THIRTY YEARS OF BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA

companies seem to pander to cautious audiences, reluctant to venture beyond the tried and tested. How limiting that seems –and we are thrilled when, as often happens, our public report that “it is such a wonderful opportunity to hear and learn about unknown operas: Bampton Opera gives us this – no-one else does – thank you!”

How do we set about “refreshing the parts that other companies cannot reach”? Usually we reach first from our bookshelves for our well-thumbed copies of Amanda Holden’s Viking Opera Guide and The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. From those, often in tiny print or in footnotes, we might learn of obscurities which intrigue us. La pazza giornata, ovvero Il matrimonio di Figaro’, the 1799 setting of the Marriage of Figaro story by the Portuguese composer Marcos Portugal (1762-1830) was one such exciting discovery in the smallest print in Groves. CDs can also often be a starting point: the Italian record label Bongiovanni has offered many fascinating rarities, and the recent recordings by the German orchestra L’arte del Mondo have led us to Salieri especially, including our 2023 choice, La Fiera di Venezia.

Selecting a rarity is one thing, but obtaining music for it, if unpublished, is challenging. The internet often produces wonders,