Longborough Festival Opera - Longborough | 23 April 2021 |

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Performance reviews
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Don GiovanniLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
The singing for this production was of the highest order |
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The best singing of the evening comes from Paula Sides as Donna Anna |
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Longborough’s female-centric Don Giovanni |
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Characterisations are well-defined through strong, authoritative singing |
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Longborough’s female-centric Don Giovanni |
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“The Predator Punish'd”: Longborough's new Don Giovanni |
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La CalistoLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
Longborough Festival Opera’s 2019 Young Artist production is a highly dynamic telling of La Calisto |
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The production winningly adapts much of the fun of Cavalli’s original |
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In La Calisto, Longborough’s Young Artists Spectacularly Defy Human Frailty |
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Anna BolenaLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
La distribution du jour fait bon effet |
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Longborough’s Anna Bolena continues the 2019 season’s success |
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Longborough has done it proud |
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Masks and marriages |
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Tudor Queens in the Cotswolds — Italian style |
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A highly memorable evening |
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Das RheingoldLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
Anthony Negus conducts Das Rheingold at Longborough |
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English Summer Opera gets underway |
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With Das Rheingold Longborough sets off once again on the Ring road |
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Mark Stone, with his powerful baritone, arguably produces the strongest singing of the evening as Alberich |
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Longborough begins new Ring with assurance and clarity |
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For Wagnerians, the next four years are sewn up |
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associated articles [+]
The miracle of Longborough
Ring cycles have been known to break national opera companies. Longborough Festival Opera is about to embark upon their second. How do they do it?
Ring cycles have been known to break national opera companies. Longborough Festival Opera is about to embark upon their second. How do they do it?
L'incoronazione di PoppeaLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() |
L’incoronazione di Poppea constitutes Longborough Festival Opera’s 2018 Young Artist production, and the cast is magnificent |
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Young Artists show their talent in Longborough’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea |
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Victims of love |
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The vitality of Monteverdi’s score remains more or less intact in Jeremy Silver’s reading |
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Ariadne auf NaxosLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 8 | ![]() |
Thrilling energy & humour from Longborough Festival Opera |
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Captivating and glorious |
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What really brings it all to life is the conducting by Anthony Negus |
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A game of two halves |
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Anthony Negus was the star of this show |
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Alan Privett’s production of Ariadne is another huge Longborough success |
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Never less than a highly accomplished production that, in such an intimate setting, packs quite a punch |
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Like the staging, the music jumps off the page |
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La TraviataLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
Shame, camera, action |
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This interpretation of La traviata is as successful as it is innovative |
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An emotionally-charged La Traviata |
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Der Fliegende HolländerLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 10 | ![]() |
Opera needs this kind of intrepid eccentricity |
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An exhilarating storm-tossed evening in the Cotswolds |
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Longborough continues to be a refuge for British Wagnerians fleeing idiotic productions |
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A welcome addition to the festival’s exploration of Wagner's earlier creations |
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Anthony Negus’s conducting allows Longborough’s Der Fliegende Holländer to conquer high seas |
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Longborough’s track record with Wagner’s works is an astonishingly thrilling achievement |
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Negus sets up the story’s tensions in a passionate, spacious account of the overture |
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Beautifully played but dramatically inert |
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A production that really flies |
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The Flying Dutchman opens this year's Longborough Festival and a star is born |
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Orfeo ed EuridiceLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() |
The cast reveals a wealth of talent |
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Jagusz’s production certainly confirmed the artistic power of economy |
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A Bollywood Orfeo ed Euridice showcases Longborough Festival Opera’s young artists |
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Simplicity in Longborough's Orfeo ed Euridice |
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To hell and back |
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Music conquers all |
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The three vocal soloists emerge as musically distinctive, independent figures |
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Die ZauberflöteLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
The audience at Longborough Festival Opera seemed to enjoy The Magic Flute far more than I did |
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Who pulls the strings? Mozart's Magic Flute at Longborough |
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A mixed bag in which the musical dimension is more appealing than the production |
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FidelioLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 8 | ![]() |
Une poignée de bons chanteurs engonce loyalement la production |
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There is something slightly discomfiting in the tricksy production director Orpha Phelan offers here |
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Among the singers, the soprano, Elizabeth Atherton, as Leonore/Fidelio emerged as the real star of the show |
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As Leonore, Elizabeth Atherton produces a very clean, pure and accurate sound |
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That this Fidelio is merely frustrating counts as something of a success |
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A challenging, provocative and highly rewarding evening |
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Impressive singing in Longborough Fidelio
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It’s a miracle that the music makes any headway |
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Tristan und IsoldeLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 9 | ![]() |
A world class Tristan und Isolde in a barn shed |
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Lee Bisset as Isolde was glorious |
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One of the most exalting operatic experience I have had |
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Tristan und Isolde is so hot it sizzles |
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Anthony Negus and Carmen Jakobi’s Tristan und Isolde at Longborough excels musically and scenically |
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Lee Bisset’s Isolde is remarkable, so beautifully expressive and vocally powerful |
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Peter Wedd and Lee Bisset prove particularly effective in the title roles |
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A flesh & blood Tristan at Longborough |
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Anthony Negus brings a compelling authority to Wagner – his conducting is in a league of its own |
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JenufaLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() |
Trouble at mill |
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The part of Kostelnicka needs to be performed by a larger-than-life woman and Ms Keeble fits the bill so convincingly |
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Gaynor Keeble gives an acting master-class worthy of any theatrical stage |
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Janáček's masterpiece is graced by a memorable performance in the title role |
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No histrionics, just raw emotion for Janáček's tragic opera |
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Janáček's happy-ending tragedy is powerfully moving despite untidy details |
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Lee Bisset’s Jenůfa went from strength to strength |
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AlcinaLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
High musical values in this jumble sale-chic show |
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A brooding Alcina at Longborough |
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Handelians will be impressed |
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Le nozze di FigaroLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
The singing was uniformly excellent |
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Longborough’s Figaro is a spirited and exceptionally well-performed version of this comedy of errors |
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A thought-provoking Marriage of Figaro at Longborough |
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Robert Houssart conducts well and the singing is generally of a high standard |
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With its comparative economy of means, this is a very likeable production of Mozart’s masterpiece |
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Upstairs, downstairs |
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Tristan und IsoldeLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 10 | ![]() |
John Treleaven gave a creditable portrayal of a man in psychological torment |
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Longborough's new production of Tristan und Isolde will remain a yardstick |
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A five-star musical performance trapped in a one-star production of Wagner's opera |
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In the end it was Rachel Nicholls whose natural modesty and effortless singing swept all aside |
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At its centre are the performances of Peter Wedd as Tristan and Rachel Nicholls as Isolde |
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Longborough Festival Opera sets high standard with Tristan und Isolde |
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When it comes to staging Wagner, musical intelligence is more important than vast resources and superstar talent |
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Longborough’s Tristan is a musical triumph under conductor Anthony Negus |
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‘Tristan und Isolde’ brings thunder to the Longborough Festival |
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Negus's conducting is worth the entire evening |
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TannhäuserLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 10 | ![]() |
Longborough’s Tannhäuser is a major relief after ENO’s abysmal Tristan |
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Negus brings persuasive grandeur and lightness of touch to Longborough’s Tannhäuser |
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A clear staging but the singing disappoints |
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An enjoyable and illuminating Tannhäuser |
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This Tannhäuser is a treat for the ears - but it's a shame about the staging |
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Tricky things, orgies |
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Ganz nach Wagners Geschmack |
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The greatest hero of all is Anthony Negus whose conducting explores every phrase and nuance in the music |
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This is a Tannhäuser not to miss |
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Impressively conducted Tannhäuser from Anthony Negus opens Longborough’s season |
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XerxesLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
Handel's Serse from Longborough's young artists |
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A feast of virtuoso singing and lively characterisation |
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Passion, jealousy and deceit in Handel’s Xerxes at Longborough |
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RigolettoLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
Longborough has the Midas touch of bringing quality and creative imagination to whatever the work it is staging |
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Verdi's Mantua transplanted to Detroit but better sung than staged |
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Glory days and nights at Longborough |
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American 1920s setting works a treat |
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Longborough delivers a quality Rigoletto 1920s-style |
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Don PasqualeLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() |
The 18th century sections of this production worked gloriously |
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Glory days and nights at Longborough |
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Susanna Hurrell shines at Longborough's Don Pasquale |
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Imaginative staging of Don Pasquale at Longborough |
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RinaldoLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
Handel's crusade is replaced by a circus |
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Crusades to circus: Handel’s Rinaldo in a surprising setting |
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Il barbiere di SivigliaLongborough Festival OperaNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
"Just my usual, please, Figaro" |
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The presentation in this production overtaxes the venue |
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Reviews search
Performance schedule
Wagner
4 to 12 Jun 2021
Mozart
24 Jun to 3 Jul 2021
Monteverdi
13 to 18 Jul 2021
Janacek
29 Jul to 3 Aug 2021
News & Articles
We're all going to the circus |
Longborough Festival Opera's imaginative solution for Summer opera. |
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Longborough Festival Opera, 2020 reporté en 2021 grâce aux dons |
Le Festival d'Opéra de Longborough a été contraint d'annuler son édition 2020 (en mars dernier) mais dans un Royaume culturel désuni et en ruines, il a pu en sauver une belle proportion ainsi que des engagements d'artistes pour 2021. |
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Longborough Festival Opera announces 2021 season |
The U.K festival, which is scheduled to take place between June 4 and August 3 will showcase four productions. |
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Longborough Festival Opera audience members raise over £300,000 |
The Longborough Festival Opera has announced that 1,000 audience members have chosen to donate the value of their tickets, generating a fund of over £300,000. |
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The miracle of Longborough |
Ring cycles have been known to break national opera companies. Longborough Festival Opera is about to embark upon their second. How do they do it? |
![]() |