Garsington Opera 2019

Laughter, suspense and great story-telling from Smetana, Mozart, Offenbach and Britten in four new productions

Garsington Opera has a magical theatre in parkland
Summer isn't summer without at least one trip to Garsington Opera, where sparkling new productions are unveiled in the transparent box theatre surrounded by enviable gardens.

In the 2019 Garsington Opera season, at the Getty estate in Wormsley in the Chiltern Hills, four new productions and a concert performance will illustrate the endless variety of which opera is capable.

The season opens with a complicated but ultimately happy romance, Smetana's The Bartered Bride (29 May to 20 June). The exciting soprano Natalya Romaniw, wonderful at Garsington in 2016 in Eugene Onegin, returns to sing Marenka, the bride of the title. Stuart Jackson, marvellous recently in ENO's Salome, is Krusina. Look out for Romaniw in ENO's La Bohème too.


Soprano Natalya Romaniw sings Marenka in 'The Bartered Bride'. Photo: Patrick Allen

Mozart's enduring masterpiece Don Giovanni (30 May to 21 July) stars baritone Jonathan McGovern in the title role, with Sky Ingram as Donna Elvira. Tom Piper is the designer and, with Douglas Boyd conducting, a sparkling evening is guaranteed.

Jeremy Sams is a librettist who puts new life into translations, and his English text for the French composer Jacques Offenbach's Fantasio (14 to 20 July) is sure to be packed with genuinely funny gags. Hanna Hipp who gave a delectable performance in Garsington's sumptuous 2018 Capriccio sings the title role in this beguiling tale of unrequited love that finds a way.


Hanna Hipp sings the title role in 'Fantasio'. Photo: Matthew Plummer

The last opera in the season is Benjamin Britten's gripping interpretation of Henry James's terrifying The Turn of the Screw (1 to 19 July). Ed Lyon sings the role of the sinister Quint, with soprano Sophie Bevan as the Governess who finds the two young childen in her care have an uncomfortable double life.


Mary Bevan is joined by her soprano sister Sophie in the Monteverdi Vespers. Photo: Victoria Cadisch

As a coda to the season, the great Monteverdi Vespers are sung in concert (24-26 July) with soprano sisters Mary Bevan and Sophie Bevan. The very interesting new voice James Way is one of the three tenors: Benjamin Hulett and Robert Murray join him.

General booking opens on Tuesday 19 March 2019. Click here for details of a scheme for under-35s that is packed with advantages. Trains from Marylebone are met by a coach transfer to the opera house and back again.
TRY CULTURE WHISPER
Receive free tickets & insider tips to unlock the best of London — direct to your inbox

What Garsington Opera 2019
Where Garsington Opera, Wormsley Estate , Stokenchurch, HP14 3YG | MAP
Nearest tube Marylebone (underground)
When 29 May 19 – 26 Jul 19, four productions, times vary
Price £TBC
Website Click here for more information and booking




You may also like: