A Gift for the Bizarre

Salieri operas in England
impress RODERIC DUNNETT

The audience that gathers each mid-July in the Deanery garden at Bampton, an agreeable village nestling in the west of Oxfordshire, comes to opera to enjoy itself. Rarely, if ever, are they disappointed.

For Bampton Classical Opera, which performs beneath the towering late thirteenth century spire of St Mary's Church, before proceeding to the grounds of Westonbirt School, Gloucestershire (31 August 2015, 5pm) and St John's, Smith Square, Westminster in the autumn (15 September, 7pm), is one of those companies you can totally rely on: for vocal excellence, supported by a well-directed classical ensemble; for a teasing, entertaining production by Jeremy Gray, backed up by a translation (mainly by his fellow Artistic Director, Gilly French) that often enough has you in stitches while being totally true to the composer's original; for audibility (a box hedge makes the highly effective backdrop at Bampton); and for brilliantly researched repertoire.

This last is — apart from the overall quality year on year — Bampton's speciality...

BAMPTON CLASSICAL OPERA

ANTONIO SALIERI

NICHOLAS MERRYWEATHER

OXFORD

UNITED KINGDOM