Not only has the festival carried on Martin’s vision without missing a step, but it managed to deliver unusually merry interpretations of two classics: Dido and Aeneas and The Barber of Seville. As usual, we chose two of the four productions in the Cotswolds-based season. The location demands an overnight stay, and in high summer most local accommodation insists on two nights, which — along with time and budget — limits us.
Dido with a twist — and a wake
His musicians roamed the stage and aisles, engaging directly with the audience (yes, we sang along), while remaining rooted in 17th-century style. We’re used to seeing the orchestra on stage for Longborough’s annual Baroque offering, but Eike’s free-flowing, improvisational energy took the experience up a notch.
The most striking departure came after Dido’s famous lament — delivered untouched, as it must be — when the stage erupted into a wake. The mournful laments gave way to increasingly joyful dancing, until even Dido herself returned to join the revelry. It was inventive, participatory, and instantly became one of my favourite Longborough performances in 13 years of attending.
Barber with a dash of Fawlty Towers
Three weeks earlier came Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, a comedy guaranteed to bring smiles. Director Louise Bakker’s production leaned into farce, delivering a Spanish-flavoured Fawlty Towers. Voices and orchestra were as excellent as ever, but the staging stole the show: a clever two-storey set serving as both interior and exterior of holiday apartments, one of the most ambitious designs I’ve seen on Longborough’s tiny stage.
The extras, doubling as Seville’s working-class crowds, became part of the comedy’s heartbeat — especially in the second half, when they reappeared as a hopelessly inept ballet chorus in pink jumpsuits, bringing the house down.
A plea for more comedy
In the 18th century, opera balanced comedy and tragedy in equal measure. By the late 19th century, tragedy dominated, and cheerful works became rare. This year’s Longborough season made me wish for a rewrite of that history — or at least more programming in the spirit of Barber and Eike’s Dido.
The 2026 lineup returns to heavier fare: Handel’s Orlando, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Verdi’s Macbeth, and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. We’ll be there for the Wagner and the Baroque as always. Whether we go beyond our usual two productions remains to be seen.
Postscript: For those new to Longborough
Perched on a hillside in the northern Cotswolds, Longborough Festival Opera is a tiny rural opera house with an outsized reputation. Built by Martin Graham and his wife Lizzie in a converted barn, it now stages a summer season that attracts audiences from across the UK and beyond. With just 500 seats, an intimate auditorium, and a country-house atmosphere, it’s one of the most distinctive opera experiences in Britain — blending world-class music-making with picnic intervals on the lawn. It's known particularly for its Wagner interpretations; a composer thought impossible for country house opera to carry off until Longborough did it. They've now done two full Ring Cycles and are known as England's Bayreuth.
In the 18th century, opera balanced comedy and tragedy in equal measure. By the late 19th century, tragedy dominated, and cheerful works became rare. This year’s Longborough season made me wish for a rewrite of that history — or at least more programming in the spirit of Barber and Eike’s Dido.
The 2026 lineup returns to heavier fare: Handel’s Orlando, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Verdi’s Macbeth, and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. We’ll be there for the Wagner and the Baroque as always. Whether we go beyond our usual two productions remains to be seen.
Postscript: For those new to Longborough
Perched on a hillside in the northern Cotswolds, Longborough Festival Opera is a tiny rural opera house with an outsized reputation. Built by Martin Graham and his wife Lizzie in a converted barn, it now stages a summer season that attracts audiences from across the UK and beyond. With just 500 seats, an intimate auditorium, and a country-house atmosphere, it’s one of the most distinctive opera experiences in Britain — blending world-class music-making with picnic intervals on the lawn. It's known particularly for its Wagner interpretations; a composer thought impossible for country house opera to carry off until Longborough did it. They've now done two full Ring Cycles and are known as England's Bayreuth.
Here are links to some of my earlier stories about Longborough:
- What it's like to live through the monumental Ring Cycle
- Other experiences with Purcell, Dido & Aeneas' creator
- The first time The Magic Flute was actually fun
- How the pandemic gave us the most emotionally moving Walküre ever
- How Longborough's Tristan und Isolde ... which they're reprising next summer ... convinced me that Wagner could write a love story
- The first time I truly appreciated La Boheme
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