Garsington grows with new rehearsal studios

GARSINGTON Opera at Wormsley is putting grand plans in place for its next season.

But its high quality music is meant to be for everyone, according to artistic director Douglas Boyd.

“Next season is going to be historical and ground-breaking for us because it will mark the opening of our studios,” he says.

“There’s an incredible build going on at the top of the estate, which is going to be
transformational.

“At the moment we have to rehearse all over London, so now we can bring the whole festival on site and create state-of-the-art rehearsal conditions for up to four operas.”

A bonus is that the next generation of singers will have a home.

Douglas says: “This will give us a chance to expand our Young Artists programme all-year round.

“But just as important is Garsington Opera Participate, our education and participation programme. The ambition is to change people’s lives. We want it to be inclusive but at the same time we might also be able to nurture kids who might otherwise not have the chance to become musicians.

“Our first rehearsals will take place on site in the summer, so that’s a huge part of what to look forward to when the season opens.”

Douglas, 64, who has been artistic director at Garsington for 11 years, will be conducting A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Iestyn Davies, and A Trip to the Moon.

He says: “For me, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten is the perfect piece for Garsington because you’re marrying one of the best miracles that this country has ever produced in Shakespeare with the miracle of Britten, one of our greatest ever composers.

“I remember I was doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream years ago and my daughter came on tour with me.

“She was eight or nine and was absolutely bewitched by this fairy tale, this magic story, but it’s a story that connects every single age.

“You know, you can take it as a fairy story, as a love story, as a tale of delusion, as a tale of what humanity’s about — it’s on every possible level.”

A Trip to the Moon is based on the 1902 French sci-fi film of the same name by George Méliès.

It was first performed by Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Douglas says: “We look at our community opera with the same pride and commitment as we do for any of the other operas.

“This is a story based on a silent movie, where these imaginary astronauts land on the moon and find these aliens who don’t speak our language, they only speak Moonish.

“It’s about meeting these creatures from another world and how do you communicate, how do you take away distrust?

“It’s a fun evening but it has also got profound overtones about trust and how we can live together and that’s a pretty good message that we all need right now. Le Nozze di Figaro, or The Marriage of Figaro, by Mozart is one of our most-loved productions so that’s our revival this year.

“It’s arguably the greatest opera ever and it’s a production originally by John Cox who’s one of the greatest living directors and now in his eighties.

“It not only celebrates the music of Mozart but it creates these real human beings on stage that you absolutely believe in, Figaro and his bride-to-be Suzanna and the Count and Countess.

“It’s set in its time and is very much the story of aristocracy and upstairs, downstairs, the roles of people in society and how you can perhaps change these.”

Platée by Jean-Philippe Rameau is “some of the greatest music ever composed,” says Douglas.

“It’s the very first French baroque opera that we’ve performed at the Garsington Opera so we’re really proud.

“It’s a story of delusion and love. The music has such earthiness, incredible dance music and fantastic harmonies. I think it’ll be a great evening out.

“Giuseppe Verdi’s Un Giorno di Regno, King for a Day, has got a similar theme in terms of being deluded, what it feels like to become a king for a day, and it’s a comedy.

“It was actually planned for 2020 but was cancelled at the last minute because of the pandemic, so it has been ready to rock ’n’ roll since then.”

This year will also mark the debut of Garsington’s gala evening. Douglas says: “We’ve actually taken one extra day to thank people. We’ve raised nearly £15 million to open these studios and it’s all from people who believe in what we’re doing, there’s no government money.

“The gala day will be a way of celebrating the studios, thanking everybody for their incredible support and showcasing what we’re about.

“It will include our children’s chorus singing and our Young Artists. Our international stars will be singing, the Philharmonia Orchestra will be appearing and we hope to have somebody who’s a major name presenting.

“The thing about Garsington is that everything flows from it being a world-class day of opera. It has to be of the absolute highest quality or else we don’t exist.

“One of the things that flows from that is that when people come they find it’s an incredibly special day out.”

• The 2024 Garsington Opera Festival at the Wormsley estate, near Stokenchurch, opens on Wednesday, May 29, with Platée by Jean-Philippe Rameau, which runs to Sunday, June 30. Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart runs from Thursday, May 30 to Tuesday, July 23. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten runs from Sunday, June 16 to Friday, July 19. Un Giorno di Regno by Giuseppi Verdi runs from Saturday, June 29 to Monday, July 22. On Sunday, July 7, there is a gala concert and on Tuesday, July 30 and Wednesday, July 31 A Trip to the Moon by Andrew Norman will be performed. For more information and to buy tickets, visit garsingtonopera.org/festival