BACKSTORY:

• Aged 18, Philip II was married, a father and widowed. Then he married Mary Tudor who had two phantom pregnancies and died. This left Philip free to marry Elisabeth, who was engaged to his son. Hence the aggravation
  Mary Tudor was intially reluctant to marry Philip. His full-length portrait by Titian was sent to her and she swiped
•  But remember . . . this opera isn’t really historically accurate, and is based on Schiller’s play rather than fact
• Verdi was a superstar by the age of 30. He referred to himself as the son of a peasant; he shunned social status, declining to meet Queen Victoria on his two visits to London
• Star performers Marina Costa-Jackson (Elisabeth), Ruxandra Dunose (Eboli – she will sing the role at Covent Garden) Clive Bayley (Philip), Leonardo Capalbo (Carlos) Brett Polegato (Posa)

• Operas take place in a new five–storey opera house, nestling in the woods by 15th century West Horsley Place
• The new opera house opened in June 2017 and since then more than 30,000 people have visited
• It was built in just 10 months and £11.4m was raised from individuals
• During the company’s 22 year history, repertoire has included lesserknown operas such as Thaïs, Don Quichotte (Massenet), Carmélites (Poulenc) Enchantress (Tchaikovsky), Love for Three Oranges (Prokofiev), Eliogabalo (Cavalli)
• Fiddler on the Roof, starring Bryn Terfel, was at the 2015 BBC Proms
• The world première of Pushkin was presented in 2018 by Moscow’s Novaya Opera orchestra and chorus
• The company pioneers younger audiences and younger artists

Membership

JOIN THE FAMILY

Annual memberships are payable by monthly direct debit from as little as £20 per month

Members make the 2020 season and allow the work in prisons, primary schools and with young people.

Find out more