麻豆社

In May 1934, the curtain rose on the first season of Glyndebourne with two Mozart operas: Le nozze di Figaro and Cos矛 fan Tutte.

Glyndebourne was the result of a rich man鈥檚 dream; an opera house built on his own country estate. But that opening season was not exactly what founder John Christie wanted for his vision. A regular visitor to Bayreuth, Munich and Salzburg Festivals, he had a deep love of the music of Wagner. The decision to stage Mozart instead was influenced by Audrey Mildmay, Christie's wife. It was she who sensibly persuaded her husband to programme Mozart rather than Wagner, knowing that it would fit the small stage better.

Christie, though, was blessed with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and insisted on bringing wonderful, often little-known singers from all over Europe to Glyndebourne. Glyndebourne soon became a British institution, and in 1994 the doors opened to its brand new, purpose-built opera house. Still, its inaugural production echoed that of the very first season, 60 years before - it was a performance of Figaro .

This is one of 100 significant musical moments explored by 麻豆社 Radio 3鈥檚 Essential Classics as part of Our Classical Century, a 麻豆社 season celebrating a momentous 100 years in music from 1918 to 2018. Visit bbc.co.uk/ourclassicalcentury to watch and listen to all programmes in the season.

This archive recording is by the 麻豆社 Concert Orchestra with conductor Keith Lockhart.

Show less