Fabulous young cast offers a feast of opera

Headquartered in Sussex, Opera Brava is Britain’s leading outdoor opera touring company and presents a packed programme of classic productions at beautiful locations every year.

Scheduled for a consecutive Friday and Saturday evening in early July, the company will be performing an ‘Open Air Opera Gala’ on Friday, July 5, at 7.30pm, and ‘Rigoletto’ by Giuseppe Verdi on Saturday, July 6, at 7.30pm.

The ‘Open Air Opera Gala’ on the Friday night promises to have something for everyone.

For both the lifelong opera lover and the novice, this programme fully staged will contain a feast of opera’s most inspiring music that will create a lasting memory.

The programme in the first half includes such gems as ‘Nessun Dorma’, the ‘Lakme’ duet, the ‘Pearl Fishers’ duet, the ‘Rigoletto Quartet’, ‘Largo al Factotum’ from the Barber of Seville and many others.

The second half includes ‘Champagne’ from Die Fledermaus, Gershwin melodies, Bernstein’s West Side Story and a popular medley from Gilbert & Sullivan operas interspersed with informative and comic anecdotes.

Rigoletto, on the Saturday evening, is one of opera’s most vivid and tragic characters.

A vengeful court jester, he desperately tries to protect his daughter from disaster in this beautifully crafted masterpiece. In the recent blockbuster movie ‘Quartet’, the whole film centres around the wonderful quartet from Rigoletto.

For both performances, Opera Brava has assembled a fabulous cast of young, exciting and thrilling singers mixed with some international artists who have performed in major opera houses including Covent Garden and the English National Opera.

A light supper of two courses is being prepared by Parham’s Head Cook, Sally Stainton, on both evenings and will be available pre-performance at 6pm.

Costing £14.95 per head, these suppers must be pre-booked and will be served in the Big Kitchen. Call Parham on 01903-742021 or email: [email protected].

Lady Emma Barnard, Chatelaine of Parham House & Gardens, said: “As a new fixture on our seasonal events calendar, we are delighted to be welcoming Opera Brava to Parham and very much hope that both our regular and new Parham House visitors will come and enjoy the magical outdoor setting of Parham House for these two performances.

“Offering delightful operative alternatives, both will be extremely enjoyable evenings.”