Diary of a Culture Hedonist

A sitcom of what happened when a royalty, a prime minister and a footballer got together to do something out of their comfort zone, with added 'distractions'. A funny evening with LOL moments. But don't expect anything profound.

Definitely not your everyday opera. Tansy Davies's Between Worlds chronicled individual lives at the moment of 9/11 in New York. The music provided the momentum. The sung dialogues were apt, poignant and urgent. The bare-bone stage was creatively used to portray the events of the day. Between Worlds got across some of the intimate emotions the affected individuals experienced on the day.

The best part of the show was Emma Thompson as Mrs Lovett - she could dance, she could sing and she delivered comedy. Bryn Terfel was a little dark as Sweeney, but somehow it suited him. The semi-staging was good - with the orchestra on stage meant one could hear so much more. Pretty good I thought.

A wonderful cast (Nancy Carroll, Oliver Chris, Rachel Redford and Rufus Sewell) delivering powerful lines. The character projection from Nancy Carroll and Rachel Redford was particularly strong. Took me a while to get the hang of the story line.

The house was decked with too many gimmicks. Otherwise it was an OK Mahagonny. Not convinced by Anne Sofie von Otter as Leocadia Begbick. The amplification of the dialogue was annoying to begin with, but got better. Glad to have seen it, but not rushing back any time soon.

A good performance of the Mastersingers. A slow start in the first act, but otherwise it was good. Not too convinced by the village fete judging of shoes and bread ... Big sound from everyone - just as well.

Egils Silins was a fantastic replacement for Bryn Terfel as Dutchman - he was a little more rugged, more pensive, more torn. And Adrianne Pieczonka was a superb Senta. The chorus was punchy - and I'd say the men won. Ed Lyon as Steersman added a little fizz on stage. But the real joy of the evening was Andris Nelsons in the pit - he got the orchestra to play slower, played the details, layered the sound and took risks to accommodate the drama happening on stage. Yes the ensemble rocked a little from time to time, but the price was well worth the high definition immersive experience.