THIRTY YEARS OF BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA

visa in time and we had to resort to some rather complex (albeit successful) cast substitutions for the later performances. Another no-show was at our St John’s Smith Square performance of Romeo and Juliet in 2007: on the day our ‘Friar Lorenzo’ found himself grounded in Amsterdam with cancelled flights. We were hopeful he would just make it back in time for the performance, but at 7.20 pm there was still no sign – I was hastily costumed and went on stage for Act 1 (when fortunately it was a speaking role only) with a crib text conveniently secreted in Lorenzo’s prayer-book. Our singer just made it back to London at the very end of the interval: I gratefully handed over the costume and the audience was spared my inadequate singing in Act 2.

The Times once called us “the epitome of music in a garden, and exceptional value for money.” We have maintained a remarkable reputation for the quality of our work and the pleasure we provide audiences. This booklet and the exhibition will be all worthwhile if you feel encouraged to come along to a performance and discover why The Spectator described us as “giddily exciting, propelled by wit, charm and bags of joy.”