Sunday 26th July 2026

I closed Glyndebourniana last Saturday. A great relief. Of all the engagements one undertakes, is any more gruelling? The entire panoply of human experience is encompassed: travel, frockage, dining and perf attendance. Really only gardening and bed linen is omitted. For Glyndebourne, of course, only the highest level will do.

Glyndebourniana never lets you down. I took Tosca, Billy Budd and Orfeo this year.

All tip-top. As operas. Singing, staging. You couldn’t fault. Remarkably, given the huff and puff of the audience, daring, new, innovative and well-judged. Where else do you get this? So often a novel approach means silliness.

But I don’t like Billy Budd. It became apparent I’d seen it before. Exactly the same production. Then I recalled another at Covent Garden. It seems to have made no impact. The story doesn’t register. I’m not sure why. It’s more than that one doesn’t care for nautical and a ‘crew’ and no frocks. Of course a country house mis-en-scene is preferable, with bonnets, afternoon tea and pleasant walks. The difficulty perhaps is that Billy Budd as a person is rather too good to be true. The anguish of Captain Whoever is compelling. But there’s about 25 minutes more after that’s all over of the death of Billy Budd which is a bit of a slog and dragging it out.

Aunt Lavinia, who took Orfeo, agitated to sit on the grass, as she’d done of yore. I said, ‘We’ve got too old for crouching’ which she did concede. I’m 68 and she’s 94. It’s true, though, that we always thought a picnic table and chairs common although now we’re sitting at them.

Aunt Lavinia still pushes against good silver being brought to Glyndebourne and having 3 courses.

Speaking of common, the frockage at Glyndebourne! I don’t think I saw one single dress that had been built for its wearer. The old evening days are going. The favoured rig was a flimsy frock that looked as if had been acquired from the main shopping drag at Bodrum for £11.99.

One lady was done up though. A fluffy tube frock in fuchsia, knees, the form well baked, straw-coloured heavy tresses pinned with jewelled pins behind the ear then flowing thence to the shoulder. Frankly a moll or doll look. I wondered if a caravan park fortune lurked in the background.

Of course it’s marvellous that Glyndebourniana is available for all now. This is what we’ve always craved. That everybody should have pearls, furs and a really good handbag.

Now we’ve got it.