UK Summer Opera
Glyndebourne
Lewes, Sussex, 16 May – 25 August
glyndebourne.com
There’s more to Glyndebourne than black-tie picnics on the lawn and bosky evenings of operatic opulence: last December’s One Voice Festival of Singing convened some 2,000 schoolchildren; Glyndebourne Sinfonia and Chorus toured over 130 Sussex care homes; and a freshly configured autumn season juggled opera, recitals, masterclasses and concerts. Still, there’s no denying that the summer festival is at the heart of the Glyndebourne experience – and has been for 90 years (see p14). Five productions gild 2024, with Bizet’s Carmen opening the season in a new staging by Diane Paulus conducted by Robin Ticciati. The other new production, a house ‘first’, is Lehár’s The Merry Widow, spearheaded by Danielle de Niese as the widow. Among the revivals is a tercentenary nod to Handel’s Giulio Cesare (seasoned with a sprinkling of Bollywood, no less); and Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s veteran production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, which unites Miina-liisa Värelä and Stuart Skelton as the ill-starred lovers.
Opera Holland Park
London, 28 May – 10 August
operahollandpark.com
Cue persecution, murder… and battlements! Italophile Opera Holland Park was never going to pass up marking the centenary of Puccini’s death, and it opens with Tosca (Amanda Echalaz in the title role). But OHP is also noted for following the path less travelled and obliges with three semi-staged performances of Puccini’s early ‘dramma lirico’ Edgar, featuring Peter Auty as the conflicted knight. Add in a close shave with Rossini’s The Barber of
Seville plus a Wolf-ferrari/leoncavallo double bill, and Italian hegemony is assured. But not without contest – Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Yeomen of the Guard stand their ground with pomp, circumstance and pastoralism.
Garsington Opera
Wormsley Estate, Buckinghamshire, 29 May – 31 July
garsingtonopera.org
With the handsome new studio complex up and running, Garsington has a smile on its face this summer. There’s roller-coaster comedy from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro plus spells and enchantment as Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream works its magic. Space travel beckons courtesy of a new community opera by Andrew Norman, but A Trip to the Moon isn’t the only novelty. Directed by Paul Agnew, the Garsington debut of Rameau’s sumptuous extravaganza Platée returns The English Concert to bucolic Bucks and, postponed during lockdown, Verdi’s early comedy Un Giorno di Regno finally claims its belated crown in a new production by Christopher Alden.
Grange Park Opera
West Horsley Place, Surrey, 6 June – 14 July
grangeparkopera.co.uk
Grange Park Opera’s purpose-built theatre-in-the-woods is the opera house that refuses to sit still – in prospect are two new panoramic roof terraces and a treetop studio. Anchored by Bryn Terfel, Rachmaninov and Puccini kickstart the new season as Stephen Medcalf stages Aleko and Gianni Schicchi. They’re conducted by Stephen Barlow, who also shoulders Janáček’s harrowing Kát’a Kabanová. Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment, meanwhile, enlists
Nico Darmanin to brave its notorious salvo of top ‘C’s while, following
2021’s premiere of The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko, Grange Park once again champions Anthony Bolton as it unveils his Tempest-based opera Island of Dreams.
The Grange Festival
Alresford, Hampshire, 6 June – 6 July
thegrangefestival.co.uk
To describe the splendid neo-classical Grange as a ‘roofed ruin’ sells it short. For some two decades, an award-winning theatre has repurposed the Orangery, and not one but two opera series have taken root in halcyon Hampshire. The second incarnation, Grange Festival, is masterminded by countertenor Michael Chance who adds jazz and dance to a predominantly operatic mix. Scheming passion and madness inform a 2024 edition orbiting Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Puccini’s Tosca and Stravinsky’s Hogarth-inspired The Rake’s Progress.
Longborough Festival Opera
Moreton-in-marsh, Gloucestershire, 16 June – 6 August
lfo.org.uk
Leafy Longborough’s operatic adventures start a little later this summer. Perhaps the company is keeping its powder dry because, five years in the forging, three complete cycles of Wagner’s Ring beckon – directed by Amy Lane and conducted by Anthony Negus. An enterprising Wagnerian ‘fringe’ is wrapped around the season engaging the likes of Simon Callow, John Tomlinson and Susan Bullock, and there’s also just enough room to accommodate the Puccini centenary, as Alice Farnham conducts six performances of La bohème.
Bampton Classical Opera
Bampton, Oxfordshire, 19 July – 13 September
bamptonopera.org
Giovanni Gazzaniga anyone?
Bampton regulars might remember his Don Giovanni – twice staged by the Oxfordshire-based company. This year it rehabilitates L’isola d’alcina, composed some four decades after Handel’s more familiar take on Ariosto’s tale, and probably unseen in the UK since 1777. Sung in English, Jeremy Gray’s production also visits Westonbirt, Wadhurst and London (St John’s
Smith Square). By way of curtain-up, Haydn’s The Apothecary dispenses sizzling comedy in Dorchester-onthames (6 May).
Dorset Opera Festival
Bryanston, Dorset, 22-28 July
dorsetopera.com
Cheerfully acknowledging a landmark 50th-birthday season, the renowned summer school celebrates with something that speaks to its native soil: a specially commissioned operatic treatment of Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree. With music by Paul Carr, and conducted by
Jeremy Carnall, it’s interleaved with Puccini’s Madam Butterfly and an anniversary gala concert.
Waterperry Opera
Waterperry House, Oxfordshire, 9-18 August
waterperryoperafestival.co.uk
What with alfresco performances of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, serenades by Mozart and Fanny Mendelssohn in the ornamental garden and Jonathan Dove’s song cycle Nights Not Spent
Alone staged in Waterperry House’s elegant ballroom, the festival maintains its reputation for eye-catching programming. Gracing the amphitheatre for 2024 is Britten’s chilling The Turn of the Screw while, indoors, Charlotte Corderoy conducts John Wilkie’s new staging of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
IF Opera
ifopera.com
Belcombe Court, Bradford-on-avon, 23-31 August
Based on the runaway success of Walter Scott’s novel, mental fragility, feuding and a celebrated mad scene are the hallmarks of Donizetti’s 1835 Lucia di Lammermoor. As IF Opera animates a Wiltshire high summer, it’s paired with a deliciously bittersweet contrast: Johann Strauss II’S irresistible Viennesewhipped-cream-comedy Die Fledermaus. Off-piste, Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes and the venerable Picnic Prom colonise Belcombe’s delectable gardens.