Have opera audiences forgotten the point of booing?
In both operas the Philharmonia Orchestra, under Jordan de Souza in the Strauss and Douglas Boyd in Onegin, played sublimely, though perhaps at times the Strauss lacked pace to the extent that it seemed over-long. In Onegin there was no such problem, as the action drove relentlessly on to the final scene of the anti-heros despair, the audience borne along by Tchaikovskys utterly compelling music. The Moldovan soprano Natalia Tanasii was an entirely convincing Tatiana, radiating naivete, but Jonathan McGovern as Onegin seemed, frankly, miscast: there was something shambolic and unconvincing about him from the moment he appeared, and he was far outshone by his rival, Lensky, sung by Sam Furness. Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, as Olga, Tatianas lethally flighty sister, sang fabulously, with an almost Ferrier-like quality. We were socially distanced in the audience, with parties sitting together but two or three seats left between them and others; and we had to sit in masks. The last consideration seemed fatuous: not only were we in a considerable and well-ventilated space, but the demographic of Garsington (like that of almost all opera houses) was such that virtually everyone had long since had a second vaccination. Any unvaccinated staff could be masked, and the players segregated from the disease-ridden punters. The net effect is that two productions with long waiting lists could, without harming anyone, have been sold out, with consequently better effects on Garsingtons finances: but that is our Covid management for you, and it is not over yet.