John Christie (14 December 1882 – 4 July 1962) was an English landowner and theatrical producer. He was the founder of the Glyndebourne Opera House and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera at his home at Glyndebourne, near

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre ...

in Sussex in 1934. Born to a wealthy landed family in Eggesford,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, Christie was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, later spending seven years at Eton as a master. His grandfather was

William Langham Christie William Langham Christie (31 May 1830 – 28 November 1913) of Glyndebourne, Sussex, and Tapeley, North Devon, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. He was the son of Langham Christie, who had inherited Glyndebou ...

. He served in the trenches in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

with the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United S ...

, despite partial blindness, was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

, and reached the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Having been given the Glyndebourne Estate for his own use he began to develop local enterprises there from 1920 onwards: in 1923, he acquired the famous organbuilding company of William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Ltd., which had come into being around 1916 with the progressive merging of its two constituent firms. The firm remained in Christie ownership until its demise in the 1990s. 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 and the first season, which featured

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

'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 but after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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. In 1954 John Christie was made a

Companion of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometime ...

for his achievement at Glyndebourne. 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. Like his father, Sir George was also made a Companion 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

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

* 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

External links

National Portrait Gallery - photographs of the Christie family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, John Opera managers Glyndebourne Festival Opera British arts administrators English theatre managers and producers Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Recipients of the Military Cross Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Mid Devon District 1882 births 1962 deaths British Army personnel of World War I English landowners Benjamin Britten 20th-century English businesspeople