Turning over a new leaf? Michieletto at Glyndebourne Credit: Rii Schroer The beginning of a new season at Glyndebourne this week sounds a note of bright optimism for the arts. On a late morning in May there is a buzz across the sprawling Sussex estate; the sheep take their usual spots in the meadows. And yet for Damiano Michieletto, the director taking on 2021’s first production there – of Janacek’s Katya Kabanova –it’s not all pastoral bliss. “Honestly, I am a little bit angry,” he starts, two minutes into our interview, a tall, dark 46-year-old Venetian who speaks an idiosyncratic Italo-English. He is irritated that this production must obey social distancing rules, even on-stage, whereas in other industries – for instance filmmaking – this has not been enforced. “Why [do] I have to respect distances [sic], and I’m doing the same job?”