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Post by AddisonMizner on Feb 20, 2020 15:38:10 GMT
Random question, but has anybody on here been to see something at Glyndebourne? I have always wanted to go, just to experience it, and I’m thinking this year might be the year.
How easy is it to get to? I’m Nottingham based, so thinking it won’t be that easy.
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Post by n1david on Feb 20, 2020 16:30:57 GMT
I went last year for the first time, I've been going to the ROH for several years, and have friends that go regularly to Glyndebourne. Went to The Magic Flute and did the whole picnic in the grounds thing.
The opera house itself is lovely, like a smaller version of Covent Garden, lots of beautiful wood, great acoustics although we had restricted view seats of which there are quite a few.
I didn't much like the ambience in the grounds, it did feel a bit like the great and the good (and, more to the point, the very rich) at play. The Glyndebourne website asks you to dress up, "We love to see formal or vintage attire or the height of contemporary fashion." There were a very few people in casual dress, but if you're male if you're not wearing a lounge suit at least then I suspect you'll feel very out of place. Women have more choice but most of them looked seriously glam. If you go to the Tour (which, despite its name, plays in the autumn in Glyndebourne before touring) then the guidelines are smart casual.
In terms of getting there, without your own transport it is a bit of a faff, but they do run free coaches to and from Lewes station and the performances finish early enough for you to get back to London at least.
It was definitely worth doing once for the experience, as I said the opera house is lovely and I enjoyed the performance, but once was enough for me. I should say my friends (who live in Brighton so it's handy for them to drive there) really like Glyndebourne, although they tend to go to the more casual Tour dates in the autumn.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Feb 20, 2020 16:37:42 GMT
I've visted several times and love it. Despite the dress code * I find it much more friendly and relaxed to the Royal Opera House. Maybe I'm always pished by the overture...
*Something I hate. I don't even own a suit.
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1,316 posts
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Post by tmesis on Feb 21, 2020 8:44:02 GMT
I've not been many times but it's always a special experience and not as stuffy as you might think. I always drive there. My first ever visit was when the original (smaller) house was still standing. This was an unforgettable performance of Der Rosenkavalier with Felicity Lott, in those days playing Octavian, and conducted by Haitink. You could consider going in October when the touring production plays at Glyndebourne - standards are very high, you get the Glyndebourne 'experience,' ticket prices are much cheaper and you don't get the somewhat tiresome 90 minute picnic interval. Incidentally AddisonMizner, my first ever visit to the opera was as a teenager in around 1970 at Nottingham Theatre Royal see Glyndebourne Touring Opera in Mozart's Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail.
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Post by Mr Snow on Feb 22, 2020 22:01:07 GMT
Go. It should be on every Opera lovers Bucket List.
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3,927 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Feb 23, 2020 14:57:20 GMT
My first ever visit was when the original (smaller) house was still standing. This was an unforgettable performance of Der Rosenkavalier with Felicity Lott, in those days playing Octavian, and conducted by Haitink. Major envy! She was my first Marschallin & I'd love to have seen her as Octavian, were it not for the slight problem that she only sang the role before I was born! I've never been to Glyndebourne. Too far away & too expensive, as are all the other country house opera venues. The nearest I can get to country house opera is Opera Holland Park.
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1,089 posts
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 23, 2020 15:05:55 GMT
Go. It should be on every Opera lovers Bucket List. OK. Here's the tonyloco anecdote about going first to Glyndebourne. As most of you probably know, I arrived in London from Sydney in March 1960 and by May had found my daytime job at EMI. I was also still going frequently to opera, ballet and theatre whenever I could, and earning some extra money playing piano several nights a week in a hotel in Bayswater. I had a normal suit made at Burtons but the material was black. This meant that I could wear it to work with an ordinary tie and change to a red bow tie for the hotel lounge work. Then when it came the day on Sunday 19 June 1960 to go to Glyndebourne for the first time, I simply put on a black bow tie and looked correctly dressed. I don't remember what I did about eating but I may have splurged on the cheapest meal in one of the restaurants. It wasn't till later years when I had friends with cars that I indulged in the picnic part of the Glyndebourne experience and on the first visit I simply enjoyed walking through the gardens and seeing the sheep in the adjacent fields. I certainly remember that the performance of Der Rosenkavalier with Regine Crespin as the Marschallin and Anneliese Rothenberger as Sophie was glorious. I knew parts of the opera from the abridged 78rpm set with Lotte Lehman, but my first experience of the complete opera, especially in the intimate setting of the original Glyndebourne auditorium, was overwhelming. The new opera house is certainly quite attractive but not as much fun as the original small theatre built by John Christie for his wife Audrey Mildmay, the 'moderate soprano'!
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