Pelléas et Mélisande
★★★★☆
"This is the festival's first Pelléas, but it feels like a homecoming in a venue dedicated to Wagner"
Opera Now
"A hugely impressive achievement...there's an authority and assurance about this Pelléas that feels like a company stepping up to the next artistic level."
The Spectator
★★★★☆
"One of the most accomplished, atmospheric and well-integrated Pelléas productions in years, and possibly the most completely successful show Longborough has mounted."
The Guardian
★★★★☆
"Director Jenny Ogilvie has succeeded in capturing the strangeness of this medieval-inspired fairytale...shimmering, lush orchestration and exquisite melodic vocal lines...Anthony Negus brings out the beauty and originality of Debussy’s sound world"
The Stage
★★★★☆
"Opera at its most intoxicating...captures perfectly the intensity of Debussy's writing but also its restraint...bodes well for Longborough's future expansion of the repertory"
The Telegraph
★★★★★
"the highest accolades of all go to conductor Anthony Negus whose interpretation of Claude Debussy’s enigmatic score brings every phrase, colour and detail into sharp focus, with the result being nothing short of a completely compelling experience"
MusicOMH
"Simply put, this was the festival’s best sung, best conducted and most convincingly staged performances of a masterpiece"
Hugh Canning's Operalogue
"Anthony Negus shapes and colours the score magnificently with the Longborough Festival Orchestra. His extensive experience in Wagner pays off richly"
Classical Source
"The musicians luxuriated in Debussy’s evocative orchestral interludes. Conductor Anthony Negus underlined the brooding score’s deeper recesses and the elusive, watery character of the music"
Opera Canada
"The fine band, as large as any this season at Longborough, led with remarkable assurance by Barbara O’Reilly, with Anthony Negus at the helm confirming the influence of Wagner on Debussy"
Seen and Heard
"It’s a compelling staging, with Negus and Ogilvie creating a winning formula. In short, one of Longborough’s best"
Opera Today