Tuesday 28 September 2010




Watching (or rather, half-watching, because as always there was opera admin to do) the new ITV drama series Downton Abbey on the computer last night (via ITV Player) it was a delight to see glimpses of Bampton, and especially St Mary's church. Although most of the programme has been filmed at Highclere Castle, Bampton has been used for the village scenes. The scene of the Edwardian funeral emerging from St Mary's was curiously reminiscent of the rehearsals for our 2007 production (another UK première) of Georg Benda's Romeo and Juliet, a very early Shakespearian opera. The photographs are from the dress rehearsal on a fine Thursday night in July when the funeral procession of Juliet (Joana Seara) led from the church to the adjacent Deanery Garden. The pictures also show Ilona Domnich as Juliet's confidante Laura (sneaking an inappropriate smile in one of them). Sadly there are no photographs of the actual production: within 24 hours of this dress rehearsal Bampton was completely marooned by flood-waters following freak rain of devastating intensity. Consequently our first performance on the Friday night took place in the church itself rather than on the Deanery stage where our set stood soaked and forlorn; conductor Matthew Halls had to play the score on the church piano as most of the orchestra couldn't reach the village. Fortunately we had all the singers, but we had no electricity, and Juliet's funeral bier, carried around the church by four black monks by candlelight (a necessity, not an effect) was extraordinarily moving. For the 30 in the audience who managed to get there in these exceptionally difficult circumstances, it was an experience to be treasured. No-one has forgotten that evening! In particular the fact that electricity was restored at the exact second when Juliet woke up in the tomb (this is 18th-century Shakespeare with a happy ending) was uncanny.

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