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We welcome back Justin Brown (“magnificently done - and comes straight from the heart” Jessica Duchen, 5* i News) to conduct the UK premiere of Avner Dorman’s Wahnfried: The Birth of the Wagner Cult (“wide-ranging, appealing, breathtakingly virtuosic” - Washington Post). Dorman delves into the story of the Wagner family and the politicisation of Wagner’s music in 20th-century Germany. Wahnfried was first performed in Germany in 2017 and was nominated for Best New Opera at the 2018 International Opera Awards. Our production will feature a cast of leading British singers including Susan Bullock CBE, and Mark Le Brocq, fresh from his roles as Loge and Siegmund in Longborough’s Ring and Aschenbach in WNO’s Death in Venice. This UK premiere will be directed by our artistic director Polly Graham.

We present a new production of Gioachino Rossini’s beloved comic opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia. Conducted by the resident conductor of Irish National Opera Elaine Kelly and directed by Louise Bakker, this production promises to delight audiences of all ages.

A fresh take on the enduring dramatic device of the love triangle: shimmering orchestral interludes and haunting vocal melodies unveil relationships in all their complexity and instability. After the Ring, this opera is an ideal next step for the Longborough Festival Orchestra under the baton of our Music Director, Anthony Negus.

Closing the 2025 season will be a new production of Purcell’s masterpiece Dido and Aeneas, featuring one of the world’s leading baroque ensembles, Barokksolistene, and offering fresh and vibrant arrangements of Purcell’s score. For the Longborough Emerging Artists and Youth Chorus, the opportunity to take part in this project will be inspirational, and for audiences, this promises to be a barnstorming end to a thrilling season. The project will be led by Bjarte Eike, one of the leading exponents in Baroque fiddle, and directed by Norwegian stage director and choreographer Erlend Samnøen.