Opera on your doorstep
WHEN John Christie launched the Glyndebourne opera festival in 1934, it was regarded as the height of eccentricity. Who would want to travel to a country house in the back of beyond to watch a performance of The Marriage Of Figaro?
Now, not only is Glyndebourne a place of pilgrimage for opera- lovers from around the world, but it’s been widely imitated. Country house opera has become such a part of the English summer that, in some counties, you are more likely to hear a soprano hitting a high C than a nightingale.
And local property owners, once they’ve become accustomed to snatches of Mozart and Puccini punctuating their barbecues, have reaped the benefit. ‘We always promote the proximity to Glyndebourne in our sales particulars,’ says Charlie Rosling, of Strutt & Parker in Lewes, the Sussex town closest to the opera house.
‘The Glyndebourne brand appeals to a wide crosssection of buyers, young and old, many of them moving from London.
‘We are also starting to get buyers asking for properties with B&B accommodation, so that they can let a room during the festival.’
Something about picnicking in formal evening dress — the quintessence of Glyndebourne — appeals to the romantic in everyone. I once attended a performance at Glyndebourne at which the young man in the row in front proposed to his girlfriend during the interval.
The exquisite rural setting, tucked into a fold in the South Downs, is another draw.
‘ It is not unusual for attendees at Glyndebourne who are living in London or elsewhere to subsequently express interest in moving to the area,’ says Sophie Wysock-Wright, of Savills Haywards Heath.
‘ They want a cultural scene as well as pretty country villages, and in Lewes you can have both.’
Not everyone, it has to be said, is enamoured of ham tenors belting out Nessun Dorma in the heart of the English countryside.
If Glyndebourne has a firm place in the affections of opera- goers, the Garsington festival, which dates back to 1989, has had a more chequered history.
It was originally held at Garsington Manor in Oxfordshire, but attracted the wrath of local residents, who complained about noise pollution.
At one point, they tried to out- Mozart Mozart by using noisy lawnmowers during a performance.
THE festival is now held in the more serene surroundings of Wormsley Park, near Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire, where it enjoys a loyal following.
The estate used to be owned by Sir Paul Getty, the philanthropist, and also hosts cricket matches, so you can listen to the sound of leather on willow in the afternoon and Italian sopranos in the evening.
Grange Park Opera, going strong since 1998, has also relocated. The festival started out in Grange Park in Hampshire, but from this year is being staged at a specially built auditorium in West Horsley Place in Surrey — a magnificent redbrick pile, which the broadcaster Bamber Gascoigne inherited from a relative in 2014.
Well-attended festivals showcase some superb country houses and, in some cases, give them a new lease of life financially.
And those lucky enough to own property in a wellknown ‘opera village’ find their circle of friends mysteriously expanding.
One of the newest opera festivals, specialising in Wagner, is the Longborough Festival Opera, held in a country house in the Cotswolds, near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.
‘I have lived in the area all my life,’ says Louisa Ryan, of Fine & Country, Moreton-in-Marsh, ‘and seen the positive impact which the festival has had.
‘We put a cottage in the village of Longborough on the market for £750,000. It had ten viewings on the first day and sold within weeks.’
This summer, if the new owners get their skates on, they will be able to hum themselves to sleep to the strains of Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven and Gluck.
It is an exciting twist on English country house living and gives the lie to the idea that opera is solely an elitist metropolitan art form.