On 4 June Nevill Holt Opera (NHO) will celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee with Music for a Royal Jubilee. This Last Night of the Proms-style concert will be held in the award-winning Nevill Holt Theatre in Market Harborough, the Leicestershire-based opera house has announced.
Nicholas Chalmers, NHO’s artistic director, will conduct the world-renowned BBC Concert Orchestra, alongside a chorus of 16 outstanding opera singers. The evening will feature a varied programme of much-loved music from celebrated composers including Handel, Elgar, Holst and Parry.
The set list will include the anthem ‘Zadok The Priest’ and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ from the Messiah by Handel; Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ from the Enigma Variations, ‘March No 1 In D Major’ from the Pomp and Circumstance Marches and ‘Land of Hope And Glory’; Monk’s Eventide (the music setting the hymn ‘Abide With Me’); and the anthem ‘I Was Glad’ and ‘Jerusalem’, a setting of Blake’s poem ‘And did those feet in ancient time’, by Parry. It will also feature ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from the musical Carousel.
The concert will also have an element of audience participation, the opera house said in a statement.
Chalmers commented: “This joyful event will celebrate some of the best-loved music performed at royal occasions over the centuries. With well-known classics brought to life by 16 wonderful opera singers, accompanied by BBC Concert Orchestra in our first partnership together, this promises to be an unmissable jubilee occasion for the East Midlands.”
Tickets for this one-off event cost £25-55 and are on sale now. The concert will take place on 4 June, starting at 5pm. NHO’s gardens will be open for picnicking for two hours prior to the concert.
The 50-strong BBC Concert Orchestra was formed in 1952. Its mission is to bring inspiring musical experiences to everyone, everywhere, with the ensemble’s versatility as the key.
The orchestra can be heard on BBC Radio 2’s Sunday Night Is Music Night and explores a wide selection of classical and contemporary music for BBC Radio 3. It performs on many soundtracks for BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, appears annually at the BBC Proms, and is an Associate Orchestra at London’s Southbank Centre.
The BBC Concert Orchestra offers enjoyable and innovative education and community activities and take a leading role in the BBC Ten Pieces, the BBC Young Composer competition and the newly launched BBC Open Music programme.
In addition to Music for a Royal Jubilee, Nevill Holt Opera will also be making its debut at Lincoln Cathedral with a concert performance of Puccini’s heart-breaking masterpiece La bohème (The Bohemians, 1896). The opera forms part of NHO’s 2022 festival.
The one-off performance will take place on 18 June at 7.30pm, following a run of shows in NHO’s theatre. Nicholas Chalmers will conduct Manchester Camerata and a cast comprising the UK’s most talented up-and-coming opera singers alongside established professionals.
Puccini’s heart-felt music scores one of opera’s greatest and most tragic love stories. When beautiful seamstress Mimì knocks on the door of penniless poet Rodolfo, their passionate connection is instant, but their happiness is threatened by a tragic discovery.
The role of Mimì will be performed by Nigerian-American soprano Francesca Chiejina, while American tenor Peter Scott Drackley takes the role of Rodolfo. Australian soprano Alexandra Oomens is Musetta, with Scottish baritone Christopher Nairne as Marcello.
British baritone Dominic Sedgwick is Schaunard; Colline is played by British bass-baritone Dingle Yandell, who returns after performing at NHO in 2021; and British bass Andrew Tipple will perform as Benoit/Alcindoro.
Chalmers added: “Through our community and education programmes across the East Midlands, we have been fortunate enough to work quite extensively in and around Lincoln, but we have not yet had a Nevill Holt Opera performance in the city’s remarkable cathedral. The beautiful, atmospheric building feels like the perfect match for Puccini’s dramatic music, and we can’t wait to bring our cast of exceptional opera singers to perform in this very special place.”
Tickets cost £10-100 and are on sale now; doors open at 7pm. La bohème will be sung in Italian.
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Music for a Royal Jubilee will take place in Nevill Holt Theatre on 4 June to celebrate the queen’s platinum jubilee.