INTERVIEW
Robin Ticciati, a lifelong devotee of music and arts, conductor and Music Director of Glyndebourne, talks to Sara Whatley about cliff jumping, his poetic love of Sussex, self-transformation and relinquishing control to let music magic happen
PHOTO: RICHARD HUBERT SMITH
Opera LOVER
“I
f there was ever a moment to come back and say nothing should be taken for granted, nothing should be ‘normal’, this is it,” said Robin Ticciati OBE, conductor and Music Director of Glyndebourne (a position he has held since 2014, having previously been Music Director of
Glyndebourne Tour between 2007 and 2009). And will it be a ‘normal’ year this year for arts and music festivals worldwide? I think the whole of humanity is very much hoping so, whatever normal is anymore. We need to get back to packed theatres, communal experiences, “the buzz and the interaction and the proximity, the warmth of people’s bodies next to each other, the silence before a piece
starts, that sense of expectation.” That is certainly what Ticciati is looking forward to during the Glyndebourne Festival from 21st May to 28th August this year. London born with Italian ancestry, Ticciati’s love of music started from birth. In fact, he said, “I feel lucky enough that music has been in my blood for as long as I can remember.”
March 2022 | SUSSEX LIVING 9
