John Christie (14 December 1882 – 4 July 1962) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

landowner and

theatrical producer A theatrical producer is a person who oversees all aspects of mounting a theatre Stagecraft, production. The producer is responsible for the overall financial and managerial functions of a production or venue, raises or provides financial backin ...

. He was the founder of the

Glyndebourne Opera House Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundred ...

and the

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

at his home at

Glyndebourne Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundr ...

, 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 of ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in 1934. Born to a wealthy landed family in

Eggesford Eggesford () is a parish in mid-Devon, without its own substantial village. It is served by Eggesford railway station on the Exeter to Barnstaple railway line, also known as the Tarka Line. Descent of the Manor de Reigny The manor of Eggesfor ...

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 in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

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

, later spending seven years at Eton as a master. His grandfather was William Langham Christie. He served in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...

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 fightin ...

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 St ...

, 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

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 A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Audrey Mildmay Grace Audrey Laura St John-Mildmay (19 December 1900 – 31 May 1953) was an English and Canadian soprano and co-founder, with her husband, John Christie, of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' describes her voice "as a li ...

, 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 (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' and ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...

'', conducted by

Fritz Busch Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor. Busch was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to a musical family, and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior p ...

, 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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 sometimes ...

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 ''The Moderate Soprano'' is a 2015 play by the British playwright David Hare. It is a historical play dealing with John Christie, his founding of Glyndebourne Opera and his romance and marriage with Audrey Mildmay, the eponymous soprano. The pr ...

'' 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