'Every rarity is a risk': Jeremy Gray on three decades of Bampton Classical Opera

Since its founding in 1993, Bampton Classical Opera (BCO) has staged productions across the UK focusing on English translations of lesser-known works from the late eighteenth century. Celebrating its 30^th anniversary today (17 July), BCO is this season set to present what is believed to be the first UK performance of Salieri’s La fiera di Venezia. Performances will be conducted by Thomas Blunt and directed by Jeremy Gray, who founded and co-directs the company with his wife Gilly French who has produced a new English translation of Salieri’s work for the anniversary season.

Ahead of the premiere and anniversary season, Gray looks at how the world of opera has changed over the last three decades and offers his insight into how BCO maintains its enduring appeal in a changing world.

You set up Bampton Classical Opera with your wife Gilly French in 1993 – how did the productions at the company’s genesis compare to the operas the company presents today?

We began with no intention of setting up a company and were putting on a production (Handel’s Acis and Galatea) on a very slender shoestring. All we had were a lovely garden venue, only one or two pro singers, players, costumes and a delighted audience. We didn’t even build a stage, the only tent was over the bar, and the audience had to bring their own garden chairs.

An image from a dress rehearsal of the very first Bampton production, Acis and Galatea, with John Virgoe and Gilly French in the title roles at the Deanery Garden. ©Bampton Classical Opera

When people started asking ‘what are you doing next year?’ we thought, ‘OK, let’s do another,’ and gradually we became established. Bit by bit we improved the infrastructure and evolved various policies which gave us more shape and identity. But we have always stayed small-scale, and we have remained true to reasonably accessible ticket prices and a very warm ethos which audiences really appreciate. Our productions are now fully professional, and of course our critical reputation is very much stronger now than in 1993 – but we still don’t provide seating!

How was Bampton Classical Opera able to carve its own niche within the UK opera scene?

Our niche wasn’t really carved until the late 1990s – by then we were developing something of a name and reputation for our interest in rare classical-period repertory. This had taken shape in our second year when we performed Mozart’s unfinished L’oca del Cairo, but the drive towards worthwhile forgotten works only took flight from about 1997. This led to much widespread press coverage and we had always felt there was little need for another Traviata or Carmen – why would people come to ours when there were so many other alternatives? But if we were performing Don Giovanni – but by Gazzaniga, not Mozart – or Arne’s magnificent Alfred or Paisiello’s Nina we discovered that that was quite enticing to audiences eager for a new experience.

Bampton is about to celebrate it’s 30^th anniversary. Looking back over those three decades which performances particularly stand out to you?

Every rarity is a risk, we have to be confident that works which are often unpublished or unrecorded are worth performing, and are sufficiently interesting to audiences.

We have performed so many fascinating and always unusual works, it’s hard to pick a favourite! One of my great favourites was The Barber of Seville in 2005 – of course not by Rossini but by Paisiello – we had so much fun with a wonderful cast, a quirky designer Nigel Hook, and enjoyed our first opportunity to take an opera to the lovely Buxton Festival. We set the opera in a run-down English holiday camp, and everything worked a treat. It’s a very funny opera.

©Bampton Classical Opera

You and Gilly (pictured above) continue to be co-artistic directors for the company – how do you think this continuity has supported the company’s growth over the last 30 years?

We are the company. Because we have also been full-time teachers (although I retired 5 years ago) BCO has always had to take a subsidiary place – which is of course limiting. Our growth might have been greater if this were not the situation, but sometimes restraints can be invigorating. Our continuity has created a consistent interest in repertory and our inimitable production style.

Emphasis is also placed on opera being accessible at Bampton. How important do you feel this is to the future of the artform?

The word ‘accessible’ can have many meanings. For us at Bampton, it really means reasonable ticket prices (we’ve never wanted to cater only for the wealthy), and a very relaxed and welcoming ethos. It also means performing in English – as many of our operas are comedies, we’ve always put great emphasis on the text – it’s quite difficult to tell jokes in a foreign language! Our translations are a very important aspect of our appeal and accessibility.

Where do you feel Bampton might be in the next 30 years?

For a small family-run business we’ve enjoyed a remarkably good innings so far and left our modest mark on musical life in the country. We continue to plan for the future and expect to evolve new directions and strategies in the next few years, but the nature and structure of the company means that it cannot continue for ever.

Personally, which performances are you most proud of?

Gluck’s Paris and Helen (a towering masterpiece) in 2021, and other stunningly beautiful Gluck operas; Paer’s Leonora (Sir Charles Mackerras attended our première and was fascinated and excited by all the links with Beethoven’s Leonora); Benda's Romeo and Juliet; Haydn’s Full Moon (Il mondo della luna) in 2022 and Bertoni's Orfeo. I’m usually most proud of the work I’m currently researching or working on so, at the moment, Salieri’s La fiera di Venezia, set to premiere next week.