Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Beth Taylor (Orlando)

Andrew Foster-Williams (Zoroastro)

Kelli-Ann Masterson (Dorinda)

Anna Devin (Angelica)

Kelli-Ann Masterson (Dorinda) and Katie Bray (Medoro)

By Eleanor Knight, 01 June 2026

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“the warrior Orlando almost met his match in Beth Taylor, whose athletic coloratura took no prisoners”

Reviewed at Longborough Festival Opera, Moreton-in-Marsh on 30 May 2026

Handel, Orlando

Longborough Festival Opera

Christopher Moulds, Conductor

Sinéad O'Neill, Director

Anisha Fields, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Ben Ormerod, Lighting Designer

Academy of Ancient Music

Anna Devin, Angelica

Katie Bray, Medoro

Beth Taylor, Orlando

Kelli-Ann Masterson, Dorinda

Andrew Foster-Williams, Zoroastro

Dorman’s Wahnfried receives its UK premiere at Longborough

Mark Pullinger, 27th May

Longborough Festival Opera, built on Wagnerian foundations, stages the UK premiere of Avner Dorman’s ambitious cautionary tale about the Wagner clan and establishing the composer’s legacy.

***11

An enthralling Walküre at Longborough Opera Festival

David Karlin, 18th June

Who wouldn't relish the chance of seeing a Ring cycle at close quarters? Longborough's Die Walküre isn't perfect, but it consistently delivers on the story and on character interpretation.

****1

Back to the Bard: Longborough's Fairy Queen

Roy Westbrook, 29th July

Polly Graham's production turns semi-opera into “three-quarters opera”, to good effect.

***11

Don't look back: Longborough's new L'Orfeo

Roy Westbrook, 11th July

Olivia Fuchs directs Monteverdi's early opera in a sparse staging with a consistently fine cast.

***11

Fame and feuding on the Rhine: Longborough's new Götterdämmerung

Roy Westbrook, 29th May

Longborough's Ring Cycle reaches completion in the Cotswold's, effectively staged by Amy Lane.

****1

Grief compellingly explored: Die tote Stadt at Longborough

David Karlin, 27th June

An outstanding performance from Rachel Nicholls lights up Carmen Jakobi's compelling production of Korngold's exploration of grief.

****1

More reviews...

Eleanor Knight

Eleanor is a writer and librettist. Her work has appeared in all kinds of places from the Royal Opera House to the foot tunnels beneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and she has written arts reviews and features for British papers and magazines. Having begun her working life in theatre, she switched to publishing and later taught creative writing at the University of Brighton and Birkbeck. Currently based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Utrecht. Eleanor plays violin and sings, though not usually at the same time, and has recently taken up speed-skating.

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Handel’s Orlando