Grange Park, run with chutzpah by Wasfi Kani in the ruined splendour of a Greek Revival house in Hampshire, has shifted up several gears this season with sponsored singers — including Bryn Terfel in recital — and the English Chamber Orchestra in the pit. The pretty 550-seat horseshoe theatre, complete with levitating chandeliers, which opened in 2004, suggests the Grange is here to stay.

Choosing a huge score by Puccini might seem mad in so small a place. But La Fanciulla del West, directed by Stephen Medcalf and atmospherically designed by Francis O’Connor, worked stunningly. Cynthia Makris’s Minnie, Olaf Sigurdarson’s Rance and John Hudson’s Johnson headed a fine cast, conducted with blazing vigour by Rory Macdonald.

Venues like Grange Park and Garsington may seem mere champagne and picnic playgrounds for the rich but both take repertoire risks the big subsidised companies dare not. They also, indefatigably, train and provide work for younger artists. Once lampooned as the indulgence of pastoral squireship, these inspired enterprises have proved the energetic heart of operatic life.

Grange Park: 01962 737366; Cosi fan tutte at the Barbican, 11 July.