Sunday 27 July 2014

Glyndebourne comes to you


Glyndebourne Tour dedicates its 2014 season to visionary founder Sir George Christie. Glyndebourne Tour is to honour the artistic vision of its founder Sir George Christie by taking three world-class productions, two fresh from premières at Glyndebourne Festival, on the road this autumn. Sir George, who died in May, established the Tour in 1968 driven by an ambition to bring the highest-quality opera to as many people as possible and nurture talented singers from across the world at the start of their careers. Now in its 46th year, the Glyndebourne Tour is offering a rare opportunity to see two new productions direct from the internationally acclaimed Glyndebourne Festival, Verdi’s La traviata and Mozart’s La finta giardiniera.

 It''s not often that brand new productions hit the road so quickly, so this is good news, even though the  casts will be different. The new La Traviata is a safe enough choice though from what I've heard, the original cast was the draw, with all respect to the Tour cast. Good careers have been built from Glyndebourne Tour beginnings.

 The real attraction for me will be  La finta giardiniera.  Mozart's early  opera is relatively rare because it isn't a masterpiece but there's a lot more to it than, say, Bastien and Bastienne  On the other hand, the Glyndebourne production highlights its strengths and makes it good theatre, enhancing our understanding. Read Claire Seymour's perceptive review in Opera Today. I rushed to get tickets at Glyndebourne but it was sold out.  So I'm booking early for the Tour production. Has this Cinderella of Mozart's operas  found her prince? In Frederick Wake-Walker's thoughtful staging, La finta giardiniera.proves its strengths. The first night at Glyndebourne (5/12) is already sold out.
Also taking to the road is Jonathan Kent’s highly acclaimed 2006 production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw.  Glyndebourne will also be screening  Melly Still’s playful family production of Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen in selected cinemas. "Playful family production" is the right description. "Vixen de-fanged",  I called it at the premeiere (more HERE)  It does nothing for Janáček or for those who like the opera, but it's great for family outings. Disney, with rather good music. Two other special productions for primary school children and  families, Songs about us and Five Deaths and a Happy Ending. Glyndebourne's youth outreach is very high quality indeed, and has featured commissions from composers like Julian Phillips (The Yellow Sofa).

Moire details of Glyndebourne Tour's schedule here. 

photo : morebyless

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