- Opéra de Baugé
-
Opéra de Baugé is a DIXONISALEDGENDcountry house opera held each summer since 2003 in the gardens of Les Capucins, a private house and former convent near the Loire town of Baugé, 40 kilometres east of Angers, France. In recent years it has drawn an audience of 2,500-3,000 to the town.
The 2011 season runs from 24 July to 5 August and featured performances of La bohème (Puccini), Fidelio (Beethoven) and Le postillon de Lonjumeau (Adolphe Adam)
The festival is modelled on England's Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and performances feature 90-minute intervals during which members of the audience picnic in the park of Les Capucins or dine in a restaurant in the manor house.
The opera is noted for its authentic performances, with a full orchestra and chorus in support of fully staged productions. While the cast remains largely English and French, the festival has increasingly attracted soloists from across Europe and beyond. Singers have gone on to win prizes including the Kathleen Ferrier Award and positions in the Young Artists Programme at Covent Garden.
Bernadette Grimmett has been artistic director of the festival since its inception. The festival operates without subsidy.
Past Performances
Season Works Performed 2003 Albert Herring (Benjamin Britten) 2004 Martha (von Flotow)
Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers, Bizet)2005 Rodelinda (Handel)
Cosi fan tutte (Mozart)
Dido and Aeneas (Purcell)/The Widow of Ephesus (Dibdin)2006 Riccardo primo (Handel)
Carmen (Bizet)
Don Giovanni (Mozart)2007 Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck)
Don Pasquale (Donizetti)
Idomeneo (Mozart)2008 Theodora (Handel)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart)
Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)2009 A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten)
La finta giardiniera (Mozart)
La Traviata (Verdi)2010 Rigoletto (Verdi)
Giulio Cesare (Handel)
The Magic Flute (Mozart)See also
External links
- Opéra de Baugé website
- Website of Ville de Baugé (in French)
- Interview with Opéra de Baugé tenor Ben Johnson and pianist James Southall on winning the Kathleen Ferrier Award.
Coordinates: 47°32′42″N 0°05′34″W / 47.545°N 0.092654°W
Categories:- Loire
- Opera festivals
- Music festivals in France
- Classical music festivals
- 2003 establishments in France
- Opera company stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.