The hills are alive...

Longborough Festival Opera is the brainchild of entrepreneur Martin Graham, who has achieved a lifelong ambition by building a fully-fledged professional theatre in the grounds of his house near Moreton-in-Marsh. Its grand Palladian faade leads to the foyer and auditorium seating 480, with 16 private boxes - two with private dining rooms - and is featured in the latest Pevsner guide to buildings in England.

Fifty years ago it was common to see a tall, gangling man in plus fours followed by a cadaverous dog and a small boy wandering around the village of Longborough. The man alternately shouted and sang as he punched the air with one arm, while making flowing movements with the other. He was called Jack, the dog was an ancient greyhound and the boy was Martin Graham, who, despite his tremendous success, certainly wasn't bought up in a musical, let alone operatic, environment.

"My family came to the Cotswolds when I was seven and my father was a clerk at the local airforce base at Little Rissington," said Martin. "At that time, the boys became labourers and the girls worked in the laundry. I became a labourer but had been interested in music since the age of three when I heard my first brass band. In those days the wireless was the only medium by which you could hear music because there were no concerts. It was limited to the Light Programme, the Home Service and the Third Programme. My older sister was allowed to stay up until 10pm to listen to a concert so I did as well.

"Next door lived an old Hungarian women who was crazy about hymns. I would go round to her house and we would listen to them together on a Sunday evening, squatting round her fire. There was no music at school, but Jack would tell me to listen to this or that - he was on my wavelength. I owe an awful lot of my enthusiasm and knowledge to his encouragement."

Martin agrees that a labourer listening to classical music on the radio was quite unusual and he cheerfully put up with an awful lot of teasing on a variety of building sites. But he is nothing if not determined. "They teased me mercilessly and even threw bricks at the radio, but I am very persistent," said Martin. "You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. Throughout my life I have written notes about what I must do next and have kept all the books to this day. I must say I have achieved most of what I set out to do."

One of the 'must-do's' included owning some property. In his early 20s, Martin built his own house where he could rattle through Elgar's repertoire without being disturbed. Gradually, he crossed off all his achievements - acquired even more property in London's exclusive Harley Street, trained as a lawyer and married his wife, Lizzie. Lizzie helps to run Longborough with her husband although she modestly describes herself as being "pulled along in his wake."

In 1998, Martin and Lizzie decided to mount their own production for the first time, approaching singer Jenny Miller and her husband, Alan Privett, who is a director.

They had organised their first operatic performance in the courtyard of their home at Banks Fee in 1991, in aid of Sue Ryder and Barnardo's. "The opera evenings with picnic interval were very popular and we were begged to continue," said Martin. "Until 1998, our relationship was exclusively with the Travelling Opera whose productions of well-known operas in English were much enjoyed by our steadily increasing audience, which grew from a total of 400 in 1991 to 1,600 in 1997."

Later they moved up to New Banks Fee, higher up on the hill, with superb views of the Evenlode Valley. The new location included a chicken shed, which was converted into the professional theatre using seats discarded by the Royal Opera House and given a Palladian style faade.

"It's hard for me to believe what we have achieved here," said Martin. "Especially as I used to sit on the seats more than 30 years ago on my visits to the Royal Opera House. I would not have believed that they would eventually be part of my very own opera house. Nothing is impossible if you want it hard enough."

Longborough follows the popular country house opera formula, with the performances interspersed with long intervals for picnicking or dining in the LFO restaurant.

In 1998 it embarked on Wagner's Ring cycle with Das Rheingold. The complete set of four operas making up the Ring was launched in 2002 and revisited in 2004, with the internationally renowned Sir Donald McIntyre in the role of Wotan. LFO is the first privately-owned opera company to stage the Ring.

From its humble beginnings, Longborough has grown from a country house-type venue which bought in productions from touring companies, to one of the well-known country opera houses like Glyndebourne and Garsington, attracting national acclaim from critics.

The orchestra pit was enlarged in 2004, modelled on Wagner's at Bayreuth, and accommodates up to 65 players. The theatre recently underwent several improvements, including alterations to the Palladian faade. Facilities at Longborough are used for numerous charitable functions and local schools use the theatre to stage their own productions.

The 2006 season runs from June 9 until July 15, and features four separate operas Verdi's Rigoletto and Bizet's Carmen are new LFO productions, while The Opera Project, one of Britain's best loved touring companies and regular visitors to Longborough, perform Mozart's Don Giovanni. Also, for one night only, The Little Sweep - Britten's opera for children - will be performed by a group of children as part of Longborough's education programme. LFO is also running an open-air event in Birmingham city centre on July 14 and 15, designed to entice passers by into the world of opera free of charge.

For more information about the performances and to book tickets, call the box office on 01451 830292 or visit www.longboroughopera.com.