Of course Glyndebourne inspired this country house opera thing but many people do not realize that in fact it has nothing to do with country house opera. Glyndebourne is about the highest standards, and productions and performances therefore at a level of excellence on a regular basis that equals or exceeds (usually the latter) anything that is available elsewhere. The fact that it is in the countryside, and there is a very pretty house attached to the opera house (rather than vice-versa), so people get confused!
You can see something of the history of this remarkable place by going to their website. And better still buy the newly published Glyndebourne - A Visual History. This wonderful volume has been produced to mark the 75th Anniversary of the place. And they have done a remarkable job. And the text is by Sir George Christie who writes with unassailable authority and a candid style about each of the decades pictured so comprehensively. Wonderful stuff with a nutshell history of the place by the man who led it as Chairman of the Board from 1959 to his retirement and handing over the reins to his son Gus in 2000.
The performance this evening was of Purcell's The Fairy Queen which has been received so warmly. It was indeed an enormously enjoyable evening. William Christie presided over the whole proceedings including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with his usual genial authority as well as rigorous atttention to detail. The enormous cast of actors and singers produced a truly baroque experience - with the magnificence and scale of the production, sets, costumes, the whole remarkable elaborate approach, the like of which one rarely encounters, especially in these austere times! Since the Brooklyn Academy of Music is billed as a co-producer I assume that it will be seen in NY in due course.
Dinner during the intermission with George and Mary Christie in the Mildmay Restaurant with, as usual, an assortment of fascinating fellow guests, was yet another reminder to me of the extraordinary good fortune I had to spend 27 years as a Glyndebourne employee. So many old friends to catch up with and keep in touch with. With Neue Stimmen this year this will be my only Glyndebourne visit. I am told that the forthcoming Rusalka is something very special. With Ana Maria Martinez in the title role it certainly should be. I was bowled over by her Nedda at the Chicago Lyric this last season.
I am done for this evening. It is 2.30 am here in London!
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