A unique cultural event in the Cotswold calendar, Longborough Festival Opera is returning from Sunday 16 June to Tuesday 6 August 2024, after enjoying a successful 2023 season.
With 90-minute intervals, the performances are perfect paired with a picnic, or alternatively, guests can dine at the on-site restaurant.
SoGlos has rounded up 2024’s highlights below.
For more information about Longborough Opera Festival, visit lfo.org.uk.
Between the Ring at Longborough Festival Opera 2024
Monday 17 June to Monday 8 July 2024
Between the Ring is a standalone series of exciting events designed to fit around Longborough’s Ring cycle.
These include talks with John Deathridge, Genevieve Arkle and Sir David Pountney; masterclasses and performances with Sir John Tomlinson, Rachel Nicholls and Susan Bullock; and Simon Callow with his incredible one-man show: Inside Wagner’s Head.
Between the Ring events are taking place between Monday 17 June and Monday 8 July 2024. Please note that you don’t need a ticket to the Ring to book for these events.
Wagner: Die Walküre at Longborough Festival Opera 2024
Friday 12 and Sunday 14 July 2024
Arguably the most popular opera of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle after critically-acclaimed performances of Das Rheingold in 2019, Siegfried in 2022 and Götterdämmerung in 2023, Longborough's 2024 Die Walküre is a new fully-staged production, providing an epic and intimate musical start to the festival's summer season.
The story of Siegmund and Sieglinde is set to immerse audiences as the pair find
themselves drawn together during a storm, unbeknown to them their father is
Wotan, chief of the gods, who hopes to retrieve a ring of ultimate power. The productions will be conducted by Harry Sever or Anthony Negus, dependant on performance day.
The production has been created especially for Longborough by Amy Lane, artistic director of Copenhagen Opera Festival, and Longborough music director and eminent Wagnerian Anthony Negus. Performances of Die Walküre are taking place on Friday 12 and Sunday 14 July 2024.
Puccini: La bohème at Longborough Festival Opera 2024
Saturday 27 and Tuesday 30 July and Thursday 1, Saturday 3, Sunday 4 and Tuesday 6 August 2024
To continue the season, Giacomo Puccini’s
timeless masterpiece of La bohème will be performed, featuring outstanding international singers in the lead roles, and will showcase
Longborough’s Emerging Artists alongside the fantastic Longborough Youth Chorus.
It’s a special opportunity to hear unforgettable music, that tells of love, friendship and death, directed by movement specialist Sarah Fahie and conducted by Alice Farnham.
Performances of La bohème are scheduled for Saturday 27 and Tuesday 30 July and Thursday 1, Saturday 3, Sunday 4 and Tuesday 6 August 2024.
Donizetti: The Implausible Potions of Dr Dulcamara at Longborough Festival Opera 2024
Friday 14 June 2024
This summer 2024 season, for the first time ever, Longborough brings its popular Playground Opera out of schools and into Chipping Campden's Cidermill Theatre, for a public performance.
The Implausible Potions of Dr Dulcamara is a family-friendly adaptation of Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love), featuring love, longing, lies and gossip — plus, magic potions mixed with a of confusion concocts an ideal story for children to enjoy.
The performance of The Implausible Potions of Dr Dulcamara will be held on Friday 14 June 2024.
Hospitality at Longborough Festival Opera 2024
To make a visit to Longborough extra special, festivalgoers can choose to spend the 90-minute intervals between performances dining at the on-site restaurant, tucking in to delicious three-course meals with good company.
Public booking for Longborough Festival Opera opens on Monday 11 March 2024, when ticket prices will be announced.
For more information about Longborough Festival Opera, visit lfo.org.uk.
