A Guide to the operas
Your guide to the operas featured in the Glyndebourne Festival 2026 programme, from Mozart to Monteverdi.
Festival 2026 spans three and a half centuries of opera – ranging from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo first performed in 1607 (arguably the first masterpiece of the artform) to Britten’s Billy Budd which premiered in 1951.
Whether you’re a seasoned Festival visitor, or coming to Glyndebourne for the first time, there’s something for everyone this season with six productions featuring comedy, tragedy, romance and mischief – the full spectrum of operatic drama.
Glyndebourne’s first ever L’Orfeo will combine one of the oldest operas with the distinct visual style of South African Olivier-award winning director and visual artist, William Kentridge. L’Orfeo will be his directorial debut at Glyndebourne with an opera often accredited to the birth of opera as we know it.
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607) is, if not the first opera, certainly the first great one. The story is based on the Opheus myth about the legendary musician who uses his musical charms to descend into the underworld and rescue his dead wife.
This is a rare opportunity not only to see his work, but a new staging created for and premiered in the UK.
To find out more about L’Orfeo including key plot points, popular arias and moments to look out for: read our L’Orfeo blog.
Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) was Mozart’s first opera for Vienna – an ambitious calling card intended to establish him at the musical heart of this sophisticated society.
With two central love stories playing out side-by-side, we witness the urgency of two men trying to rescue the women they love. Musically, it has distinctive exoticism and energy, with a sequence of arias that are demanding and dazzlingly virtuosic. Challenging to perform but a real treat for audiences.
Underneath all this musical gloss and glitter, however, Mozart’s East-meets-West comedy has some serious messages about tolerance and virtue to impart – by no means the unreconstructed Orientalist fantasy it was once dismissed as.
To find out more about Die Entführung aus dem Serail including key plot points, popular arias and moments to look out for: read our Die Entführung aus dem Serail blog.
If you’re looking for a feel-good night at the opera, look no further than Rossini’s Il turco in Italia – a light and sparkling (and short!) salon comedy that’s perfect for a summer’s evening in the Sussex countryside.
Be transported to Italy in this cunning reversal of the traditional east-meets-west theme, playing with the possibilities of a Turk in Neapolitan society, creating a fresh take on the culture-clash comedy.
To find out more about Il turco in Italia including key plot points, popular arias and moments to look out for: read our Introducing Il turco in Italia blog
Tosca was born on the cusp of centuries, and marks the beginning of contemporary opera. A story painted in black, white and blood.
This is Glyndebourne’s first ever Tosca – your chance to hear this much-loved Puccini classic in our intimate auditorium, with Ted Huffman making his Glyndebourne Festival directorial debut.
Tosca will open and close the season, with two principle casts and two conductors, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra bringing opera’s most passionate scores to life on the Glyndebourne stage for the first time.
To find out more about Tosca including key plot points, popular arias and moments to look out for: read our Introducing Tosca blog
Two operas for the price of one! In this opera-within-an-opera, comedy and serious drama are deftly interwoven. As opposites collide, the ambiguity is part of the delight in this unexpectedly moving opera.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see the latest collaboration between Laurent Pelly, Director and Costume Designer, and Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati – reunited after they last worked together on the acclaimed Poulenc Double Bill in Festival 2022.
To find out more about Ariadne auf Naxos including key plot points, popular arias and moments to look out for: read our Introducing Ariadne auf Naxos blog.
Take to the high-seas this summer and step aboard the HMS Indomitable in this powerful production of Britten’s Billy Budd.
With the set mirroring the shape of the Glyndebourne auditorium and the unique soundscape and sailors’ shanties by an all-male voice type chorus, from the moment you enter the auditorium you are enveloped by the story and the ship.
This is your chance to see a revival of this five-star show directed by Michael Grandage, back at Glyndebourne for the first time in over a decade!
To find out more about Billy Budd including key plot points, popular arias and moments to look out for: read our Introducing Billy Budd blog
