2012 has been an exceptional year for Glyndebourne, with the Festival Box Office achieving sales of 96.2%. At the close of the priority booking period for Members (including 6% attributable to Corporate Members), 20% of tickets were available to the general public. The Under 30’s scheme increased in popularity with over 2,000 subsidised seats being made available across the 2012 Festival.
The Festival comprised three new productions: Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen directed by Melly Still, Le nozze di Figaro directed by Michael Grandage, and the Ravel Double Bill of L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges, directed by Laurent Pelly. All six Festival productions were fully sponsored.
2012 also marked the first Festival to be powered by renewable energy. Details of our broader environmental policy can be viewed at glyndebourne.com. This includes monthly statistics relating to power generated by our wind turbine.
The 2012 Tour opens today in the first year of a new 3 year funding agreement with Arts Council England which recognises the quality of our work and our ambition to present it to the broadest possible audience. Alongside full-scale productions of Le nozze di Figaro and Rusalka, we are also including performances of the chamber opera The Yellow Sofa, composed by our first Composer in Residence, Julian Philips.
Tour 2012 is further complemented by incorporating our digital programme for the first time, with cinema screenings of Giulio Cesare in many of the towns we are visiting. The Tour also includes an increased number of schools matinee performances and extension of our subsidised family ticket initiative, emphasising our commitment to new audiences.
Artistic programme 2013
Glyndebourne Festival 2013; Vladimir Jurowski’s final year as Music Director
His musical legacy will be marked by the release of four of his most memorable performances on the Glyndebourne label, for CD and digital download;
La Cenerentola (2007), Love and Other Demons (2008), Tristan und Isolde (2009), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2011).
Vladimir Jurowski said: “I have relished my time at Glyndebourne as Music Director and am tremendously proud of the artistic work we have produced together, during which time I have realised many of my artistic dreams. I am delighted that in 2014 the enormously talented conductor Robin Ticciati will take over this role and have every confidence that he will cherish, as I have, the opportunity to create opera in the unique environment that Glyndebourne provides.”
Following their artistic collaboration on Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, director Jonathan Kent, designer Paul Brown and conductor William Christie are reunited for the second new production of the 2013 Glyndebourne Festival. Rameau’s work will be performed at Glyndebourne for the first time in a staging of his debut opera, Hippolyte et Aricie.
Four revivals complete the Festival season including Michael Grandage’s 2010 Festival production of Billy Budd (marking the Britten Centenary) and his 2012 Festival production of Le nozze di Figaro. Verdi’s 200th anniversary is marked by a revival of Richard Jones’ 2009 production of Falstaff, and Mariame Clément’s 2011 Tour production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale is staged in the Festival for the first time.
As part of the 2013 Britten celebrations the BBC is dedicating a year of performance and programming to his life and works. Glyndebourne will contribute to this with a BBC Four broadcast of its 2010 Festival production of Billy Budd. Broadcast dates will be announced later this autumn.
Continuing Glyndebourne’s long-standing tradition of discovering new artistic talent, the 2013 Festival includes 23 Glyndebourne debuts. The Festival also welcomes the return of several artists including Mark Padmore in his role debut as Captain Vere in Billy Budd. Sarah Connolly returns to the Festival to perform the role of Phèdre in Hippolyte et Aricie and, following her acclaimed debut as Adina in the 2011 Festival production of L’elisir d’amour, Danielle de Niese takes on another major Donizetti role, that of Norina in Don Pasquale.Tour 2013 - including Fiona Shaw’s Glyndebourne directing debut
The 2013 Glyndebourne Tour marks the Britten centenary with a new production of The Rape of Lucretia directed by Fiona Shaw in her Glyndebourne debut and conducted by Nicholas Collon. This will be the first new staging of this opera at Glyndebourne since 1946, when it received its world premiere with Kathleen Ferrier in the title role and Peter Pears (a pre-war member of the Glyndebourne Chorus) playing the Male Chorus.
Tour 2013 is completed by revivals of the 2009 Festival production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore directed by Annabel Arden, and Laurent Pelly’s 2008 Festival production of Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel. A new commission, Captain Blood’s Revenge by composer Lynne Plowman, will be performed in chamber venues as part of Tour 2013. Aimed at younger audiences (aged 7 – 10) it will be targeted at schools and families. Continuing the digital expansion at Glyndebourne, the 2013 Tour will be further enhanced with cinema screenings of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.
Audiences
New ticket pricing for the 2013 Glyndebourne Festival
2013 sees Glyndebourne commit to a new ticket pricing structure that will offer one third of all Glyndebourne Festival tickets at £100 or less; a 10% increase on the number of tickets offered at this price in the 2012 Glyndebourne Festival. 65% of Festival tickets will remain at the same prices offered in Festival 2012. Tickets prices for Festival 2013 start at £10 for standing places, and by offering a broader range of prices in 2013 Glyndebourne hopes to widen accessibility to Festival productions.
Glyndebourne reinforces its reputation as a digital pioneer with the 2013 ‘Digital Festival’
For the first time in 2013 Glyndebourne will host a Digital Festival that broadcasts all six Glyndebourne Festival operas into cinemas and online through a combination of live and recorded- live transmissions. This comprehensive digital programme will play a vital role in ensuring audiences are provided with more opportunities to experience Glyndebourne’s work than ever before, either on stage, on screen or online.
In the third year of partnership with the Guardian, six operas will be streamed free online via guardian.co.uk and glyndebourne.com from 4 June – 15 September 15 2013. In addition, the newspaper will host a free online streaming of the 2007 Festival production of Tristan and Isolde from 26 December – 6 January 2013, marking the 200th anniversary of Wagner’s birth and the 130th anniversary of his death.
Caspar Llewellyn Smith, Head of Music, Guardian News & Music, said "The Guardian is thrilled to be working with Glyndebourne for the third year and I am proud to be continuing our partnership with them. In 2013 we will present our largest operatic programme to-date, streaming the six opera titles from the 2013 Glyndebourne Festival. Glyndebourne is recognised as an international leader in the world of opera, and I am delighted that through the Guardian's website, we are able to let our readers experience these world-class productions.”Glyndebourne’s digital work is further extended in 2013 by the fourth year of its cinema partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment. The 2013 partnership will see Glyndebourne’s operas screened live and recorded live into over 100 cinemas in the UK and around the world.
“Picturehouse is delighted to be working in partnership with Glyndebourne for a fourth year. Screening live and recorded live opera directly from Glyndebourne has proved an exciting concept to our audiences and has pushed the envelope of live ‘transmission’ events even further. The audience for cultural content in cinemas has become firmly established in the UK and Glyndebourne’s pioneering screenings have now become favourites with Picturehouse audiences.” Marc Allenby, Head of Commercial Development, Picturehouse
The Glyndebourne label available for digital download in 2013
In an exciting new phase for the Glyndebourne label, 2013 will see the entire independent CD collection made available for digital download. (To date these recordings have only been available to purchase on CD.) To mark this exciting new phase in the label’s growth, Glyndebourne is also producing its first ever compilation album containing a selection of tracks from Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro.
In 2013 Glyndebourne’s DVD releases will include The Cunning Little Vixen, Le nozze di Figaro and the Ravel double bill, L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges, all filmed during the 2012 Glyndebourne Festival.
General Director, David Pickard said: “Glyndebourne has always taken great pride in the quality of the productions we create and we are delighted that in 2013 we will be sharing our work with as broad a range of audiences as possible through a multi-channel platform of stage, screen and online delivery."
Education and Community work
Imago: a new community opera from Glyndebourne’s renowned education department to be staged in March 20132013 heralds another Glyndebourne first as it will stage the world premiere of Imago; the latest of Glyndebourne’s innovative education projects, it will involve 100 performers, both professional and amateur, to perform in the latest community opera to follow Julian Philips’ Knight Crew in 2010.
The music is written by composer Orlando Gough, familiar to many for his choir, The Shout. Opera director Susannah Waters and Award winning designer Es Devlin have developed this contemporary new opera examining inter-generational relationships in a digital landscape. The libretto for Imago is written by Stephen Plaice, who has a twenty year relationship with Glyndebourne.
Stephen Plaice, Imago librettist said: “Having written the librettos for a number of previous Glyndebourne projects, I am delighted to be working with the education team again on Imago. There is a great creative team behind the production, and the attention to detail that Glyndebourne affords its community operas is second to none. Glyndebourne education projects have a long history of delivering excellence and working on Imago has been another stimulating experience for me. The exploration of cyber relationships is a subject that will resonate with many of the young participants who are involved in the project. I have tried to capture the edginess and the excitement of the new digital world, while expressing an intensely human drama, between two people at opposite ends of adulthood."
Imago will develop amateur talent by challenging performers to tackle demanding musical scores alongside professional singers. They will be supported by the same dedicated and skilled in-house resources that Glyndebourne ensures for all of its main-stage work.
Director Susannah Waters said: “I am delighted to be returning to Glyndebourne to direct Imago. This is a fantastic opportunity for people of all ages from across Sussex to try their luck on the main stage at Glyndebourne; we have a breadth of roles for amateurs and professionals and I am excited about the talented new voices who will add something special to this engaging community opera.”
Financial independence - Festival 2013 fully sponsored
Director Susannah Waters said: “I am delighted to be returning to Glyndebourne to direct Imago. This is a fantastic opportunity for people of all ages from across Sussex to try their luck on the main stage at Glyndebourne; we have a breadth of roles for amateurs and professionals and I am excited about the talented new voices who will add something special to this engaging community opera.”
Financial independence - Festival 2013 fully sponsored
Glyndebourne is proud to have successfully maintained its financial independence since it was founded in 1934 and is committed to preserving this in the future. Following the success of Festival 2012, the 2013 Festival repertoire is also fully sponsored. Although Glyndebourne receives valued Arts Council support for its Tour and education work, the Festival receives no public subsidy and is funded by Box Office income, Members and supporters.
For the year ended 31 December 2011, total operating costs of nearly £25 million were funded 61% by Box Office sales. A further 10% was raised through commercial activity such as merchandising and the hiring out of opera productions to international venues. The remaining 29% of turnover was generated through fundraising from individual donors, corporate sponsors, trusts and foundations, including generous support from Arts Council England, and Membership subscriptions.
As an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, Glyndebourne will receive £1.7 million of Arts Council investment per year between 2012 and 2015 for its Tour and education work.
Sally Abbott, South East Regional Director, Arts Council England, said: ‘The Arts Council’s vision is to make great art accessible to everyone, which is why Glyndebourne’s plans to create new ways for people to experience opera are so exciting for us. Glyndebourne’s inspired and world class creations deserve the broadest possible audience and I look forward to seeing more cinema screenings, a fresh approach to attracting family audiences and new commissions designed with young audiences at their heart.’
2013 will see continued support from the New Generation Programme (NGP) in a range of work aimed at new audiences and artists of the future. Founded in 2009, the aim of the NGP is to raise sufficient funds to invest £1 million per annum and in 2013 it will support initiatives including further development of the Glyndebourne
Environment
In the spring of 2013 the first complete year of data from the Glyndebourne wind turbine (commissioned in December 2011) will be published. The monthly statistics to date, available at glyndebourne.com, show that the turbine has generated 1.2Mwh of power to date.
In conjunction with our objective to continually raise awareness of environmental issues, Glyndebourne Youth Groups will be performing three new operas commissioned in response to the environment on the main stage at Glyndebourne in December 2012.
For the year ended 31 December 2011, total operating costs of nearly £25 million were funded 61% by Box Office sales. A further 10% was raised through commercial activity such as merchandising and the hiring out of opera productions to international venues. The remaining 29% of turnover was generated through fundraising from individual donors, corporate sponsors, trusts and foundations, including generous support from Arts Council England, and Membership subscriptions.
As an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, Glyndebourne will receive £1.7 million of Arts Council investment per year between 2012 and 2015 for its Tour and education work.
Sally Abbott, South East Regional Director, Arts Council England, said: ‘The Arts Council’s vision is to make great art accessible to everyone, which is why Glyndebourne’s plans to create new ways for people to experience opera are so exciting for us. Glyndebourne’s inspired and world class creations deserve the broadest possible audience and I look forward to seeing more cinema screenings, a fresh approach to attracting family audiences and new commissions designed with young audiences at their heart.’
2013 will see continued support from the New Generation Programme (NGP) in a range of work aimed at new audiences and artists of the future. Founded in 2009, the aim of the NGP is to raise sufficient funds to invest £1 million per annum and in 2013 it will support initiatives including further development of the GlyndebourneEnvironment
In the spring of 2013 the first complete year of data from the Glyndebourne wind turbine (commissioned in December 2011) will be published. The monthly statistics to date, available at glyndebourne.com, show that the turbine has generated 1.2Mwh of power to date.
In conjunction with our objective to continually raise awareness of environmental issues, Glyndebourne Youth Groups will be performing three new operas commissioned in response to the environment on the main stage at Glyndebourne in December 2012.
