INNOVATION
Rather like Christopher Ward has its online Forum members to share their passionate views, so OHP has an organisation of Friends who are not reluctant to give Clutton, Volpe and Co the benefit of their opinions. “From the 450 years that opera has existed, there are probably 15 or more smash-hit operas that everyone has heard of and would recognise, but we have built a reputation for reviving little-known works by well-known composers or obscure, forgotten works,” says Clutton. “When we started about 12 years ago, there were some murmurings from some fans that we were being too obscure, but now they are usually the ones that are more critical when we choose to do Tosca or The Magic Flute. Doing something different or less familiar also helps us attract good performers as they get bored with singing or playing the same parts too often all over the world.”
below; Olafur Sigurdarson and female chorus in Verdi’s Macbeth, middle; A family crowd for Fantastic Mr Fox at Alex James’ Harvest Festival, right; Anne Sophie Duprels as Lucia di Lammermoor
THE JOB SATISFACTION
Having been brought up in east and north London, Clutton, who is 45 and married to Angela, an event organiser and writer, came to opera with no preconceptions or previous experience of the genre. Having left school at 18, he worked briefly as a commercial photographer before deciding that running the studio was more satisfying for him than clicking the shutter. On his personal ‘To Do’ list was to write a musical, so in his mid-20s he left his job and with a friend, Damian Landi, wrote a musical play called Oscar, about the life of Oscar
Michael Volpe at Opera Holland Park, he thought it was likely to be a 12-week freelance job for the summer. He stayed because of the job satisfaction. “Of course there are some star names in opera, but there are also many extremely talented singers and musicians, who are the sort of people we work with. It is still an amazing thrill for me to stand close to a professional opera singer and to feel the power of their voice. With us they project their voices without the use of microphones so it can be heard by 1,000 people above the 45-piece
tickets for children aged from 9 to 18 (an accompanying adult can have a free place also). Aimed at children but enjoyed by all is OHP’s now-regular staging of Fantastic Mr Fox, a musical interpretation of Roald Dahl’s tale by American composer Tobias Picker. During these hour-long afternoon performances, the company of 15 performers and seven musicians roams around the natural setting of Holland Park followed by an audience that has to be limited to 150. “Fantastic Mr Fox is a bit of a loss leader as it’s only £5 for adult
“There are some star names in opera, but there are many extremely talented singers and musicians. It is thrill for me to stand close to a professional opera singer and to feel the power of their voice.”
Wilde. Staging the show led him into theatre production and after a few successes of his own he was offered a producer’s job by West End impresario (and Everton FC chairman) Bill Kenwright. After three years there, handling up to 25 shows at once, Clutton was ready for a new challenge. Back in 2000, when he was contacted by
orchestra. It is amazing. I can only compare them to top athletes.”
OPERA FOR EVERYONE
To bring the next generation of opera fans into the fold, OHP has almost 100 tickets at just £12 for each performance, but even more generously it makes available during the season some 1,500 free
and £2.50 for kids, but we do it because it’s fun and it shows the kids that opera is not a hard subject to enjoy. It is popular with the adults too.” says Clutton. Despite the apparent
differences between the two enterprises, Clutton sees obvious parallels between what OHP and Christopher Ward Watches
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