So it is always great when first the booking confirmations comes though and we know which dates we have got tickets for and then when we actually get to go.
Of course there is still all the food, drink and picnic location to sort out but these are easier choices to make, particularly as it is easy to buy drinks and snacks there. This time we travelled light with just two bags (plus a bottle) with a quiche and obvious accompaniments for main course and fruit and cream for dessert.
Travel should be an easy thing to sort out too but we slightly screwed up. We left it too late to book the coach from Lewes Station so decided to sort something out once we got there. And we got there an hour later than planned due to engineering works on the Waterloo/Woking line which made our train to Clapham Junction late and so we missed the connection to Lewes.
We tried Plan B, a train to Brighton then a train back to Lewes but the Brighton trained arrived already packed with people standing. So we played safe and went back to Victoria and caught the next direct train to Lewes. Even that was not simple as it was almost as busy as the Brighton train but we got on it early enough to find a seat. By the time we left all seats were taken.
We arrived at Lewes too late to safely have lunch before fighting to get a taxi to Glyndebourne so we were adventurous and took a local bus to Ringmer and walked the last mile along the country road to Glyndebourne. This obviously surprised many people and about a dozen stopped to offer us a lift, which we always politely declined saying that we were enjoying the walk.
Thanks to this excellent planning we arrived at Glyndebourne just as the gardens opened, though they were already pretty busy by then.
Our search for a suitable picnic spot took us first to the boathouse, a pretty location but lacking in shade, and then in to the new Veg Patch Stretch Tent which met all our needs perfectly. This immediately became our preferred spot.
Our guests arrived soon after and the afternoon was underway. This included an early walk around the lake and some Pimms. Nothing new there.
As you can see, the view from there is very good. You may also be able to see that the surtitles say "Photography is strictly forbidden...".
The uncomplicated set, showing a village square, was used like this throughout with only a few props, like a table and some chairs, coming and going to change the scene. It did the job perfectly.
L’elisir d’amore is a simple and silly love story and this production upped the humour with some nice touches that added to the entertainment without distracting from the main theme of boy wants to marry girl but bigger boy also wants to marry here and is easily winning the battle until a miracle happens. Again, all very standard stuff but there's nothing wrong with that.
As always with opera, it is the music that really mattered and this was exemplary. There was a little choral singing but this was mostly one of two people singing at a time either to each other with love or rejection or to us with sadness or triumph. All of the soloists were superb and the opera's stand out aria Una furtiva lagrima (A furtive tear) sung by the distraught lover stood out a lot, almost enough to make me join in with the clapping but there are rules about this sort of thing. Indeed, the clapping and bravoing almost became annoying as it frequently intruded upon and interrupted the flow of the music. Luckily the show was good enough to brush off these blemishes.
After the show we took our time to leave having a coffee and more cake before doing so. The journey was again disrupted by the engineering works but we got home around midnight, which was fine.
L’elisir d’amore was a fine start to Glyndebourne Festival 2023. More like that please!
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