The 2016 Glyndebourne Opera Festival will begin on May 21st and runs until August 28th, with six notable productions.
If you’re thinking of going, tickets will be put on general sale on March 7th, after Glyndebourne Festival Members have had a chance to cherry-pick. They always sell quickly and if you’re flexible about what you see and exactly when you see it, you’ll be able to find something. No matter what that something turns out to be, you’ll have an absolute ball!
The festival is something that anyone who loves opera – or is charmed by Things English – should definitely experience.
Glyndebourne Opera accommodation
Brooks Lodge, near Piddinghoe is 20 minutes' drive from Glyndebourne
The Glyndebourne Festival can be a day trip from London but, better still, adopt a more unhurried approach with a mini-vacation at one of our nearby cottages. Why not catch two performances on successive evenings and spend a couple of nights at our five star self-catering cottage rather than rushing to catch late trains back to London?
Brooks Lodge near Piddinghoe is ideally positioned for the Glyndebourne season of world-famous opera. This Five Star Gold architect and interior designed eco dwelling sleeps four. Its clever design maximises the beautiful rural views.
The performances & dining at Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne by Herry Lawford
The performances start early, typically around 5pm (though by tradition never on the hour), and audience members eat half-way through the show. There is always a 90-minute-plus “Long Interval” during which dinner is served in any of several restaurants or picnics consumed on the estate’s extensive lawns. This long dinner break amazingly doesn’t disrupt your train of thought, as the moment the lights go down again in the 1,200-seat theatre, it’s as though you’d never left.
2016 programme of opera
Glyndebourne by Francis Storr
2016 will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and Glyndebourne will be honouring the occasion by including two operas based on Shakespeare plays in its 2016 line-up; a new production of Béatrice et Bénédict (an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing), by the French composer Hector Berlioz, and a revival of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
A Glyndebourne first, Béatrice et Bénédict will be directed by Laurent Pelly and conducted by Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati, an ardent champion of Berlioz.
The French mezzo soprano Stéphanie d’Oustrac will appear as Béatrice, opposite the US tenor Paul Appleby as Bénédict.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a revival of Peter Hall’s popular 1981 production, returns for its first revival in ten years. An impressive ensemble cast includes the bass Matthew Rose as Bottom, the countertenor Tim Mead as Oberon, and the soprano Kathleen Kim as Tytania. Kazushi Ono, last seen at Glyndebourne in the 2012 Ravel double bill, will conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Other highlights of the new season include a revival of Melly Still’s production of Janá?ek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and a new production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
The Glyndebourne 2016 full repertoire and cast list can be found on the Glyndebourne Festival website.
Published on Tuesday 1st March 2016 by Staycation Holidays
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