Glyndebourne celebrates successful summer festival
Glyndebourne is celebrating another successful Festival that saw audience demand for its opera continuing to grow.
Audiences at Glyndebourne have recovered strongly since the pandemic with this summer seeing the highest paid ticket attendance for the annual Glyndebourne Festival since comparable records began in 2007.
In total, more than 94,000 people attended this year’s 90th anniversary Festival which ran from May 16 to August 25. Among the operas drawing audiences to Glyndebourne were an acclaimed new productions of Bizet’s Carmen and Lehár’s The Merry Widow and a revival of David McVicar’s groundbreaking production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, one of the most successful productions in Glyndebourne history.
Other indicators of the growing audience demand for opera at Glyndebourne include: the highest number of new bookers on record this summer; and more than 2,700 new sign-ups to the Glyndebourne Under 30s scheme since the start of 2024 – a 75% increase on the same period in 2023. There are now over 10,000 people signed up
The festival also saw the largest number of international visitors to the Festival since before the pandemic.
Richard Davidson-Houston, managing director of Glyndebourne, said: “Audiences at Glyndebourne are growing and reached new heights this summer. This is good news not just for us but for the sector in general. We hope that a visit to Glyndebourne is just one part of people’s wider engagement with opera. After a record-breaking first week of public booking in March, high demand continued through the season, resulting in the highest paid ticket attendance at the Festival since 2007. It’s a fitting result in our 90th anniversary year and an exceptional foundation on which to invest and ensure the company continues to flourish as we advance towards our centenary.”
Stephen Langridge, artistic director of Glyndebourne, said: “It’s been an outstanding Festival and the fantastic audience feedback has served as a powerful reminder of opera’s unique ability to deliver transformative theatrical experiences. Diane Paulus’s urgent and engaging new production of Carmen has been thrilling audiences all summer while Cal McCrystal’s witty and stylish staging of The Merry Widow, ravishingly conducted by John Wilson, fully delivered on its promise to provide both exhilarating comedy and heart-on-sleeve emotion.
"I’m delighted that audiences all across the country will have a chance to see this dazzling production when it airs on BBC television later this year. Meanwhile the three revival productions perfectly showcased Glyndebourne's uncompromising commitment to ensemble work and detailed rehearsal, with exceptional casts breathing new life into these much-loved productions. David McVicar’s revival of his landmark production of Giulio Cesare was unforgettable, further cementing its international reputation as one of the finest Handel productions ever seen.
“Glyndebourne is lucky enough to work with two exceptional resident orchestras in the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; both ensembles once again delivered the highest levels of musicianship, led by outstanding conductors. In his tenth year as music sirector, Robin Ticciati demonstrated his remarkable versatility, conducting Bizet’s Carmen and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, and we saw a memorable Glyndebourne debut from Anja Bihlmaier who led the second run of Carmen in August.”