“I’ve rarely felt so physically involved in a performance…partly because the circumstances were so intimate, I could have reached out and consoled Donna Anna myself, it was also because the presentation was so keenly alive.”
The Independent
"Iford Manor’s tiny Italianate cloister has a captivating atmosphere."
The Guardian
“Iford….is one of the loveliest places to see opera performed.”
The Times
"Iford festival, in a breathtakingly beautiful, pastoral setting just outside Bath, has become one of the unsung glories of the British operatic summer. It combines just the right air of welcoming informality with real artistic merit in a unique environment that lends a human touch to the larger-than-life absurdities of opera."
Opera Now
"One of the country’s more interesting opera venues… With productions given in-the-round, it offers a forensic view of drama and performance … a chance to get behind the fatuities of big-stage, big-gesture presentation."
Opera Now
"… The Cloister at Iford … could hardly be more perfect in terms of scale and style."
Opera Magazine
"If ever a foreign friend wanted to be taken to a place that enshrines the very essence of an English rural idyll, then Iford would be the place."
Opera Critic
"Iford is a treasure"
Venue
“The ultimate of intimate opera houses”
The English Garden
“Marvellous music, stunning surroundings, cracking company…..Iford’s intoxicating charm is that it is that little bit different and that little bit special. There are no crowds – it has a distinctly private party feel”
Bath Chronicle
“There is something very special about this place that evokes a great sense of inner peace”
Wiltshire Times
