanni and Fidelio productions. That the sun has arrived with them is a bonus that didn't seem possible on Saturday as we shivered through the final Carmen performance. There is added interest too because Fidelio is a revival; can the magic work again? Everything is possible with the cast we have and the rehearsal room has been happy, strong and together so we shall see. Don G promises much but as is our habit we try not to get too excited about productions based on their rehearsal runs....but Stephen Barlow is an immensely talented director...

It was lovely to see a great review for Hannah Pedley (our 'second' Carmen) in the Sunday Times. It was a big step up for her and it is great for her to receive some coverage and praise. Nice, too, of the ST to use my photograph of her in the review!
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Francesca podcast

2010-06-20T18:13:00.001+01:00

Have a listen to this podcast on Francesca da Rimini with me talking to Robert Thicknesse about the opera
http://web.me.com/perillo2/Site_2/OHP_Podcast_site.html
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2010-06-18T09:37:00.001+01:00

Sally brought Fiora into the theatre before the show last night which gave her pause for thought when confronted by hundreds of strangers. Her trepidation didn't last long and soon she was marching around the picnic deck, approaching tables. Some of the diners cooed at the approaching child (unaware that Fiora was simply coveting their food); others had a look in their eyes that you see at airports which more or less says 'oh please God don't let that child be sitting next to me'. They need not have worried because she was off to the swings before the first bell.

Yesterday the eclipse became total as both Sarah and Kate were off sick which doesn't help right now. Things will ease from 'lunacy' to mere 'crazy' once Carmen ends tomorrow. I did a podcast on Francesca da Rimini with Robert Thicknesse and in the editing process had cause to listen again to Zandonai's music. Quite frankly it is staggering at times and his reputation as a ravishingly good writer for the orchestra will be upheld. It actually makes me quite cross to know that this school of composers are neglected at all. Like L'amore dei tre Re, I know for certain that our audiences will be stunned by this music. There is a sense that this latest of all Italian opera managed to distil a hundred or more years of operatic stylistic development into an almost perfect, potent brew. The next four weeks will see excessive evangelical zeal in FDR's cause. It MUST be seen and heard. Pass it on.
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Back again

2010-06-15T11:38:00.001+01:00

After two evenings off it is back into the fray tonight with several events at the performance to deal with. The past two weeks have shown the capricious nature of public opinion with wildly differing feedback on the first two productions. Taken across the piece I'd say we have done an average of seven out of ten which given the challenges presented by both Carmen and Pelleas is quite an achievement. The next two productions offer something again and the final two are now also in production; mouthwatering reports emanate from all rehearsal rooms. This also means that we have entered the period known in the office as The Eclipse - when all six productions are 'live'. At this point of the season James manages the not inconsiderable feat of charging around managing the productions whilst simultaneously adopting the Thousand Yard Stare. All of this and the worries of the World Cup to consider. One can easily discern the optimism of the English by looking at the Fidelio sales. All performances are either sold out or down to a last few - except for the one on the evening of the World Cup Final.
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2010-06-07T09:28:00.001+01:00

A week has passed since my last contribution to this blog. It was a week of high drama and deluge, heat and great rewards for the company: Pelleas has mesmerised and Carmen has delivered the goods in two utterly different productions that have perfectly encapsulated the versatility of OHP. The challenge that Pelleas presents was made all the more daunting by first night monsoon rain one couldn't help feeling was trying to tell us something. It began to fall at 6pm and didn't cease until we locked the gates five hours later. But the show triumphed over adversity and in particular the CLS played for its lives. We may have a roof but the damp and chill permeate everything and the company fought hard. By the second night of Pelleas, the climate presented us with sun and warmth, like an apologetic, defeated bully. Looking at the forecast, it seems the rain will try again tonight, but it won't win.
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2010-06-07T09:06:00.000+01:00

Voila

2010-05-30T19:58:00.001+01:00

And so before you know it the season is here and the first audiences (for the dress rehearsal of Pelleas) come through the doors. That dress was accompanied by the familiar rain and summer chill but the weather couldn't divert the impression that Debussy's opera - and this production of it - is unlike anything we have done before. It is easy to see why people are so divided on the piece but it rewards attention and Olivia Fuchs takes us into a deeply unsettling world of endless sadness and impending doom which, despite the flowing mellifluousness and shimmering beauty of the music and the startling images Olivia has created, grips and disorientates like few others do. What audiences and critics make of it we wait to discover with fascination but it is work of a definitive seriousness. Brad Cohen conducts with all the passion he has gathered in the years of his self confessed 'obsession' with the opera

Tiredness is creeping up on the company but perhaps the adrenaline of two first nights will revive everybody? Mournful grey skies are forecast for the opening of Pelleas whereas Wednesday promises blazing sun for Carmen's arrival. Good omens maybe...
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Blimey

2010-05-26T08:29:00.001+01:00

A nice interview with James and I appeared on the Arbuturian website. You can find it here www.arbuturian.com and follow the links from the front page. An interesting website, The Arbuturian.

Less than a week to opening night and I still keep finding things to finish - I think I'm being a bit obsessive though so its nothing to worry about. Great to see the works going through their paces on stage - and the huge contrasts between them; in short, Pelleas will mesmerize and Carmen will pulverize. The new backstage is a hit too.

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2010-05-22T08:36:00.001+01:00

We are in the middle of a spell of weather we can genuinely call 'summer' (25C + and not freezing in the shade). It may well be THE summer and autumn could arrive at any moment, but we'll make the most of it.

As is the usual way of things the critics have begun to submit their last minute review seat requests - one told me that between the 1st and 5th of June there are 9 shows opening in and around London. It doesn't exactly paint a picture of opera as a marginal art-form does it? Of course, those of us without huge subsidies have to fight for every sale and we always do well but even the smallest drop (in our case from 98 to 95 per cent, say, gives us the heebeegeebees; we've been spoiled. Having said that it is good to see Pelleas doing so well and it looks to have all the scintillating promise an Olivia Fuchs production always carries with it.

Today is Saturday and I am on babysitting duty. Fiora will have to make do with pigs and peacocks in the park.
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Help for heroes

2010-05-20T08:04:00.001+01:00

The Chapel at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea is a fabulous place; built by Wren in 1692, it provided a glorious venue for a concert we gave in aid of the Hospital last night. Our green room was the vestry and on the wall is a list of organists who had held the post since 1693. On the list were some very distinguished names but the most extraordinary thing to my mind was that since that time only FIFTEEN people have held the post with the incumbent approaching his 36th year in the job. Next to it was a list of chaplains for the same period and the names were legion - I mentioned this to the chaplain who ruefully pointed out that the musicians get paid more!

It was a wonderful evening and I spent half an hour chatting to an old soldier who is trying, at the age of 90, to get back to Italy in September so he can visit the graves of those friends he lost there. Unfortunately he cannot afford the cost of going (a carer needs to accompany him). I have resolved to try and help; he fought very close to where my mother grew up and having recently read James Holland's book on the final year of the war in Italy, and from hearing the stories of my family, I know that it was one of the most attritional, brutal campaigns of the entire war.

The Carmen company arrives in force today and in less than a fortnight we're off...
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Hollywood or bust

2010-05-17T07:13:00.001+01:00

James has tweeted about Woody Allen's latest movie being premiered at Cannes this week. This is significant to us because OHP was used as a backdrop to a key scene in which the ageing Anthony Hopkins introduces his new young squeeze (for whom he has left his wife) to his daughter (Naomi Watts) for the first time. I suppose its possible we don't make the final cut but it seems pivotal to the plot! There also seems to be a sizeable Woody gag in the backdrop - large banners were erected outside the theatre (on which they agreed to keep the words Opera Holland Park) that advertised a concert of Mozart's late symphonies...

We all had a fun evening playing extras on the shoot and meeting Hopkins was interesting -turns out he has ambitions to compose an opera.
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By jove we've done it

2010-05-15T18:46:00.001+01:00

I dropped by the theatre on the way to a shopping trip with the kids (on FA Cup Final day!!) and found the site sparkling with an army of cleaners buzzing around and all but the very smallest things and some horticultural primping yet to do. I know the company have never come into such a finished site and I hope the buggers appreciate it: I shall patrol and mount snap inspections to ensure that all members of the company are keeping things in good order! I left the theatre barking at Dougie, our company manager, that he had better keep his house in order. I could see that behind his derisory chuckling he knew I meant business.
He had better beware because I learned my inspection techniques at boarding school under the tutelage of our Matron, Pam Dobie - a ferocious Scot with a dust radar the CAA would appreciate.

Now it is two weeks of madness before the 3 months of pandemonium: soon James enters the early 'eclipse' and before you can say boo to a peacock we'll have six live productions. In fact this year, with FMF we have seven of them. Lunacy really.
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Prelude

2010-05-14T07:02:00.000+01:00

Last night, at Kent House, we held our traditional season curtain-raiser, the 'Prelude'. As ever it was a convivial event attended by over two hundred Friends who heard an array of brilliant singers from the season ahead perform a wonderfully eclectic programme of music ranging from Verdi and Mozart to Dvorak, Gounod, Lalo and Britten.
Thankfully, after my brush with alcohol last weekend, I more or less abstained and have woken up human.

These events raise a good deal of money for the Friends which of course finds it way back to the company and the work we do. I am always very humbled by the dedication and support the Friends who organise all of this show and when things are tough and busy and troublesome - as every season is at about this time - I don't suppose we can ever seem as grateful as we really are. We get much personal support from so many people too and one's expression of gratitude for that when you have the pre-season 'thousand-yard stare' is never really fulsome enough. I have to hope they all know..

This is the final weekend before the theatre is handed full time to the company - although various technical rehearsals have been taking place recently - and then we race to first night. Yesterday was fairly dramatic with diggers and all manner of works to replenish landscaping (and to resolve drainage issues). Our lovely theatre looked like a building site again but by the end of the day it was returning to normal. It is having its final manicure.
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I'm never going to drink again. Ever.

2010-05-10T09:12:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a day of celebration for Chelsea fans. I live near the stadium so it was easy to get out among the celebrants and to meet up afterwards with a few pals. I am afraid, however, that I may have toasted the Premiership too vigorously; today is not a good one to be meeting sponsors which is just one of the tasks I am scheduled for. I had to forego my walk to work but within seconds of getting on the train I wished I hadn't. Having been held up only by the compacted commuters around me, we then got held up at a red light for what felt like hours. So I got off to recover at a cafe in Earls Court from whence I write this. I shall stroll gently to work from here, bathed in milky sunshine and hoping nobody bumps into me since there would be just one outcome (and I am not sure I would be able to get up again.) Still it was a great day. I think.

We finish the theatre this week and the company take up residence in full from the weekend. That's a big moment for obvious reasons and it's a short hop from here to first night.

Actually I don't think I can manage that stroll so I'm off back into the station...
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Never put your daughter on the stage...

2010-05-08T14:20:00.000+01:00

She does't look too happy but Fiora took her first steps onto the OHP stage today.

Hung

2010-05-07T08:39:00.001+01:00

With about 70 seats still to declare the new parliament looks well hung with several unruly members ejected and a few new ones about to enter the house.
We could end up doing it all over again in a few months - weeks even. Hopefully the populous will return to something resembling normality now?

Everybody is a full pelt in the office and there is no shortage of additional demand on our time from other aspects of the business. Positive signs emanate from the rehearsal rooms which underpins everything so we have reason to be optimistic. James and I are thinking of some glitzy, interesting people to interview for our occasional podcast series (so watch this space) and the final week of the build is about to begin - mostly frilly-shirt work left now..
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Back into it

2010-05-05T08:52:00.001+01:00

It never ceases to amaze me how the production of opera refuses to permit you a smooth passage to opening night; one of our Carmens has strained her back which means physio and osteopathy but with three or more weeks to go should hopefully present nothing more than a painful few days for her and inconvenience for the rehearsal schedule. And now the volcanic ash is making a threatening comeback...

Of course we also have the election to contend with tomorrow. Elections always send the nation into a kind of dormant state as though we expect some huge post-poll eruption that has to be gotten over before moving on (note the volcanic references). If you believe the pollsters there may well be some continuing rumblings after this one but we shall have to wait and see. General opinion has it that whoever wins, the arts might come in for some stick. For us, whatever the outcome tomorrow, we have a theatre to build and six operas to produce.

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Plugging away

2010-05-04T22:05:00.001+01:00

A productive day ended with Chelsea winning the FA Youth Cup which is something I couldn't let pass without remark. Orchestra pit installations, lighting and electrical fit ups and fancy new concertina shutters on the bars and whizzy new surtitle monitors are one thing but the new generation of Chelsea stars is quite another.

Large pieces of set have begun to appear on site - some early technical rehearsals take place on Saturday - so within days we become a working theatre which will be nice. The process of this build has been very illuminating and I cannot begin to list the alternative solutions I now have firmly in mind but that is for the autumn; right now we are on course for an exciting season and the general build up in the public mind is gathering steam.

Julia is grafting away on the season magazine which is a complex beast, juggling with our first night invitation list and a multitude of other tasks. She seems able to manage without my constant presence and only being here for a few months appears not to be relevant. That tends to be the way of things at OHP - vertical learning curves. Soon an intern from Harvard university arrives for a few weeks and she too will be flung into the fray!
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OK, enough already

2010-05-03T16:43:00.000+01:00

We have reached the point where we just want every contractor finished and off site so we can beautify the place. True to say this final technical piece of the jigsaw is the stuff that actually makes us a theatrical space - it will also contribute to the beautification. Anyway even the weekend deluge couldn't dampen spirits although a few carpets were..

Getting back onto the other part of the business will be good too with lots to look forwards to. Planning radio and press slots for the first two shows and starting to get a picture of the productions as they develop in the rooms is always exciting. The way shows grow and emerge from the rehearsal room is endlessly fascinating; so too is seeing the cast begin to realise what it is they are a part of. Sometimes they can't really tell until they are on-stage, with sets and lights and the real space and then it dawns. It is a wonderful process and productions come vividly to life - sometimes most extravagantly only when performed to an audience. Good noises are coming from both the Pelleas and Carmen rooms so here's hoping.

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Power to the people

2010-04-29T21:28:00.001+01:00

A large slice of the day was dedicated to testing our new surtitle system which is lovely smooth white text on black beamed into the auditorium via sexy plasma screens. Of course being the kind of venue we are means that really, we have no place dealing in this sort of technology but our audiences have come to demand it. What amazes me is how different expectations are from person to person; I find no trouble seeing our existing screens (fuzzy, super bright green LEDs) from the front row for instance, but other people claim to have to lay flat on their backs in order to read them. In all honesty I find that I need merely use my ocular muscles to swivel my eyes upwards and neck muscles don't come into it. Go figure. Today I sat in the very back row and thought the text beautifully clear, even without my necessary glasses....how many people will disagree with me? I believe that even though people can see things perfectly clearly, they often want a fifty percent safety built in just to make sure. Still, we are looking at ways to improve the whole system and we may consider additional displays should we work out somewhere suitable to put them. It is all about money though and we don't have much of that going spare. The displaying of text is produced by very long Powerpoint presentations; not being a great fan of Windows programs I have some innate fears about reliability (probably unfounded and it is now the industry norm I believe). Might be worth have a load of boards printed up and have a bloke standing by just in case eh?

Slowly but surely we approach completion and on Saturday the major electrical and lighting installation begins. A week after that the company and the first two productions arrive on site for technical rehearsals. For the final cosmetic push I shall have a freshly laundered frilly shirt.
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Walk the talk

2010-04-27T22:20:00.001+01:00

James and I did another interview today and I am becoming quite impressed by the seamless way we integrate our answers. We don't have an 'act' per se, we just remain determined and passionate about the project when prompted by familiar questions; just wind us up and let's us go. Crucially, we say the same things we have been saying for many years, only now we have more evidence to back up our assertions (particularly with the Inspire Project bearing so much fruit). Sooner or later some really influential people are going to pay attention...

I had a varied day of it today. Interesting I should say. A short film about the making of the 'Fantastic Mr Fox' production was discussed just before I had a walk round with the London Fire Brigade. Life is certainly not dull right now. Soon attention will fall on the run in to first night and the challenges of the season. The roller coaster awaits....
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Keep Calm and Carry on

2010-04-26T19:27:00.001+01:00

Now that the site is fully de-aquified the final furlong of the build can continue. Cleaning is the main job so that the technical installation can progress without hindrance. The lighting of the site is the real aesthetic finishing touch (as well as, obviously providing the stage rigs etc) and adds the bit of magic that makes OHP so unique and special.

With the first two shows in full production rehearsals as well it is now time for a cool head and sharp focus on the details (and finding solutions to small problems that crop up when we solve another bigger issue). Still, that's the fun and I sincerely hope everybody notices the changes! It even goes down to the level of cleaning stonework that hasn't been touched in years but which, once cleaned sparkle by comparison to before. I hasten to add that we don't touch the listed stuff although last year that was renovated and we saw the full glorious effect in Roberto Devereux. One critic thought our REAL Jacobean mansion was just a boring, unimaginative set, clearly unaware that he was watching what had to qualify as the most authentically stage production of RD in history.
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Water water everywhere

2010-04-25T09:30:00.001+01:00

Sunday morning 7am is no time to receive a phone call from theatre security. When I saw the number flash up I was more than a little perturbed but I was nowhere near as perturbed as the security guard at the other end. For some inexplicable reason, the head of a water pipe had erupted and was firing a geyser of water into the underneath of the seating stand's front deck. When I arrived fifteen minutes later the noise was deafening. It was clear what needed to be done and I wasn't the one who was going to do it; a tap, in a hole in the ground from whence the torrent was blasting needed to be turned off. Austin, the perturbed security guard, was about to get even more alarmed because he was charged with crawling through the raging waters, under the seating stand and to thrust his arm deep into the hole to find the tap and turn it off. Commendably, he took his trousers off and began his journey. Over the din of the water I could hear him cursing; "I can't f...g find the tap!" I can't deny I had some admiration for him and urged him to persevere. Through the din and burbling I heard him proclaim, "I'm f...g soaked! Wait! I think I got it!" And true enough the sound subsided. Austin crawled out from the space like a soldier on an assault course, clearly pleased with his achievement but wet through. I am sorry to say that I found him an amusing sight but I shall instruct his employer to give him a bonus for going above and beyond the call of duty. That is a quality we always need at OHP.

The only other time I know of when somebody has had to de-trouser was when a waiter at a restaurant spilled gravy down my suit - all of it. An hour or so later we had a royal visitor at the theatre which required a better appearance than I was now able to present. I managed to find a dry cleaner prepared to clean the suit immediately whilst I waited in shirt and socks at the counter. It was surreal and I was getting some funny looks from the Hoffman press operator but I arrived on time in a crisp, clean suit.
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Well done Njabulo

2010-04-24T19:25:00.001+01:00

Some very good news of a singer who has been around HP for a few years now; the effervescent South African Njabulo Madlala. Last night he won the Ferrier awards, probably the UK's most prestigious singing award; it is one that carries a hefty financial prize too so when Njabulo is at OHP in our Fidelio this season, the drinks are very much on him. Congratulations to him and here's to a fine career.

It is a momentous day in this household too because Fiora is going into a normal bed. I have spent the last hour putting together a bed rail which involved quantum physics, indecipherable drawings and a deep laceration on my finger. Then I walked to the gym and discovered it closed. I am not in the mood for much now.

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Techno leap

2010-04-22T18:57:00.002+01:00

Today was more interesting in the office than at the theatre (where a lone chippy is doodling away on bits and pieces) because we have reached the 21st century technologically speaking; we took delivery of a Mac. This now means we can do far more multi-media stuff (I don't have to sit at home all night editing short films on my own Mac for example) and we can do simple things like, errm, burn CDs or DVDs. It also means we can manage our photo library (huge) without having to prepare a picnic and a flask of coffee whilst our PCs chug away opening images. All in all a thoroughly welcome development.

I gave the leader of the council a show around the theatre today since he was passing and he seemed suitably impressed; which when you think about it, is another thoroughly welcome development.

Crisis? What crisis

2010-04-21T08:24:00.002+01:00

As quickly as the air chaos ensued the difficulties abate. We really can make a mountain out of a volcano. If the Axis powers in 1940 had waited for snow etc..well if they had stirred up an Icelandic volcano...

I have always had an admiration for the Icelanders; a nation with the population of Kensington and Chelsea has produced world class footballers, opera singers, pop acts AND managed to fleece half of Europe's population of their savings. There is a joke going around that says the Icelanders offered to switch of the volcano is we stopped telling them to pay us back.

I had another alarming dream last night in which I attended a rehearsal of Forza only to discover that everybody was singing in English. Now I don't want to ignite a debate about original language versus translation - it's just that the alarm in the dream stemmed from the fact that we have told everybody we are singing it in Italian. I took this up gingerly with James (who, it has to be said is appearing far too frequently in my dreams) concerned that he would be faced with another hurdle only to find he knew about it all along! I woke up just before I hit the ground.

These dreams about work might make you think that I am worried and concerned about everything which I'm not. But when I have a dream about carpenters I will consider therapy or retraining as a milkman or something.

Hmmm

2010-04-20T13:45:00.002+01:00

As I sit here writing this under crystal clear blue skies (again), the surreality of the travel chaos, caused by a cloud nobody can see emanating from an Icelandic volcano nobody can pronounce, continues to have profound effects on our first two productions. With singers and conductors scattered to four corners of the globe, James is as much a travel agent as he is a producer at the moment.

Tricky kick-off

2010-04-19T09:02:00.002+01:00

It is the start of Carmen rehearsals and various individuals are dispersed Europe wide. I suspect a large Islay Malt for James will be necessary by the end of the week. I'm not even sure I won't be driving hither and thither across the continent to gather them all together.

Cloud? What cloud?

2010-04-18T16:34:00.002+01:00

The apocalyptic predictions that a country-sized cloud of volcanic ash would blot out the sun in the UK have been thwarted by..well, the sun. It has been shining endlessly for days and at the moment it does so with a strong heat too. If the cloud that has brought silence to the skies over London IS up there, it is of a kind that can only be detected by jet engines.

Holland Park was choc full of people enjoying the sunshine and we joined them after a quick check of some work that has been going on over the weekend. Hundreds (thousands) thronged the lawns of HP today and I kicked myself for not having a team of leafleteers out there on the North Lawn. Still plenty seem to know what is going on because I heard quite a few sounding eager now that we are getting visibly ready for the season ahead. Interestingly one lady wondered aloud to her companion that we "must be starting earlier this year" and a young girl asked if "there was going to be opera again mummy?" And it is nice to see the grand "Inspire" wall getting attention from across the pathway. The good weather is always a prompt for those who have a more laissez faire attitude to ticket booking. They had better hurry up.

No standing still

2010-04-17T07:53:00.002+01:00

The past two weeks have been productive and very hard work for Stu and Kasete, his oppo and our deputy house manager but they have done very well. They nor any of the contractors working on site probably need me prowling around scrutinising every screw, line, cut and joint but they have been tolerant (although on-the- hoof decisions tend to get made when they are needed). This whole process of change has been a cycle of solving one issue and creating another but the road might now have straightened out. Yesterday (with Kasete in the Charlie Dimmock role of doing the work and me in the Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen role of mincing about with the aesthetic eye) we spent an hour arranging olive trees in pots around the perimeters of various facilities. That is something we normally do two hours before curtain up on the first night so it has to count as progress. We also made the momentous decision to paint four of the support legs of the mezzanine so that they match the colour of the seating structure they abut. Such things, as I have oft repeated, matter! Henceforth, all is detail and I hope we don't over-egg the pudding.

James is in full-on producer mode dealing with last minute problems of casting and the flicking tail of a volcanic cloud that is slowing the arrival of Europe based singers for the start of music rehearsals on Monday. He could do without it for sure but I think sometimes he couldn't really do without it if you know what I mean? He and the company have always flourished in adversity so the bigger the problems he describes, the more sanguine I tend to get; history tells me that the success of the outcome is directly proportional to the depth of the abyss we have peered into. Is that the mark of a good outfit? I like to think so. The challenges of Pelleas, our opening production, offer the most tantalising results, for example. And with that in mind we sit down soon to finalise the 2012 season.

Back in to it

2010-04-15T20:18:00.002+01:00

The visit to Eastbourne was ended with a long (very long) steeply undulating walk along the cliffs from Beachy Head to the old listed lighthouse that had once been jacked up hydraulically and moved fifty feet inland to avoid the advancing cliff erosion. Beachy Head is possibly one of the most strangely poignant places I have been. If the signs for the Samaritans in the car park were not enough to remind you of why some people are drawn to the place, the first person we saw up there was a woman with a high visibility jacket with "Chaplain" written across the back of it. It is also a breathtakingly beautiful place and frighteningly exposed with small wooden crosses and flowers dotted along the craggy, crumbling and unprotected cliff edge. I shall not rush to return. Odd that one of the most glorious spots in the UK (one that on a bright day can uplift and invigorate) should become both a beacon and a shrine to the sad and lost because what makes it inherently beautiful offers certain oblivion should you wish it.

Seaside

2010-04-14T08:30:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, the kids and I enjoyed a gorgeously sunny day on the south coast, wandering up and down the promenade and playing the most elaborate game of crazy golf known to man (18 holes, par 58, my score ten under par). It was the great British Day Out that included fish and chips too: today we'll traipse across the cliffs at Beachy Head before making our way back to London. There won't be many more opportunities for such a jaunt until September. The Blackberry didn't stop buzzing of course but it delivered nothing of alarm or disaster so the point of these 48hrs has been preserved more or less intact. I will probably be at the theatre late this afternoon to see progress and where I am led to believe things have gone largely to plan.

I am writing this on the veranda of the seafront hotel as I wait for the kids to get up for breakfast. The coffee roughly approximates what I am used to, the English Channel is reassuringly grey and the pier off to my right looks as flammable as any British pier should. I can't say that I would be happy to spend a whole summer holiday in such a place but the Victorians created towns like this with a splendour that although faded now, still hangs on. Only a couple of hours from London, I have always wondered what a southern European climate would do to places like this. Culturally speaking, the 28 miles of water between here and France seem much greater but perhaps it is worth celebrating the difference?

Minutiae

2010-04-12T20:22:00.003+01:00

It would be dreary to lay out the myriad work going on at the theatre site so suffice to say there is a lot of it and it is happening at great pace. There are annoying glitches that take time to remedy (seating structures two inches out of whack etc) and we constantly chase the new works with suddenly appearing issues that need further remedy. Still we are a month ahead of where we would usually be and there is time, when everybody has left site next week, to begin fine tuning. Stu is in the heart of the maelstrom and is coping admirably in his calm stoical way. When I mentioned this to him the other day he said "drowning, not waving" - but then he laughed because I think he saw the fear in my eyes. Then I laughed too - with the fear still in my eyes - and Stu marched off to solve another problem. Indeed, he is a real utility player who I have just remembered is also a trained actor so he can record all the house announcements as well - although the Aussie twang will need to be curtailed!

Things are progressing so well I feel able to take two of my kids to Beachy Head for a couple of days. Given the history and reputation of the place I won't tell Stu where I'm going in case he asks to tag along. Actually, in view of the irritation James is having right now with some casting replacements I'm only glad he is at the other end of the country as well.

Getting interesting

2010-04-09T07:47:00.002+01:00

A person should have many interests. That James and I share more than those operatic was demonstrated in the course of a filmed interview we were doing yesterday; mid-flow we broke off in that weird stream of consciousness way to talk about Des Lynam, football and Fulham FC (who neither of us supports but we do have an acquaintance with their manager). If the director of the shoot was perturbed by this he didn't show it and allowed us to find our own way back onto the issue at hand (opera). More about why we were in this situation may become known in due course but it was quite an illuminating moment for all concerned.

By Saturday morning the bulk of the theatre will be complete. Then for the detail. Our PR company are on board, the box office is in full swing and preparations for the first few events of the season are well under way.

Wow

2010-04-07T18:37:00.002+01:00

Up with the lark and in at site by seven tomorrow - we begin the process of internal walling for the backstage and need to check final layouts. I can honestly (but a little sheepishly) say that I am like a kid with a new toy over the new backstage. It all feels very similar to when, at five years old, we went to visit our new flat to which we would soon move from our cosy slum in Shepherds Bush. The flat had a bath and I insisted that I sit in it because I had never seen a fitted bath before. The contrast between the previous cabin village and this new facility is about as vast as my slum and the new flat. Actually, I think my slum was better appointed than our old backstage.

Today was crazy and rewarding - so much has risen from the ground in one day. At this rate - touch wood etc etc - the company will arrive to a beautifully finished theatre for a change. I have already decided what changes I am making next year!

Ooops

2010-04-06T19:26:00.002+01:00

The title of this blog is not an indication that mistakes, per se, have been made but a few issues today - as easily resolved as they were at the time -served as reminders that in a whole new build schedule and method, one can run up against the smallest problems that hadn't been considered. In each case a solution that is better than the original idea was found so its all good. And the sun was shining.

The other "oops" is that we seem to have underestimated the appeal of Forza so James is busily trying to see if an extra show is feasible. A good "oops" I think you will agree. Watch this space to find out if he manages it.

The floor of the new backstage was installed today and looks like the centre court at Wimbledon and we'll need a windsock on there just in case any struggling light aircraft try to land on it.

Go forth and prosper

2010-04-05T19:05:00.002+01:00

I'm itching for the week to get underway; a long weekend is a challenge when you have a 19 month old who hasn't mastered the art of entertaining herself for more than five minutes. After your five hundredth 'this is the way the lady rides", or you thousandth "row, row, row your boat", builders, trucks, cranes and hammering is idyllic by comparison. And indeed over the next few days we'll see lots of the above.

I got into a bit of a row with somebody over Carmen. She insisted that the Prosper Merimee novella was lovely and moving and, and, and .. I couldn't work out what bearing that had on the fact I find the opera about as tedious as it is possible to and that I don't know of any opera whose characters I could care less about. She launched into a treatise on the wonderful Spanish culture and was undeflected by my pointing out that both the source text and the opera were created by Frenchmen who were indulging in the sort of cultural caricature that we see in the oriental parts of the repertoire. To be honest I was wasting my time; I had been considering reading the Merimee but she has put me right off and I think I will move straight to Hugo's 'Le Roi s'amuse' in preparation for Rigoletto in 2011.
There simply is no point arguing with me about Carmen.

Easter

2010-04-04T21:40:00.001+01:00

I am afraid that neither Easter nor Christmas carries much religious significance for me personally - if it did perhaps I would enjoy them more. Interestingly (for me anyway) many operas carry a heavy religious content and the struggles with their religious beliefs - or the horrors they commit in His name - that characters endure or enjoy do fascinate me. There are many examples of course but for me this is best encapsulated in Tosca (not the only Puccini with such a plot curve). I don't know many people who agree with my opinion of why Tosca kills Scarpia but I doubt I'd elucidate on it over dinner with a Catholic priest.

By the way I had a nice lunch in Hampstead and won a two foot chocolate bunny in a free raffle. The true message of Easter for most!

I have also been reading some of the articles that have been written for our programme. Along with Tony Holden's lovely story of the process of Da Ponte's creation of the Don G libretto, I was very taken with Michael Tanner's humanist view of Fidelio and he draws a straight line between what Beethoven wanted to convey and the interpretation of the piece by director Olivia Fuchs. It is well known that our production was the first to use Guantanamo as an analogy and it shows, if nothing else, that the world still struggles with the principles of liberty and justice - even a nation founded on those very principles. Interestingly, when I receive letters from people complaining about modern productions, they almost always accuse the director of arrogance, of daring to change what the composer wanted. Well even setting aside the historical contexts and time lines of those composers, I'd venture quite strongly that if he'd been alive to see something like Guantanamo, Beethoven would have declared; "that's exactly what I meant".

Not guilty as charged

2010-04-03T12:05:00.002+01:00

In his Independent column, David Lister has reported a complaint from an OHP patron who has complained about additional charges. David rather dramatically proclaims that our charges have increased the cost of the booking by 22.5%. Terrible I hear you say.
Well, let me explain: the only charges applied by OHP is a 2.50 admin fee on each transaction. So if you spend fifty quid or five hundred, it is the same. If you book online the company who manages our online bookings charges £1 per ticket. Not ideal but on the industry low-side. Therefore it is hard to imagine a 22.5% charge? Actually, no, because what David signally fails to point out is that this patron booked two of our several thousand £10 seats (seats I can assure you we would sell out at three times the price). His booking therefore in total cost £24.50. That for two tickets in fantastic seats for great opera. If he had booked on the phone he would have paid only the two-fifty. If he had bought twenty seats on the phone he would have paid £2.50 and so on and so on. If he had purchased two seats at £57 each he would have paid the same; or in other words 4%.

I understand that people don't like fees but ours are very low and Lister's piece was disingenuous and unfair. I haven't heard him praise us for foregoing over £100,000 in real money in order to make these seats available in the first place. I am beginning to wonder if we should bother at all. No doubt we will be attacked for that too?

2010-04-02T20:40:00.002+01:00

Bank Holidays at this time of year are not particularly restful; they just slow everything down and I can be a bit of a curmudgeon at this time of year. Frankly that is nothing new since I am quite allergic to Christmas as well. And August Bank Holiday. And May Day....

I've been musing on the age old arguments about updated productions against traditional. If you think I'm going to offer an analysis here you are out of luck: if it works, it works is all I will offer. What got me thinking was seeing a dvd of a Zeffirelli film. He is relevant to the issue because he once wrote a long article in an Italian newspaper in which he fired off a broadside at modern productions. In the course of the article he picked on our production of Tosca from 2007 (which he hadn't seen I hasten to add) and declared it an outrage to end all outrages because we had set it in 1968 and taken, in his view, unspeakable liberties with it. We hadn't of course but whaddya gonna do? His assault on us remains one of our proudest moments.

It is funny how being insulted by famous people can be a source of pleasure. Richard Dreyfuss once told me that he didn't understand a word I was saying on account of my London accent. And I know for a fact that Michael Caine once said "Who the f...kin 'ell is Mike Volpe?"

2010-04-01T21:15:00.002+01:00

I am becoming something of an expert on fabric engineering. I had to look at something the rigger felt it was easier to explain if he actually showed me. Showing me meant being sixty odd feet off the ground in the basket of a cherry picker. Now I'm not particularly afraid of heights but the space (way, way) above my head is not my normal working environment. Maintaining my dignity and authority was paramount in the circumstances and as we lifted slowly into the air I was nonchalance personified, leaning casually against the guard rail, chatting amiably as if a raconteur at the bar. In truth I was positioning my body to obscure the rigger's view of the one thing that would betray me; the gleaming white of my knuckles. It was an astounding view though and it was fascinating to see the genuine beauty of the structure from a new perspective. These fabric buildings really are the most exquisite and naturally formed architecture.

Next week is a big one and we all wait excitedly to see how the new backstage is going to look. The seats come in too and by the end of the week 90 percent of the theatre will be in place. And soon after that the first two productions begin music rehearsals.

Things in the office are picking up pace and Julia is coping well with the demands - the season magazine is in full flow and the first events are at advanced planning stages. Meanwhile we hope the snow from the north doesn't descend beyond Birmingham.

Two months today until first night.

2010-04-01T08:24:00.002+01:00

Winter returned yesterday. We didn't get the lethal blast that Scotland endured but brass monkeys in Kensington were complaining bitterly. A couple of engineers from the company who build our canopy were none too happy either as they dangled from ropes and clambered over the peaks of the roof. It had been noticed that the finely honed process of tensioning the fabric had gone awry ever so slightly. This meant a small section of the structure looked a bit wrinkly, water was running off it in unexpected ways and points that carry heavy loads of lighting truss were at odd angles. To the untrained eye nothing would seem amiss but it needed tweaking and so the riggers were swinging around in the icy winds fiddling with the giant cat's cradle of cables and turning spigots and bolts . I left them to it in order to get to Cadogan Hall for the Chelsea Academy showcase.

And what a showcase it was; the kids were fantastic in their performances of Carmen extracts and the beautiful entrance hall of the venue looked fabulous. Congratulations to all concerned and hopefully we will see projects like this flourish through next year and beyond. These were eleven and twelve year old kids and we should all continue to challenge them because they really can lift themselves to achieve when they are given the opportunity. There is no limit to what we can expect from them. I know this from personal experience in my own schooling and it is something James and I will continue to preach.

The Indy podcast is up on their website

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/opera-podcast-opera-holland-parks-new-season-1932232.html

Carmen Inspired

2010-03-31T08:09:00.001+01:00

The final piece of the twelve week Chelsea Academy Carmen Inspired project (see our website for the project blog) falls into place today when the students give their performances at an event at Cadogan Hall. We are making a short film of today so watch this space for links to that which no doubt we will plonk on the web somewhere. A really exciting day for them I hope and we are all looking forward to it.

The podcast went well with Ed and I did my utmost to sound as hinged as possible. That will be on the web soon too so you'll be able to make your own mind up. I think some interesting stuff was said along the way...

2010-03-30T08:02:00.002+01:00

James and I are recording a podcast for the Independent today. Ed Seckerson who does these for the paper and syndicates them elsewhere never seems to edit them; which is a good or bad thing depending on how ridiculous the things you say are. I did one with him last year and I still think I sound a touch unhinged on it.

Podcasts are good things now that people are used to the whole process of getting them, not to mention the streaming, press and play nature of most websites. If you have the money you can fill your website with films and podcasts and all manner of fancy content. Very nice too, if you can dredge up the resources. I have doubts that the costs are totally commensurate with the ticket sales it all generates but it doesn't do any harm I am sure.

Get on with it

2010-03-29T20:09:00.002+01:00

The news that Scotland and the north are about to be deluged with snow is a timely reminder that in the UK at this time of year you really can get four seasons in one day. We, meanwhile, soldier on with the build and today saw the arrival of the first elements of the lighting installation. I just shared a pint or two of Spring Cottage Biscuit ale (recent tipples have included Cornish Knockers - the Brits like to have fun with their beer names) with Ops manager Stu and he appears to be taking possessive ownership of the site. He is one of the less brusque Aussies I know but I still sense the first 'effoff and suck yer own pineapple' isn't far away; this will be a good thing and a momentous step in his development.

The box office had a mightily busy day today but appeared to cope admirably. Forza is going all guns blazing and is absurdly popular. Our Friends have been extremely demanding in their desires and have purchased significantly more tickets than at the same point last season. Am I complaining? You can bet a pair of Cornish Knockers I'm not.

The school thing we did was amazing. Ms Boylan was stupendous and brilliant and I can't thank her enough. Her la mamma morta was mind bogglingly good and her way with the students most expert. She is a Star (note the capital S) with a heart of gold.

PHEW!

2010-03-27T14:52:00.002Z

It happens every year; we open the online bookings and for the first hour carnage ensues. Irritating as it is, it is sometimes sheer weight of traffic but the hackles do go up when those who support us technically always act surprised at the volume. A few issues came up yesterday that were a first for us although those same techies tell us that none of this is new - of course not. Well readers of this blog and followers of my Twitter made their feelings known and gave us the odd heads up. New systems are in the pipeline. At one point we had three different servers in different parts of the world suffering the screaming hab dabs for one reason or another. Eventually we opened the phones. Several thousand tickets were sold yesterday alone. Hard hats and saline drips have been prepared for Monday. St Johns Ambulance might have to be in attendance too.
One obvious cause of the rush is the ten pound ticket allocation. Hardly surprising. A couple of thousand went on sale online yesterday and had gone within the blink of an eye. Another couple of thousand go on sale on Monday via the phone (not everybody has online access) and no doubt others will be disappointed. It is frustrating that we cannot give more - Dannii Minogue still hasn't sent the cheque (see earlier blog post if that confuses you). The temptation is to start restricting how many one person can buy of these tickets and perhaps we will look at a booking period just for ten pound seats, stagger their release etc. Making it as fair as possible for everybody is the real challenge.
I am working on a scheme whereby companies and donors can contribute units of money to specifically subsidise further blocks of ten pound seats....more anon. My personal aim is to get up to ten thousand seats at £10 in the season. These would be spread evenly across the six for the first five thousand seats as they are now and then donors could decide what productions they would like to enable people to see. Obviously we need to work out details but watch this space. It might take a while to get to that golden figure of 10,000 but don't bet against us getting there. We will need a better box office system though!

Grumpy

2010-03-25T08:07:00.002Z

I have decided that getting ahead of schedule can be a frustrating experience; you start to grumble when contractors can't take up the earlier slot that has now opened up for them. That then leaves you with empty days that you frantically try to fill with other smaller jobs. I'm not complaining because clearly it beats being behind schedule but the trick, I suppose, is to give each job less time next year (then you will fall behind schedule but will have a month long "safety period" to fall back on). The mezzanine has fair flown up in two days and it sits proudly alone like a giant modern sculpture beneath the vast roof. Just the glass to go in and we will be able to have a party on it although guests would have to climb the zip tower to get onto the floor. There might be a PR opportunity right there.

Talking of which, I was sent a copy of an interview with James and I in this months festival edition of 'Opera' magazine. The writer, Nick Kimberley, in composing a very good piece, has quoted me as referring to myself as a 'melodramatic Italian tart'. I could tell who in the office was reading it by the hoots and snorts of recognition. I can't blame Nick for the fact that in the industry magazine, in which one would like to present oneself as a serious opera professional, one has caricatured oneself thus. Alas, one has to accept its truth. This crashed home to me this morning as I flounced out of the house muttering Neapolitan profanities at Fiora's wilful truculence over playing with the forbidden fruits of Sally's make-up bag. Melodramatic Italian tarts make no concession to the fact that her second birthday is still five months away.

I look forward to tonight when my children's school indulge in an evening of operatic endeavour. In such an environment, melodramatic Italian tarts are tolerated.

Up we go...

2010-03-23T15:58:00.000Z

The mezzanine starts to take shape. We are a little ahead of schedule...

X Factor and free tickets

2010-03-23T08:18:00.002Z

Today's post will seem a little surreal but be patient with me.
Last night I had a peculiar dream in which I was watching a programme on TV that was a strange hybrid of the 'X Factor' and 'Britain's got talent' and Dannii Minogue began to launch into a tirade about young people not seeing enough opera (there had been a vaguely operatic act on stage). Anyway if you are still with me, hang on in there. Dannii said that she thought that all young people needed were free tickets. Then, oddly, the actor who plays the religious guy in Eastenders - who also happens to be a serial killer - Don somebody or other - came on stage to talk to Dannii; actually this is not so odd because years ago that actor did play a non-singing role in a production of Beggar's Opera at Holland Park. Alora, this actor told Dannii about this place called Opera Holland Park who give 1200 free tickets to young people (by now I was beside myself, phoning James and urging him to turn to the channel on which this huge publicity coup was happening).
Dannii vehemently proclaimed that 1200 was not enough and asked how much it would cost to provide 5000 free tickets and said she and her fellow judges, including Simon Cowell who was sitting beside her nodding in agreement, would put up the money. Don, the serial killing preacher, was impressively on top of his game and told Dannii it would cost £116,000 which is pretty much spot on.
"I would do anything", said Dannii sincerely, "to get you young buggers to the opera. This Holland Park place is going to get a big surprise tomorrow!" And the audience rose to roar her on. Meanwhile I was frantically trying to phone the programme to tell her where to send the money. And then I woke up with a horrible anxiety because I thought she would never find out where to send the cheque.
Now, that entire dream was absolutely how it happened. And when you stop to think about it, that is all it would take to genuinely bring our young people into theatres too. Just theatres - you know, pick up a paper, check the listings, go to an opera. Not dressed in pop garb, no stadium spectacles, failed pop singers or rags to riches pub karaoke singers. Just good old fashioned cultural experience given a great big kick up the arse start with a hundred grand of cash.
I'm getting in touch with Dannii's agent today and everybody reading this should mail it to everybody you know -let's get the X Factor doimg some good!

Port out...

2010-03-22T19:23:00.002Z

I view a glass of port as a luxury at the best of times but on a Monday night it is positively indulgent. I bought a bottle on impulse when I was feeling chilled and damp after an hour on site - the weather has turned most un-spring like again. Still, never fear, a small long range weather forecasting outfit in Cambridge somehwere (odd because they get the prevailing weather last of all over that way) have said we are due the hottest summer since 1976 or since Emperor Hadrian was in the hot seat or some such elongated passage of time.

Good. The rain was horizontal today and you'd get wet standing at the centre of the covered space at the theatre.

The mezzanine is prepared and will rise from the ground tomorrow like some constructivist set (or a giant Meccano house - pick your own cultural reference). People are starting to gaze through the fence at the build.

I'm drowning my anxieties in an ever growing catalogue of chaotic late Italian opera - Giordano's Mala Vita is the latest.

Image

2010-03-19T09:21:00.004Z

I'm in the middle of a series of meetings with PR companies who we may charge with supporting our annual work in this field since OHP the brand gets bigger but the office staff count doesn't.
However, perhaps by way of karmic warning, I had an encounter yesterday that demonstrated unequivocally that no matter how hard you work to foster an image, patrons' personal experience or views can quickly render all that you purport to be - or in reality are - worthless. The patron in question was objecting to our admin fee - a small charge on the entire booking and not per ticket. Anyway, the point is not so much the charge itself but the depth of feeling and expression it evoked. The letter of complaint laid a barrage of caricaturistic (have I made that word up?) accusations at our feet: 'nasty' was the least of them and if I am honest I was quite impressed by the lyricism of his opprobrium. I engaged him and feel I may have re calibrated his view somewhat but the point is that after years of happy, willing patronage, one small charge could have rightly or wrongly poisoned his whole view of us.

I do sometimes feel that the modern patron spends much of their time railing against the PR culture whilst falling hook line and sinker for it at other times. The obvious conclusion is that we buy only the message we are willing to buy. It is also a long held belief of mine that PR often seems to reach over the heads of the product's primary audience - PR for PR's sake as it were. And the unpardonable sin of believing your own PR is one that continues to be committed without end.

We need, of course to tell people what we are doing, hence talking to these companies, but the golden rule that the only kind of business is repeat business still applies. It is not lost on either James or me that no PR in the world will save rubbish work. It is also true that the best PR in the world won't change an unyielding mind even when the work is magnificent. But the devil is often in the detail and (coining, literally, yet another cliché) if you look after the pennies the pounds will look after themselves. My complaining client was not happy, I suspect, to get a reply that disagreed with him but was content to get one at all. PR, like charity, seems to begin at home.

Funny old world

2010-03-18T15:42:00.001Z

Just a short note. We had sent a proof copy of a gala poster, for his approval, to Richard Bonynge. However he is away and Dame Joan Sutherland approved it instead. Just thought I'd mention it since it isn't too often you hear that.
I'm glad she liked it though.

Memories and melancholia

2010-03-17T08:55:00.002Z

A walk to work with the voice of Roberto Murolo in my ears. Murolo is one of the great authentic Nnapulitan singers; him and a guitar alone, aching melancholia drenched in the visceral regional accent, words that even other Italians don't understand. I don't know of any other music with such profound 'L'esprit du lieu' and it evokes summers in Salerno with the family, when mum was making the memories she has now lost -although she still remembers Roberto Murolo. I have still to decide if I think that is a blessing or a curse.

Lea is sending me a poster that is being used to advertise the master class/concert that I have arranged at her and Gianluca's school. The fabulous Orla Boylan is coming over to take upper school students through pieces they have prepared and will then give a short recital before joining the combined choirs for the final chorus from Iolanta in Russian. Great credit should go to the head of music there, Ben Parsons, for being so ambitious on behalf of his students. It should be a great evening and a real thrill for the youngsters to sing with Orla.

The away day went well and in a year's time we shall look back, as we did yesterday on last year, and hopefully see the various wish lists coming to fruition. We have a habit of creating monsters that leap from nothing and force us to chase them around; we manage to get them on a tight leash eventually but yesterday certainly showed that we haven't lost any ambition. Expect monsters to pop up all through the coming year.

Exploration

2010-03-16T08:21:00.003Z

Sally, who is a stock librarian, asked me to do a list of book suggestions to be printed up and posted in the library for readers. I dashed off a varied list that won't give me entry to the house of literary sages but it did make me wonder at how opera is so much more shackled by prejudice (benign or otherwise) when it comes to what people will venture out to see and hear. OHP, of course, has a better record than many in this regard - we have persuaded thousands of people to extend their operatic tastes, but even we meet entrenched resistance with some parts of the repertoire and no matter how good you tell somebody an opera is, they will dig their heels in and refuse to give it a try. 'Better the devil you know' would seem to be the principle criteria.

Music is unique in this regard which is odd since it is the art form with the most infinite possibilities. People who happily read new book after new book, see play after play, watch latest movie after latest movie will restrict themselves to the narrowest repertoire of opera (you know the form) and even when they do explore the edges, there will often be other rules of engagement - in my experience the rarity stands a better chance if it is Italian. And offering it cheaper only makes a partial contribution to improving that situation. I have mountains of statistics to back this up by the way so don't argue with me.

I'm not complaining that people flock to what they know - it means we can safely programme the bulk of our season. Our many years of work mean that we can also safely (almost) programme some rarities that others would consider potential disaster. But I do wish that unknown, but good operas (and I'm not talking about contemporary opera although some of those do quite well relatively speaking) would be greeted with the same universal excitement as a new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. I will leave the reader to luxuriate in the irony of that last remark.

The build is ahead of schedule and the mezzanine part of the construction has been moved forward a week. At this rate we will have so much time for the finishing touches (vital!) that we will be able to hand polish the gravel.

Climate control

2010-03-15T09:21:00.002Z

I seem to be on a trawl through American literature at the moment (Of Mice and Men, To kill a mockingbird, Confederacy of Dunces, No Country for old Men etc.) and virtually all wallow in the climate of their settings which, apropos of nothing else in particular except that sun and warmth figure prominently, increases the anxieties for the summer ahead. I need to start reading books that celebrate the cold and rain. La Wally in 2011 features an avalanche so it is possible I will welcome a chill north wind come July next year.

There can't be too many opera managers who worry and fret about the weather as much as we do. The concerns for our artistic output do battle with those for the output of Gulfstream and if you believe half of what you read, that is about to head south, leaving us in the grip of an iceage. This past winter has been a rehearsal for such an event so it is lovely to report that my Earls Court cafe seat is bathed in genuinely warm sunshine this morning.

Tomorrow the office decamp to a local hostelry for our now annual away day where everybody gets a chance to contribute to strategic planning for the coming two years or so. If the weather holds it will be pleasant since the hostelry meeting room overlooks the river Thames and Hammersmith Bridge. OK, it isn't Kowloon or Sydney Harbour but it beats the Library roof hands down.

Warmth

2010-03-14T11:16:00.002Z

Had to post a short news item;
'Warm air in Fulham shock'
Off for walk up the Kings Road. Apparently Sally's moisturiser can only be found in a boutique in Sloane Square.

Rockopera

2010-03-14T06:49:00.003Z

I had a thoroughly blokey afternoon in the pub where I met up with a few pals after the Chelsea match. The conversation soon turned to opera.
One of those present is a big rock/metal fan and I was soon holding forth on my theory that opera can be a lot like Judas Priest. I believe this fellow would hear much to admire in Wagner or even Verdi. Indeed I have always felt that growing up listening to the grand episodic music of Yes and Genesis gave me a facility for appreciating opera (where George Duke and jazz fits in I am not so sure). Anyway by the end of the afternoon we had arranged a West London heavy metal chapter trip to the opera to test my theory. A common refrain from those who feel unable to confess a curiosity is that their wife or girlfriend would love it so they will suffer the hardship on their behalf. Regardless I had done my bit (a daily target) to spread the word.