Glyndebourne celebrates successful 2017 Festival

Glyndebourne Festival 2017 drew to a close on 27 August following a memorable season that featured the world premiere of Brett Dean’s new opera of Hamlet.

The critically-acclaimed production was directed by Neil Armfield with a cast including Allan Clayton, Barbara Hannigan, Sarah Connolly and John Tomlinson.

Sebastian F. Schwarz, General Director of Glyndebourne, said: ‘Hosting the world premiere of Hamlet at this year’s Festival made for a truly memorable summer and it was thrilling to watch the opera take shape in the hands of an exceptionally talented group of artists and performers.’

The Festival ran from 20 May – 27 August and opened with the UK premiere of the little known Cavalli opera Hipermestra, a live recording of which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 23 September. The third new production of the season was Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito directed by Claus Guth, also given a semi-staged performance at the BBC Proms.

Around 95,000 people visited the Festival in person over the summer and three productions were broadcast in cinemas and for free online, reaching many thousands more people.

Next summer the 2018 Glyndebourne Festival will present its first fully-staged, professional production of Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer prize-winning opera Vanessa along with a new production of Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.The event opens with the Festival debut of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and is completed by revivals of two Handel works - Giulio Cesare and Saul - and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier.

Glyndebourne Festival 2018 will run from 19 May - 26 August 2018.