Nevill Holt Festival has announced the cast for its opening performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, the first opera of the 2024 festival.
The cast will be led by soprano Nazan Fikret as Queen of the Night with Jonathan Eyers as Papageno, Allen Michael Jones as Sarastro, Martins Smaukstelis as Tamino, Jasmine Flicker as Papagena, Olivia Warburton as Pamina and Simon Sumal as Monostatos.
Isabelle Peters will be first lady, Aina Miyagi Magnell will be second lady and Angharad Lyddon will be third lady. Magnus Walker will be first armed man and Malachy Frame will be the speaker and second armed man. The dance chorus will be Archie White, Thea Kallhed Möller and Saskia Faye Larcombe.
The production will be directed by Melly Still, conducted by Finnegan Downie Dear and will feature Britten Sinfonia. The design was created by Rebecca Pitt with photography by Michael Wharley, costume by Livvie Walters and assistance from Caitlin Eacott and Reuben Davies.
The production “champions some of the most promising emerging singers working today, providing unique opportunities for early-career artists onstage and across the creative team”. It will run from Saturday 1 until Sunday 9 June.
Nevill Holt Festival has also announced casting for The Devil’s Den, created by Isabella Gellis, performed by Shadwell Opera and conducted by Finnegan Downie Dear. It will be staged on Saturday 15 June.
Mimi Doulton, Lotte Betts-Dean, Nicholas Morris and Andrew Tipple will perform this tale of superstition and sacrifice rooted in English folklore, concerning a child, a rabbit, a devil, a druid and their mysterious connection to a celebrated “dolmen” or ancient burial chamber.
Nevill Holt Festival will run from Saturday 1 until Wednesday 26 June on the 13th century Nevill Holt estate just outside the south Leicestershire village of Medbourne.