Don Pasquale at Glyndebourne

I really am going to have to rethink my seating policy at Glyndebourne for next season as my attempts to try different parts of the house did not work out well this year. For Don Pasquale I paid £150 for a seat in the Circle with iron bars in the centre of my vision. I do not mind "Restricted Vision" seats as a rule but I do object to paying that sort of price for that sort or restriction.

The weather was kinder and was perfect for a picnic and I was well enough organised on the day to leave home on time which meant arriving at Glyndebourne just before 3pm when the gardens officially open. Other people were equally well organised and there were a couple of dozen cars there before me. That still gave me plenty of options for where to sit in the garden and I was able to claim a couple of benches conveniently close to the Lawn Bar.

The story of Don Pasquale is a familiar one for this season and is essentially the same as Falstaff and Le nozze di Figaro, i.e. a lecherous man has tricks played on him to teach him a lesson.

Don Pasquale is an elderly man, he is in his seventies, who wants a young bride. His doctor offers his sister but instead of the quiet one in the convent that he was expecting he finds himself married to a little minx who immediately starts to boss him around.

It is a simple plot and a short story so there was not a great deal of drama for me to get engaged with. Luckily there was far more to the production than just the story.

The quality of the singing is always one of Glyndebourne's strengths and it was here. Nowadays the singers are expected to be good actors too, which they were, especially Norina, played by Danielle de Niese, who was every inch the minx she was meant to be.

The music was typical Donizetti with lots of pretty tunes that got my toes tapping, ever so quietly of course.

Add the gardens, the picnic and the company of friends and Glyndebourne once again delivered an excellent afternoon and evening that even the continuing roadworks on the A23 could do nothing to spoil.