Music · Lewes, England
Glyndebourne
A country-house opera festival in the East Sussex downs.
Glyndebourne is a country estate a few miles from Lewes in the South Downs where John Christie and his wife, the soprano Audrey Mildmay, founded an opera festival in 1934, opening with Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in a small theatre beside the family house. It became one of the world's best-known summer opera festivals, famous for long interval picnics on the lawns.
In 1994 the original theatre was replaced by a new horseshoe-shaped opera house of brick, timber and lead designed by Michael Hopkins, seating about 1,200. Alongside the summer festival, Glyndebourne presents an autumn season, concerts and extensive education work, and still belongs to the Christie family.
Highlights
- 1994 opera house by Michael Hopkins
- Summer festival with picnics in the gardens
- Autumn season of opera and concerts
- Historic Christie family house and grounds
