Glyndebourne Festival - Glyndebourne | 5 March 2021 |
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Performance reviews
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In the Market for LoveGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
Ópera en tiempos de COVID : regreso a Glyndebourne |
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The sheer joy of performing; Offenbach's frothy market-set operetta is a first for Glyndebourne |
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A silly but delightful staging of Mesdames de la Halle is an Offen-ready treat |
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First-rate singers elevate flimsy one-acter |
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Operetta is back at Glyndebourne |
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Die ZauberflöteGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
Glyndebourne in the pandemic proves that opera doesn’t need stuffy rituals |
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Deeply moving light in darkness |
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RigolettoGlyndebourne FestivalGlyndebourne on TourNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() ![]() |
Strong vocal performances are overshadowed by a series of strange and irrelevant directorial choices |
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Rigoletto past, present and future: a muddled production by Christiane Lutz for Glyndebourne Touring Opera |
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Not so much three stars as four-and-a-half stars for the performance and one-and-a-half for the production |
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Verdi holds his own in a concept-laden Rigoletto |
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Christiane Lutz casts Rigoletto into the limelight as Charlie Chaplin |
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Add baby, remove bathwater |
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Christine Lutz' time-travelling and exposé of power and sexual abuse exerts a grip, but her concept can be hard work |
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associated articles [+]
Vuvu Mpofu taught herself to sing by copying divas on DVDs
South African-born soprano Vuvu Mpofu overcame poverty, bereavement and knife crime to win a major role at Glyndebourne.
South African-born soprano Vuvu Mpofu overcame poverty, bereavement and knife crime to win a major role at Glyndebourne.
RinaldoGlyndebourne FestivalGlyndebourne on TourNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() |
Rinaldo through the looking-glass |
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Diverting but hollow production of Handel’s opera |
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The evening captivates for its theatricality |
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Rinaldo revived: Glyndebourne tours its school-based Handel opera |
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L'elisir d'amoreGlyndebourne FestivalGlyndebourne on TourNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
Potent potion |
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Sun, sex and suspicious potions: L'elisir d'amore on the Glyndbourne Tour |
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The comic and poignant twists and turns of love and fate are superbly brought to life in Arden’s production |
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RinaldoGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 8 | ![]() ![]() |
Polish countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski gave an excellent performance in the title role |
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Juvenile japes and kinkiness in light-hearted but sharp Glyndebourne revival |
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Rinaldo vence por goleada |
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Glyndebourne’s ‘Rinaldo’ beds in brilliantly |
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Exceptional cast and conductor |
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More work needed from the boyishly handsome, breakdancing counter-tenor |
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Stale stereotypes abound in a production that’s a bit past its sell by date |
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Jolly hockey sticks! Orliński rules as Rinaldo at Glyndebourne |
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associated articles [+]
Breakdancing opera singer steps in at Glyndebourne
Jakub Jozef Orlinski, a breakdancing opera singer will replace Elizabeth DeShong in Glyndebourne Opera's production of Handel's Rinaldo after she pulled out "for personal reasons".
Jakub Jozef Orlinski, a breakdancing opera singer will replace Elizabeth DeShong in Glyndebourne Opera's production of Handel's Rinaldo after she pulled out "for personal reasons".
CendrillonGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 10 | ![]() ![]() |
Une Cendrillon réussie |
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There is a queer opera at Glyndebourne and this is why it’s important |
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The entire evening sparkles with magic |
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Mais de féerie, guère |
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Glyndebourne’s Cendrillon is memorable in every way |
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All the leading cast members give excellent performances |
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Cinders goes to the ball in fine voice at Glyndebourne |
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A touching production with a short supply of really fine singing |
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Danielle de Niese is a sweet Cendrillon with genuine presence |
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Cinders on the couch: Freudian Cendrillon at Glyndebourne |
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Die ZauberflöteGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 10 | ![]() ![]() |
Glyndebourne’s new Die Zauberflöte misfires, despite an excellent cast |
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Sheer lunacy |
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The show breaks free of director Renaud Doucet’s contrived, PC rewrites |
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Glyndebourne show spikes sexist perceptions |
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Kitchen sunk drama |
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This magical, witty, irreverent production updates the action and politics to 1900s Vienna but still strikes some wrong notes |
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A meaningless, tasteless, pointless, gimmicky mish-mash |
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A highly imaginative affair, chock-full of spectacle with keen attention to detail |
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There’s some fine singing to paper over the cracks in the concept |
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A mixed bag of paper cut-outs |
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RusalkaGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() ![]() |
How to stage magic: Glyndebourne's Rusalka |
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A glorious performance of an outstanding production of a powerful opera |
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Whimsy, raunch and brutality |
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As rewarding an operatic evening as you’ll find anywhere this season |
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Melly Still’s 2009 production plays to the rule ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ |
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Il barbiere di SivigliaGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
Hera Hyesang Park leads a wonderful cast in an engaging rendition of classic work |
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This production has lost its way |
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Almaviva was brilliantly played by the young South African tenor Levy Sekgapane |
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Laughter returns to Seville: a sparkling Barbiere revival at Glyndebourne |
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The performance showcases some exceptional young talent |
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Laughter returns to Seville: a sparkling Barbiere revival at Glyndebourne |
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La Damnation de FaustGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 16 | ![]() ![]() |
Berlioz rural |
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A quand les Troyens? |
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Byway to hell |
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The Devil gets the last laugh in the opening opera of the Glyndebourne season |
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Fausto se condena sólo víctima de su propia imbecilidad |
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Berlioz is underdone at Glyndebourne |
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The kind of profoundly mediocre night you wish Berlioz the critic had been around to demolish |
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Turning an oratorio into an opera demands much more than dressing the chorus up as devils, sitting in a gallery |
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Glyndebourne fails to make the case for staging La Damnation de Faust |
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Glyndebourne presents Richard Jones's new staging of La damnation de Faust |
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The warp and weft of the staging is a stunning amalgam of sound and vision |
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Musically, there was much to savour |
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Problematic staging fails to convince |
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The London Philharmonic spares nothing in terms of Berliozian style and glamour |
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Seductive, beguiling and sinister |
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Diabolus vincit omnia: Purves' Mephisto dominates Berlioz' La damnation de Faust at Glyndebourne |
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La TraviataGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
An excellent production of one of the greatest operas |
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Mané Galoyan’s Violetta was, appropriately, the star of the show |
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In the title role, the Armenian soprano Mané Galoyan is a real find |
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Curiously uninvolving |
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Mané Galoyan steals the show in a Traviata for our age |
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Making her Glyndebourne debut as Violetta, Mané Galoyan is a real find |
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CendrillonGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 9 | ![]() ![]() |
Cendrillon gives Fiona Shaw an opportunity to take a long, hard look at the Cinderella story |
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Imaginative direction from Fiona Shaw even manages to avoid the tedium of the long ballet sequences in Massenet’s score |
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Cendrillon is a Glyndebourne success and a revelation in repertoire |
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Cinderella entrances her gender-fluid Prince |
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Massenet’s work becomes a complex modern-day fairytale |
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Overwrought and over-thought |
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The production is a delight |
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A gender-fluid Cinderella concoction of sparkle and charm |
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The predominantly female singers are strongly cast |
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VanessaGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 22 | ![]() ![]() |
An excellent performance of an entertaining and superbly constructed opera |
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Un engendro llamado Vanessa |
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Ibsen meets Puccini |
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Barber’s eclectic score is a gift to the sopranos |
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After decades of neglect, Samuel Barber’s Vanessa makes a dramatic entrance |
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Competent but lacks the extra class |
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A superb production at Glyndebourne of Barber’s unjustly neglected Vanessa |
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Barber's mysterious "Vanessa" enthrals at Glyndebourne |
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Warner’s production emphasises the claustrophobic and noirish aspects of the story |
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Barber's opera finds its time with intelligent, gripping staging |
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Keith Warner’s production evokes the mystery and repressed sensuality of this intriguing work |
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Keith Warner's Glyndebourne production exposes truths and tragedies |
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Le miroir s'argenta |
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Repression in a cold climate |
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Worth the wait for this winningly performed production |
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Probing and spectacular |
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Glyndebourne: a solid production can't hide the charmlessness of Barber's opera |
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Glyndebourne presents the first fully professional UK staging of Barber's romantic opera |
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It’s hard to imagine the opera being more sympathetically treated |
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Blowsy histrionics and a great finale |
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Glyndebourne’s magnificent production makes the strongest possible case for Vanessa |
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Gripping psychodrama with a nod to Hitchcock |
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associated articles [+]
Vanessa: from Pulitzer to obscurity… and beyond
The prize-winning opera fell out of favour. Now it is getting a second chance at Glyndebourne.
The prize-winning opera fell out of favour. Now it is getting a second chance at Glyndebourne.
Madama ButterflyGlyndebourne FestivalNo. of reviews: 16 | ![]() |
You'd need to be made of stone to get through Act III unmoved here |
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Glyndebourne is sunny yet unrewarding |
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The summer opera season kicks off with Annilese Miskimmon’s perceptive staging of Puccini’s heartbreaker |
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Much is routine – and a fair amount is worse |
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A super start to the 2018 season |
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The undoubted glory of the evening was the orchestral playing by the London Philharmonic Orchestra |
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The UK's premier summer festival opens its season with Puccini's beloved tear-jerker |
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Tears on the picnic lawn: Madama Butterfly makes her bow at the Glyndebourne Festival |
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Excellent performances |
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Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2018 opens with Annilese Miskimmon's Madama Butterfly |
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An impressive opening night Butterfly at the 2018 Glyndebourne Festival |
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A breathtaking Butterfly, but Richard Jones goes overboard on the gags |
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associated articles [+]
The heartless GIs who inspired Madame Butterfly
A new production of the opera at Glyndebourne is set in post-war Japan.
A new production of the opera at Glyndebourne is set in post-war Japan.
Sex, betrayal, suicide
is Madama Butterfly too sordid to stage today?
is Madama Butterfly too sordid to stage today?

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Performance schedule
Janacek
20 May to 19 Jun 2021
Rossini
23 May to 20 Jun 2021
Mozart
4 Jul to 27 Aug 2021
Verdi
1 to 29 Aug 2021
Wagner
13 to 28 Aug 2021
News & Articles
Glyndebourne Festival announces revised 2021 season |
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced a revised 2021 season that will run from May 20 to August 29. |
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Glyndebourne announces concert / streaming slate for December 2020 |
Glyndebourne is set to present a number of unique showcases for the holiday season. |
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Kate Lindsey & Matthew Rose lead Glyndebourne fall 2020 performances |
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced a full program of the series of socially-distanced indoor performances that will take place in Sussex, starting October 10, 2020. |
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Glyndebourne announces series of fall 2020 performances |
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced a series of socially-distanced indoor performances that will take place in Sussex, starting October 10, 2020. |
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Glyndebourne has announced its 2021 season |
Kristina Mkhitaryan, Charles Castronovo, Soloman Howard, Elena Tsallagova headline Glyndebourne’s 2021 festival. |
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