Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne Festival 2023

In many ways my second visit to Glyndebourne in 2023 was more successful than the first.

Travelling on a weekday avoided engineering works and getting there and back was easy, despite the much later finish. We were going with regular friends so arrangements regarding food and drink were easier. And, having found the new Veg Patch Stretch Tent, we knew where we wanted to sit.

Making a day of it, we arrived in Lewes about two hours before the coach to Glyndebourne. We headed to The Depot as usual and as it was a little early for lunch we had some hot drinks and a cake before heading in to town.

We did not have to go very far to find The Rights of Man pub where we went for a drink and were tempted to stay for lunch.

We ended our sojourn in Lewes with a walk through Southover Grange Gardens simply because it is pretty.

At Glyndebourne, the pre-opera session followed the usual pattern of some drinks and a walk around the lake. It is remarkable how quickly those two hours can go when in good company.

At 5pm we went into the opera house and took our seats in Upper Circle Row D (£165). Good central seats with fine views despite being almost at the back of the auditorium.

Don Giovanni was an opera of two halves.

In some ways it is the definitive opera, like Swan Lake is the definitive ballet, with excellent music and a strong story. These were reinforced with faultless playing and singing. Musically it was a triumph.

However, the set just did not work for me. The basic construct looked like a southern states brothel and remained like that throughout pretending to be, amongst other things, a public square, a garden and a graveyard. If I had not known the story beforehand I would have had no idea what was going on.

My probably simplistic view of Glyndebourne is that when I first went the sets did very little and they let the music do all the work whereas now the sets are competing for attention and sometimes, like here, they get in the way.

It was a real shame as the performance was superb and I loved the music but my lasting memory will be of the set.