Up close and personal: David Butt Philip & Friends Gala at St Paul’s Opera, Clapham

David Butt Philip & Friends Gala – David Butt Philip – St Paul’s Opera, Clapham ‘Falke, falke, du wiedergefundener’ from Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten

David Butt Philip & Friends Gala: Bizet, Gounod, Leoncavallo, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Strauss, Mozart, Rossini; Alison Langer, Clare Presland, David Butt Philip, William Thomas, Edward Batting, Nicholas Ansdell-Evans; St Paul’s Church, Clapham

St Paul’s Opera’s annual gala saw David Butt Philip joined by three operatic friends for an evening that allowed us to get up close and personal to a range of opera from Carmen through to Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten.

David Butt Philip & Friends Gala Clare Presland, David Butt Philip – St Paul’s Opera Seguidilla from Bizet’s Carmen

Tenor David Butt Philip is the patron of St Paul’s Opera, Clapham’s local opera company. And this year is the third time he has presented a David Butt Philip & Friends Gala at St Paul’s Church in Clapham. This year’s gala was raising funds towards St Paul’s Opera’s Summer opera, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.

So, on 28 March 2025, David Butt Philip was joined by soprano Alison Langer, mezzo-soprano Clare Presland and bass William Thomas (hot foot from jumping in for the Verdi Requiem conducted by Riccardo Muti at the Royal Festival Hall the previous evening), with pianists Edward Batting and Nicholas Ansdell-Evans sharing piano duties.

The programme included items from Bizet’s Carmen, Gounod’s Faust, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Verdi’s Ernani, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Puccini’s La Boheme, Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten, Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Sivigla, plus songs by Mary Rodgers, and Rodgers & Hammerstein.

We began with Carmen, four numbers in all, the Habanera, Don Jose’s Act Two aria ‘La fleur que tu m’avais jetée’, Micaela’s Act Three aria and the Seguidilla, with Clare Presland as an elegant, stylish Carmen, the sort who you know has a stiletto concealed in her garter. She was joined by David Butt Philip’s powerful Don Jose, and evidently his first performance of Carmen featured Presland in the title role. Micaela is a role that we have caught Alison Langer in a couple of times [at Opera Holland Park, see my review, and Opera North, see my review] and here she did not disappoint.

William Thomas then gave us Méphistophélès’ serenade from Act Four of Gounod’s Faust, showcasing his rich and resonant bass, a voice that goes all the way down, along with a wonderfully nasty laugh!

Alison Langer and David Butt Philip appeared together in Opera Holland Park’s production of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci last year and here reprised two moments from the opera. He gave us a full blooded, finely sung account of ‘Vesti la giubba’, yet his eyes showed us this Canio was clearly disturbed, whilst Alison Langer was poignant in Nedda’s more innocent bird aria.

William Thomas then returned for Silva’s Act One cavatina from Verdi’s Ernani with a wonderfully dramatic recitative followed by finely expansive line in the cavatina. Clare Presland then delighted us with a youthfully lively account of Olga’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and the first half ended with Alison Langer and David Butt Philip in the Act One finale of Puccini’s La Boheme, he full blooded and intense, she delightfully flirty.

David Butt Philip & Friends Gala William Thomas – St Paul’s Opera, Clapham

The second half began with something of a dramatic treat. David Butt Philip sang the role of the Emperor in Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Deutsche Oper Berlin earlier this year. With a UK production of Strauss’ complex, large-scale opera not even on the horizon, it was terrific to be able to experience the combination of power and lyricism in David Butt Philip’s account of the the Emperor’s remarkably expansive solo, ‘Falke, falke, du wiedergefundener’. More Strauss followed, as Clare Presland gave us Octavian’s Act One solo ‘Wie du warst’ from Der Rosenkavalier, rich toned and full of colour.

Mozart followed, first two arias from The Magic Flute. William Thomas was everything you could have wished for in Sarastro’s ‘O Isis und Osiris’ and then Alison Langer touched hearts with Pamina’s ‘Ach ich fühl’s’ [a role we hear her in recently with Charles Court Opera, see my review]. Finally Alison Langer, Clare Presland and William Thomas joined forces for the magical trio, ‘Soave sia il vento’ from Cosi fan tutte.

The last operatic item was William Thomas on vivid form in ‘La calunnia’ from Rossini’s Il barbiere di Sivigla.

We then moved into music theatre as Clare Presland gave us a wonderfully funny and deadpan account of The boy from…, Mary Rodgers’s 1966 send up of The Boy from Ipanema with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, then David Butt Philip and Alison Langer treated us to a delightful account of ‘People will say we’re in love’ from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklalhoma (and yes, Mary Rodgers was Richard Rodgers’ daughter).

We ended with Alison Langer and David Butt Philip being joined by Clare Presland, William Thomas and the St Paul’s Opera Chorus for the Brindisi from Verdi’s La Traviata.

This was a wonderful chance to get up close and personal to some wonderfully vivid performances (everything was done from memory, giving the feeling the performances were just for us). The four singers were well supported by pianists Edward Batting and Nicholas Ansdell-Evans, and Batting did heroic wonders with the challenge of the piano reduction for Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten.

David Butt Philip & Friends Gala – Alison Langer, Clare Presland, David Butt Philip, William Thomas, Edward Batting, Nicholas Ansdell-Evans – St Paul’s Opera, Clapham

St Paul’s Opera’s Summer opera is Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore – St Paul’s Church, Clapham, 3-5 July 2025. Full details from their website.