In January, Glyndebourne announced that it wouldn’t be able to mount its autumn tour as planned due to funding cuts by Arts Council England. The Sussex-based opera house has instead put together a programme of opera, classical music and community events at Glyndebourne and throughout Sussex.
Glyndebourne’s artistic director Stephen Langridge commented: “After the disappointment of having to cancel our tour this year, we turned our attention to devising a new plan for the autumn that would ensure we continue to deliver on our commitments to nurturing new talent and encouraging new audiences.”
The programme includes two operas. The first is Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love, 1832), opening on 11 November and running until 1 December. This revival of Annabel Arden’s 2007 production sees Adam Hickox conduct the Glyndebourne Sinfonia and Chorus.
Nemorino loves Adina, but why would she – wealthy, clever and beautiful – ever look at a boy like him? Enter Dr Dulcamara, whose lotions and potions promise instant, and magical, results …
The cast includes Italian soprano Mariam Battistelli as Adina, New Zealand-Tongan tenor Filipe Manu as Nemorino and Italian bass-baritone Tiziano Bracci as Dulcamara.
Mariame Clément’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (1787) transfers from the 2023 Glyndebourne Festival, running from 12 November-2 December.
When a seduction goes wrong and lust leads to murder, legendary playboy Don Giovanni finds himself caught in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse, as both his sins and his pursuers finally threaten to catch up with him.
Stephanie Childress conducts a cast including Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko in the title role and Russian soprano Kseniia Proshina and Spanish-born British soprano Alexandra Lowe as two of the women he has wronged, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, respectively.
In addition to the two operas, Glyndebourne will also be hosting a series of concerts and community projects. The Glyndebourne Talent Showcase on 16 November demonstrates the opera house’s long-standing commitment to talent development which supports performers at all stages of their career and across a wide range of disciplines.
Haydn’s great choral work The Creation (1799) will be performed at Glyndebourne for the first time, with concerts taking place on 18 November and 15 December. Handel’s Messiah (1742) will be performed by the Glyndebourne Chorus on 3 and 7 December. On the latter date, members of the chorus, led by chorus director Aidan Oliver, will present a two-hour masterclass for singers, leading participants through extracts from the Messiah.
Glyndebourne will also host a series of Christmas concerts, from 9-17 December. Suitable for all the family, these festive performances feature well-known carols, orchestral showpieces and opera highlights. A shorter chilled performance on 16 December is ideal for those who feel more at ease knowing they can go in and out of the auditorium during the show.
The opera house’s community projects include Good Company, a project in which professional musicians visit care homes to engage with people with dementia, and Singing Schools, with Glyndebourne working with a network of schools in Sussex to support the teaching of singing and musical composition.
On 19 and 26 November, before the performances of Don Giovanni, musicians from the Jerwood Pit Perfect programme will present an informal programme of music, free to ticket holders. Pit Perfect is the opera house’s development scheme for young professional instrumentalists.
Finally, the One Voice Festival of Singing is a series of festive concerts offering schoolchildren the chance to sing on stage with the Glyndebourne Chorus and members of Glyndebourne Sinfonia. Taking place throughout December, there will be four performances at Glyndebourne, along with two at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill and one at the Brighton Centre.
Tickets for all events are on sale now. Further information, including full date, time and pricing, is available from Glyndebourne.
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Annabel Arden’s 2007 production of L’elisir d’amore – seen here as part of the 2019 tour – returns to Glyndebourne this autumn (Donald Cooper).