2025 season reviews

Pelléas et Mélisande

"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

"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

"uproarious fun, impeccable in its satirical logic...attentions wittily engaged, and expectations mischievously dashed all the way through"
Classical Source

"Bedlam reigns at Longborough’s sparkling The Barber of Seville...another huge success for the Longborough Festival Opera team"
Seen and Heard

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 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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