Dido and Aeneas
★★★★☆
"Longborough Festival Opera's Emerging Artists programme has become known for bold, inventive interpretations. This memorable Dido and Aeneas confirms that reputation"
Opera Now
"For some [in the Youth Chorus], it is their only form of music education. It is worth remembering, as the “country house” opera season draws to a close, the unseen work these private companies do"
The Observer
★★★★★
"With Longborough having presented the complete Der Ring des Nibelungen in 2024, one might have suspected that the festival would be in for a quiet year in 2025. However, the sheer quality of the season's productions has made it one of its very best, and Dido and Aeneas stands just as tall and proud as anything that came before"
MusicOMH
"Happy days in the Cotswolds as this refreshingly different production of Dido and Aeneas ends another Longborough season on a high. Many of these emerging artists will be seen in the future in opera houses across the world"
Seen and Heard
"a delightful end to the Longborough season and an effective showcase for the company’s work beyond what the audience normally sees on the stage"
Opera Scene
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
"[Anthony Negus] in many ways an ideal interpreter of Debussy's Wagner-saturated opera"
Opera magazine
★★★★★
"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
Il barbiere di Siviglia
★★★★☆
"The cast throw themselves completely into their roles while revealing some highly engaging voices"
MusicOMH
"Longborough's stylishly engaging 1970s take on Rossini's comic masterpiece radiated both musical style and sheer enjoyment...an ideal sized theatre in which to hear this music"
Planet Hugill
"uproarious fun, impeccable in its satirical logic...attentions wittily engaged, and expectations mischievously dashed all the way through"
Classical Source
"a grippingly tight presentation from a superbly well-drilled company, unfolding with unstoppable momentum"
Midlands Music Reviews
"Bedlam reigns at Longborough’s sparkling The Barber of Seville...another huge success for the Longborough Festival Opera team"
Seen and Heard
"the perfect romp for a warm June day, sweet and frothy as an ice cream float"
Opera Canada
Wahnfried: the birth of the Wagner cult
★★★★★
"the ‘English Bayreuth’ fearlessly grapples with the dark side of the composer"
The Stage
★★★★★
"A host of brilliant touches...superbly conducted"
musicOMH
★★★★☆
"dynamically paced...impeccable stagecraft"
The Guardian
★★★★☆
"a mix of acerbic satire, absurdist theatre and harrowing history"
The Times
"The orchestra, community chorus and young actors bound with energy"
The Telegraph
"exuberant, tumbling theatricality...the LFO orchestra romps all over Dorman’s hyperactive, Shostakovichy score"
The Spectator
"A triumph. Even spectators with no prior knowledge of so-called epic theatre will have been gripped"
Opera magazine
"a brave, unflinching work, a powerful cautionary tale"
Bachtrack
"a dazzling firework display I look forward to hearing again...I greatly admire Longborough for presenting the UK premiere of a large-scale contemporary opera – a feat few opera houses manage today"
Opera Now
"Bravery deserves reward; this colourful Longborough production moves at pace"
Seen and Heard International
"no-holds barred...a staggering performance"
Opera Scene
"an immersive, enthralling experience...Longborough had attempted the seemingly impossible"
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