In Lo speziale (The Apothecary), the librettist Goldoni demonstrates his belief that ‘comedy was created to correct vice and ridicule bad behaviour’.  Haydn exploits the satire with characteristic wit and colour, and feasts on the comic potential of the four entangled characters.  Sempronio, a work-shy apothecary, spends his time with the newspapers, attempting to sift reality from fake news, but is readily distracted by the charms of his pretty ward Grilletta.  But her fluttering eyes are cast on his shy assistant, Mengone, a youth with little understanding of chemistry who somehow concocts a powerful laxative, to be praised in one of Haydn’s jauntiest arias.  Meanwhile Grilletta is also wooed by the foppish Volpino, whose mastery of disguise leads to a finale of delightful silliness. 

The Apothecary

The Manor House

First seen al fresco in 2012, Will Todd and Maggie Gottlieb’s free-wheeling, tongue-twisting adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s surreal classic for Opera Holland Park gives voice to the curious and curioser characters of the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, Humpty Dumpty, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, and a positively terrifying Queen of Hearts in music that darts from a coloratura showpiece for a singing Bottle to the smoky blues of a Caterpillar with no work ethic.

Madeline Robinson

Events

Upcoming events

19 - 27 Jun, 2026

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland · Opera Holland Park

Past events

May 6, 2024

The Apothecary · Bampton Classical Opera

Future and recently performed repertoire

Brat 2 / Tweedle Dum in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Todd

Opera Holland Park

About

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