My first review is of a production that has received a great deal of media attention, Der Rosenkavalier at Glyndebourne. Glyndebourne is a stunning venue in rural Sussex. You are surrounded by fields, and inquisitive sheep often placidly venture to observe the opera-goers. Operas begin early (after a stroll in the beautiful grounds) and there is a long interval lasting around 80 minutes, at which people eat dinner. Hardier visitors picnic in the grounds, but I tend to prefer the restaurant, at least when the temperature is as cold as it was yesterday.

Yesterday’s production was Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, which has caused a minor media storm because many London critics had harsh words for the Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught’s body size and shape, which they considered unsuitable for the role of Octavian. She sang utterly beautifully, with a warm, rounded mezzo voice of considerable brilliance, and was extremely well received by the audience. Her German was of particularly excellent quality, which one would expect from her training in Germany.

A few notes on her appearance: she was ill served by the two costumes that have received the most publicity, the bathrobe in scene 1 and the blue suit in act 2. The other masculine costumes, in acts 1 and 3, were darker and better tailored, and made her look sufficiently male, and in my opinion she looked similar to the actor Jonah Hill. The other problem was that the two costumes in which she was meant to be a man pretending to be a woman, in acts 1 and 3, were too flattering and simply made her look like what she is, an attractive curvy woman. Frankly, the costume designer needed to make her look more dumpy, not less, in those scenes.

The other aspect that may have contributed to the critics’ words was that she had very good facial acting, but she did not have male body language. Women are socialised to take up as little space as possible, and she did that even in her masculine guise, which contributed to her femininity. She stood up straight, but did not stick her chest out. She always stood with her legs precisely together, never even shoulder length apart. She sang one scene seated, but kept her legs together at all times, which a man would rarely do. So I think I understand what the critics were trying to get at, but criticising her body type and shape was simply unnecessary and insulting.

The production itself was rather bizarre, a mish-mash of decorative styles. One of our party remarked that the second act set was so 70s that you expected Michael Sheen to enter, in his David Frost character. But the singing was beautiful throughout. Kate Royal’s Marschallin was well done, with a silvery, flexible soprano. Teodora Gheorgiu’s Sophie looked and sounded young, but it worked in the production. She had a somewhat small but crystal clear voice. One of the highlights, for me, was Lars Woldt’s Baron Ochs. Beautifully sung, with a delightful colloquial German accent, he was younger than the usual Baron Ochs but greatly enjoyable. His aggressive masculinity also contrasted with Erraught’s femininity and may also have contributed to the critics’ views. A very enjoyable evening, in a very beautiful place.