WESTONBIRT

BCO has performed at Westonbirt School, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, annually since 2000, invited at first through the enthusiastic invitation of the then Headmistress, Mary Henderson. This grandiose Victorian building with its vast and impressive surrounding gardens and estate makes a spectacular opera setting and draws audiences from Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham and South Wales. The famous Arboretum, on the other side of the A433, was originally part of the same estate, and the school grounds are equally studded with magnificent trees. The house was built 1863-70 for the fabulously wealthy Robert Holford, and designed in an elaborate ‘neo-Jacobethan’ style by Lewis Vulliamy: it was one of the most expensive and elaborate country houses of its era.

Bampton’s usual performance date there is the late Bank Holiday Monday at the end of August. Although we used to perform on the terrace outside the noble arched windows of the former Orangery, in recent years we have used the interior theatre with its large stage. After many experiments with the tricky acoustics, we have settled on placing the orchestra on the stage behind the singers and scenery. With the players partly visible to the audience, this emphasises the partnership in opera between voices and instruments. Although the conductor is behind the singers, a video link relays him to large monitors placed behind the audience.

Westonbirt has a magnificent sequence of rooms – we use the library for the always well-attended pre-performance talk, and audiences can picnic in the extensive gardens or, if preferred, in the ornately decorated dining rooms. The ‘Italian garden’ is well worth a visit. Westonbirt performances generally start at 5pm, with a 75-minute picnic interval during the opera.