New Generations

Passing on the baton

In spite of the loss of its founders, Glyndebourne continued its pursuit of perfection under new leaders. In 1958 George Christie had succeeded his father as Chairman of Glyndebourne Productions Ltd, a position he held for 41 years until his retirement on 31 December 1999. Sir George remains on the Board of Trustees of Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. The family connection remains secure with the appointment of Sir George's second son, Gus, as Executive Chairman, who also acts in an advisory capacity to the Board of Trustees.

Carl Ebert's gradual retirement was felt keenly - he had been in sole charge of almost all productions since 1934 with very few exceptions. Günther Rennert was appointed his successor in 1960, but he was not to be the sole producer. During this period Franco Enriquez and Peter Ebert were also creating works, joined occasionally by other guest producers such as Franco Zeffirelli and Michael Redgrave. Hence Glyndebourne's style of opera production began to diversify and the repertoire to expand.

In 1972 John Cox became Director of Productions, and produced striking versions of
The Rake's Progress and Die Zauberflöte, with designs by David Hockney, in 1975 and 1978 respectively. In 1984 Peter Hall became Artistic Director, he had been mounting productions for the company since 1970 in collaboration with the designer John Bury. Their particular successes were initially in the baroque repertoire, but later Hall produced notable Britten and Mozart productions. Guest producers have continued to make appearances regularly and include Jonathan Miller, Frank Corsaro, Nicholas Hytner, Trevor Nunn, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Deborah Warner and Peter Sellars. The last Director of Productions, Graham Vick, was appointed in 1993 but moved on in 2000.

Although Glyndebourne continued without an official Music Director for some years after Busch's death, the presence of the conductor Vittorio Gui throughout the fifties ensured that high musical standards were maintained. He was also responsible for bringing the works of Rossini into the repertoire. Three years later, when Gui was ready to move on, a promising, young member of the music staff was appointed, John Pritchard. He had been an avid admirer and pupil of Fritz Busch, and was himself a gifted Mozart conductor as well as being a champion of contemporary music. Bernard Haitink was Pritchard's successor in 1978, and ten years later, on Haitink's resignation, Sir Andrew Davis was appointed Music Director - a position he relinquished at the end of the 2000 season. His successor is Vladimir Jurowski.

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