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2 0 1 5 S EASON

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Fidelio 2014

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COSÌ FAN TUTTEWolfgang Amadeus Mozart

INTERMEZZORichard Strauss

DEATH IN VENICEBenjamin Britten

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAMWilliam Shakespeare/Felix Mendelssohn

Vert-Vert 2014

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Welcome to Garsington Opera’s 2015 season

When Leonard Ingrams founded Garsington Opera in 1989 he began with just two performances of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. This year we present four productions over six weeks which I hope continue to embody Leonard’s vision of artistic excellence in a setting of extraordinary beauty.

In our 26th season, the work of one of Garsington Opera’s most treasured composers, Richard Strauss, returns with the exquisite, yet rarely performed, Intermezzo. Acclaimed Straussian conductor Jac van Steen makes his first appearance with us and Bruno Ravella, who worked alongside director John Cox on our 2014 Fidelio, directs.

We revisit the Festival’s essential Mozartian thread with a new production of Così fan tutte, which I will conduct, and look forward to welcoming John Fulljames, who makes his Garsington Opera directorial debut.

Later in the season we present our first production of Death in Venice, one of the great 20th-century operas. I am delighted to welcome back both Steuart Bedford, very much a member of the Garsington Opera family, who conducted the opera’s world premiere at Snape Maltings in 1973, and Paul Curran, who directed Mozart’s La finta giardiniera for us in 2003.

2015 also sees our first partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company with four performances of an abridged version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Mendelssohn’s richly evocative incidental music.

Throughout the season we will be championing some of the UK’s most exciting young singers, who will perform alongside artists with established international careers, which is at the very heart of our ethos.

I hope you will find much to enjoy in our 2015 season and I look forward to welcoming you to Wormsley.

G A R S I N G T O N O P E R A AT WO R M S L E Y

Douglas Boyd Artistic Director

C O S Ì F A N T U T T E

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Fiordiligi Andreea SoareDorabella Kathryn Rudge Guglielmo Ashley RichesFerrando Robin Tritschler Despina Lesley Garrett Don Alfonso Neal Davies

Conductor Douglas BoydDirector John FulljamesDesigner Dick Bird

Garsington Opera Orchestra & Chorus

Sung in Italian with English supertitles

A light-hearted wager spirals out of control when two young soldiers allow themselves to be drawn into the intrigues of their cynical friend who persuades them to put the love of their

adored fiancées to the test. Playing with the girls’ emotions is a dangerous experiment in which nobody is left unchanged.

The third of Mozart’s collaborations with his greatest librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, Così fan tutte is a bitter-sweet comedy in which real people face real and painful predicaments. It drew from Mozart some of his most captivating music, revealing every nuance of character, every shade of humour, passion and humanity; dealing intimately with the ambiguities, perplexities and joys of life.

Artistic Director Douglas Boyd conducts and John Fulljames, Associate Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House, directs.

Performances 5, 7, 13, 19, 22, 25, 28 June & 3, 8, 11 July Start time 5.40pm

Pre-Performance Talk Thursday 25 June, 4.15pm

INTERMEZZO Richard Strauss

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Christine Kate ValentineRobert Storch Mark StoneAnna Ailish TynanBaron Lummer Sam FurnessThe Notary Benjamin BevanThe Notary’s Wife Sarah Redgwick Stroh Oliver JohnstonA Commercial Counsellor James ClevertonA Legal Counsellor Gerard CollettA Singer Barnaby Rea

Conductor Jac van SteenDirector Bruno RavellaDesigner Giles Cadle

Garsington Opera Orchestra

Sung in English with supertitles

Richard Strauss and his wife Pauline had a volatile, combative relationship. He was perceived by some to be cold and reserved; she was easily roused to anger and prone to irrational jealousy.

Despite everything he was genuinely devoted to her, and she to him.

All these contradictions are rendered in great detail in Intermezzo, in which Richard and Pauline appear, thinly disguised, as Robert and Christine Storch. While in Vienna on a conducting tour Robert is interrupted by the arrival of a telegram from Christine accusing him of an affair, having drawn entirely the wrong conclusions from a letter she has opened in error. He eventually unravels the trail of misunderstandings and husband and wife are lovingly reconciled.

Strauss makes a welcome return to Garsington Opera after an eight-year absence with music exquisitely crafted to portray marriage in all its complexity, illuminated by flashes of high comedy.

Jac van Steen conducts, Bruno Ravella directs and Giles Cadle, whose work includes Olivier Award-winning set designs for Nicholas Hytner’s production of His Dark Materials at the National Theatre, joins the creative team as designer.

Performances 6, 8, 14, 20, 26 June & 2, 5, 7, 9 July Start time 6.00pm

Pre-Performance Talk Monday 8 June, 4.30pm

DEATH IN VENICE Benjamin Britten

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Gustav von Aschenbach Paul NilonThe Traveller William DazeleyThe Voice of Apollo Tom VerneyHotel Porter Joshua Owen MillsEnglish Clerk Henry Manning

Conductor Steuart BedfordDirector Paul CurranDesigner Kevin Knight

Garsington Opera Orchestra & Chorus

Sung in English with supertitles

This production has been generously supported by The Constellation of Garsington

Languid, mysterious Venice holds an eternal fascination for ailing writer Gustav von Aschenbach. Coming to the city to recuperate and in the hopes of finding creative inspiration, he becomes

obsessed with a young boy, Tadzio. He never speaks to him but the boy comes to represent a youth that can never again be his. Aschenbach’s initially detached, aesthetic, interest becomes all-consuming at the same time as a cholera epidemic rages through Venice.

Benjamin Britten’s last opera, based on the novella by Thomas Mann, was first performed at Snape Maltings, near Aldeburgh in Suffolk, on 16 June 1973. Conducting that premiere performance was Steuart Bedford who now, more than 40 years later, will conduct the opera again for Garsington Opera.

Music of intensity and restraint, of luminous, shimmering colour, conjures up an image of a man coming to the end of his life drawn to a boy glowing with health and youthful self-absorption. Britten’s sensuous, exotic score is filled with dazzling melodic invention, offering a unique insight into the human condition.

Paul Curran, former Artistic Director of the Norwegian National Opera, will direct, joined by designer Kevin Knight with whom he frequently collaborates.

Performances 21, 23, 27 June & 1, 4, 10 July Start time 6.00pm

Pre-Performance Talk Saturday 4 July, 4.30pm

A M I D S U M M E R NIGHT’S DREAM

William Shakespeare’s play (abridged)

Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music

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Royal Shakespeare Company under the creative guidance of Gregory Doran

Conductor Douglas Boyd

RSC Actors

Garsington Opera Orchestra & Chorus

Sung and spoken in English

There will be a long dinner interval

The dress code at Wormsley is eveningwear, as for opera performances

M endelssohn was only 17 years old when he wrote an overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, having read Shakespeare’s play in a German translation. It is a richly illustrative and

imaginative work, packed with musical effects to evoke the rustle of leaves in the breeze, the darting movements of Queen Mab and her fairy crew and the braying of an ass. 16 years later, in 1842, Mendelssohn returned to the subject, composing incidental music for the play, to a commission from King Frederick IV of Prussia.

Garsington Opera’s Artistic Director, Douglas Boyd, collaborates with Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, on a venture involving artists from both companies. Mendelssohn’s shimmeringly beautiful and evocative music will bring fresh illumination to Shakespeare’s brilliantly intertwined, triple-layered dream-world, where lovers, fairies and rude mechanicals confuse and pursue one another in a wood near Athens.

Performances Wormsley: 16, 17, 18 July Start time 6.30pm

Royal Shakespeare Theatre: 26 July Start time 7.30pm

Garsington Opera members are entitled to priority booking on all A Midsummer Night’s Dream performances. For priority booking on tickets for 26 July 2015 at the Royal

Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, please book via the RSC Box Office on 0844 800 1110 quoting promotional code Garsington Member by Wednesday 22 October 2014.

As a special event, tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Wormsley may be booked in addition to your membership opera ticket allocation.

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Garsington’s opera house floats like a mirage above the rolling

acres of the Getty estateThe Independent

13A N E V E N I N G AT G A R S I N G T O N O P E R A

Arrival Guests are encouraged to arrive from 3.30pm to enjoy the gardens and grounds of the Wormsley Estate before performances begin in the early evening.

Make the most of your visit Take a short journey in a complimentary vintage bus to the beautiful 18th-century Walled Garden, a favourite spot for a glass of pre-performance champagne; enjoy traditional afternoon tea overlooking the famous Wormsley Cricket Ground; admire the spectacular views across the Deer Park and lake from the Champagne Bar; or explore the flower borders of the Opera Garden, designed to evoke the fragrant surroundings of our original home at Garsington Manor.

Interval The long dinner interval lasts approximately 85 minutes. During this time our restaurant offers a range of sumptuous dining options. Alternatively, if guests prefer to picnic they are welcome to order a hamper or bring their own. Complimentary scout porters and chauffeured golf buggies are available to assist with carrying picnics when required.

Performances Depending on the length of the production, performances begin between 5.40pm and 6.30pm. After the interval as the light begins to fade, performances resume and end by 10.15pm, when candle-lit pathways and the glow of the Opera Pavilion lights the way across the spectacular Chiltern landscape.

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15D I N I N G AT G A R S I N G T O N O P E R A

The long dinner interval is an important feature of an evening at Garsington Opera.

Dine in the restaurant Enjoy a fine three-course dinner provided by Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts. Tables are set in the beautifully dressed restaurant marquees overlooking the splendour of the Wormsley Cricket Ground, a replica of The Oval.

Bring a picnic Take in the panorama across the Chiltern Hills from the upper terrace of the Opera Pavilion, enjoy a private party with views of the Opera Garden in the Granary, reserve a picnic tent in the Deer Park or find a table in one of our shared tents.

Order a picnic Served in a tent overlooking the Cricket Ground, each Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts picnic comes in a wicker hamper and includes a delicious selection of gourmet picnic favourites. A table overlooking the Cricket Ground is reserved free-of-charge for all those ordering a picnic from Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts unless guests wish to book a table or tent in the Deer Park.

Pre-performance Take traditional afternoon tea by the Cricket Ground or enjoy champagne and canapés at the Champagne Bar.

Menus, wine lists and booking details for tents are sent with tickets.

16 P R E - S E A S O N E V E N T S

Members and their guests are invited to discover more about the three operas to be performed in 2015 at our Insight Talks. Led by specialist scholars, with members of the cast, creative teams and singers from the Alvarez Young Artists Programme, these illustrated talks are designed to offer historical context and musical insight to enhance your enjoyment of the operas.

Wednesday 11 March Death in Venice Insight Talk Killik & Co, 46 Grosvenor Street, London W1K 3HN

Thursday 26 March Intermezzo Insight Event My Dearest Hedgehog: a narrated song recital revealing the complex nature of the relationship between Richard Strauss and his wife, Pauline. Leonard Wolfson Auditorium, Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD

Tuesday 21 April Così fan tutte Insight Talk 49 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London SW7 5PN

Join us at 6.30pm for a glass of wine. Events will start at 7pm. Tickets £16

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Pre-Performance Talks Garsington Opera Pavilion

Designed to enrich your experience of the opera to follow, Pre-Performance Talks invite key members of the Garsington Opera artistic and production teams to take part in an informal discussion and debate centred on the creative processes of the production followed by questions from the floor. Each talk lasts approximately 45 minutes.

Monday 8 June 4.30pm Intermezzo Thursday 25 June 4.15pm Così fan tutte Saturday 4 July 4.30pm Death in Venice

Tickets £12

Teatime Recitals & Masterclasses Home Farm Barn Free

Sunday 28 June 4.15pm Teatime Recital Sunday 5 July 4.15pm Masterclass Friday 10 July 4.15pm Teatime Recital

As part of the Alvarez Young Artists Programme, our Teatime Recitals and Masterclasses illustrate our commitment to nurture outstanding talent and provide an opportunity to hear some of our young singers in a series of short performances. Programme and artist information will be announced in spring 2015. Each recital lasts approximately an hour.

18 G E T T I N G T O G A R S I N G T O N O P E R A

By car Wormsley is about 20 minutes from Oxford and under an hour from London, just off the M40 at junction 5 for Stokenchurch.

By train Trains to High Wycombe from London Marylebone take as little as 25 minutes. Guests can book seats on our transfer bus service, which meets one train at High Wycombe station before each performance and returns 15 minutes after curtain down. Transfer buses must be booked in advance. Details are sent with tickets.

By coach The Oxford Tube provides a frequent coach service from London and Oxford to Lewknor, ten minutes from Wormsley. Taxi transfers are required from Lewknor to Wormsley.

A printed map can be downloaded from garsingtonopera.org

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19F R E Q U E N T LY A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S

Tickets Friends submitting booking forms by the first priority deadline will receive tickets through January and February 2015. Friends submitting booking forms by the second priority deadline will receive tickets through February and March. All other members, including Affiliates and GO≤35s, will receive tickets once orders have been processed by the Box Office.

Arrival & departure times Guests are welcome to arrive from 3.30pm onwards when the estate opens. Performances end between 10.00pm and 10.15pm.

Dress code Evening dress is suggested and warm layers are strongly advised. As the grass may be soft, stiletto and ‘kitten’ heels are not recommended.

Box Office Open 9.30am – 5.30pm, Monday – Friday and on all performance days

T 01865 361636 E office@garsingtonopera.org

There is a Box Office at Wormsley from 3.30pm, situated in the shop tent, from which tickets for the evening’s performance can be collected. If guests would like to book additional tickets or make alterations to bookings, please phone 01865 361636.

Vert-Vert 2014

20 B O O K I N G I N F O R M AT I O N

Friends’ first priority booking deadline Booking forms received by Monday 8 December 2014 will be included in the Friends’ first priority booking allocation. Members sending forms by this deadline will receive confirmation of ticket allocations via email from mid-January 2015 and tickets will be sent out through January and February.

Friends’ second priority booking deadline Members who miss the first booking deadline can be included in the Friends’ second priority booking allocation by returning forms by Friday 30 January 2015.

Affiliate Members’ priority booking Affiliate Members can book online, by post or by email from 9.30am on Monday 2 March 2015.

GO≤35 Members’ priority booking GO≤35 Members can book online from 9.30am on Monday 16 March 2015.

Public booking Public booking opens online and by telephone from 9.30am on Monday 30 March 2015.

Information about reservation of picnic tents, details of the train transfer service and the 2015 menu and booking form for Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts will be sent with tickets.

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Managing your booking Some evenings are more popular than others, so we would ask that you specify as many

alternative dates and prices as possible so we are able to process your booking more quickly.

If you would like seats allocated next to friends, please ensure that both booking applications are submitted together, in the same envelope.

Please keep a copy of your booking form for your records.

AccessibilityPlease inform us at the time of booking if you or your guests have restricted mobility or special requirements. We have a number of seats in the Orchestra Stalls and Front Stalls that are accessible with very few stairs and a lift to the first level of the auditorium. There are also a limited number of parking spaces solely for the use of patrons with tickets for wheelchair spaces. These must be booked in advance through the Box Office who will issue a parking permit.

Conditions of sale(1) Tickets are not exchangeable or refundable. (2) Tickets may be accepted for resale after all other tickets have been sold. However, resale cannot be guaranteed. (3) The seller should contact the Box Office to check the status of the tickets prior to the performance. (4) Resold tickets are subject to a £10 per ticket administration fee. (5) The seller will be sent a cheque for resold tickets as soon as payment from the buyer has been processed by the Box Office. (6) If Garsington Opera is unable to resell tickets, we will invite local students or members of staff to use them to avoid gaps in the auditorium. (7) All tickets are sold subject to the right of the Management to cancel or alter the published operas, dates or casts.

All details correct at the time of going to print. Photos: Clive Barda, Mike Hoban, Johan Persson. Design: Franks and Franks

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23T I C K E T P R I C E S

Ticket prices above refer to events at Wormsley only. For ticket prices for A Midsummer Night’s Dream on 26 July 2015 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, please contact the RSC Box Office on 0844 800 1110 quoting promotional code Garsington Member by Wednesday 22 October 2014. All opera tickets include a suggested, but non-obligatory, donation of £65.

OPERAS A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Monday - Thurs Fri, Sat, Sun Thurs Fri, Sat

BOXES £160 £180 £90 £95

REAR STALLS £102 £112 £40 £45

UPPER STALLS £127 £137 £50 £55

MIDDLE STALLS £140 £150 £65 £70

FRONT STALLS £160 £180 £90 £95

ORCHESTRA STALLS inc. wheelchair spaces £135 £145 £65 £70

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Friday 05 June 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Saturday 06 June 6.00pm Intermezzo

Sunday 07 June 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Monday 08 June 6.00pm Intermezzo Ì

Saturday 13 June 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Sunday 14 June 6.00pm Intermezzo

Friday 19 June 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Saturday 20 June 6.00pm Intermezzo

Sunday 21 June 6.00pm Death in Venice

Monday 22 June 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Tuesday 23 June 6.00pm Death in Venice

Thursday 25 June 5.40pm Così fan tutte Ì

Friday 26 June 6.00pm Intermezzo

Saturday 27 June 6.00pm Death in Venice

Sunday 28 June 5.40pm Così fan tutte ʎ

Wednesday 01 July 6.00pm Death in Venice

Thursday 02 July 6.00pm Intermezzo

Friday 03 July 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Saturday 04 July 6.00pm Death in Venice Ì

Sunday 05 July 6.00pm Intermezzo w

Tuesday 07 July 6.00pm Intermezzo

Wednesday 08 July 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Thursday 09 July 6.00pm Intermezzo

Friday 10 July 6.00pm Death in Venice ʎ

Saturday 11 July 5.40pm Così fan tutte

Thursday 16 July 6.30pm A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Friday 17 July 6.30pm A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Saturday 18 July 6.30pm A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Sunday 26 July 7.30pm A Midsummer Night’s Dream ¬

P E R F O R M A N C E D I A RY 2 0 1 5

Evening performances end by 10.15pm

Ì�Pre-Performance Talk ʎ�Teatime Recital w�Masterclass ¬�Performance at Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

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The Cunning Little Vixen 2014

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GARS INGTON OPERA AT WORMSLEY

The Old Garage, The Green, Great Milton, Oxford OX44 7NPTelephone 01865 361636 Email office@garsingtonopera.org

www.garsingtonopera.org

Fidelio 2014