GLYNDEBOURNE

English manor and estate and site of annual summer performances by the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Located in East Sussex, Eng., just northeast of Brighton, the Elizabethan house was added to during the 19th and 20th centuries, and an opera house was built when the owner, John Christie, and his wife, soprano Audrey Mildmay, founded the festival in 1934. (The opera house was torn down in 1992 and replaced by a larger facility.) The festival has attracted first-class performers, directors, and designers and has established a reputation for discovering new talent, but much of its popularity can also be attributed to its custom of allowing patrons to stroll and picnic on the beautiful grounds of the estate during a long dinner intermission.