Longborough Festival Opera season begins (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Longborough Festival Opera season begins

THE LONGBOROUGH Festival Opera season begins today, (Friday, June 11) with Wagner's Das Rheingold.

This is followed by Die Walkure the following evening, with Siegfried and Gotterdammerung the next weekend. After this a brand new production of Puccini's Madam Butterfly alternates with an English translation of Figaro's Wedding by Mozart, and the season ends with further performances of the Ring.

The big news from Longborough this year is that the cast of the Ring is led by the legendary Sir Donald McIntyre as Wotan, a part he has played at Covent Garden for many years and also at the Centenary production at the Byreuth Festival, where his performances were immortalised in the recording with Pierre Boulez.

Longborough Festival Opera, the brainchild of Martin Graham who is allegedly the only man in England to build his own private opera house since John Christie founded Glyndebourne in 1934, has come a long way since enthusiasts braved the chill of a Cotswold evening to listen to what was then Banks Fee Opera, sung outside.

Now there is a Palladian auditorium complete with campanile and furnished with seats rescued from the Royal Opera House.

Later additions have been boxes with private dining rooms, gothic towers and a fine restaurant. The orchestra pit has been enlarged to accommodate more players and the programme offers more performances than ever before, with the Festival running until Saturday July 31.

The irresistible appeal of top quality opera set against the backdrop of the splendid Cotswold countryside, makes Longborough Festival Opera an experience not to be missed this summer.

Tickets and information from the box office on 01451 830292, email: enquiries@longboroughopera.com, or www.longboroughopera.com