Name: André Grétry 'Zemira e Azor' (‘Beauty and the Beast’)
Start: 2026-07-17T19:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-07-18T21:30:00+01:00
Location: Cokethorpe School, Witney, Oxfordshire OX29 7PU

$Andr\u00e9 Gr\u00e9try 'Zemira e Azor' (\u2018Beauty and the Beast\u2019)$

Bampton Classical Opera's 2026 summer production will be André Grétry’s sparkling fairytale opera Zemira e Azor, to be performed in a rare version based on the 1776 Italian edition, with additional music by Ignaz Holzbauer and Niccolò Jommelli, not heard in the UK since the late 18th century. It will be sung in a new English translation by Gilly French as ‘Beauty and the Beast’, conducted by Andrew Griffiths and directed by Jeremy Gray. Bampton Classical Opera performed Grétry’s L’amant jaloux in 2012, also conducted by Andrew Griffiths.
The production will be semi-staged and costumed, with opening performances taking place for the first time in a delightful setting at Cokethorpe School, Witney, Oxfordshire.
Zemira e Azor is an enchanting version of the well-loved fairy-tale ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Originally set in a fantasised Persia, reflecting the Orientalism popular in the 18th century, it’s bursting with wit, romance and melodic charm. The original librettist Marmontel adapted the plot from La Belle et la Bête (‘Beauty and the Beast’) by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and it also draws upon Amour pour amour by Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée.
A kind and beautiful young woman, Zemira, takes her father's place as a prisoner in the magical castle of the monstrous Azor, in beastly form as a result of a spell cast by a malevolent fairy. She is horrified when she first encounters Azor, but soon sees past his hideous exterior to his inner dignity and nobility, eventually falling in love. When she finally declares her feelings for him the fairy’s spell is broken and Azor is revealed in his true form as a handsome prince.
Grétry’s opera was immensely popular, leading to several translations and variant editions – it was the first French opéra-comique to be performed outside France and there were productions across Europe and in America. Mozart owned a score of the Grétry and made his own copies of parts of it; some commentators liken Grétry’s role of the servant Ali to Mozart’s Papageno. When it was performed in London in 1776 the audiences and critics praised Grétry’s “tasteful and elegant melody” and the orchestration and lyrical style were considered “pleasingly tender”. The opera was a special favourite of Sir Thomas Beecham, and was the last opera he performed (and recorded), in 1955.