A first La bohème, The Elixir of Love returns, Peter Rabbit and music in the ballroom: Waterperry Opera Festival announces full details of its 2026 season

Mozart: Don Giovanni at Wateerperry Opera Festival in 2025 (Photo: Julian Guidera)

Waterperry Opera Festival has announced details of its 2026 season, the first under new artistic director John Savournin. Headline productions are Puccini’s La bohème and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, both performed in English.

For the company's first ever production of La bohème, Faryl Smith makes her debut as Mimì, with Robert Forrest as Rodolfo, Ceferina Penny as Musetta and Jolyon Loy as Marcello, conducted by Bertie Baigent, and directed by Ruth Knight [who directed Handel's Rodelinda at Garsington last year, see my review].

The Elixir of Love [which was first performed by the company in 2021 in a production by Dan Ayling, see my review] sees the return of the creative team behind 2025’s Don Giovanni - director John Wilkie and conductor Charlotte Politi. There will be a new English libretto by David Eaton [John Savournin's co-conspirator from Charles Court Opera], and the production features Daisy Brown as Adina, Matthew McKinney as Nemorino, Matthew Kellett as Dulcamara and James Geidt as Belcore. 

There will be a revival of the hugely popular 2023 family production, Peter Rabbit’s Musical Adventures, a lively and accessible show introducing children to live classical music and storytelling in the enchanting setting of the amphitheatre, performed by festival favourite Oskar McCarthy. 

A brand new concert series, Music in the Ballroom, gives audiences the chance to experience exceptional singers up close, in the charming ballroom of Waterperry House.  Performers will include the festival’s artistic director, bass-baritone John Savournin, and baritone Roderick Williams, along with two recitals performed in collaboration with young artists from Opera Prelude. 

Other events include Last Night at the Opera, an exuberant celebration of operatic highlights, and Serenades, an afternoon of music by Mozart and Dvořák in a beautiful outdoor setting, plus free events including a sing-along Come and Sing workshop, children’s Craft Workshops, and the Young Artist Gala, celebrating the work of the festival’s Young Artist cohort.

Another addition for 2026 is a new summer venue: the intimate, atmospheric church of Saxon origin, St Mary the Virgin, beside Waterperry House. The festival will present Living Light: Visions of an Abbess, space specific performance inspired by the music and writings of Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th-century abbess, composer, and polymath. Directed by the festival's Rebecca Meltzer, and rooted in Hildegard’s concept of the umbra viventis lucis - the reflection of the living Light - this immersive performance reflects Waterperry’s growing commitment to reimagining how vocal performance can be experienced. 

Full details from the festival website.