‘I play to middle England’

Raymond Gubbay is a hard man to avoid. Especially at Christmas. Last year Raymond Gubbay Ltd presented roughly 600 concerts, of which 180 were part of his annual Christmas Festival and he lived up to his festive catchphrase: ‘You want carols? We’ve got carols.’

Gubbay’s packaging of live classical music has been amazingly successful. He came up with the idea of Vivaldi by candlelight played by men in wigs. His regular Johann Strauss galas are a big hit, as is Strictly Gershwin, and his own-brand laser-lit Classical Spectaculars. The genial man with the Midas touch is famous, too, for his operas at the Albert Hall, where Madam Butterfly is about to return. It comes complete with a 60,000-litre pond, which turns the place into a giant Japanese garden centre.

First seen in 1998, this is its fifth outing at the majestic venue Gubbay adores. It’s also one of his rare opera productions to which critics (amusingly allergic to mass entertainment) have given unanimous approval.