La finta giardiniera at the Royal Opera

This will be my third "early" opera in a month. Having seen Janáček's Osud and Puccini's Le villi a couple of weeks ago, I went to the first performance of Mozart's La finta giardiniera at the Royal Opera last night. It was definitely the best of the three.

The set (see above) was suitably simple and clean - with a real fountain and a stream of water towards the pit area. Robert Murray's Count Belfiore and Patrizia Biccirè's Serpetta were both strong in voice as well as acting. Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists were on good form - projecting a forward and eager sound. The music itself is interesting - in that you are listening to ideas and themes that will manifest into the mature operas such as Idomeneo, Figaro and Don Diovanni. Though don't expect to be wowed by the music - this is still early Mozart (K 196) along the lines of the very early piano concerti and sonatas.

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Eugene Onegin

I did not think much of the last Eugene Onegin in the 90s - a bit too baren - too literal. The latest production which I saw tonight at the Royal Opera has improved quite a lot. For a start, we had Dmitri Hvorostovksy and Amanda Roocroft singing Onegin and Tatyana respectively - two strong well matched voices that sparked off a reasonable amount of passion between the two! The production was exciting too - with a believably real "river" running on stage. It's not often you get Tatyana jumping into the river and splashing about on stage. Then there was the frozen river with Moscow in the background - there was almost real ice skating on stage just before the Imperial Ball scene. Much fun. Very enjoyable.

Generous afternoon tea at the Portrait Restaurant

Very few people know there is a restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery with roof top view. Even fewer know they serve a afternoon tea. I was treated to afternoon tea there on Friday. The place was buzzing with late tea-drinkers and early cocktail-quaffers. We settled on their classic afternoon tea set which arrived as below: The sandwiches were freshly made with lovely soft bread - there was a selection of egg mayo, cheese and chutney, ham and mustard and tuna paste. All very tasty. It even came with a honey-mustard dressed salad. Then there were the scones - they were twice the normal size and warm to the touch and one would feed two easily. Sitting behind the huge scones were two slices of victoria sponge cake with inch-think icing - they were soft to the touch and moist when you bite into them. All very yummy.

L'atelier de Joel Robuchon, London

The restaurant is one week old, but Joel Robuchon's latest venture L'atelier in Covent Garden already feels like an institution. My fellow diners felt at home and lively conversations could be heard around us. Effectively combining the eating styles of Japanese Sushi bar, Spanish tapas and French haute cuisine could be a tall order. Yet L'atelier has risen to the challenge. The Menu Découverture turned out to be an exciting and balanced menu - and one has to give them credit for serving this 7 course meal in 90 minutes without feeling rushed. What was enjoyable? Everything was lovely, but particularly the Scottish scallops - just lightly cooked and dressed in seaweed scented butter. What was not enjoyable? Worry about the rest of London descending to West Street.

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