Royal Opera House

Marathon month of memories

One and Two: My run of nine nights away from home in the evening started with Saturday at Sadler’s Wells East with Jo and Sunday with the last item on my previous blog with BBPC at Cable Street and dinner in Shadwell afterwards.

Three: The new week kicked off with a dinner at Yoshino. Few will need reminding that this serves the best Japanese food in London and has ultra efficient and very friendly Lisa as it host. Lisa introduced me to Shoko when she came to a Prom in August when Dani Howard’s SIGNAL was given its world premiere. Since then we’ve touched base briefly at Yoshino and at the Drink Japan festival but decided to spend an evening together. It got off to a good start when I gave Shoko a copy of 101 Great Things about Japan (still available on Amazon) and heard a succession of “wows” as she leafed through it and suggested that I know more about Japan than she does. The clincher though was that Dee and I had loved our visit to Kamakura which is Shoko’s home town. It is also the setting for Kore-eda’s lovely film Our Little Sister. Outstandingly good food as usual plus lots of time to chat with Lisa too as the restaurant was not too busy. A lovely evening and pretty relaxing for a change.

Kamakura’s most famous resident – the13.5 metres tall Daibutsu at the Kotoku-in temple.

Four: Clifford Odet’s play Golden Boy is one I had not seen but heard of and knew it was to do with boxing. The Almeida production was excellent and featured Josh O’Connor in his first stage role for a decade as Joe Bonaparte, a promising violinist who is forced into prizefighting by a ruthless manager Tom played by Daniel Mays in a tour de force of coaxing, bullying and outright venality. He’s accompanied in his artifice by Lorna a hard-boiled Hayley Squires with a soft interior.

There’s a string quartet on an elevated platform at the back of the set who sparingly add poignant commentary on the action. But how do you show boxing on stage? Both symbolically and physically is director Sam Yates’ solution. A suspended punch bag has an embedded camera so we see both actual and projected close ups of Joe’s fights. For a play from 1937 it felt very fresh looking at difficult choices that have to be made to survive in hard times. Family pressures, feelings of responsibility, emotions, pride and jealousy are all there in a clearly guided production which left me with memories of some moments of great theatre some fine action and to ponder about moral dilemmas. A very worthy revival. And if you can’t get to the theatre it’s on NT Live in cinemas.

Five: On Monday, Shoko had decided she was free to accompany to what would be her first ever jazz gig. As an accomplished viola player she knows her music but had never been to hear jazz of which she professed ignorance. I had a job to do as I was to write a piece for All About Jazz anbout London’s latest jazz venue, the Blue Note London in St Martin’s Lane. The evening opened with a set by Gary Crosby’s Tomorrows Warriors. This charity run by Gary and his wife Janine for 39 years now, has done more than any other group to foster jazz in the UK and has some notable successful alumni including the Mercury prize-winning Ezra Collective and figures like Denys Baptiste, Soweto Kinch and Nubya Garcia. I’ve decsribed the gig elsewhere https://www.allaboutjazz.com/blue-note-comes-to-london but the best for me was to see alongside veterans like Denys and Gary himself, young graduates of the Warriors being given space on London’s latest big jazz stage. Next best was Shoko’s reaction who had her eyes ands ears opened to a new genre that she is keen to explore further. “I’m in a daydream about last night” she messaged next morning.

Six: I joined Frances for an insight event at the NT on Thursday prior to seeing Electra/Persona. We heard about the casting process and prop making and gathering both of which were interesting in the quantity of both that are done by in-house staff – many theatres use external casting directors and set and prop construction companies.

The play stars Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss who get a (tonight) fumbling audience member to toss a coin to see who will play which main part Electra or Clytemnestra and Elisabeth or Alma. We had Blanchett as Electra/Elisabeth. The first half is a loose adaptation of Sophocles, played out on a massive wooden staircase on which I frequently worried for the actors’ safety and was glad I didn’t have to do the risk assessment. It was lively, bloody and exciting but whether Benedict Andrews had added anything to the classic text was up for debate.

Having talked earlier about video tech in the theatre, the second half – no interval but 15 minutes of clearing rubbish off the steps – was a staged homage to Bergman’s film Persona. I’m not sure which is the easier role: the mute Elisabeth subjected to extreme close up video projections while she huddles under a blanket or scuttles across the steps or Alma who tries to cajole her out of depression. A highlight was Ella Lily Hyland as Elektra’s sister Chrysothemis and providing the running commentary in Persona as Anna who coincidentally is a star of my son-in-law’s latest TV series Tall Tales and Murder which comes to BBC on November 3. Please boost his ratings!

Seven: Following Wednesday’s Blue Note excursion, Gary Crosby had kindly agreed to talk to me about Tomorrow’s Warriors so that I could submit an article featuring them to All About Jazz. Workshops run in the basement of the Royal Festival Hall in a region I didn’t know existed but Gary showed me around the various rooms where potential musicians are tutored, join jam sessions and develop their skills. We spent a delightful two hours talking about music, cricket and football as his nephew is one of Watford FC’s much-loved former players Ashley Young. I then spent the afternoon writing in the foyer before heading over to the Queen Elizabeth Hall to meet friends Gwyn and Yvonne, Shoko – if she managed to curtail Friday drinks at the bank where she works on time – and Dani Howard. Dani and I had talked previously about her interest in writing for period instruments and I had said I would introduce her to the key figures at the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Introductions all went smoothly and we went in to see a rare performance of the Girl from Arles. Bizet originally wrote incidental music for Daudet’s play L’Arlesienne but it has become part of the repertoire as two suites. The OAE decided to stage the whole thing in a new translation by Jeremy Sams.

Much of the music was familiar, little of the text althoughj the story was a well document saga of forbidden love. The set and props and one of the cast were supplied by pupils at OAE’s home in Acland Burghley School. It was an interesting experiment by the always innovative OAE but as one visitor commented, “You can see why it hasn’t been done since 1964”. The critics were kinder however: 4 stars in The Guardian and “a welcome revival” from the Arts Desk. However, it was an enjoyable evening rounded off pleasantly with a light supper in the Archduke Wine Bar until they threw us out.

Eight: Saturday was another outing with my daughter to the ballet, this time at Sadler’s Wells in Rosebury Avenue with dinner at Moro beforehand. My, how busy was Exmouth Market! The programme was Acosta Danza’s Cuban Baroque. A double bill of contrasting musical foundations Salve Regina by Esteban Salas an 18th century Cuban composer in the first half called Pearls and in the second Chacona based on Bach’s Partita No 2 in D minor. The elegant strains of Baroque music might seem alien to the fast-moving energy of modern dance but it worked extremely well here in the bodies of a lithe and fluid group of dancers. The stamina and interpretive movements were mesmerising and contrasting colours for the wardrobe in each work were effective, Breathtaking stuff! Carlos Acosta may not thrill us with his dancing but his company does.

Acosta Danza *Pearls*
Credit: Johan Persson

Nine: Once again the closure of Charing Cross Station for the weekend make my Sunday trip to the royal Opera House a three-bus outing. Lee to Lewisham, the Bakerloop B1 to Waterloo and a bus across the bridge to the Strand. The hassle was worth it for the sublime music of Wagner’s last opera Parsifal. Our friend Susie Stranders had worked to prepare the cast and I had a catch up with her in the second interval which was an added bonus to a brilliant afternoon. Under the baton of RBO Music Director Jakub Hrůša, the orchestra and soloists were in fine form. This expansive, brooding, elemental and ecstatic music swirled through the house with all the force Wagner intended. I found the concept by debutant ROH director Evgeny Titov hard to take. Set in gloomy and miserable basement rooms with odd stone block towers moving at random moments I found it at serious odds with the storyline. Parsifal gathers the spear that will end the agony of the ailing Amfortas at the end in Wagner’s own libretto, but Titov has him kill the elder with spurts of blood from the wound the spear should cure and then hides himself under a gurney. It was great to witness this magnificent work again but I’m glad I also saw the Glyndebourne version last year so as not to sully my memory.

Jakub Hrůša salutes the orchestra who were on magnificent form in *Parsifal*

So on Monday and Tuesday I was at home and had almost forgotten what it meant to go into the kitchen and prepare and cook a meal but I did and it was tasty – teryaki chicken with miso aubergine and sesame seed broccoli – appropriate preparation on Tuesday for Wednesday’s outing.

I’ve been reading a lot of Japanese fiction lately – not just Murakami – and came across the work of Akane Araki. Rather like Mieko Kawakami earleier in the year, the chance to hear a writer talk about her work was not to be missed. The Japan Foundation brought Akane to the UK for a promotional tour of the publication in English of Murder at the End of the World. In London this took place at Foyles. It’s a very accomplished murder mystery with many MacGuffins, red herrings and plot twists that keep you on edge throughout. Hearing her talk about her upbringing in Fukushima areas of Kyushu and its influence on her work was interesting. It did prompt me to ask why the cover had a representation of Fuji-san that can’t be seen that far west. Marketing and sterotypes I suspect. The Japanese edition had a cover that properly evoked the spirit of the book. Charmingly chaired by Bidisha and with simultaneous interpretation from the always excellent Bethan Jones it was an insightful evening.

I ventured into the Surrey Hills on Thursday for lunch at the Ragged Robin (close!) in Godalming with Peter Breen one of the few school mates I’m still in touch with. A ritual exchange of preserves – Peter has beehives – his honey and pickled jalapeños, my apricot and chilli jam – catch up with family and friends and exchange of recipes for quinces of which we both have many this year. A very pleasant trip out of the city. Home for the evening but no need to cook after a substantial and excellent lunch.

As part of my ongoing research into Tomorrow’s Warriors I had arrnaged to interview pianist Sultan Stevenson at King’s Place on Friday evening before I went to a concert there. He is a charming man full of praise for Tomorrow’s Warriors and how it had helped his career. He told me at length about the “Each one teach one” whereby all alumni pass on their knowledge to the next generation. As he said “Where else can you get world class tutoring for free?

The concert was by London Brass celebrating their 40th anniversary and they had asked Dani Howard to contribute a new work for the occasion. Deciding against a 40 minute piece she compsed a lively four-minute “Fast Forward” that gave each section opportunities to shine and formed a coherent progression through tones and emotions.

Saturday saw my first trip to football at Watford for some weeks – international break, away and midweek fixtures got in the way. We won, most unexpectedly, 2-0 against Charlton after two recent thrashings by clubs below us in the table. There seemed to be some team spirit, some more joined-up play and ability to keep the ball for a while and to actually put it in the back of the net. Frances, Graham and I then caught the train back into Euston for a pint in the Lord Salisbury on St Martin’s Lane and then the to the Blue Note for the early show by Nubya Garcia. As one of the more prominent Tororrow’s Warriors I was keen to secure an interview by chatting to her manager Barb Sealy. Success! We have a zoom date in the diary. We also met up with Gary Crosby and his partner and co-founder of Warriors Janine Irons and with Nubya’s mother, all of which brought a fabulous end to a brilliant concert which I have reviewed for All About Jazz and which you can read here and see some photographs from the gig. Gary was happy to discuss his nephew Ashley Young with Frances and Graham. Janine said they knew Watford had won by the demeanour of the fans on the train into town. We failed to repeat Shoko and my post jazz trip to Barrafina but had satisfactory bowls at Marugame Udon opposite Charing Cross Station. A very good Saturday.

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And Feb ain’t started slow …

My goodness – we’re not yet halfway through the month and there’s all this to write about!

Following the rehearsal I attended last month at Acland Burghley School for the OAE’s planned concert featuring Mozart’s clarinet concerto, February started with the actual performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. It was fascinating to see how the subtle changes that had been suggested during the rehearsals had made their way firmly into the final version – except that no version is ever final as the room, the audience and the moment make every performance unique. The interplay between Kati Debretzeni as leader and Katherine ‘Waffy’ Spencer on her beloved basset clarinet ‘Grace’ was moulded into an outstanding piece of music. The concert opened with an overture by Juan Crisostomo Arriaga – often dubbed the Spanish Mozart for his precocity and the fact that he and WAM were both born on 27 January, albeit 50 years apart. This was written when Arriaga was 14 and who knows where he might be in the pantheon if he’d lived beyond the age of 20. At least there’s a theatre named after him in his home town of Bilbao where we saw a not very good zarzuela production in 2008. Each half of the QEH concert concluded with a mad encore devised by Waffy of arias from Die Enführung aus dem Serail with ‘Grace’ as Konstanze and bassoons as the males, Belmonte and the Pasha, with Acland Burghley students displaying large card captions to tell the story. The OAE as well as being great musically are also great fun (see below).

One of the things that endears me to this band – apart from their musical excellence – is that at the end of every OAE concert the audience are handed a ‘Thanks for coming card’ from a different member of the orchestra. It’s a really pleasing gesture that makes you feel properly involved in the evening’s entertainment. Tonight’s card of course was from Grace herself.

Next up was a visit to the Young Vic as a proxy for patron Frances who was in Hull for a football match. I’ve pretty much given up on long distance away games, especially midweek. This was an insight session into Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass which previews from 20 February so the cast are half way through rehearsals. The director Jordan Fein joined us with cast members Eli Gelb, Juliet Cowan, Nigel Whitmey and Alex Waldmann. The play covers the literally paralysing effect on the main character of the news of the infamous massacre of Jews on Kristallnacht in 1938. It was interesting to hear about the directorial and design decisions and to discuss the relevance of the play today with genocides taking place in several parts of the world. At these events it’s always interesting to see all the research material provided in the room for the cast to be fully informed of the subject matter. In this case the walls were covered with lots of photos of Brooklyn in the 30s with newspaper headlines and cuttings about Kristallnacht. All this and a glass of wine and a chance to spend an hour chatting to the team – cast and development executives. In a fun insight into the actor’s life, Alex Waldman said that after being in rehearsal all day with Americans and doing an American accent he often got told to drop it by his kids when he got home.

Jordan Fein courtesy Young Vic Theatre
Steve Gregson

The next day saw me head off to the British Museum to see the Samurai exhibition which had just opened this week. It’s a comprehensive review of all aspects of the samurai era from 700 to their dissolution in the 1870s. And it’s not all about war and weaponry although there are some magnificent examples of armour, swords and bows. There are displays on art and culture, domestic life and, a surprise for many, me included, the important role of women samurai. The spread of samurai and shogun myth and history into modern films, anime and artworks is also featured. I went in at 2.30 expecting to spend an hour or so and was kicked out when the museum closed at 5pm. Time very well spent among elegantly displayed objects with excellent explanations and a lot of learning about the samurai.

As it was one of the few days so far this year in which it didn’t rain (yet, don’t speak too soon)- and the National Gallery has no scaffolding at the moment so I snapped this on the way in from Charing Cross station. Given the surprise rain remission I decided to walk to the Jugged Hare pub near the Barbican where our first week of each month City Orns group of Watford FC fans was to meet to discuss our managerless team and a whole range of other unrelated topics. It was only a couple of miles and took me through Red Lion Square, along Holborn, through Smithfield and past St Bartholomew the Great before the final stretch through the Barbican tunnel. Pub, food and company were well worth the walk. But I did get wet on the way home.

Thursday saw me again at the Southbank Centre for an experimental evening called the Classical Mixtape Live. All six resident orchestras were presenting short concerts over the course of two and a half hours. First up was the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall who played the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth – possibly the best known opening of any musical work – and then a suite from Howard Shore’s music for the Lord of the Rings. It was hosted by an Irish presenter Vogue Williams who gushed and stuttered from her notes up by the organ desk. Not quite sure why. She opined that the players must be exhausted after playing like that – for 7 minutes – perhaps ignorant of the length of many symphonies and concerts, let alone opera.Then came the fun part. Four orchestras were repeating the same 20 minute set in four locations around the centre. It could have been good except that someone didn’t really study the logistics of getting 2,700 people from the RFH into the four other venues despite inviting the Green Side and the Blue Side to head to different locations. So there was more queueing than listening. I only got to two of the four.

In the Clore Ballroom off the main foyer members of the Chineke! Orchestra were perched on podiums around which we all milled. It was a bit like a promenade performance at the Bridge Theatre without the stewards to guide us. Now Chineke! is admirable in being a largely BAME band giving opportunities to musicians who might not have found their way to a classical orchestra. They looked a bit nervous and the conductor probably struggled to see everyone given the set up – very dramatic lighting! They played Montgomery Variations by Margaret Bonds but it was difficult to get a sense of the piece while being on the move. In the Undercroft, a storeroom under the QEH, the London Sinfonietta played Steve Reich. Unfortunately the space is so small that there was a one out one in policy and I didn’t make it to the head of the queue. Nor did I ever get to the end of the lengthy line trying to get into the Purcell Room to hear the Aurora Orchestra performing music from Mahler’s time in the Alps.

However the delight of the night was the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer presenting a programme of Bavarian Oompah music including the Tristch Tratsch Polka and a selection from The Sound of Music. The Guardian gave the whole evening a two-star rating but noted that the OAE team were “having a whale of a time using beer glasses as percussion and proving they are most definitely game for a laugh.” They were led by Adrian Bending who noted, rather cheekily, in his intro that if people wanted to hear the fifth symphony as Beethoven might have heard it himself, they should come to the QEH on Sunday to hear the orchestra’s historically informed performance. Seeing them in lederhosen, dirndl skirts and with Adrian using tuned beer glasses as percusssion and Waffy Spencer singing ‘Do Re Mi’ it was something to behold. You can take a look at them here:

Finally we all reconvened in the RFH for the Philharmonia to take us into space with Mars and Jupiter from Holst’s The Planets and some of John Williams’ music for Star Wars. It was an interesting evening somewhat marred by the logistics but I hope they do it again with a bit more planning. It was good to see four of the six orchestras in a different light.

The next evening brought an altogether different experience. My granddaughter has a prominent gender-switched role as Arvide Abernethy in Guys and Dolls, the annual musical production at Langley Park Boys School where she is in the sixth form. I’m not a huge fan of musicals but had to admire the incredible professionalism of this young cast. Great set and costumes, singers all mic-ed up and fully commited to both lusty and subtle performances. At several points there were over 100 performers on the stage a testament to the depth of music and drama talent across the entire school. It is billed as the ‘whole school musical’, and what with all the people involved behind the scenes, it really was. The band, the lighting, sound and performances were of astonishing quality. As my son said after seeing it next day, it makes you rethink what is meant by ‘school play’ these days.

Saturdays seem to bring drama around Watford FC. I watched a narrow defeat at Southampton on TV and then learned a little later that the club has replaced Javi Gracia who resigned last week with a completely unknown manager. We’ll see. So on Sunday I was pleased to be back on more secure territory. The Hungarian conductor Adam Fischer is a long time and frequent collaborator with the OAE and being able to go to both the rehearsal and the performance of Beethoven symphonies 4 and 5 was a real privilege. I wondered how different the conversations with Fischer would be compared to the self-directed rehearsal for the Mozart last month – in truth not very. There was still lots of consultation with members of the orchestra, comments discussed and annotations made on their scores for dynamics, expression and so on. The two symphonies are very different with the fourth being much less familiar. It was a delight to see them shaped by a maestro with a top orchestra and then enjoy the end result a little later.

Player list and the view from the stalls

Between the rehearsal and the concert was a talk with Adrian Bending, Phil Dale (not in lederhosen today) and Christopher Rawley They talked about the differences in self-directed and conducter-ledconcerts and agree that Adam Fischer is someone who excites them with his interpretations which often catch them by surprise. They clearly have the greatest respect and affection for him. The session also featured a wonderful contrabassoon and three trombones about which Christopher and Phil talked. The contrabassoon was made by a maker well-known to Beethoven and might have been used in the early performances of the fifth and ninth symphonies. There is a campaign to keep this instrument which bears the number 001 in the country as it is currently up for sale. Christopher demonstrated the deep notes this piece of wood can deliver and Phil expressed his delight at Beethoven scoring for three trombones in the fifth symphony – a pattern followed by many other composers keeping trombonists gainfully employed.

Pre-concert talk with Adrian, contrabassoon, Christopher and Phil

On Monday I had a lovely Zoom call with Daisy Scott in Boston, Mass to discuss theatre, music, retirement, families and lots more – but not world affairs as there is not much to say except mutual despair. It is a real pleasure to be in regular touch with our Boston family.

Tuesday evening featured a trip to Watford for a thank you party from the council for the work several of us have been doing with the relocation and redisplay of Watford Museum. It was a nice gesture to thanks us volunteers and we all look forward to the opening of the museum next year after a major building refurbishment. The group I was with had focused on the football club so it was good to see the work of other teams looking at grassroots sport, the diverse community and entertainment and to meet up with old and new friends. It rained in Watford too! Heavily, but one of our team Alan kindly gave me a lift back to the station.

In Bangladesh in 2009, Manzur E Mawla was co-presenter with Eeshita Azad of the pilot television programmes I made for the BBC World Service aimed at encouraging young Bangladeshis to learn English as a Foreign Language. He later relocated to the UK and we have been in touch with him and his family on a number of occasions. He emailed this week to say he was in a play at the Drayton Arms Theatre and would I like to go. Well, interest piqued, what else could I do?

It’s a venue I’ve not been to before – a small 50-seater above a lovely pub. The play was called Modern Romance and was a series of twelve scenes – six pre-filmed and projected, six acted live – about the various whacky ways people get together these days. Scatalogical, filled with innuendo – how do you make paper clips and staples sexy ?- it was funny and revealing. My friend Manzur did a two-man scene with Jay Ramji as a gay Under 21 football couple one Arsenal (guess!) one Fulham who among other escapades embrace at a goal being scored while playing against each other to the consternation of coaches. It was written by Giles Fernando and directed by Penny Gkritzapi who I had a pleasant chat to in the bar afterwards and spent time with Manzur and other cast members. Manzur had done some acting back in Bangladesh before we worked together and had started acting classes again here only recently. It transpired that this was his UK stage debut, and very well he did, having joined the cast at very short notice. A totally unexpected fun evening added to my calendar by a chance email.

The live action cast with Manzur and Jay third and fourth from left.

Last outing for this post is to see Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House. Another soggy trip into town and no drinks beforehand as it’s a bladder-challenging two hours and twenty minutes with no interval. Susie Stranders’ insight talk last month was very helpful in making both the story and the musical motifs clear so I could look out for particular moments in the piece. The choral singing was incredibly powerful and included a children’s chorus which Susie had prepared – great job! I took my seat being slightly panicked about being a long way from the aisle should nature call. Then it was suddenly time for the final black out and curtain calls. How on earth to two and a half hours pass so quickly? Answer: engrossing story from Pushkin, marvellously varied score with simple tunes and powerful orchestration, brilliantly sung, accompanied by an orchestra on top form and a superb overall production directed by Richard Jones. A brilliant night at the opera.

Mark Wigglesworth invites us to applaud the orchestra after a stunning performance led by Bryn Terfel as Godunov and a cast of hundreds.

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My Funny Valentine’s weekend

Long before visiting Kappabashi street in Tokyo a few years ago, I’d been fascinated by the replica food displays outside Japanese restaurants. They are immensly helpful and proved so again during our visit in 2018 when my granddaughter was able to select her lunch from a display case and was surprised at how similar the actual dish was when it arrived. So when the Japan House announced Looks Delicious! I was determined to go. I booked tickets for the 14 February so that my friend Rosa who was also keen to go would be back from a work visit to Spain. However events conspired to make her unavailable. I had also booked to go to the Royal Opera House to see Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Festen that evening. Maybe not the most romantic choice for Valentine’s Day but hey, Dee and I had seen the stage version on a New Year’s Eve in 2004 followed by a stroll down to the Embankment for the fireworks and night buses home!

Then two things happened. My son suggested we do a Valentine’s dinner and Festen evening together as his wife was away on business in Singapore. Sounds great. I had also emailed my friend Susie Stranders who works at the ROH to see if she was around that evening. She wasn’t but invited me to a Live at Lunch recital she was giving in the Paul Hamlyn Hall at one o’ clock. Also great. Hasty reworking of plans to move Japan House tickets from 16:00 to 10:30 and set off early on Friday morning for High Street Kensington.

I swear I nearly cried as I could smell these onions as I walked into the exhibition. There was in fact no smellivision, just my reflex imagination. There were a number of well curated displays of food laid out on plinths that cleverly echoed Japan’s islands and each contained specialities of the various prefectures. Below are a few images that show the educational as well as the fun side of food replica making in Japan. I had only seen their use in restaurants but quickly saw how they were valuable in education and nutrition advice too.

So after this delightful and slightly surprisingly educational visit – I hadn’t expected displays showing suitable foodstuffs for diabetics, for example, nor displays showing ideal meals throughout the day for healthy living. But although there were “do not touch” symbols on the main exhibits there was a corner where you could build your own Bento Box. Such fun! It’s now time to head for the number 9 bus and Covent Garden.

I walked up through the busy market – lots of tourists for February, but it was sunny I guess – and arrived to seek out Nikki who had the Live at Lunch token Susie had kindly set aside for me. It was just as well as the beautiful Floral – now Paul Hamlyn – Hall was absolutely packed. Nikki conducted me to a reserved seat with a good sightline to the piano. Susie introduced her colleague mezzo-soprano Carrie and promised us a suitably romantic programme for St Valentine’s Day. They started with Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder which were an exquisite series of Valentine’s cards to his lover Mathilde Wesendonck whose poems he set. He marked two of them ‘In the greenhouse’ and ‘Dreams’ as studies for Tistan and Isolde the opera he was compsing at the time and there were familiar themes. This was followed by a series of Richard Strauss songs and then giving the audience respite from instatranslating German we had a final selection of English songs. It was a lovely way to spend the best part of an hour and I’m very grateful to Susie for inviting me. I’ll be looking out for more. The recitals are free but on a first come first served basis. I then had the pleasure of a brief lunch with Susie before she rushed off to other repetiteur duties and audition accompaniments.

With a couple of hours to spare I thought I’d see if I could blag my way into the Courtauld gallery’s new exhibition From Goya to Impressionism. Despite my pleading that it was just me and there must be a no-show or two, my entreaties fell on deaf ears. This month is all sold out but it looks like there’s availability in March so I will get to see it. However the permanent collection is always worth a visit, so I did that and then walked back through a suddenly sunny London to meet my son Tom for tapas at Barrafina in Drury Lane. On the way I popped into the Drury Lane Gardens which is mostly a children’s play area but had its borders all replanted last year by plantsman Peter Korn and local primary school children with sustanable plants that were good for wildlife. I’ll be sure to go back and see how the planting progresses.

After delicious Barrafina fare including scallops, sweetbreads and their superb squidgy tortilla we made our way to the Opera House for a relaxing drink and catch up before the curtain went up on this magnificent work. Having seen both the Dogme film and the stage adaptataion how would this work as opera? Mark-Anthony Turnage has had a few other excursions into opera with Anna Nicole which was a hit in 2011 and was also directed by Richard Jones who was at the helm of Festen this time.

Susie who had been on opening night asked me to share my thoughts. Here’s what I sent her: The score was incredibly inventive with powerful passages that blew you away contrasted with exquisite writing in the quieter moments. The staging was wonderful with that vast expanse filled with action at times and still, like a watching Greek chorus, at others. I couldn’t fault the singers either who were clear and expressive to a person. And both Tom and I really enjoyed and were moved by it and the two guys I was sitting next to thought it was among the best nights they spent at the opera – ever. We had a couple of glasses to mull over it all in the Marquess of Anglesey across the road before making our way to Charing Cross to catch train and tube to our homes. What a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

And it continued into Saturday as I was invited to a members’ tour of the newly opened Sadler’s Wells East in Stratford. It’s part of the East Bank complex which includes BBC Music Studios, the London College of Fashion and a new V&A museum as well as an outpost of University College London. We were treated to introductory videos about the building and its potential uses and a short dance film with local community involvement. There were also two performances in the dance space in the main foyer with recent graduates from the National Youth Dance Company.

The building is impressive with some wonderful brickwork throughout and auditorium detailing and sightlines that promise visits being a real treat with rows and seats easy to find. It has a very steep rake and the front three rows can be removed to extend the stage for immersive production. A similar sort of flexibility in the space that we’ve experienced in Bridge Theatre productions. We were also allowed to visit the studios above where works can be developed – in the biggest on the scale of the main stage which mirrors that at the Angel.

**Britannia Morton**, CEO explains the stage

It was a privilege to explore this excellent new venue and after a coffee in its canal side Park Bar and Kitchen it was time for a stroll along the rest of East Bank. The whole Olympic Park is now so differnt from the days a while back of trekking from the stations to the stdium for the Olympics, baseball or away games at West Ham. When all the new buildings are fully operational like Sadler’s Wells East it should be a lively place to visit. The V&A East is due to open in May 2025

And as it started to drizzle on the arriving Hammers fans, I made my way to the DLR and back home in time to listen to an excellent performance by Watford to gain an unexpected three points at Middlesbrough. A fine and funny weekend.