A Night at the Opera

Clifton Cathedral | 24th November 2018

PROGRAMME In support of

£2

MINIMUM

www.bristolsymphonyorchestra.com

Building a 21st Century Hospice for Bristol We believe that patients should be treated with dignity and compassion, and be close to those they love, especially during their final days and hours.

That’s why we launched our Room to Care Appeal, to develop our Inpatient Unit to meet the complex needs of our patients in the 21st Century.

St Peter’s Hospice is a Bristol charity caring for adults with life-limiting illnesses. We aim to improve the quality of patients’ living and dying while extending care and support to their families and loved ones.

The aim of the Room to Care Appeal was to provide: • 15 enlarged single bedrooms, all with sofabeds, allowing loved ones to stay close by • Private terraces, providing important outdoor space for each patient • Modern ensuite bathrooms • Improved nursing visibility • A new central cafe overlooking the gardens Our plans are substantial and have required significant funding. Thanks to the generosity of our community, and careful planning over several years, we ring-fenced £4 million from the Hospice reserves towards the build.

275 more bed days per year, so we can care for more people in the Bristol area

15 single ensuite bedrooms with private access to the gardens to ensure patient dignity and privacy

We asked our supporters and local communities to help us raise the remaining funds and we were overwhelmed by the response. Thank you for being here tonight and being part of it.

onate, visit: roomtocare.co.uk d o t d n a n For informatio /stpetershospice Registered Charity No. 269177

Dear All

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very warm welcome to you for this evening’s performance, A Night at the Opera. Every opera tells a dramatic and emotional story. Tonight we have created our own operatic story with themes of love, fortune, mischief and, of course, death - no opera is complete without one! You will hear some of the greatest overtures, arias and choruses ever written. Some may be familiar to you, others perhaps less so. I hope you will find much to delight, surprise and move you.

Our sincere thanks go to Helen and Peter Wilde for their wonderful support of Bristol Symphony. Peter has been co-producer for this concert and is your narrator this evening. Effusive thanks also to our new and generous supporter Steve Pain. We are all delighted to be supporting St Peter’s Hospice Room to Care Appeal, and the vital and compassionate work this charity does for Bristol.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you have an enjoyable and memorable evening.

William Goodchild Artistic Director and Conductor | Bristol Symphony Orchesta

___________ Dear All

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hank you for joining us for A Night at the Opera in support of St Peter’s Hospice Room to Care Appeal.

By attending this evening’s very special event you are helping us add the vital finishing touches to our newly refurbished, state of the art hospice, which will allow us to offer greater care to even more people across Bristol.

We are delighted once again to receive the support of Bristol Symphony Orchestra and City of Bristol Choir, and tonight’s festivities are a fantastic way to celebrate our appeal and mark our 40th year as a hospice. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to everyone who has made this evening possible and to you for choosing to attend what will be a spectacular event. I hope you enjoy all of tonight’s music and performances.

Simon Caraffi Chief Executive | St Peter’s Hospice

Please remember to switch off all digital devices during the concert. Thank you

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Part one

PROGRAMME

| A Story, Love and Celebration Bizet Carmen, Act 1: Prelude

Verdi La Traviata, Act 1: Prelude

Wagner The Flying Dutchman: Spinning Chorus

Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin, Op. 24: Waltz with Chorus, "Vot tak syurpriz!”

Donizetti Don Pasquale, Act 3: "Tornami a dir che m’ami"

Mozart The Marriage of Figaro Act 2: "Voi, che sapete che cosa è amor”

Verdi La Traviata: "Libiamo ne'lieti calici”

Borodin Prince Igor, No.12 Polovtsian Dances and Chorus: "Uletaj na kryl'jach vetra”

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INTERVAL 20 minutes Raffle tickets on sale

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PROGRAMME

Part two

| Intrigue, Doom and Redemption A few words from Simon Caraffi Chief Executive, St Peter’s Hospice

Verdi Rigoletto: Quartetto. "Un di, se ben rammentomi" leading to, "Bella figlia dell'amore" (Duca, Maddalena, Gilda, Rigoletto)

Donizetti L'elisir d'amore: "Una furtiva lagrima”

Beethoven Fidelio, Op. 72, Act 1: "O welche Lust" (Chorus of Prisoners)

Bizet Carmen, Act 2: No. 11 Chanson: “Les tringles des sistres tintaient avec un éclat métallique”

Verdi Nabucco, Introduzione: "Va Pensiero, Sull'ali Dorate”

Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo sinfonico

Purcell Dido and Aeneas Act 3, Scene II: "When I am laid in earth”

Wagner Tristan und Isolde: Liebestod

Bizet Carmen, Act 4: No. 25 Choeur et scène " Les voici! Voici la quadrille!”

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Light up

a Life Celebrate and remember the lives of loved ones at our Christmas concert and services

Tuesday 4 December 5.45pm Bristol Cathedral Service

Sunday 9 December 5pm Salvation Army, Staple Hill Service

Thursday 13 December 6.30pm Counterslip Baptist Church, Whitchurch Concert

Saturday 15 December 3pm St Peter’s Hospice, Brentry Service

/stpetershospice Registered Charity No. 269177

Opera

| Storytelling through passion and emotion

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erhaps opera lovers are most inspired by the way operatic composers bring together words and music to act out a powerful story in a visual spectacle. Composers of opera have always been extraordinarily passionate people, and are invariably more concerned with the human dramas and emotion than the logic or accuracy of their storyline.

Some listeners may be put off by the occasional inconsistency of an opera story or the improbable behaviour of some characters. If this applies to you, don’t worry: cast logic to one side and just experience profound human emotions and passion.

| Our Composers

We can’t present a fully staged opera tonight so your imagination must fill some of the gaps – but we will help you along the way. The combination of symphony orchestra, chorus and soloists with some of the greatest music ever written, will tell a powerful story, not logical perhaps, but we guarantee it will be a very emotional one.

The lives of tonight’s composers span almost three hundred years, from Purcell born in 1659, to Mascagni who died in 1945. Opera thrives into the present day and it was only the limits of time that prevented us from including Philip Glass or John Adams in tonight’s programme.

We will hear from prolific operatic geniuses such as Donizetti, Verdi, and Wagner whose names are synonymous with the genre, as well as great masters such as Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky for whom opera was merely another way of expressing their incredible talent.

Some operatic composers are known for just one or two extraordinary compositions; the great master himself, Beethoven, wrote only one opera and it was perfect.

In operas, the eponymous lead characters are themselves the story – watch out for Carmen popping up from time to time tonight. Of course, all opera composers are big show offs – just wait for Borodin.

Nowadays opera is often seen as entertainment for an older audience - but let’s look again at our composers. Nearly everything you hear tonight was written by young composers, in some cases very young composers. Only Tristan and Isolde and the Polovtsian Dances were premiered when their composers were in their 50s. Eight pieces were premiered by composers in their 30s and incredibly, Mascagni and Verdi were still in their 20s when Cavalleria Rusticana and Nabucco were first performed.

Next time you go to opera, take some of your passionate, youthful friends and family with you – they’ll love it!

Notes by Peter Wilde

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OurSoloists

Rebecca Evans | Soprano

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ebecca was born in South Wales, and studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Highlights in Rebecca’s 2017/18 season include the title role in Rodelinda for the English National Opera, Erste Dame Die Zauberflöte for the Royal Opera and her role debut as Alice Ford in concert performances of Falstaff with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko.

She has sung Contessa Le nozze di Figaro, Mimì La bohème, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Zerlina Don Giovanni and Despina Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera,

Covent Garden;Ginevra Ariodante, Despina, Ilia Idomeneo and Susanna Le nozze di Figaro at the Bayerische Staaatsoper, Munich and Despina at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. At the English National Opera she has sung the title role in Rodelinda, Governess The Turn of the Screw and Romilda Xerxes and Ginevra. and Romilda Xerxes and Ginevra.

Her many roles for the Welsh National Opera have included the Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier, Angelica Orlando, Liu Turandot, Mimì, Contessa, Pamina and Gretel Hänsel und Gretel. In the USA she has sung Susanna and Zerlina for the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Susanna in Santa Fe; Pamina and Adèle Die Fledermaus for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Zerlina, Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress and Adina L’elisir d’amore for the San Francisco Opera.

In concert, she has appeared at the Salzburg, Edinburgh,

Narrator | Peter Wilde P

Tanglewood and Ravinia Festivals and she is a regular guest at the BBC Proms. Recent highlights have included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester/ Blomstedt and with the London Symphony Orchestra/Gardiner, A Child of our Time with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg/Rizzi, The Apostles with the Hallé Orchestra/Elder and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Pappano.

A Grammy Award winning artist, she has recorded prolifically including Marzelline, Pamina and Gretel with Sir Charles Mackerras, Ilia with David Parry and Laila with Brad Cohen (Chandos); Nanetta with Sir John Eliot Gardiner (Philips); a series of Gilbert and Sullivan recordings with Sir Charles Mackerras and a solo recording of Italian songs (EMI). askonasholt.co.uk/artists/ rebecca-evans

eter Wilde has co-produced this evening’s programme with Bristol Symphony conductor, William Goodchild. He has scripted a narration, which you will hear presented by Peter, between pieces, to help our story unfold.

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Hanna-Liisa Kirchin

| Mezzo-soprano

William Wallace | Tenor

Edward Jowle | Baritone

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R

E

ezzo-soprano Hanna-Liisa is a recent alumna of National Opera Studio, a Royal Northern College of Music graduate and has won various singing prizes.

During the 2018/19 season she will sing Kate Pinkerton for Iford Arts, and cover the roles of Tisbe La Cenerentola and Helene War and Peace for Welsh National Opera, and Varvara Katya Kabanova for Scottish Opera.

Roles include Flora La Traviata, The Mayor’s Wife Jenufa, Orfeo Orfeo ed Euridice, Arsace Partenope, Wowkle La Fanciulla del West, Cenerentola La Cenerentola, Sesto La Clemenza di Tito, Mercedes Carmen, Mrs Herring Albert Herring. hannaliisakirchin.com

ecipient of several prizes, William is currently touring as Almaviva in Rossini’s Barber of Seville and made his debut at Longborough Festival Opera in June 2018 as Steuermann in The Flying Dutchman.

Roles include Grimaldo Rodelinda, Tamino The Magic Flute, Ahasuerus Esther, Don Ottavio Don Giovanni, Quint The Turn of the Screw, Schoolmaster, The Cunning Little Vixen. Last year, he covered Arbante for Glyndebourne’s Hipermestra, and Ferrando, Così fan Tutte.

Oratorio and concert repertory include Mozart’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Harmoniemesse, and Bach’s Cantatas, Magnificat and Passions.

dward is a postgraduate scholar at the Royal College of Music and already busy on the international opera stage.

Roles include Papageno The Magic Flute, Snug A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Masetto Don Giovanni, Scythe Iphigénie en Tauride, Dr Grenvil La Traviata, Alidoro La Cenorentola, Cecil Maria Stuarda, Argante Rinaldo, Figaro Le nozze di Figaro, Despard Ruddigore and Pirate King The Pirates of Penzance.

Concert work includes St Joseph in Berlioz’ L’enfance du Christ, Finzi’s Let us Garlands Bring, Bach’s Lutheran Mass in G major and Christus St John Passion, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass in C. edwardjowlebaritone.com

williamwallacetenor.co.uk Thanks to Longborough Festival Opera for their assistance in sourcing soloists

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Choir

| City of Bristol Choir

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ity of Bristol Choir was founded in 1991, and appointed David Ogden as Music Director in 2000. Under David’s direction the choir enjoys a busy schedule of concerts and events.

The choir is made up of 100 auditioned adult singers, rehearsing regularly throughout the year and giving four or five concerts annually in Bristol and around the South West. Recent seasons have included performances of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts, Britten’s War Requiem, Symanowski’s Stabat Mater, Brahms’ Requiem, Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the first performances in Bristol of Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi and Jonathan Dove’s There Was A Child.

In June 2015 the choir took part in the first ever BBC Music Day, singing live on BBC Radio 3, BBC local radio, on BBC One’s The One Show and BBC Points West. It has also sung for Bristol Slapstick Festival and the Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival.

City of Bristol Choir has appeared on BBC television’s Songs of Praise and BBC Radio 2’s Sunday Half Hour. The choir has toured Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium. In Autumn 2013 the choir released its debut CD, Realms of Glory. cityofbristolchoir.org.uk

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Orchestra

| Bristol Symphony

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ristol Symphony Orchestra exists to inspire as wide an audience as possible with exciting programmes that draw on the Orchestra’s versatility. We champion symphonic music as a living art form and aim to create performances that delight the spirit, engage the mind and spark the curiosity of our audiences. Artistry, community and joy are at the heart of who we are and what we do.

The commissioning of new music from composers whose work invigorates the symphonic repertoire is very much part of the Orchestra’s development. Performing contemporary and recently composed symphonic works alongside traditional repertoire makes for exciting musical connections, and helps to build contrasts in our programmes.

We aim to identify, attract and retain superb artistic leadership and musicians, ensuring the Orchestra grows and develops to the highest standards possible. Collaboration at times with guest musicians working within other traditions – notably jazz, world and film music – leads our audiences and us in new directions, and inspires the versatility that makes Bristol Symphony Orchestra unique in Bristol. bristolsymphonyorchestra.com

Conductor

|William Goodchild

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illiam Goodchild is a professional composer and conductor. He composes music for film, television, concert performance and commercial installation. Many of the 80 films he’s composed for the major broadcasters have won international awards.

Since 2016, he has had three nominations for Best Composer at the RTS West of England Awards and, in 2016, was nominated for the Music Award at Wildscreen Festival for Jago - A Life Underwater. In 2017 he won Best Score at the Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival for Living Spirit Pictures’ Seeing Him. Rise of the Warrior Apes (Discovery) has just been awarded the Golden Panda at Wildscreen Festival 2018.

On stage and in the recording studio, William has collaborated with a wide variety of international soloists including guitarist John Williams, singer Tom Jones, saxophonist Andy Sheppard and jazz quartet Get The Blessing. William’s passion for working across styles led to a live and recorded collaboration with Mercury Prize-Winner, Roni Size & Reprazent, and their album, Live at Colston Hall, was released in November 2015. Also at the Colston Hall, with Sir David Attenborough presenting, William orchestrated and conducted the BBC’s Nature’s Great Events Live to a sell-out audience. The BBC’s Wild China series, orchestrated and conducted by William, won an Emmy.

Many recordings conducted by William are available to buy on Sony Classical, Universal Classical and Jazz, and CBS Records. He has worked regularly with a number of professional orchestras including the BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Bristol Ensemble. William is Artistic Director and Conductor of Bristol Symphony Orchestra. williamgoodchild.com

Guest leader | Aimée Cottam

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imée began learning the violin aged 8 and has played in a wide variety of contexts and ensembles ever since, ranging from recording sessions to live musical theatre. Aimée’s orchestral experience includes leading the Nottingham Youth Orchestra and Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra as well as playing in Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra and Bristol Classical Players. Aimée is a co-founder of Bristol Symphony Orchestra and part of its Management Team. A solicitor by profession, Aimée enjoys playing the piano, running, painting, speaking French and exploring the world.

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Raffle | tickets £1.00 each with a chance to win...

Two tickets to Longborough Festival Opera 1st Prize

To see Anna Bolena | July 1st 2019 Longborough Festival Opera is a stunning theatre set amidst the glorious rolling hills of the Cotswolds. About Anna Bolena: Donizetti’s tragic work recounts the life and untimely end of Henry VIII’s second wife, and marked the composer’s emergence as one of the brightest names in Italian opera.

A bottle of champagne 2nd Prize

Bredon Cuvée Jean Louis Brut NV. Smooth champagne with a light, toasty finish.

Raffle tickets will be on sale at the St Peter’s Hospice table, before the concert and again in the interval. Winners will be announced at the beginning of the second half by Simon Caraffi, Chief Executive of St Peter’s Hospice.

All money raised is in support of St Peter’s Hospice, so we thank you in advance for your kindness.

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Concerts in

2019

| Bristol Symphony Orchestra

March

Charles Mutter I Violin Saturday 23 March I Clifton Cathedral William Goodchild I Conductor William Goodchild I Fanfare World Premiere Gustav Holst I Egdon Heath Guy Barker I Concerto in One Act for violin and orchestra UK Premiere Ralph Vaughan Williams I Symphony No. 5 in D major

June

Gareth Lockrane I Flute Jazz Meets Bristol Symphony with Gareth Lockrane Quartet Saturday 22 June I Clifton Cathedral William Goodchild I Conductor Third in the series of Jazz Meets Bristol Symphony concerts brings together the extraordinary talents of jazz flautist/ composer/ arranger Gareth Lockrane and his quartet with Bristol Symphony Orchestra. Exciting new works by Lockrane are set against a landscape of Adams, Debussy and Shostakovich.

November

Soloist and Programme I to be confirmed Saturday 23 November I St George’s Bristol William Goodchild I Conductor

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Music for hire

| Bristol Symphony Formations

By arrangement - for private and corporate events | String Quartets

| Wind & Brass Quintets

| String Chamber Ensemble BRISTOL SYMPHONY s

| Cello Group on ti a Form

For further information about the right kind of music for your event, please contact Pamela Bell e: aneltapbell@hotmail.com t: 07977 487131 bristolsymphonyorchestra.com/quartets-ensembles

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Choir

| City of Bristol Choir

SOPRANOS Katharine Adlard Clare Anning Tilly Anning Ellen Barrow Sarah Bartlett Helen Burke Esme Caldwell Verity Dadd Liz Dawe Grace Edmunds Kerrie Ford Erica Geldart Isabelle Gessey Angharad Guttridge Anne Harding Connie Hardwick Joy Hollamby Alice Howse Jane Kern Rose Lancaster Deborah Mallett Fiona Mitchell Hannah Moran Lesley Moran Beth Napier Jo Osborn Sarah Paige Amy Timpson Lesley Wilson

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ALTOS Ros Bennet Sophie Bliss Emma Campbell Maureen Clark Liz Cundick Liz Cunningham Jane Davies Pam Doughty Philippa Gardom Hulme Jenny Hampshire Jacky Humphreys Liz Hunter Sue James Jane Johnson Julia Loveless Liz Metcalfe Ginny O’Conor Catherine Richards Sharon Robbins Ginny Royston Ros Saunders Andrea Savidge Diane Simms Maggie West Kate Woodman TENORS Paul Anning Doug Bott Andre Hart Tim Houghton Peter Lunt Bernard North Jonathan Toffolo

BASSES Ian Blenkinsop John Bowen David Hargrave Nigel Harradine Tony Hughes Tim Jackson Graham Lough Mark Mallett Mike Osborn Michael Peat Peter Searle-Barnes Chris Serle Alan Singleton David Singleton Mike West

________ CITY OF BRISTOL CHOIR DIRECTOR David Ogden

SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: @cityofbristolchoir Twitter: @bristolchoir

Orchestra

| Bristol Symphony Orchestra

FIRST VIOLIN Aimée Cottam (Leader) Imogen Armstrong Monique Ayres Giorgina Baxter Jessye Lennie Victoria Medland Harry Mumford-Turner Rosanna Schultz Paulin Shek Robert Tulloh Eloise Wyke SECOND VIOLIN Pamela Bell Nasser Ahmari Kate Fox Chensong Gao Naomi Hill Sarah Ivanovich Minkee Kim Gemma Nelson Jo Phillips Jeremy Zwiegelaar VIOLA Anita Urgyan Hermione Drew Alexia Granatt Tim Grice Oliver Kohll Simon McKenzie Jonathan Nichols CELLO Will Marriage Viv Arthur Michael Bacon Sophie Barford Alexandra Biggs May-Lin Coxson Marta Rychter Jayne Taylor Kathryn Thomas Cathy Warner Rhiannon Wilkinson

DOUBLE BASS Clare Daley Rob Lillis Alex Pearson FLUTE & PICCOLO Pippa Craggs Sarah Minns Jane Lings OBOE / COR ANGLAIS Olivia Diskin Chris Burt Charlie Bird CLARINET | BASS CLARINET Sophie Wilsdon Sarah Edgeworth Emma Tenison BASSOON | CONTRA BASSOON Daisy Woods Diana Lee Mike Johnston FRENCH HORN Kaitlyn Hamilton Dave Ransom Paul Tomlinson Catherine Pinder Sophie Brown Maria Vitale TRUMPET Simon Bowles Richard Bowman

TIMPANI Joshua Cottam PERCUSSION Christopher Fletcher-Campbell Joe Hillyer Harriet Riley HARP Emily Mullins

________ THANK YOU Our soloists St Peter’s Hospice David Ogden City of Bristol Choir Clifton Cathedral RAFFLE DONATION Longborough Festival Opera GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY Peter & Helen Wilde Stephen Pain CONCERT PROGRAMME Rachel Goodchild | Design & Layout Jane Krish | Editor

TROMBONE Lyn Harradine Barry Scott

CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHER Remco Merbis

TUBA Simon Derrick

SOCIAL MEDIA @BristolSymphony

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2019 FESTIVAL JUNE – AUGUST

WAGNER

DAS RHEINGOLD 5, 7, 9, 11 June

DONIZETTI

ANNA BOLENA

22, 25, 27, 29 June, 1 July

MOZART

DON GIOVANNI 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20 July

CAVALLI

LA CALISTO

29, 31 July, 2, 3 August

GLYNDEBOURNE AND COVENT GARDEN NOW HAVE INCREASINGLY SERIOUS COMPETITION - Telegraph lfo.org.uk | Box Office 01451 830292 Near Moreton-in-Marsh, GL56 0QF