Glyndebourne Festival Announces Its 2020 Season

Under the leadership of Executive Chairman Gus Christie, plans for the 86th year of the U.K.'s internationally renowned Glyndebourne Festival, which will run from May 21 through August 30, 2020, were announced last week at an event in its recently built Production Hub by Glyndebourne's new senior leadership team, Artistic Director Stephen Langridge and Managing Director Sarah Hopwood, who jointly replace the former position of General Director. The 2020 Festival will offer six major opera productions comprising captivating new productions, fresh faces and debuts, and the return of beloved Festival favorites, as well as an outstanding international roster of artists hailing from some 14 different countries that range from Australia and Russia to Finland and Croatia. All operas will feature one of Glyndebourne's two resident orchestras, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and theOrchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Full casting details will be released in the coming months.

The 2020 season will open with Glyndebourne's first-ever production of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, directed by Australian director Barrie Kosky, who returns to the Company for the first time since his triumphant production of Handel's Saul in 2015. Glyndebourne's Music Director Robin Ticciati will conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra with an ensemble cast led by Australian-American soprano Danielle De Niese in her role debut as the opera's heroine, Blanche de la Force.

Artistic Director Stephen Langridge said, "'We are thrilled to be announcing this exciting season, a classic Glyndebourne Festival smörgåsbord offering comic, tragic, and magical opera from three centuries - but with a steely core of amazing women, powerful in politics, strong in their relationships, and brave in their faith."

Speaking about the unique business model that allowed Glyndebourne to fund the Production Hub, Managing Director Sarah Hopwood added, "Glyndebourne receives no government funding for our summer Festival, and it is through the financial success of that event that we are able to support our annual tour, year-round education activity (both also supported by Arts Council England,) and the filming of full-length productions. We proudly just completed a £6.5m investment in an amazing Production Hub - creating a state-of-the-art facility to bring together our expert making teams, so that we maintain our competitive edge in creating world-class opera."

In addition to Dialogues des Carmélites, other new productions at the 2020 Glyndebourne Festival are Handel's Alcina, overseen by the Italian duo of directors Francesco Micheli and conductor Gianluca Capuano; and Beethoven's emotionally-charged opera Fidelio. The work will be directed by the young British director Frederic Wake-Walker and conducted by Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati, marking the first new production of the opera at Glyndebourne in nearly twenty years. Both works will feature the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Festival revivals will bring John Cox's definitive 1975 staging of Stravinsky's sophisticated comedy The Rake's Progress-designed by David Hockney-back to Glyndebourne. Led by Czech composer Jakub Hr?ša, it will be the first chance to see this production at the Festival in more than a decade. Also making a welcome return to Glyndebourne is David McVicar's production of Mozart's landmark work, Die Entführung aus dem Serail with conductor Nicholas Carter; and Donizetti's operatic romantic comedy, L'elisir d'amore, led by Enrique Mazzola. The London Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at these three revivals.

Executive Chairman Gus Christie said, "I'm delighted to be announcing Glyndebourne's 2020 season today alongside our new leadership team. We have a really superb line-up featuring two works that have never been staged here before - Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites and Handel's Alcina. I'm also delighted that we're presenting a new production of Beethoven'sFidelio nearly twenty years on from the last. It's always a treat to hear that great composer in the opera house."

Following a successful launch in 2018, the international Glyndebourne Opera Cup competition returns in 2020. The final will take place at Glyndebourne on March 7, 2020, and will once again be broadcast live by Sky Arts. Applications for the Glyndebourne Opera Cup open on September 1, 2019. Full details will be announced later this year.

The Glyndebourne Tour returns next fall, offering audiences across England a chance to enjoy world class opera on their doorsteps from October 9 - December 5, 2020. The tour will feature productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and the return of theBehind the Curtain series with The Magic Flute: Behind the Curtain, taking audiences under the hood of Mozart's final operatic masterpiece.