John Christie (opera manager)
John Christie
Born to a wealthy landed family in
In 1931 he married the Canadian soprano Audrey Mildmay, and together they planned to build an opera theatre as an annex to the main house. This was completed in 1934[3] and the first season, which featured Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte, conducted by Fritz Busch, was an immediate success.
In succeeding years Christie continued to finance the Glyndebourne Festival Opera himself[4] but after World War II, during which the opera season was suspended, the costs became harder to bear. Eventually however he succeeded in getting commercial sponsorship, placing the Festival on a sound footing and enabling him to aspire to the highest artistic standards.[5]
In 1954 John Christie was made a
He died at Glyndebourne in 1962. After Christie's death, the festival was taken over by his son, Sir George Christie, and subsequently by his grandson Gus Christie.[5] Like his father, Sir George was also made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for his work at Glyndebourne. John's founding of Glyndebourne is the subject of the 2015 biographical play The Moderate Soprano by David Hare.
References
- ISBN 978-0-7153-7891-5.
- ^ Wilfrid Blunt (1968). John Christie of Glyndebourne. Theatre Arts Books. p. 70.
- ISBN 978-1-61058-606-1.
- ISBN 978-1-84983-977-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84396-351-6.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- Gervase „Spike“ Hughes, Glyndebourne. A History of the Festival Opera founded in 1934 by Audrey and John Christie, London: Methuen, 1965
- Wilfrid Blunt, John Christie of Glyndebourne, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1969
- Glyndebourne – A Celebration, ed. John Higgins, London: Jonathan Cape, 1984
- John Julius Norwich, Fifty Years of Glyndebourne. An Illustrated History, London: Jonathan Cape, 1985
- Paul Campion; Rosy Runciman, Glyndebourne Recorded. Sixty Years of Recordings 1934–1994, London etc.: Julia MacRae, 1994