Following last year’s cancellation due to COVID-19 health restrictions, Nevill Holt Opera (NHO) has announced that its Winter Festival will be back this November.

Taking place over the weekend of 26-28 November, the indoor festival comprises three concerts to see in the start of the festive season. Two of these will be staged at Nevill Holt’s award-winning intimate 400-seat theatre at Nevill Holt Hall in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, with the final show at The Monastery in Gorton, Manchester.

Launching the Winter Festival is a concert of Christmas and winter choral classics performed by NHO’s emerging and associate artists. The performance is on 26 November at 7pm; it lasts for approximately 2 hours and tickets start from £25.

The following night sees a candlelit staging of Handel’s English-language oratorio Messiah (1742), performed by the Nevill Holt Opera Young Artists and the Manchester Camerata, NHO’s partner orchestra. This gala concert will be conducted by Nicholas Chalmers, NHO’s artistic director, and features solo performances from some of the opera company’s most talented up-and-coming singers. The show begins at 7pm, ending at around 10pm. Tickets start from £37.50.

Messiah is among Handel’s best-known works and is today one of the most frequently performed choral pieces in Western music. The three-part oratorio sets a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens – a patron of the arts who helped author the libretti of several of Handel’s oratorios – from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It represents an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ.

Further information and tickets for both concerts are available now from Nevill Holt Opera’s website.

The final concert in the festival is a second performance of Messiah. Manchester Camerata and conductor Chalmers will be joined by NHO’s choir for this candlelit show which takes place at the orchestra’s new home in Manchester, The Monastery in Gorton. It will be staged in the Great Nave of this Grade II* listed former Franciscan friary.

The performance begins at 3pm, with tickets starting from £12.50, or £3 for Gorton residents. Tickets and more information are available from The Bridgewater Hall’s website.

 

Image

After a year’s hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, Nevill Holt Opera’s Winter Festival returns to its award-winning theatre in November.