Review: Bampton Classical Opera’s Zemira e Azor is a magical fairytale revival

Bampton Classical Opera’s rarely heard Zemira e Azor proved an absolute delight at Cokethorpe School, combining glorious music, playful staging and a beautifully accessible take on the Beauty and the Beast story.

What an absolute delight it was to experience Bampton Classical Opera’s Zemira e Azor, André Grétry’s charming operatic take on the fairytale better known as Beauty and the Beast.

This was a rare opportunity to hear a work that once travelled widely across Europe but is now seldom staged in Britain. Bampton Classical Opera presented a version based on the 1776 Italian edition, with additional music by Ignaz Holzbauer and Niccolò Jommelli, sung in a new English translation by Gilly French.

That scholarly detail might make the evening sound specialist. In practice, it was anything but remote. The production was warm, funny, generous and unexpectedly immediate, proving once again how skilfully Bampton can make rarely performed 18th-century opera feel alive for modern audiences.

A new Oxfordshire setting with real charm

The opening performances took place at Cokethorpe School, near Witney, a new venue for Bampton Classical Opera.

The setting worked beautifully. The production unfolded across two stages, while also making use of the balcony and, at times, the audience seating area. That gave the evening a sense of movement and intimacy, with the story seeming to grow out of the room rather than being kept at a polite distance.

There was also something special about being so close to the orchestra. Watching Andrew Griffiths shape Grétry’s score was a pleasure in itself, and the Orchestra of Bampton Classical Opera played with elegance, brightness and affection throughout.

For a semi-staged production, it felt remarkably vivid. The performance had theatrical imagination without losing sight of the music.

Beauty, the Beast and some very playful details

The story is familiar, but still effective.

Zemira offers herself in place of her father as a prisoner in the magical castle of Azor, a prince transformed into a terrifying beast by a fairy’s curse. At first she is horrified by his appearance, but gradually sees the dignity, tenderness and nobility beneath the surface. When she finally declares her love, the spell is broken.

Director Jeremy Gray gave the piece a playful modern edge. Bright yellow cagoules, matching rubber gloves and even a copy of Just Seventeen magazine brought flashes of contemporary humour into the fairytale world.

Those choices could have jarred with the period score, but instead they gave the production a mischievous lightness. The comedy never mocked the music. It opened a door for the audience, making the opera feel approachable without flattening its emotional shape.

Ffion Edwards and Gwilym Bowen bring warmth to the fairytale

The cast was excellent throughout, mixing returning Bampton performers with company debuts.

Ffion Edwards brought sincerity, warmth and vocal clarity to Zemira. Her performance made the character’s compassion feel active rather than passive, giving the heroine a quiet strength as she moved from fear to understanding.

Gwilym Bowen was both imposing and sympathetic as Azor. He captured the loneliness and strangeness of the cursed prince, while allowing enough tenderness through the disguise for Zemira’s change of heart to feel believable.

Their scenes together were among the evening’s strongest, giving the opera its emotional centre.

Comic energy and scene-stealing support

Rachel Roper was delightful as Lesbia, while Siân Dicker repeatedly stole scenes with a wonderfully dry and expressive Fatima.

Andrew Irwin brought infectious comic energy to Ali, making every entrance count, while Samuel Pantcheff completed the principal cast with authority as Sandro.

The ensemble balance was one of the production’s pleasures. Nobody overplayed the comedy, but everyone understood its rhythm. The result was light, lively and precise, with enough theatrical sparkle to keep the audience smiling without losing the opera’s fairytale tenderness.

Why this revival matters

Bampton Classical Opera has built its reputation on rescuing rarely heard works from the late 18th century and presenting them in clear, lively English translations.

Zemira e Azor is exactly the kind of piece that justifies that mission. It is not merely a curiosity. It is melodically charming, theatrically generous and full of feeling.

The production also showed how a company can bring scholarship and entertainment together. The rarity of the edition mattered, but so did the laughter, the performances, the costumes, the staging and the sheer pleasure of hearing a score that deserves more attention.

At Cokethorpe, the result was a magical evening, and a strong argument for why these rediscoveries matter.

Verdict

Bampton Classical Opera’s Zemira e Azor was enchanting, witty and beautifully performed.

It took a rarely staged opera and made it feel fresh, accessible and full of theatrical life. The new Cokethorpe setting was used imaginatively, the English text allowed the story to land clearly, and the cast gave the fairytale both humour and heart.

For anyone who thinks 18th-century opera might feel distant, this production is a persuasive answer. It was warm, playful and quietly magical.

Remaining performances

Date	Time	Venue	Location	Ticket information
Monday 31 August 2026	5pm	The Orangery Theatre, Westonbirt School	Near Tetbury, Gloucestershire	£45, or £25 for under-18s
Friday 18 September 2026	7pm	Smith Square Hall	London	£20 to £45

For more information or to book, visit Bampton Classical Opera or call 07968 801047.