It had become increasingly obvious, throughout the eighties, that not only was the old theatre struggling to accommodate ever more technically demanding productions, it was also struggling to meet the public demand for tickets. In 1987 Sir George Christie announced the idea of building a completely new opera house which would be able to meet these demands. From a shortlist of nine architects, Michael Hopkins and Partners won the contract, and by 1991 the plans were seriously underway. There were many stipulations: the new theatre should blend into its surroundings yet be unashamedly a building of its time; it was to have an enlarged auditorium and yet retain its intimacy; the acoustic had to be as good as could be found anywhere; and the facilities for staff, singers and audience needed to be improved. In addition there was a strict time limit, and the budget had to be adhered to.
The resulting theatre has won many awards for the quality of the architecture as a whole, and for the craftsmanship of its component parts. It is built from imperial size handmade bricks which are load bearing. The only part of the building which is not constructed in this way is the fly tower, a steel structure clad in lead, and the most controversial feature of the new building. The other material used prominently in the construction is precast concrete which has been used for floors and ceilings. The concrete has been washed in acid to bring out a silvery cast and soften it to blend with its surroundings. The horseshoe shaped auditorium has been crafted out of century-old pitch pine, which has been fashioned into elegant curves, and with the myriad of small lamps, it gives off a warm glow. Despite the addition of more than 400 seats the auditorium has not lost its intimacy, in fact the back wall is six feet closer to the stage than in the old house. Most importantly, the acoustic is vastly improved. The first opera house to be constructed in the UK since John Christie built his purpose-built version in 1934, the new building opened in 1994 on the same calender date and with the same opera, namely May 28th and Le nozze di Figaro, precisely 60 years later.
In 2001, The Jerwood Studio at Glyndebourne was built, adjoining Glyndebourne's main stage. The rehearsal space is the same size as the main stage and allows singers to experience like-for-like performance conditions. Funded by the Jerwood Foundation, the grant of £1m outstripped any previous single donation in Glyndebourne's history and was given in recognition of Glyndebourne's dedication to the promotion of young operatic talent.
Glyndebourne Firsts