Opera Holland Park
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Opera Holland Park is a summer season of opera performances staged each year under a temporary canopy in Holland Park, a public park in a wealthy district of west central London of the same name. The venue is fully covered but is open at the sides.
The canopy was installed in 1988 and was initially used for a variety of music. Concerns about noise levels led to an increasing focus on opera from 1989, with productions staged by a variety of small opera companies. As part of a drive to improve artistic standards "Opera Holland Park" was established in 1996 to produce all future productions, and in recent years the company has enjoyed a long string of hits with major achievements in productions of more obscure repertoire such as Mascagni's "Iris", Cilea's "L'arlesiana" and many others. It is now considered one of the most accomplished non-state opera companies in the UK. The resident orchestra is the City of London Sinfonia. The company receives financial backing from the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, a number of corporate sponsors and a membership scheme.
Each season around half a dozen operas are staged. Most of them are well known classics but the company has developed a reputation for producing works from the verismo repertoire and a very adventurous production policy. There are nearly fifty performances in the season. They are sung in the original language and surtitling is used.
