Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Royal Opera

Mia Stensgaard's set design and Kasper Holten's direction worked in Act I in a gentlemen's club setting. The set totally failed in Act II - if you didn't know the opera, you wouldn't know the drama took place on a street corner with the action taking place in front of the houses of Sachs and Pogner. The fight / crowd scene was OTT - was it necessary to have shiny golden codpieces / phalluses? Act III worked a little better, with a slowly rotating set.

Bryn Terfel gave us a broody Hans Sachs, and delivered the long monologues with intelligence. Johannes Martin Kränzle was a superlative Sixtus Beckmesser: he had a certain Mr Bean quality to his demeanor and made the comedy part of the opera come to life. Gwyn Hughes Jones was Walther with a ringing heldentenor voice, though his costume (rags, t shirt with a tailcoat) didn't quite portray his knightly provenience. I was hoping for some funky designer outfit, the Walther's costume hardly changed during the entire opera. The quintet, led by Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Eva, was sublime - while Pappano created a sense of suspense for this highlight in the work.

Pappano solved the potential lull in Act I by adopting a very upbeat tempo. There was no standing around - he maintained onward momentum leading all the way to the finale sung stupendously by the ROH Chorus.

Commentators continue to be troubled by Wagner and the somewhat nationalistic tone in Die Meistersinger. Wagner wrote "die heil'ge deutsche Kunst" putting Art before people: to be truly and vehemently nationalistic, he could have written "die heil'ge deutsche Volk". But he didn't.

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Strauss Four Last Songs and Sibelius 5 - Singapore Symphony

The evening concert started with the overture of Lohengrin. Jukka-Pekka Saraste took a poised temple and the strings of Singapore Symphony rose to the ocassion to provide that mythical sound. This probbaly was intedned to set the mood for the Four Last Songs - I guessed. Evelina Dobračeva was the star soprano. Frühling got off to a sure, if a little safe start. The best was probably Beim Schlafengehen, sung with great stillness. September and Im Abendrot felt unblanaced - Dobračeva's subtle words were somehow lost among the swell of orchestral sound. This was followed by Morgen - probbaly the best song of the evening, perhaps the very light orchestration helped. Jukka-Pekka Saraste and SSO were on surer footing with Sibelius 5. The first movement was brisk with lightness and details. The second and last movements felt cohesive, leading to the well known tune in the finale. If only there were more people in the concert hall to enjoy the music.

Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Opera

Michael Levine's set design for Dialogues des Carmélites was minimalist. Actually, was there any set design? I suppose the director Robert Carsen was clever at introducing formation of human figures in many different ways to suggest the context of the opera. It kind of worked. Blanche, sung by Sally Matthews, was pretty good. Though I did find the whole work quite tedious - I think the intimate nature of the dialogues needed a small and intimate performing space i.e. not the Royal Opera House. The ending was worth waiting for. Dramatic. Poignant.

Aqua Nueva serving up some hot Spanish snacks in London

It's just about a month old when Aqua opened in London. And yes, it's the same Aqua as the one on No 1 Peking Road. Well, the entrance on Argyll Street makes a bit of a statement - crimson velvet decor with a sleekly dressed receptionist guiding you to the lift. When you get to the top floor, it opens out into a series of bar and dining areas. My destination was Aqua Nueva - the Spanish part of this drinking-dining complex. That meant I was guided along an atmospherically lit corridor before I got to the the restaurant. It's well lit with a terrace looking out to a roof top terrace. Unlike Aqua in Hong Kong where it has the spectacular harbour view, the London one only looks out to a roof-top view. Rather than wading through the tapas and a la carte menus, I just asked the maitre d' to bring a selection of their tapas. I was pleasant surprised by the delicate croquette of mushrooms, lightly cooked octopus, braised pork, San Pietro fillets, Manchengo topped tortilla a...

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