Garsington Opera - Garsington | 19 January 2021 |
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Performance reviews
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FidelioGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() ![]() |
Garsington Opera show how the themes in Fidelio resonate in 2020 now our freedoms are severely restricted |
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Heart of darkness, light-filled liberation |
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This Fidelio punched home its message |
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Douglas Boyd seemed absolutely in his element, emphatically conveying the heights and depths of the score even in reduced form |
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Genuinely eloquent |
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Garsington's semi-staging speaks to us directly and movingly |
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Fidelio overcomes all obstacles to rescue Garsington Opera's 2020 festival |
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associated articles [+]
Fidelio: semi-staged live performance at Garsington
Garsington Opera will be giving semi-staged performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio in the Opera Pavilion at Wormsley on 12, 14, 18 & 20 September 2020.
Garsington Opera will be giving semi-staged performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio in the Opera Pavilion at Wormsley on 12, 14, 18 & 20 September 2020.
FantasioGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
Elogio de la locura |
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Offenbach’s bicentenary year Garsington Opera Fantasio |
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First staged production of Offenbach's Fantasio at Garsington |
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Clown court |
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Jennifer France is outstanding as Elsbeth |
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Don GiovanniGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 9 | ![]() |
Garsington Opera’s alert and intriguing Don Giovanni production |
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Don Giovanni turns painter in Garsington Opera's brilliant take on Mozart |
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Mozart’s terrifying opera buffa isn’t just playing it for laughs |
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This was the ladies’ evening |
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A violent splash of black paint triggers the D minor chord which initiates the Overture |
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Michael Boyd’s production of Don Giovanni is a damp squib |
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This isn’t a classic Garsington presentation |
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A vague staging of Mozart’s dark comedy |
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Mixed emotions: a flawed but interesting Don Giovanni from Garsington Opera |
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The Bartered BrideGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 12 | ![]() |
Natalya Romaniw campe une extraordinaire Mařenka |
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Garsington Opera’s The Bartered Bride is a winning summer’s evening |
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Charm and wit in assured English village staging |
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Paul Curran’s direction is sensitively handled |
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A brilliant The Bartered Bride to open Garsington's 2019 30th anniversary season |
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The opera festival at the top of its game |
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An exuberantly performed, perfectly pitched first show of the season |
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Ambridge meets Ealing in this jolly update |
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The most brilliantly choreographed display of acrobatics imaginable |
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Anyone expecting a folksy Moravian setting might be briefly disappointed |
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Czech tale turns into a very English caper |
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Czech mate: a hilarious and immaculately executed Bartered Bride at Garsington |
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The Turn of the ScrewGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 9 | ![]() |
Erlkönigs Lockgesang schwirrt durch die Nacht |
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Garsington’s admirable flucidation of psychologically and emotionally dark The Turn of the Screw |
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Deft, elegant and genuinely chilling |
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Sophie Bevan's Governess was passionately sung |
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A terrific, and terrifying, The Turn of the Screw at Garsington |
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Even in broad daylight, Garsington’s The Turn of the Screw is a brilliantly chilling affair |
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A beautiful and unsettling piece of theatre |
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The staging does this creepy masterpiece proud |
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Goosebumps at Garsington: an outstanding, shadowy Turn of the Screw |
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The Skating RinkGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 15 | ![]() ![]() |
This complex modern drama, brilliantly sung, is a frozen asset |
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The Skating Rink grows in intensity with each act |
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An exotic new mystery thriller is Garsington's final opera of 2018 |
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The Skating Rink is not as engaging and stimulating as it could be |
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Prosaic words and music fail to make magic on ice |
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Strong performance of a new opera with a very striking voice, inspired by Roberto Bolano's novel |
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The Skating Rink is not as engaging and stimulating as it could be |
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With its blazing sunshine, there could not have been a more appropriate day for the premiere of this work |
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Shivers up and down the spine |
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Finely observed |
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The whole received a strong performance from both cast and orchestra |
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A superb cast can't save a thin plot and banal libretto |
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An intriguing experiment in neo-noir that pays off handsomely |
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Smart murder mystery opera is unfussy and clear |
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Grant Doyle as Enric sings with burnished tone throughout and is dramatically effective |
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CapriccioGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 20 | ![]() |
Le niveau d’excellence du plateau vocal force l’admiration et appelle les hourras! |
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No contest |
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A little bit of magic: Soprano Miah Persson in Richard Strauss's opera |
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It was Music which ‘won’ in the end |
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Many musical rewards in Capriccio at Garsington |
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Strauss’s last opera is a ‘whim whim’ for Wormsley festival |
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A little bit of magic: Miah Persson in Richard Strauss's Capriccio at Garsington |
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Miah Persson excels in Capriccio |
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Mozart’s forces of darkness and light fight it out alongside voluptuous Strauss on the lawns at Garsington |
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Music and words in operatic struggle |
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Garsington makes as good a case as you can for Strauss's frothy Capriccio |
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A rare production of Strauss's final opera and a sophisticated summer treat |
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Garsington gives stimulating performance of Strauss’s Capriccio |
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Makes a profound impression |
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Ingeniously controlled chaos |
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On occasion things are a little too serious, but overall Richard Strauss’s ensemble piece plays out with nuance and verve |
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A gentle, sympathetic Capriccio at Garsington |
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The poignancy of triviality |
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Miah Persson’s beautifully judged Countess is discreet without a hint of sphinx-like remoteness |
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A sweet and beautiful confection |
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FalstaffGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 10 | ![]() ![]() |
The most cheerful and warmhearted production of Verdi’s final opera I have seen |
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Sister suffragette |
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Falstaff in the 'back garden'? Blooming good! |
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A list of today’s great Falstaffs should now include Henry Waddington |
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Garsington Opera transfers Falstaff from Elizabeth pomp to Edwardian pompousness |
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The pace is terrific |
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Verdi's comic farewell in a fine new production by Garsington Opera |
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You will rarely hear Verdi’s intricate ensembles delivered with such rapport between pit and stage, nor the drama paced so effectively |
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Songs of innocence and experience: Verdi's Falstaff at Garsington |
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Henry Waddington gives the most convincing, moving, and beautifully-sung performance |
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Die ZauberflöteGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 12 | ![]() |
The overture and the great choral pieces were solemn and dignified, and the duets sparkling |
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A production swamped by a surplus of ideas |
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Mozart’s forces of darkness and light fight it out alongside voluptuous Strauss on the lawns at Garsington |
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Imaginative re-think on Mozart's Enlightenment |
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Cold and confusing |
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Garsington’s Die Zauberflöte is more rewarding vocally than theatrically |
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The orchestra is carefully blended, the chorus is terrific and the soloists uniformly impressive |
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Netia Jones shows she's more than a video artist with her riveting new staging of 'Die Zauberflöte' |
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An enigmatic staging |
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Truth and Wisdom: a searching Zauberflöte at Garsington |
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Netia Jones' new Die Zauberflöte opens Garsington Opera's 2018 season |
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By setting the action in a Masonic lodge, Netia Jones leaves no space for the imagination |
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Silver BirchGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
Garsington’s season closes on a high note with Panufnik’s Silver Birch |
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This community opera is cinematic in its scope and fluidity |
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A real achievement |
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Panufnik’s music is both strong and accessible |
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A work of beauty and hope |
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Pelléas et MélisandeGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 12 | ![]() |
La soirée n’a pas été des meilleures |
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The main musical satisfaction of this new Pelléas et Mélisande was the intense playing of the Philharmonia Orchestra |
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Garsington Opera’s provocative and compelling staging of Pelléas et Mélisande |
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Andrea Carroll makes a bewitching Mélisande in Debussy’s decadent opera |
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Light and shade |
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Andrea Carroll’s Mélisande is her UK debut and it’s an impressive one |
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Michael Boyd directs and the Philharmonia Orchestra plays Debussy's opera |
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Boyd brings the opera’s dreams and mysteries into landscapes that are lit, symbolically and figuratively, with precision |
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Fresh light on Debussy's mysterious fairytale |
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Andrea Carroll’s exquisite performance is the highlight of this mixed staging of Debussy’s only opera |
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Positively amateurish |
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Boyd treads a fine line between realism and poetic evasiveness |
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Il Turco in ItaliaGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() |
Rions un peu |
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It’s the perfect Summer evening opera |
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Finely produced and performed Il turco in Italia at Garsington Opera |
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Welcome revival for a summertime crowd-pleaser that's brimming with fizz and fun |
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Martin Duncan’s 2011 production of Rossini’s comedy has new snap and sexiness in this revival |
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Personenregie perfection: Martin Duncan's Il turco in Italia at Garsington |
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Sarah Tynan brought real vocal fireworks to the role of Fiorilla |
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Le nozze di FigaroGarsington OperaNo. of reviews: 8 | ![]() |
Cox sets the opera firmly in 18th century Spain and focuses with utmost clarity on the characters’ predicaments |
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Le nozze di Figaro at Garsington |
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Performance schedule
Strauss, R
2 Jun to 3 Jul 2021
Tchaikovsky
3 Jun to 23 Jul 2021
Handel
19 Jun to 24 Jul 2021
Rossini
2 to 25 Jul 2021
News & Articles
Garsington Opera’s The Turn of the Screw wins award |
Winners of the 2020 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards have been revealed this evening in a digital broadcast featuring performances filmed at London’s Wigmore Hall. |
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Garsington Opera get the go-ahead for new rehearsal centre |
Garsington Opera has been given the go-ahead for a new £14 million rehearsal centre. Construction on the project is set to begin next year, and aims to be completed in 2023. |
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Fidelio: semi-staged live performance at Garsington |
Garsington Opera will be giving semi-staged performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio in the Opera Pavilion at Wormsley on 12, 14, 18 & 20 September 2020. |
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Another opera company returns to life |
Garsington Opera will give four semi-staged Fidelios in the Opera Pavilion at Wormsley on 12, 14, 18 and 20 September 2020. |
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Garsington Opera announces 2021 season |
Next summer the company will return to celebrate its 10th anniversary at Wormsley, in true Garsington style. |
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