Glyndebourne Festival Opera

The Glyndebourne Opera [ glaɪndbɔ ː n] ( Glyndebourne Festival Opera ) was founded in 1934 by John Christie ( 1882-1962 ) and on the grounds of a former country house in Sussex ( England) established.

The founder of the festival, John Christie, was a wealthy landowner and music lover who had previously given in his dating from the 16th century country house private musical evenings. In 1931 he married the Canadian soprano Audrey Mildmay, with whom he attended the Salzburg and Bayreuth Festival, where the plan for a festival matured to the country estate with a focus on Mozart repertoire. As early as 1920 he had his house expanded to include a large organ room, which he now advanced to a small opera house with 300 seats. The first festival was opened on 28 May 1934, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, followed by. It took six weeks. The artistic direction had emigrated from Nazi Germany: Fritz Busch as a conductor, Carl Ebert had the dramatic line ( he was a former director of the Metropolitan Opera in Berlin) and Rudolf Bing, the general directorship, which he held until 1949. Mozart was still the preferred repertoire at Glyndebourne. From the 1960s, one of the focal points was the baroque opera ( Raymond Leppard ).

During the Second World War was not played, the house was home at that time from London evacuated children. 1952, the Glyndebourne Festival Society was founded, which took over the management of John Christie. After his death in 1962, his son, later Sir George Christie, and from 2000 his son Gus Christie the line.

Glyndebourne is two hours drive from London, east of Brighton.

In summer, the festival is a popular attraction for opera fans who use the long performance breaks (the longest one and a half hours) traditionally used to have a picnic in the park. However picnic is at a high level in formal wear (tuxedo / dinner jacket ) and with selected menu.

Architectural remodeling in the 1990s

Over the years, the building complex has been repeatedly extended temporary (1936 433 seats, 1952 600, 1977 850). In a report in 1989 entitled Glyndebourne ': Building an independent future " the construction of a major opera house was called, on the grounds that this will secure the future of opera and new revenue sources would be tapped.

The task of the architect Michael Hopkins, the seating capacity to increase by 50 per cent was to build ( in 1200), a larger stage and backstage, without the intimate atmosphere is destroyed by a large volume. In addition, the building should attach to the context of the neo- Elizabethan mansion.

Hopkins and Partners envisaged a radical transformation of the system, the existing building should be preserved as far as possible. The Opera House, however, should be demolished and replaced by a completely new building. On closer investigation it was found that the previous layout was rather confusing, particularly the square and the stage area. As a solution has been proposed, the entire building to rotate 180 °.

This resulted in several key benefits. First, the new building could be adapted to the contours of the gently rising terrain here and thus better integrated into the landscape. Secondly, the massive stage tower could be restored, so that it no longer optically crushed the original country house. Third, it was possible, the new foyer design must be such that it no longer is on the road, but opens up to the garden, traditionally held picnics in the. And finally, the scenery magazine could be integrated in a clearly marked " Commercial Zone " off the public areas.

The design for the new building provides a closed three -storey structure with an oval ground plan and shallow pitched roof. The traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium is located in a circular drum that protrudes beyond the main roof and connected to the stage tower. The input side of the building is enclosed with single storey colonnades that extend along the major axis of star-shaped and form a new glass-roofed foyer, which connects the new building with the stage set up in the former house restaurant. At the other end of the opera house stand in a semi- circular room behind the stage and the stage tower around 700 m² of workshop and storage rooms available, which in turn are connected topology with the Kulissentor and an independent sound-proof rehearsal room. The administrative and production offices are arranged around the stage area around; their window openings enliven this otherwise unadorned, smooth building block. At the same time these facilities act as an acoustic buffer zone for the auditorium. The people who work throughout the year at Glyndebourne, get enough sunlight and fresh air. The view of the surroundings become also possible. Dressing rooms, technical rooms, warehouse and workshops are housed in the basement.

The outer wall of the opera house is made ​​of bricks, which not only serve as a disguise but actually form a load-bearing wall with massive protruding pillars and flat sheets - a vivid example of how the architectural character of the buildings of Hopkins always naturally constructive from the yields a function of the individual elements.

In 1992 started the construction under the son of the founder John Christie, George Christie, which is why the festival turned out in 1993 and in 1994 began again. The costs for the conversion of 34 million pounds were raised almost entirely through donations. The donors received for the disposal of approximately one third of the seats.

Glyndebourne after the re- opening in 1994

Exactly 60 years after the first opening of the festival in 1994 was again re-opened with Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.

2003 was heard for the first time a Wagner opera as part of the festival, namely Tristan und Isolde in a production by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and conducted by Jiri Belohlavek. This production was repeated in 2007 and 2009. The Wagner- adventure at Glyndebourne continue in 2011 with The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.

The Glyndebourne CD Label

In 2008, Glyndebourne founded his own record label with the intent to publish the valuable recordings from the archive. The archive recordings were funded from 1960 to 2008 by John Barnes and implemented. All shows are today still carefully recorded.

Every year appear 4 operas on CD in a luxurious presentation. There always are live recordings of today and yesterday who are praised by the international press high.

Glyndebourne CD Label