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<strong>Royal Opera House; Queen Elizabeth Hall; Conway Hall, London</strong><br>Puccini’s genius shines through as his centenary year gets under way. Elsewhere, a good week for the Mendelssohns, and a Carrot Revolution
Are you supposed to laugh at the end of Don Giovanni? Audiences often do, and they did at the end of Mariame Clément’s new production at Glyndebourne. It’s usually the bit where Donna Anna’s fiancé Don Ottavio suggests that they get married sharpish, and she immediately asks him for a year’s delay. Readers of Middlemarch
Direction and music are as one in Deborah Warner’s gripping new Royal Opera production, while a fine young cast redeems thoughtful if low-key Mozart
TULLY POTTER: Booked for the last four performances of L'Elisir d'Amore, in the key role of Nemorino, Matteo Desole ended up having to sing all 14 - and scored a triumph on the first night.
Everything was set for a glorious start to Britain's finest annual opera festival in Sussex: the sun was shining, the lawn was immaculate and ready for the operatic hordes to descend for their picnics during the traditional long interval and a complimentary glass of Nyetimber English champagne awaited each of us.