Performer: Bampton Classical Opera

Bampton’s “mission to rescue unjustly neglected classical period opera” is vindicated once again with a fresh, fun account of the near-lost original source for Rossini's La Cenerentola: Isouard's Cendrillon. 

Wet English summer weather may have driven Bampton's pacy revival of Salieri's wickedly funny La scuola de' gelosi indoors, but rain could not dampen the sheer fun ahead. 

Two little-known 18th-century operas are given inventive new productions featuring some promising young singers.

This small, fun, fast-paced comedy, probably the UK première of Salieri's neglected fairytale, makes for a glorious garden opera evening at Bampton (and touring). 

A beautiful evening of rare and royal music by Gluck, in the year of his 300th anniversary, and even an even rarer setting of Orfeo by Bertoni: it was just a pity we couldn't follow all the words, as well as all the notes, at St John's Smith Square.

Bampton Classical Opera is a company dedicated to performing rarely-performed 18th-century operas, and every summer they stage a new production with a cast of young and upcoming singers at their base in Bampton in Oxfordshire. This year’s production was a double-bill of French opéras comiques by Philidor and Grétry, which they brought to London’s St John’s Smith Square last week.

As summer approaches (hopefully!), we take a look at the increasingly competitive array of UK summer opera festivals – and what they have in store to entertain opera lovers in 2024.