Henry IV

Orpheus sings his way to the underworld in pursuit of his wife Euridice, overcoming all obstacles by the power of his voice. He finds her but loses her again. How long do we grieve a loved one? How long do we hear their voice echoing after they have gone? In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi created his Orfeo, for the Carnival opening at the Court Theatre of Duke Vincenzo I in Mantua. Billed as a ‘musical fable’, here was a new form where characters are brought to life with poignant human feelings. Orfeo’s dramatic power gave birth to what we call opera today. As in the original performance in an intimate space in Mantua, Garsington’s summer 2022 production sees the singers and musicians very close; the instrumentalists are part of the action, onstage and visible.

Estella Scrooge is a Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing. A hotelier in her hometown of Pickwick, Ohio has defaulted on his mortgage and as a Christmas gift to herself, Estella decides to deliver the sad news in person. Arriving at the Harthouse Hotel on Christmas Eve, Estella discovers that the mortgage holder is none other than her childhood sweetheart, Pip Nickleby. Always the humanitarian, Pip has generously transformed the property into a refuge for the distraught, disabled and displaced. A freak snowstorm forces Estella, much to her dismay, to take refuge at Harthouse. That night, as it happened to her ancestor Ebenezer long ago, she too is haunted by three visitations. And oh what uninvited overnight houseguests they are!