The Grange Festival

The Grange Festival is a summer opera festival established to continue performances at The Grange opera house in Hampshire.[1] The first season started on 7 June 2017 and featured operas by Monteverdi, Bizet and Britten.[2]

History

Opera at The Grange, Northington was established in 1998 by the founders of Grange Park Opera, Wasfi Kani and Michael Moody. A new, award-winning opera house was built at the site in 2002.[3] After seventeen years, Grange Park Opera decided to relocate at the end of the 2016 season, following a dispute over a new lease.[4][5] The Grange Festival was formed in January 2016 with Michael Chance CBE, Rachel Pearson and Michael Moody as co-founders.[6][7] The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and The Academy of Ancient Music were named as the festival's orchestras in residence.[8]

Performances

The Grange Festival opened on 7 June 2017 with Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria directed by Tim Supple.[9] Bizet's Carmen was directed by Annabel Arden and conducted by Jean-Luc Tinguaud. Albert Herring brought together conductor Steuart Bedford and director, John Copley who both knew and worked with Benjamin Britten. Albert Herring was nominated in the best opera category of the 2018 South Bank Sky Arts Awards [10]

In September 2017 the company staged a newly orchestrated production of Jonathan Dove's Mansfield Park.[11]

The 2018 season opened with DANCE@THEGRANGE directed by Wayne McGregor and Edward Watson, followed by a well-received [12] production of Handel's Agrippina with the Academy of Ancient Music. The Barber of Seville by Rossini directed by Stephen Barlow followed. Copley returned to direct Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio and a single concert performance of Candide by Leonard Bernstein completed the season.

In 2019 McGregor returned with performances of 21st Century Women. The three operas were Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro directed by Martin Lloyd Evans and conducted by Richard Egarr with the Academy of Ancient Music, Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi and an operatic production of Handel's oratorio, Belshazzar. There was also a single concert by the John Wilson Orchestra entitled Gershwin in Hollywood.

The 2020 season was to be Rossini's La Cenerentola directed by Stephen Barlow and conducted by David Parry. Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Paul Curran will be conducted by Anthony Kraus, with performances falling on the 60th anniversary of the premiere (11 June), as well as on the Summer Solstice (20 June) and Midsummer's Day (24 June). Francesco Cilluffo returns to conduct Puccini's Manon Lescaut in a new production by Stephen Lawless. The season will also see the return of Dance@TheGrange directed by Wayne McGregor, and concert performances of Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady conducted by Alfonso Casado Trigo and directed by Paul Curran. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the festival was cancelled on 18 March 2020.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, an outdoor 'promenade' production entitled Precipice, compiled by director and writer Sinéad O'Neill and designer Joanna Parker, was performed over the weekend of 22/23 August 2020. This work incorporated opera, acrobatics, dance, choral and instrumental music and received generally positive reviews.[13]

Other Events

The final of The Grange Festival International Singing Competition took place on 24 September 2017. British soprano, Rowan Pierce, took the top prize of £7500 and a role in a future Grange Festival production.[14] Pierce made her debut in the 2019 season as Barbarina in the Marriage of Figaro.

References
  1. "British opera is a good-news story of growth and resourcefulness". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  2. Pickford, James (21 October 2015). "Michael Chance to lead opera group at Grange Park". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  3. "Interview with Grange Park Opera CEO Wasfi Kani". Hampshire Life. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  4. Furness, Hannah (21 October 2015). "New opera festival to launch after stately home row". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  5. Addley, Esther (21 October 2015). "Clash of the tenors: dispute leaves Hampshire opera festival seeking new home". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  6. Napier, Andrew. "New opera festival near Alresford stages launch event". Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  7. "Hampshire opera festival saved". Daily Echo. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  8. "Grange Festival announces new orchestras in residence". Rhinegold Publishing. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  9. "New opera festival at Grange estate unveils first season | News | The Stage". The Stage. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  10. "Nominations announced for The South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2018". Sky Corporate. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  11. "Orchestral version of Jonathan Dove's Mansfield Park to be premiered at the Grange Festival". www.planethugill.com. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  12. "Agrippina, Grange Festival, review: a rare Handel production indeed – it actually left the audience wanting more". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  13. Ashley, Tim (24 August 2020). "Precipice review – an epic country stroll towards hope and renewal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  14. "British soprano Rowan Pierce wins first prize in The Grange Festival International Singing Competition - The Grange Festival | Opera 2018". The Grange Festival | Opera 2018. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

Further reading
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