THE 2010 Ryedale Festival, the first under the artistic directorship of Christopher Glynn, opens today with a theme of Voyages and Homecomings.

The 17-day event is launched with the first of two performances of Odyssey, the Ryedale Festival Community Opera, at 6pm at St Peter’s Church, Norton, where the second show takes place at 5pm tomorrow. Recreating the story of Homer’s Odyssey, this dramatic account of the oldest voyage in Western literature has been written by Martin Vander Weyer, set to music by Tim Brooks, under the directorship of Em Whitfield Brooks.

Tonight’s gala opening concert in The Saloon at Duncombe Park has sold out. Soprano Dame Felicity Lott, her husband, the actor Gabriel Woolf, and pianist Christopher Glynn present music and musings on the great voyage of Love And Marriage, with songs by Schumann, Poulenc and Noel Coward and readings from Shakespeare, Kipling and Betjeman.

The Naked Violin, Tamsin Little’s recital at St Peter’s Church, Norton, on Thursday has sold out too. One hundred Ryedale school pupils were invited to take up the festival’s offer of free tickets for this 8pm programme of works by JS Bach, Bartok, Paul Patterson and Ysaye.

The 2010 festival is on course to reach record attendance levels. As chairman Ken Overton notes: “In terms of value of ticket sales and numbers, we’re going to hit last year’s record. We’re delighted, especially with being in a recession, and Ryedale is certainly going to benefit because the festival is attracting people from all parts of the country.”

As ever, the 50-event programme is being staged in stately homes such as Duncombe Park, Hovingham Hall, Sledmere House and Castle Howard, as well as in village churches, the Kirk Theatre, Pickering and Helmsley Arts Centre.

A few tickets are still available for tomorrow’s Ryedale Festival Opera double bill of Mendelssohn’s The Homecoming and Benjamin Britten’s The Prodigal Son at Hovingham Hall at 8pm. A picnic performance of the same bill will follow there on Sunday at 6pm.

Mendelssohn’s light-hearted work will be receiving its first professional performance in Britain for many years in a world premiere of a new translation by festival president John Warrack.

“I’m delighted that the festival will be reviving The Homecoming,” says Christopher Glynn.

“It’s a hidden gem in the operatic repertoire, full of marvellous melodies and colourful characters.”

The Schumann Day on July 30 from 11am to 6pm at Pickering Parish Church will mark the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann’s birth. This will conclude with an 8pm concert, Robert, Clara…and Johannes, by the festival’s ensemble in residence, the Fitzwilliam Quartet, who will also lead a study session at 2pm and perform a 3pm concert with Eleanor Laugharne, soprano, and Christopher Glynn, piano.

Further festival highlights include coffee concerts; performances by the Orchestra of Opera North and the Yorkshire Bach Choir; soprano Claire Booth in Poulenc’s opera La Voix Humaine; and the Northern Sinfonia’s Final Gala Concert at Hovingham Hall.

Visit ryedalefestival.co.uk for the full programme and ticket details. Box office: 01751 475777 or tickets@ryedalefestival.co.uk