Event01108

King's Place, London’s newest concert hall, opens on 1 October, and the Classical Opera Company is delighted to have been offered prime-time slots as part of their opening celebrations. This five-day festival will consist of an almost continuous sequence of 45-minute concerts throughout every day and evening, and we will be presenting four consecutive concerts on the evening of 1 October –the first day that the venue is open to the public.

7.15 - 8pm Mozart Discovery Concert
In the first of the Classical Opera Company’s four consecutive 45-minute concerts as part of the King’s Place opening celebrations, artistic director Ian Page explores two famous highlights from Mozart opera – Tamino’s opening aria, “Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön” from Die Zauberflöte and the duet “Là ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni. With the help of company artists, he shows how the music is constructed, investigates how Mozart brings the text to life, and discusses aspects of interpretation. The concert culminates with complete performances of both numbers.

8.30-9.15pm An Introduction to Haydn Opera
In anticipation of the Classical Opera Company’s Haydn Week at King’s Place in March 2009, the second of our four 45-minute King’s Place launch concerts features some glorious arias from Haydn’s neglected operatic output, including arias from L’incontro impovviso, Die Feuersbrunst and La vera costanza. Full details of repertoire and artists will be available in due course.

8.30-9.15pm Mozart in Italy
In advance of our concert performances of Ascanio in Alba in December, the third of our four 45-minute King’s Place launch concerts is a delightful programme of highlights from the three operas which Mozart wrote for Milan in the early 1770s while still in his early teens – Mitridate, re di Ponto, Ascanio in Alba and Lucio Silla. Full details of repertoire and artists will be available in due course.

11.00-11.45pm Handel cantatas
For our final King’s Place launch concert, company singers are joined by members of our acclaimed period-instrument orchestra for a 45-minute nightcap of Handel cantatas. The vast majority of Handel’s hundred or so surviving cantatas were written during his sojourn in Italy in the late 1700s, when he was still in his early twenties, and they represent one of the greatest – and most neglected – areas of his output. Full details of repertoire and artists will be available in due course.

Soloists include Sophie Bevan, Ruby Hughes (sopranos), SigríÃ°ur Ósk Kristjánsdóttir ( mezzosoprano), Allan Clayton (tenor) and George von Bergen (baritone),accompanied by Ian Page at the piano.