The orchestra was too loud in Der Rosenkavalier at the Royal Opera

This has to be one of my favourite operas, and definitely the favourite Strauss opera. So I was much looking forward to seeing the first night of the revival yesterday. The overture was sounding symphonic which got me worried as it was supposed to be a relatively tender opening to the first act. The in-bed duet between Octavian (Sophie Koch) and Marschallin (Soile Isokoski) was drowned out by the orchestra. The only exception was when the score only called for a handful of instruments accompanying the voices. Baron Ochs was sung by Peter Rose who had a good mid register but lacking umph in the bottom notes. The second act got off to a good start - the duet between Sophie (Lucy Crowe) and Octavian was very good and totally believable. All the singers looked and acted splendidly on the set by William Dudley.

The prelude to the third was bombastic. The farce in the first half
was nicely played out and fun to watch. The trio had a tender start -
Isokoski's pianissimo was outstanding, joined by the beautiful voices
of Koch and Crowe. Though slowly but surely, the singers were drowned
by the orchestra towards the end.

I peeped into the pit to find out what's going on - the conductor
Kirill Petrenko was giving very big leads to the orchestra with huge
gestures all the time: of course the orchestra would respond in kind. Clearly there was
insufficient attempt to balance the sound between stage and pit. One
advice for him: sit in the back of Stalls and have a listen - if you
can't hear the singers, the orchestra is too loud.

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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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