Hampstead Garden Opera

Hampstead Garden Opera (HGO) was founded in 1990 by Dr Roy Budden as an evening class at the Hampstead Garden Institute, London, England, and became a charitable trust (registered charity no. 1092649) in 2002.

The multi-ethnic company strives to achieve professional standards within an amateur framework, and performs two fully staged operas in English each year.

Upstairs at The Gatehouse, Highgate Village, in the London Borough of Camden, was HGO's home from March 2001 to November 2015, HGO is now based at Jacksons Lane Theatre, also in Highgate. HGO is affiliated to NODA and Barnet Borough Arts Council.

The intention was to concentrate on the major operas of Mozart, but the repertoire has expanded to encompass works by Bizet, Donizetti, Flotow, Gounod, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Offenbach, Puccini, Johann Strauss and Verdi. Since arriving at Upstairs at The Gatehouse, HGO has produced operas such as Mozart’s Idomeneo, Così fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Clemency of Titus and The Magic Flute, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and The Tales of Hoffmann, Puccini’s Il Trittico and Madam Butterfly, Bizet’s Carmen, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and Donizetti's Elixir of Love

The HGO production of Mozart's Così fan tutte won Best Opera Production 2012 at the Off West End Awards,^[1]^[2] and HGO was a finalist for the same award in the 2013 Offies for Mansfield Park ^[3] the 2014 Offies for Albert Herring ^[4] and the 2015 Offies for Don Giovanni ^[5]

The President, since 2007, is Penelope MacKay.

The Trustees are:^[6]

Roger Sainsbury (Chairman)
Alastair Macgeorge (Chairman Emeritus)
Martin Musgrave (Deputy Chairman and Publicity)
Antonia Leach
Patricia Cabredo Hofherr
Principal Music director: Oliver-John Ruthven.
Secretary of the Committee: Gillie French

Performances

The HGO April 2009 production was Carlisle Floyd's - "Susannah". Reviews for Susannah included David Karlin for Bachtrack and Michael White for the Ham and High

The HGO November 2009 production was a double bill of Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas", and Blow's "Venus and Adonis". Reviews for the production included Edmund Gordon for The Buzz

The HGO April 2010 production was Mozart's "The Clemency of Titus". Reviews for the production included David Karlin for Bachtrack

The HGO November 2010 production was Mozart's "The Magic Flute", and marked the first time an English opera company used the acclaimed Stephen Fry translation, as seen in Kenneth Branagh's 2006 film version. Reviews for the production included David Karlin for Bachtrack

The HGO April 2011 production was Handel's "Semele".

The HGO November 2011 production was Ralph Vaughan Williams' - Hugh the Drover. Reviews for the production included David Chandler for Opera Today and Hilary Fisher for Bachtrack

The HGO April 2011 production was Mozart's - Così fan tutte. Reviews for the production included Robert Thicknesse for Opera Now and David Chandler for Opera Today

The HGO November 2012 production was Claudio Monteverdi's "Orfeo". Reviews for the production included Anna Picard for The Independent on Sunday and David Karlin for Bachtrack

The HGO April 2013 production was Jonathan Dove's "Mansfield Park". Reviews for the production include Michael Church for The Independent^[7] and Francesca Wickers for Fringe Opera

The HGO November 2013 production was Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" Reviews for the production included David Karlin for Bachtrack and Francesca Wickers for Fringe Opera

The HGO April 2014 production was Francesco Cavalli's "La Calisto", at Upstairs at The Gatehouse Reviews for the production included David Karlin for Bachtrack^[8] & Margaret Davies for Opera Magazine

The HGO November 2014 production was Benjamin Britten's "Albert Herring", at Upstairs at The Gatehouse Reviews for the production included Francesca Wickers for Fringeopera.com^[9] & Margaret Davies for Opera Magazine

The HGO April 2015 production was Handel's "Xerxes", at Upstairs at The Gatehouse Reviews for the production included Nahoko Gotoh for Bachtrack^[10] & Adrian Horsewood for Early Music Today^[11]

The HGO November 2015 production was Mozart's - "Don Giovanni" opening at Upstairs at The Gatehouse Reviews for the production included Charlotte Valori for Bachtrack^[12] & The Idle Woman^[13]

The HGO May 2016 production will be a double bill of Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana", and Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci". This will be HGO's first production at its new home, Jacksons Lane Theatre in Highgate.

External links

Hampstead Garden Opera website

References

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