Director

Heavily censored at its 1853 premiere, Verdi’s impassioned portrait of a celebrated courtesan in the last months of her life remains one of the most powerful stories of nineteenth century Paris, decadence, disease and selfless love.

Verdi: La Traviata (at Opera Holland Park)

Opera Holland Park

Prepare to be captivated by the chilling beauty of this dark and suspenseful chamber opera. Set in a remote country house, the tale follows a governess who grapples with supernatural forces threatening her young charges. This haunting tale is brought to life at the historic Dock Street Theatre, a venue lauded by the Wall Street Journal as the “ideal—and all too rare—conditions” for opera performance in the U.S.” Renowned director Rodula Gaitanou, whose 2023 Spoleto production of Vanessa was met with critical acclaim, returns to helm this thrilling new production. François López-Ferrer conducts the talented cast, and the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra.

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The Turn of the Screw

Dock Street Theatre

Rising operatic superstar Nicole Heaston takes on the titular role in this powerful existential drama, set to one of the most beautiful scores of the 20th century. Tucked away in a countryside mansion, Vanessa has waited 20 years for the return of her lover, Anatol. When his deadringer son arrives instead, a love triangle ensues between the conniving young suitor, Vanessa, and her impressionable niece.

American composer Samuel Barber won the Pulitzer Prize for Vanessa’s sweepingly lyrical score, which explores the full depths of the characters’ psyches in what librettist and Spoleto’s founder Gian Carlo Menotti characterized as a universal human dilemma.

Vanessa

Gaillard Center

Finding love. Choosing family.
On a bitterly cold winter’s night in the heart of Paris, a young woman’s search for a candle light fatefully sparks one of the most enduring love stories of all time. But can a love so great be sustained? Join Mimì, Rodolfo, and their bohemian friends as they find levity and joy amidst the hardship and struggle of a life in pursuit of art. Featuring some of the most captivating music ever written, Puccini’s La bohème weaves moments of warmth and ecstasy together with anguish and heartbreak in this enduring story of love, loss, and life. 

La Bohème

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Babylonian king Nabucco invades and robs the Jewish population, subjecting them to slavery and forced labour. Power intoxicates and deludes him. It makes the king play god. Meanwhile, the bitter Abigaille, one of the strongest female roles in the operatic repertoire, awaits her own moment of revenge and plots against the young lovers Ismaele and Fenena.

Nabucco

Olavinlinna

Chiaroscuro meets Busby Berkeley meets Boris Karloff in a staging designed by takis, lit by Simon Corder and choreographed by Steve Elias. Close cousin to Gaitanou’s much loved production of La traviata (2018, 2021, 2024) in its theatrical exuberance and psychological sensitivity, Un ballo in maschera was hailed in The Independent as “a triumphant meld of lighting, design and choreography” and The Spectator as “musically exemplary”, with particular praise across the press for the work of the Opera Holland Park Chorus.

Un ballo in maschera

Shakespeare’s tragic tale of love and family conflict has echoed through the centuries and in Gounod’s opera the drama becomes even more intimate, more fragile, more achingly human. Roméo Montague and Juliette Capulet fall deeply in love, but their families are bitter enemies, fate is cruel, and time is short.

Director

Rodula Gaitanou

Events

Upcoming events

8 - 24 Jul, 2026

Nabucco · Savonlinna Opera Festival

Jul 25 - Aug 7, 2026

Un ballo in maschera · Opera Holland Park

15 - 24 Oct, 2026

Roméo et Juliette · West Australian Opera

Past events

Jul 19 - Aug 2, 2025

Verdi: La Traviata (at Opera Holland Park) · City of London Sinfonia

May 30 - Jun 6, 2025

The Turn of the Screw · Spoleto Festival USA

About

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