Evening star., 1948-05-09
Opera Festival
Founder Plans
Towers inU S.
By Alice Eversmon

Last week it was reported that a
man with vision would arrive in
New York. He is John Christie,
owner of the famous Glyndebourne
Opera in England and founder Of
the Edinburgh International Fes-
tival, which plans this year to re-
peat its successful venture OF last
summer. Mr.. Christie comes to
America to arrange for perform
ances of the Glyndebourne Opera in
this country. A site has already
been chosen, the McCarter Theater
IN Princeton, NJ j., where festival
of classical opera is expected to be
launched in the fall of 1949.
While in the United States Mr.
q, istie will visit the West Coast
wlG'l the idea of selecting another
site for similar performances in
that part of the country. This is
all part of a plan to establish a
sei..-5 of what the innovator calls
&c: .debourne Towers" in North
ana South America and in Europe.
WI, these are organized the Eng
lish Glyndebourne Festival of Clas-
sical Opera will be transferred to
one Tower" after another for
periods of from six to eight weeks
in each country. No large cities
will be chosen, but some spot, with
in easy communications of poten-
tial audiences, which is noted for
its beauty.
An Idea of Mrs. Christie.
Although founded by this wealthy
British landowner, the Glyndebourne
Festival was the idea of Mr.. Chris
ties wife who, as Audrey Mildmay,
sang at the Metropolitan Opera.
Two of her most renowned roles
were those of Susanna and Zer-
lima, in the Mozart operas her hus-
band has featured in his theater.
This Is built on his Sussex estate,
where the first performances were
given in 1884. They continued to
focus the attention of the music
world until the outbreak Of the war,
when the house and buildings were
offered as a refuge for small chill
dren. More than 200 of them were
sheltered there, tended by 100 adults
until 1916.
There are 900 seats in the home
theater, and even with this small
number the venture has been an
enormous success. People come
from all over the country to be met
by buses and conducted to the beau
tiful grounds. where they are per-
mitted to wander at will until the
opera begins. Only Mozart operas
were given the first years, and so
superlative was their staging that
word Of them travelled all over the
globe. Now a restaurant has been
added, where a dinner or cold sup
per may be had and living quarters
for the large staff of servants. The
entire setting is ideal, and in order
not to spoil it when the dining hall
had to be enlarged, the addition was
built around two beautiful trees
that stood in the direction the
expansion had to take.
Group Manages Affairs.
Willie MI. SllIlSGlc, d SdulUllOSC
man and former science master
at Eton, provided the means for
something like a duplicate Salzburg
season in England, the actual run
ming and presentation of the operas
were put into the hands of gen.
eral manager and several well-known
artists. The end of the war posed
the problem of reopening the thea
ter. 1t was finally decided to devote
the entire 1916 season to the per-
formance Of Benjamin Britten's
chamber opera, The Rape of
Lucretia." But in the meantime,
the Glyndebourne group gave the
idea of an international festival
to Edinburgh. and in turn was ap-
pointed to carry on the affairs of
the festival so successfully inau-
gurated last summer.
Mr.. Christie is an idealist and his
and the establishments motto is
Aim at the Sky" He quotes the
words of the martyred 18th century
Bishop Latimer: I'VE shall this day
light such a candle by Gods grace
as I trust will never be put out.
He comes to this country not asking
for money. but for cooperation, for,
as he says, There needs must be
some organization in the world that
aims at the supreme heights. One
cannot imagine more glorious
achievement than the foundation of
such a work for the future of the
world-to aim at supreme values
11xaEant thu AZ