Il turco in Italia at Glyndebourne (2021)

I will come on to the opera but after a year and a half of covid this was the story of returning to Glyndebourne.

Covid restrictions meant far few tickets available and instead of getting four tickets for six operas, as we usually do, we got two tickets for three operas. That was fine with us bit not so good for our regular guests.

There being just the two of us and we having made the brave, and sensible, decision to get rid of our car almost two years ago meant that we had to go by train, which we had done before. The only slight difference was that we had to pre-book the coach from Lewes Station to/from Glyndebourne.

We allowed reasonable contingency for getting to Clapham Junction, where we joined the Lewes train, and being ready early with nothing else to do led us to set of earlier than our cautious plan suggested. The upshot was we managed to catch the train an hour before the one we were meant to catch. That worked in our favour and we were able to have a leisurely drink sitting in the shade on a hot sunny day.

Arriving at Glyndebourne we managed to get our target bench at the end of the long border. Bench claimed we headed off to find a cup of tea and to explore the gardens. The covid changes were many and obvious, the most obvious being the reduced number of people which meant that the popular lawns looked almost deserted. The Long Bar was no longer selling alcohol but we wanted tea so that was all right.

The gardens were on their usual magnificent form and there was plenty of art, old and new, to enjoy.

Being cautious again we rechecked the weather forecast and the rain expected at 9pm had come forward to 6pm so we judiciously moved to a bench under the cover of the opera house. In the end there was only a little rain but it was enough for umbrellas and enough to have disrupted our sumptuous rolls if we had stayed outside.

Inside we were in Upper Circle Rear seats F25/26. Familiar territory.

I did not know the opera at all and, unlike me, I red the synopsis beforehand. It sounded very confusing, and perhaps it was, though it was so well told that I was able to follow the love pentangle which was the story that the narrator of the opera was struggling to write.

The production was fabulous with all sorts of gimmicks that managed to be clever without being gimmicky. For example, when the author was working on his story we saw what he was writing, and rewriting, on a back projection. I particularly loved the one aria from the fifth man in the pentangle which was done in the style of Freddie Mercury complete with white vest and swirling jacket.

The opera was a farce and the music was more flimsy than dramatic but two things make this an excellent opera, firstly the production which I mentioned earlier and secondly was the singing. The singing was sublime throughout, as it usually is at Glyndebourne.

Despite covid, Glyndebourne was very much the Glyndebourne I knew and loved and it was fantastic to be back there.