The summer opera season has started in style; Glyndebourne opens its doors and champers for a season of favourites including ‘La Traviata’ and ‘Don Pasquale’.
It’s a pattern echoed at ‘country house’ opera festivals including Bampton, Dorset Opera at Bryanston School, Garsington Opera at Wormsley, Grange Park, Iford, Longborough, Nevill Holt, and Winslow Hall, to name but a few.
The common link between all these festivals are their venues – historic such as Iford, atmospheric like Holland Park, or just plain amazing, including Longborough’s converted barn opera house, complete with recycled seats from the Royal Opera House! So, if you have a special venue, you too could stage an opera festival or a performance.
And it doesn’t have to be a grand venue either; opera can been seen almost anywhere these days, from back gardens and beaches to pubs and barns. All it takes is a little imagination – and an opera act from Matters Musical!
Outdoor opera performances
For a delightful evening of opera highlights under the stars with a picnic on the side, it’s hard to beat Hatstand Opera. This ‘go-anywhere’ company of internationally experienced professional opera singers have performed favourite opera highlights in their trademark witty and informal style across the UK and beyond. The list of venues they have performed at ranges from ruined castles and historic houses to a tank museum, Trafalgar Square and numerous gardens, parks, orchards, hilltops and even a pig farm!
Opera dinners
Food and opera are perfect partners, so it’s little wonder that charity dinner evenings featuring opera singers are as popular as ever. Oyster Opera are highly experienced in serenading guests in between courses of dinner, a format that allows maximum enjoyment of both food and music. With backing tracks or pianist, the Oysters are ideal for audiences that don’t know their aria from their elbow…
Surprise singing staff
Audiences still adore singing waiters, almost 20 years after they first burst into dining rooms, conferences and wedding to grab the mic and wow audiences with operatic arias and items from musicals. Opera on the Run take the idea even further, offering a range of singing staff in disguise, from chefs and waitresses to he arresting antics of their singing policemen! With the emphasis firmly on fun, the group have delighted corporate and private audiences alike.
Solo opera singers
When only the best operatic voice will do for your product launch, sporting event, or wedding service, call Matters Musical. We have a number of excellent opera singers on our books, including tenor Bradley Daley, whose international career has taken him from English National Opera in London to Victoria State Opera in Australia.
Want something different? Try Chinese opera
Matters Musical are proud to offer one of Asia’s finest sopranos Wei Li, winner of best soprano at the South China Opera Competition three years running. With her own orchestra, a performance by Wei Li includes beautiful Chinese opera and folk songs, with optional dancers and acrobats for a spectacular performance.