The Les Azuriales Opera Festival is held each year against the stunning backdrop of St Jean-Cap Ferrat, the unspoilt peninsula that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea from the corniches of the Côte d'Azur between Nice and Monaco

Performances take place in the covered cloister of the Villa Ephrussi , a fairytale Belle Époque mansion built by the Rothschild family, surrounded by magnificent mature gardens where up to 200 patrons dine under the stars after an evening of opera.

Three operatic masterpieces, seven nights of opera, and the world premiere of new work for voice and piano by the acclaimed British composer Lynne Plowman make Les Azuriales Opera Festival's 11th season on the Cote d'Azur one of its most exciting and ambitious yet.

This season sees three performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni, two of Donizetti's Don Pasquale and three ofVerdi's La Traviata, the last of which will close the Festival on Tuesday 28 th August.

All have strong casts. D'Arcy Bleiker will reprise the role of Don Giovanni, which he first performed to great acclaim at the Festival in 2001. Lurelle Alefounder performs as Violetta in La Traviata, having previously appeared as the Queen of the Night (Mozart's Magic Flute) and in the title role of Lucia de Lammermoor. Richard Suart , one of Britain's leading comic opera performers takes the lead role as Don Pasquale. He too has appeared on a number of occasions previously at Les Azuriales.

 

This year also sees the first new commission by the festival. Forming the centrepiece of an evening of poetry and song which takes the sea as its inspiration, Lynne Plowman's work for voice and piano will receive its world premiere on Saturday 25th August. Plowman's opera, House of the Gods, was among the most acclaimed new works from last year's international opera season following its premiere at Music Theatre Wales.

 

As always the operas will be accompanied by Bryan Evans MBE , the Festival's Music Director. A world-class piano accompanist of opera, he has played more than 2,500 opera performances. "Performing operas in the intimate setting of the Villa Ephrussi gives the audience a chance to be involved in the music and the story to a degree that is hard to achieve in a big opera house," says Evans. "The challenge of playing the piano as a true accompaniment to opera rather than just a rehearsal instrument reveals all sorts of amazing insights about the colours and textures of a composer's score, and it really puts the spotlight on the quality of singing."

The Festival opens on Thursday 16 August with the final of the 5th annual Les Azuriales Young Singers Competition. The concert gives performance experience to young singers coming from all over the world. Several prizes will be awarded during the evening.

At its first London concert on 30 January 2007 , Les Azuriales gave the winners of the 2006 Competition an opportunity to present themselves to the British operatic community. The artists were very well received and caused considerable interest among an audience that included artist managers and artistic staff from some of the UK 's leading opera companies.

A unique feature of the Festival is the young people who volunteer to come and help run the Festival.  Drawn this year from France, the UK, Canada, the US and Russia the team will give the Festival's guests a warm welcome.

Balancing her entrepreneurial know-how with strong artistic instincts, Sarah Holford , founder and President of the Festival, says: "We had a great tenth season last year, with operas ranging from rare early Mozart and Bizet to core masterpieces such as Puccini's Madama Butterfly, which really put us on the map. The 2007 season is our biggest yet, with a chance to hear some very fine young singers who are on the brink of tremendous careers. We are delighted at the response to the programme, with an increased number of Friends and Supporters already booking up enthusiastically. In addition one of our Sponsors has shown tremendous confidence in us by booking a whole evening."