Glyndebourne

Glyndebourne is a country house near Lewes in East Sussex. The present building dates mainly from the 1870s, when William Langham Christie added Jacobethan stonework and bay windows. Some older parts survive beside the driveway leading to the opera house. The estate has belonged to the Christie family since the early 19th century, when Langham Christie inherited it. The house sits in rolling parkland a few miles from the South Downs. The opera house opened in 1934 and quickly became one of Britain’s leading summer festivals. John Christie, the founder, built a 300-seat theatre as an annexe to his organ room. He engaged conductor Fritz Busch and artistic director Carl Ebert, both exiles from Nazi Germany. The first season opened with Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte. After the war the festival resumed and grew, reaching 850 seats by 1977. Visitors today enter through the gardens and approach the theatre across the lawn. Inside the auditorium seats 1,200 beneath a gently curved ceiling designed for perfect acoustics. The stage retains the intimate scale that made Glyndebourne famous for Mozart productions. Refreshments are served during the long intervals, a tradition since the first season. The surrounding parkland offers quiet walks between performances.