Inspired in part by the burgeoning success of Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden, Essex, where audiences flock to hear world-class music, a new venture launched nearby this month at the spectacular Tudor palace that is Layer Marney Tower. The Essex Summer Opera festival claims to be the first of its kind in East Anglia.
It’s the brainchild of conductor and cellist Orlando Jopling (founder of Tête à Tête opera), whose company, Wild Arts, toured the area with this cut-down Così fan tutte before it kicked off the festival – staged in an ancient, newly restored barn at Layer Marney, where only recently animals had contentedly chewed the cud.
