Glyndebourne-Opera

In this episode of the Glyndebourne podcast Katie Derham visits the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End which is currently home to a play by one of Britain's foremost playwrights, Sir David Hare. The play is called The Moderate Soprano and tells the extraordinary story of the founding of Glyndebourne by John Christie and his wife Audrey Mildmay. Katie’s guest is the Olivier Award-winning actor Roger Allam who plays the role of John Christie and tells us what it’s like to portray a man for whom opera was the guiding passion and principle of his life. The Moderate Soprano runs until the 30 June at the Duke of York's Theatre. Visit www.themoderatesoprano.com Presenter: Katie Derham Produced by Katherine Godfrey and Nathan Gower for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2018 Image: Nancy Carroll and Roger Allam in The Moderate Soprano at the Duke of York's Theatre. Photographer: Johan Perrson

In this episode of the Glyndebourne podcast Katie Derham is joined by novelist Kate Mosse, author of the multi-million selling Languedoc Trilogy and a major new historical series that starts with the first novel The Burning Chambers, published in May 2018. The music of Debussy has been a lifelong passion for Kate and the composer is an off-stage character in the second book in her Languedoc trilogy – Sepulchre. In this podcast, Kate discusses her love for Debussy and his opera Pelléas et Mélisande, which is being staged at Glyndebourne Festival 2018. Presenter: Katie Derham Produced by Katherine Godfrey and Nathan Gower for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2018 The music in this podcast is from the 1963 recording of Pelléas et Mélisande released on the Glyndebourne Label. Music by kind permission of G.Ricordi & Co(London)Ltd Image of Kate Mosse. Photographer Ruth Crafer

‘It’s romantic opera, reinvented for the twenty-first century.’ In this episode of the Glyndebourne podcast we explore Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Vanessa, a story of longing, loss and manipulation set to a sumptuous score. Contributions come from critic David Benedict, opera director Keith Warner and Alexandra Coghlan, Glyndebourne’s Opera Content Specialist. Presenter: Katie Derham Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2018 The music in this podcast is from the Chandos and BBC Co-production of Vanessa. Music courtesy of G. Schirmer Inc (Chester Music Ltd). Leonard Slatkin conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the role of Vanessa is performed by Christine Brewer with Susan Graham as Erika, Catherine Wyn-Rogers as The Old Baroness and William Burden as Anatol. Image: Shadric Toop painted collage Images: Wikimedia Commons

Pelléas et Mélisande is Debussy’s only complete opera and with it he rightly earned his place as one of the most imaginative and pioneering composers of the early twenty-first century. In this episode of the Glyndebourne podcast we explore this seminal work with the help of British author Kate Mosse, Julian Johnson, Professor of Music at Royal Holloway College and Glyndebourne archivist Julia Aries. Presenter: Katie Derham Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2018 The music in this podcast is from the 1963 recording of Pelléas et Mélisande released on the Glyndebourne Label. Music by kind permission of G.Ricordi & Co(London)Ltd Image: Shadric Toop painted collage and photography

In this episode of the Glyndebourne podcast, we explore the tangled web of politics and love in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with contributions from top mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, William Fitzgerald, Professor of Latin Language & Literature at King’s College London and Suzanne Aspden, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Oxford. Presenter: Katie Derham Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2018 The music in this podcast is from the Glyndebourne production of Giulio Cesare, directed by David McVicar, which was recorded as a co-production between Glyndebourne and Opus Arte in 2006. The musical edition by Winton Dean and Sarah Fuller is performed by arrangement with Oxford University Press Image: Sarah Connolly as Giulio Cesare and Danielle de Niese as Cleopatra in the Glyndebourne Festival 2005 production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare. Photographer: Mike Hoban

In this episode of the Glyndebourne podcast we explore Mozart’s discourse on the power of forgiveness - La clemenza di Tito - with contributions from Glyndebourne’s Music Director Robin Ticciati, Glyndebourne Dramaturg Cori Ellison, Mozart scholar Julian Rushton and Classicist William Fitzgerald. Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2017 ​​The music you’ve been listening to in this podcast is from the Warner Classics recording of La clemenza di Tito​. Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the​ Orchestra of Zurich Opera House. Philip Langridge sings the role of Tito with Ann Murray as Sesto and Lucia Popp as Vitellia. Image: Glyndebourne Music Director, Robin Ticciati. Photographer: Giorgia Bertazzi

Composer Brett Dean and librettist Matthew Jocelyn are retelling Shakespeare’s Hamlet as an opera. In this bonus podcast episode, we’re eavesdropping on a specially recorded conversation between actor Samuel West, who has played Hamlet to great acclaim at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and British tenor Allan Clayton who is about to take up the role of the Danish Prince in this new opera version. Recorded February 2017. Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2017 Musical extracts are from Brett Dean’s From Melodious Lay, commissioned and recorded by BBC Radio 3 and given its world premiere by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joshua Weilerstein at the Barbican on Tuesday 1 November 2016. With thanks to the Barbican Centre and the Corporation of London. Music is courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Limited. Image: Allan Clayton (Hamlet) Photographer: Richard Hubert Smith

Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been realised in thousands of versions. The story of the Danish Prince whose father is murdered by his uncle, who then marries Hamlet’s mother, is perhaps the most fascinating of all Shakespeare’s tragedies. In this podcast, composer Brett Dean and librettist Matthew Jocelyn discuss the creation of their new operatic version of the tale. British tenor Allan Clayton looks forward to playing the title role and Shakespeare scholar Ann Thompson reveals how Hamlet passed into popular culture. Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2017 Musical extracts are from Brett Dean’s From Melodious Lay, commissioned and recorded by BBC Radio 3 and given its world premiere by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joshua Weilerstein at the Barbican on Tuesday 1 November 2016. With thanks to the Barbican Centre and the Corporation of London. Music is courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Limited. Image: Matthew Jocelyn and Brett Dean in a Hamlet workshop at Glyndebourne. Photographer: Sam Stephenson

In this episode we explore Cavalli’s Hipermestra – an Italian baroque masterpiece that is given its UK premiere at Glyndebourne Festival 2017. Renowned soprano Dame Janet Baker recalls a glorious summer spent singing Cavalli at Glyndebourne in 1970. And conductor William Christie, Cavalli historian Christine Jeanneret and Glyndebourne dramaturg Cori Ellison reveal just how important Cavalli is to the history of opera. Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Festival 2017 Music courtesy of NPO Radio 4 Image: William Christie in rehearsals at Glyndebourne. Photographer: Mike Hoban

Nagasaki, Japan at the turn of the 20th century; the trees are laden with cherry blossom and a beautiful young Geisha’s fate is about to be determined by her marriage to a handsome American. In this podcast, explore Madama Butterfly, Puccini’s heartbreakingly beautiful exploration of a clash between East and West. With contributions from Glyndebourne Dramaturg, Cori Ellison, Fusako Innami from the Japanese studies department of the University of Durham, and Alexandra Wilson, Reader in Music at Oxford Brookes University. Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Glyndebourne Tour 2016. Music from the EMI Classics recording of Madama Butterfly featuring Sir John Barbirolli conducting the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.

Darkness is never far beneath the enchanted surface in Benjamin Britten’s version of William Shakespeare’s comedy. In this podcast Julie Sanders Professor of English at Newcastle and Professor Mervyn Cooke of the University of Nottingham explain how Britten’s rendering of A Midsummer Night’s Dream manages to be both exceptionally faithful to its source, and one of his most imaginative works. We also hear from Dame Felicity Lott and tenor James Bowman who performed in Sir Peter Hall’s iconic production of the opera when it debuted at Glyndebourne in 1981 and bass Matthew Rose who has performed the role of Bottom in the same production. Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Festival 2016 Music from the Glyndebourne Label recording of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Ilan Volkov conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sparks fly in Hector Berlioz’s witty, offbeat opera Béatrice et Bénédict. Taking inspiration from one of the greatest comic works ever written – William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing – it’s a meditation on the complexities of love and partnership. Actress Zoe Wanamaker, music critic David Cairns, conductor Robin Ticciati and Glyndebourne’s dramaturg Cori Ellison explore the characters and music of this concise gem from the master of epic composition. Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Festival 2016. Music from the LSO Live recording of Béatrice et Bénédict., conducted by Sir Colin Davis

Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia - a comedy with a dark heart and some of the greatest operatic earworms ever written. Widely held to be Rossini’s comic masterpiece, it is an opera with real depth, explored here by Stephen Wadsworth, Director of Opera Studies at The Julliard School, Francesco Izzo, Professor of Music at Southampton University and the internationally renowned soprano Danielle de Niese. ​Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Festival 2016. Music from the EMI Classics recording of Il barbiere di Siviglia featuring Vittorio Gui conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The form may seem familiar – a feather-light romantic comedy – but Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail is shot through with an emotional and musical core of extraordinary seriousness from the 26 year old composer. And its portrayal of 18th century European attitudes to the meeting of East and West is remarkably insightful. Listen as Matthew Head, Professor of Music at King’s College London, Matthew Dimmock, Professor of Early Modern Studies at the University of Sussex, and Glyndebourne dramaturg Cori Ellison explain how Mozart both reflects and subverts the 18th century European view of ‘the Orient’. ​Presenter: Katie Derham ​​Mozart​ letters read by Peter Marinker Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Festival 2015.

Hot, exotic Andalucía. The setting for a doomed love affair where the romantic, but naïve soldier Don José is led astray by the bewitching Carmen. For Bizet, Spain was warm and colourful, but with a dark and dangerous side. Much like the opera’s femme fatale. Mezzo soprano Stephanie d’Oustrac, musicologist Hugh Macdonald and Glyndebourne dramartug Cori Ellison discuss the enduring appeal of Carmen, a character who is at once both alluring and elusive. Presenter: Katie Derham. Produced by Anishka Sharma for Whistledown Productions for Festival 2015.

An ageing King is driven to murderous intent by the youthful heroisms of David, he of giant-slaying fame. The setting is ancient Israel but the story of a nation in transition hit home to an eighteenth century England still in political flux when Handel premiered Saul in 1739. In this podcast, Suzanne Aspden, associate professor of music at the University of Oxford, Handel specialist Dr Ruth Smith, conductor Ivor Bolton and singers Iestyn Davies and Christopher Purves, discuss the music and themes of Handel’s first great oratorio in English. Presenter: Katie Derham Produced by Katherine Godfrey for Whistledown Productions for Festival 2015.

Verdi’s La traviata - one of the greatest love stories ever told in opera and a work of such enduring power that it draws audiences and performers to it again and again. In this podcast Glyndebourne’s dramaturg, Cori Ellison, Dr Francesco Izzo from the University of Southampton, and author, Julie Kavanagh, explain how Verdi’s creation achieves such an exquisite melding of real-life tragedy and dramatic depth. Presenter: Katie Derham, Produced by Katherine Godfrey and Anishka Sharma for Whistledown Productions for Festival 2014.

It’s just over a hundred years since Richard Strauss and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal premiered the cheekily comedic Der Rosenkavalier in Dresden but in this podcast we discover that the opera is no mere rom-com. Dame Felicity Lott talks about the work’s emotional depth, Glyndebourne’s Music Director, Robin Ticciati, discusses how clever orchestration allows the singers to shine and Raymond Holden, the Sir John Barbirolli lecturer in Music at the Royal Academy of Music, explains that the opera was an unashamed celebration of both modernity and the past. Producer: Katherine Godfrey, Whistledown Productions for Festival 2014 Presenter: Katie Derham

In this podcast we journey to Russia in the 1820s, the setting for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s tale of love and loss, Eugene Onegin. The opera was drawn almost verbatim from the novel of the same title by Alexander Pushkin, one of the great works of Russian literature. Here Glyndebourne’s dramaturg Cori Ellison and Marina Frolova-Walker, a specialist in Russian Music at the University of Cambridge, discuss the rich material on offer to Tchaikovsky within the novel and consider how the composer found his own voice with which to tell the story. In addition, baritone Richard Stilwell, who has portrayed Onegin many times, including at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1975, talks about what it’s like to play this not entirely likeable character. Produced for Festival 2014

Conductor Robin Ticciati talks to James Whitbourn about Mozart's Don Giovanni, revived at Glyndebourne in 2011 and 2014. (recorded on location at Glyndebourne in summer 2011)

Conductor Enrique Mazzola and Director Annabel Arden talk to James Whitbourn about their production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the Glyndebourne Festival 2011. Recorded on location at Glyndebourne summer 2011.

Director Robert Carsen and Dramaturg Ian Burton talk talk to James Whitbourn about Handel's Rinaldo first performed at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2011 and revived in 2014. Recorded on location at Glyndebourne in summer 2011.

Conductor Vladimir Jurowski talks to James Whitbourn about Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which was first performed at Glyndebourne in summer 2011. The DVD and Blu-ray of this production are available from the Glyndebourne shop: https://www.glyndebourneshop.com/wagner-die-meistersinger-von-nurnberg-2011/ Produced for Festival 2011

Conductor Sir Andrew Davis and Director Melly Still talk to James Whitbourn about Dvořák's Rusalka. Clips from the Glyndebourne CD label recording - available in the Glyndebourne Shop. http://glyndebourne.com/shop/cds-audio/glyndebourne-cd-label Produced for Festival 2011

Conductor Jakub Hrůša and Director Jonathan Kent talk to James Whitbourn about The Turn of the Screw. Clips from the Glyndebourne CD label recording - available in the Glyndebourne Shop. http://cms.glyndebourne.com/shop/cds-audio/glyndebourne-cd-label Produced for Festival 2011

For Britten's centenary year, Fiona Shaw directs a new production of The Rape of Lucretia, which had its first performance at Glyndebourne in 1946. In this podcast, presenter Peggy Reynolds shares some of the recollections of the original production's star - the great mezzo Kathleen Ferrier - and the creative team who brought Britten's work to the stage. Glyndebourne's dramaturg Cori Ellison, considers the place of The Rape of Lucretia within Britten's canon of works, as the first of his 'chamber operas', and explores the source material for Ronald Duncan's libretto. The conductor, Nicholas Collon, reflects on the historical moment Lucretia was born out of and celebrates Britten's extraordinary vocal and orchestral writing. And Fiona Shaw unfolds the layers of the opera, telling Lucretia's story and considering the work's ongoing significance. [Producer: Mair Bosworth for Tour 2013]

A guide to Glyndebourne's signature opera, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, with music from the live recording of our 1962 production. Presenter Peggy Reynolds explores the historical context of the opera, the politics behind its humour, and Mozart's sublime music of rage and forgiveness. With contributions from Conductor Jane Glover, General Director of Glyndebourne David Pickard, Head of Music at Royal Holloway, University of London, Julian Johnson and Dr John Leigh of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge – a specialist in 18th Century French thought and literature. [Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2013] (Musical extracts from the 1962 Glyndebourne recording of Le nozze di Figaro)

Peggy Reynolds provides a historical and musical introduction to one of the great works of French Baroque opera, Jean-Philippe Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie. We hear from Jeanice Brooks, Professor of Music at the University of Southampton, who identifies Rameau as an almost exact contemporary of Handel and Bach, who started his musical career as an organist and theorist and went on to stage lavish operas for Louis XV as 'Compositeur du Cabinet du Roi'. From writer and mythographer Marina Warner, who unfolds the myth which forms the basis of the opera's narrative, and explores the Racine play which inspired Pellegrin's libretto for Rameau's opera. And from Sarah Connolly, who marvels at the richness of invention in Rameau's music and explores the pivotal role of Phèdre, a woman doomed to an unattainable and incestuous love. [Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2013] (Musical extracts used with kind permission of Warner Music)

Ariadne auf Naxos brings together the 'high art' of opera seria and the lighter, comic entertainment of the commedia dell'arte. Peggy Reynolds provides a historical and musical introduction to this ambitious, witty and intricately crafted collaboration between Richard Strauss and his librettist, the poet and playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal. With contributions from the writer and broadcaster David Nice, who provides expert insight into Strauss's use of the orchestra to explore the theme of 'high' versus 'low' art. From theatre director Didi Hopkins of Commediaworks, who explains the history of the commedia dell'arte and introduces us to some of the art form's stock characters. And from the writer Michael Kennedy who explores the - at times rather fraught - working relationship between Strauss and Hofmannsthal and discusses the genius of Strauss's music. [Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2013] (Musical extracts used with kind permission of EMI Classics.)

Peggy Reynolds explores Gaetano Donizetti's Don Pasquale. With expert insights from the conductor, Sir Mark Elder, who argues that Don Pasquale is "a brilliant refilling of an old mould". From Francesco Izzo, Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Southampton, who sets the opera into the wider historical context of the development of opera buffa, arguing that Don Pasquale was a new kind of comic opera, one which treats its characters with great empathy and warmth. From Glyndebourne's dramaturg, Cori Ellison, on the origins of the Basso Buffo character in Italian commedia dell'arte and Donizetti's use of the waltz as a signifier for youth throughout the opera. And from Danielle de Niese, who introduces us to Norina, the opera's feisty heroine and considers the moral of the story. [Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2013] (Musical extracts used with kind permission of Decca Classics)

Peggy Reynolds explores Giuseppe Verdi’s last, great work: the comic opera Falstaff. With contributions from the conductor Sir Mark Elder, who celebrates the delicacy, wit and humanity of Verdi’s score. From Glyndebourne’s dramaturg, Cori Ellison, who reflects on the quicksilver pace of this wonderfully funny work by a composer who we do not tend to associate with comedy. And from the baritone Laurent Naouri, who discusses the role of Falstaff, and the words and music written for the character by Verdi and his librettist, the prodigiously talented Arrigo Boito. [Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2013] Musical extracts from the 1960 Glyndebourne recording of Falstaff. Available from the Glyndebourne shop: https://www.glyndebourneshop.com/verdi-giuseppe-falstaff-cd-1960/

As part of the celebrations of Britten's centenary year, Peggy Reynolds explores one of his best-loved works - Billy Budd. With contributions from Sir Thomas Allen, who introduces us to the character of Budd and sets the drama into historical context, against the backdrop of the French revolutionary wars. From Ellie Stedall, who tells us more about the source of the libretto - a short novella by the American writer Herman Melville - which explores ideas of free will, conscience and the fugitive nature of truth. And from the music writer Gavin Plumley, who celebrates the huge range of musical styles and textures found in Billy Budd and the unique soundworld created by Britten's all-male cast. [Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2013]

Peggy Reynolds gives an introduction to two of the early twentieth century’s most intriguing operas, Maurice Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole and L’enfant et les Sortileges. General Director of Glyndebourne David Pickard praises Ravel’s mastery of orchestration and the unique soundworlds he creates in these two fascinating works. Richard Langham Smith, Research Professor at the Royal College of Music, explores the operatic farce of L’heure Espagnole and considers psychoanalytic readings of L’enfant et les Sortileges. And pianist and musicologist Dr Emily Kilpatrick explores the texts upon which the operas were based and tells us of Ravel’s fascination with Spain, childhood, and the music of machines. (Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2012) Musical extracts used with kind permission of Decca.

Presenter Peggy Reynolds provides an introduction to Gioachino Rossini's La Cenerentola. She sets the opera in historical context and explores some of the themes and stories behind Rossini's great work. With contributions from writer and mythographer Marina Warner on the origins of the Cinderella myth, conductor Vladimir Jurowski on Rossini's use of coloratura, and Director Sir Peter Hall on La Cenerentola as post-enlightenment reimagining of the Cinderella story. (Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2012)