Country-house opera season is almost upon us and, this year, our eyes are drawn to The Grange Festival in Hampshire, which has made some radical changes to its programme and ticketing structure under the helm of new chief executive Tyler Stoops and existing artistic director Michael Chance.
It was once said of The Grange, near Alresford, that ‘there is nothing finer… nothing like it on this side of Arcadia’ and it’s true the building has had many reincarnations. First it was a 16th-century house, then the Prince Regent’s hunting lodge and, in the 19th century, it was transformed into a Grecian temple-inspired marvel, the first of its kind in Europe, owned by the banking Baring family. In 1944, Churchill and Eisenhower met there to discuss the invasion of Europe, but by 1975, the building was derelict; restoration is still ongoing, much aided by the attention brought from hosting Grange Park Opera there from 1998 to 2016, and now The Grange Festival, which has run since 2017 using a multiple-award-winning theatre built within the old Orangery and Picture Gallery in 2002.
This season, more than 5,000 tickets are priced under £100 (more than four times the number available in 2024), starting at £12, and a new subsidised scheme for young adults who are not members offers tickets from £5 to £55 for 16-35s. In doing this, we’re ‘enabling many more people to attend,’ explains Stoops, who was previously director of audience development at Glyndebourne. ‘Already, compared to last year, we’ve sold 60% more tickets’. Previously, The Grange has featured four or five productions, but this season there are eight and some are far from traditional. Alongside what are sure to be excellent performances of Verdi’s La Traviata and Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus, the latter with a 1920s setting, witty English translation and ensemble cast, a new staging of Rameau’s Baroque opera-ballet Les Indes galantes ‘combines exquisite 18th-century music with the expressive potency of contemporary street dance styles. This is the production I’m most looking forward to,’ adds Stoops. ‘It hasn’t been staged in the UK before and the choreographer, Bintou Dembélé, is a pioneer of hip hop in France. We’re bringing over 16 dancers from France, a choir from Belgium and a world-leading Baroque orchestra. It’s very exciting.’ The production will also be seen in Paris, Madrid and Milan.
The acclaimed Ballet Black will perform a double bill of work, the The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw will bring Summertime-Swing, and Queen at the Opera will mark 50 years of Queen’s legendary album, A Night at the Opera, with the BBC Concert Orchestra. There’ll also be Bernstein on Broadway and an Opera Gala.
‘Last year there were 17 performances and, this year, we’re doing 24,’ enthuses Stoops. ‘Over half of the ticket buyers are new. We’ve invested in finding new ways to make that happen. Our hope is to really differentiate and give the Festival its own personality. It’s had one from the beginning, but we just want to lean into that a little bit more.’ He adds that the Festival has been awarded a grant to improve the artists’ backstage and dressing areas. ‘We’re also redoing the roads into the property, which have been a bit neglected. And English Heritage is making a major repair of the roof to make sure it’s fit for the future.’
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