Glyndebourne is a country house near Lewes in Sussex (not far from Brighton) with a full scale opera house attached. The Glyndebourne season (late May to early September) is world famous and runs (typically) six different fully produced operas in repertory. The unique (until recently, it has been copied!) formula is that the opera starts late afternoon and there is an 80-minute "dinner interval", when many people picnic in the beautiful gardens. The other unusual aspect is that nearly everyone "dresses" - black tie is encouraged.
If you already like opera this is not to be missed as an experience. If you are new to opera some of the Glydebourne productions are a very good introduction, some of them a very bad introduction. There is little attempt at populism. So fight for a ticket for Falstaff or for most Mozart productions. Avoid the current Don Giovanni.
The biggest misconceptions about Glyndebourne are:
- you have to be a member: not true, though members and those on the waiting list get priority for the best seats
- it is very expensive: not true. Best seats in the stalls may be £100 but we regularly go for about £25 and many people stand/lean for a tenner.
Since you bring your own food and wine this outing is much cheaper than an evening in London including theatre, bar and restaurant, and the car parking is free.
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