Glyndebourne

Begun by John Christie in 1934, the Glyndebourne Festival saw professional performances of opera in a purpose-built opera house adjoining the historic house on the site, near Lewes in East Sussex. The Festival quickly became a magnet for music lovers across the south of England and beyond. This concise history of Glyndebourne tells the fascinating story of the opera house on the Downs, from the inauguration of the festival under the direction of three exiles from Nazi Germany, through the great post-war years to the grand reconstruction of the opera house in the 1990s, and beyond. With illustrations from Glyndebourne's archive, this is an affectionate portrait of one of the treasures of music in Britain.