Garsington Opera 2024

At Garsington Opera, the stupendous garden often blends with the production on stage in the glass-sided theatre where shows run from daylight to sunset. Expect a perfect fit, then, with Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sun 16 June to Fri 19 July), one of six operas staged this year (29 May to 31 July).

A Midsummer Night's Dream stars counter-tenor Iestyn Davies as Oberon and Lucy Crowe as Tytania. (Here's hoping the ubiquitous red kites don't steal Davies's prawn salad this season.) Here too is a chance to catch two less often staged operas – Rameau's Platée and Verdi's Un Giorno di Regno.

The seasons opens with the innovative 18th-century French composer's tragi-comedy Platée, in which gods and goddesses get their comeuppance. Singers include the very exciting bass-baritone Ossian Huskinson, who was a great Garsington discovery, as Jupiter (Wed 29 May to Sun 30 June).

Ossian Huskinson, a favourite with audiences at Garsington, sings Jupiter in Platee. Photo: Toni Bofill

Mozart's evergreen upstairs-downstairs comedy Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) receives 12 performances from 30 May to 23 July. Bruno Ravello is the revival director for John Cox's spirited, traditional production.

A Verdi rarity, also a comedy, closes the main season (29 June to 22 July). In Un Giorno di Regno. Long awaited (first scheduled for the cancelled 2020 season), the madcap opera tells the story of an ordinary man who is king for a day.

After the four repertoire operas, this year's new community opera is Andrew Norman's A Trip to the Moon, sung in English and Moonish. When astronomers crash-land on the Moon, they need to find a way to communicate with the residents.... Tenor Robert Murray and soprano Jennifer France lead the professional soloists, and Garsington's music director Douglas Boyd conducts (30 to 31 July) singers and Garsington's resident orchestra, the Philharmonia.

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Operas are sung in their original language, with English surtitles. A coach meets the recommended train from Marylebone to High Wycombe. Public booking opens 10am, Tuesday 2 April 2024. Click here for more details and tickets. Prices include a voluntary donation of £80 (less for A Trip to the Moon)