From the Pit to the Platform

Asking Nicholas Carpenter what is different, special and likeable about the Orchestra’s work at Glyndebourne instantly seems a silly question as he sits on the veranda of a cricket pavilion less than a mile from the opera house, watching his London Philharmonic Orchestra team deliver a decisive victory over a team from the rival London Symphony Orchestra in brilliant June sunshine. It would be easy to assume that for our players Glyndebourne ‘isn’t just an opera season, it’s a way of life’. That might be a dangerous assumption, but it’s probably the case for Nick. When the summer months come, for him at least there is always something of a lifestyle change.

‘Maybe my experience of Glyndebourne is seen through slightly rose tinted spectacles. I live in Lewes, so it takes me about ten minutes to get to work. And my wife works at Glyndebourne. We met here. So all in all, it could be performance number ten of an opera which isn’t my favourite, and it’s still special for me. But that’s almost to undersell Glyndebourne as a musical institution – I love playing for the operas. For instance, last season’s Jenufa with Marcus Stenz was one of the musical highlights of my life – there was not one moment in any of those seven performances when I was in the slightest bit bored. And I’m sure there are experiences like that to come.’

‘There’s certainly a sense of community at Glyndebourne during the summer months – this match is a testament to that I think – and it’s the second fixture we’ve had this season! I’m told that forty or so years ago it was even more the case. Before the motorway system was built a lot of people used to spend the whole summer down here, but despite the fact that most people commute now, the community feel has undoubtedly survived.’

Most of us would agree that September always seems to arrive too soon. For Nick it means back to commuting, and back to the London concert stage. Is it like going ‘back to school’?

‘Having said how wonderful the opera season is, I have to say that getting back on the concert platform is a good feeling. We play for four months at Glyndebourne – and that’s certainly enough – but in the orchestral season we get a much bigger variety of music to play, and variety is important when you spend your career playing an instrument. When you’ve finished a season in London, it’s nice to come down here and perform to a high standard, but not be in the limelight to such an extent – and in the same way, it’s good to get back to London and get back on the stage for performances in which it’s you who’s under the spotlight, not the singers on stage.’

The Orchestra’s forty year relationship with Glyndebourne has obviously had a hand in shaping the organisation we know today. Musicians often refer to the ‘character’ of an orchestra, and as Nick watches his team battle against the London Symphony Orchestra, it seems a good opportunity to ask how the many months of work in the opera house have shaped the Orchestra, and if this work sets it aside from its neighbours.

‘It’s difficult to describe really, but yes, I think Orchestras do have a unique character, and you can recognise it immediately. In our Orchestra there’s a lovely warmth – a warmth of personality and of sound. Our colleagues in the London Symphony Orchestra have a fabulous confidence to their orchestral sound – a confidence in what they do and how they do it and that comes across in their playing. As for our work at Glyndebourne, it has a definite influence on the sound that we produce as an ensemble. People often say that there’s a dramatic quality to our sound, and I think that must come from the opera house.’


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