For years, English country house operas have been throwing up young pretenders for the crown long worn by Glyndebourne, and just possibly Garsington. To the likes of festivals at Bampton, the Grange, Opera Holland Park, and Buxton, add Winslow Hall Opera.There is something very English about the summer opera and its long interval for formally-dressed guests to enjoy an outside picnic. Winslow, in Buckinghamshire, does this better than most – the hall is the finest surviving house by Sir Christopher Wren and has elegant grounds. But in order to be a serious contender, the opera needs to be first-rate too.This year’s solid Mozart “Don Giovanni” combined some fine singing and musicianship, and should put Winslow more firmly on the opera map and penciled in the diary for future investigation.The cast included Australian-Greek star Elena Xanthoudakis as Donna Anna, who won warm reviews for her 2014 performance in the title role of “Lucia di Lammermoor” at Winslow, and as Violetta in “La Traviata” last year. This time, she was again on song, though it was difficult to pick the best soprano between her and Elin Pritchard from Wales (Donna Elvira) or Russian Galina Averina (Zerlina). In a cast of nations, Polish baritone Marcin Bronikowski performed with panache and was just about convincing as the young nobleman who is the serial seducer of 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, and 1,003 in Spain.The minimalistic set made imaginative use of five arches, and Carmen Jakobi’s direction gave just enough twists for a traditional-costume show to shine. It came to a stunning conclusion with the arrival of the Commendatore (Marcin Gesla), backlit in an eerie grow, and a non-repentant Don Giovanni descending into hell though the usual expedient of trap door and flickering red lights.Hall owner and event organizer Christopher Gilmour deserves applause for building the event over a few years. His brother, musical director Oliver Gilmour, conducted a small but well-balanced orchestra.How Winslow compares with the big names in the opera world remains to be seen: it is a young festival, still building its profile and organization. Yet as a growing force, it is improving each year — and with its 2016 season ending with this Mozart, it is already thoroughly entertaining and worthy.
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