Grétry Zemira e Azor

Fairytale magic meets glorious music – fall under the spell of Zemira & Azor this summer!  Grétry’s sparkling yet serious comedy, based on the much-loved story of Beauty and the Beast, won over countless hearts through the final decades of the 18th century, including that of Mozart.  Now rarely performed, Bampton presents an unusual edition from Mannheim with added music by Niccolò Jommelli.  Performances will be in a new lively English translation, semi-staged and costumed, with orchestra, at a delightful new Oxfordshire venue at Cokethorpe, south of Witney, as well as our regular venues in Westonbirt and London. 

A virtuous and beautiful young woman, Zemira, takes her father's place as a prisoner in the magical castle of the monstrous Azor, whose beastly form results from a spell cast by a malevolent fairy.  Zemira is horrified when she first encounters Azor, but manages to see past his hideous exterior to his inner dignity and nobility.  Can her simple love transform a beast?