With a merry Xerxes, Longborough's mastering another German

Longborough has built a mighty reputation as one of the best places to see Wagner operas in Europe.  With their second brilliant interpretation of Handel ... and a third announced for the 2016 season ... I suspect they might become equally famous on that front.

Xerxes was a merry romp filled with exquisite music, virtuoso arias and impressive acting.  It was hard to believe this was the youth production, so assured were the performances.  A friend who accompanied us and was a Longborough first timer thought the voices were better here than in the ENO's Xerxes last year.

Baroque opera is always a bit of a jolt to modern sensibilities.  Convoluted plots assumed the audience knew its classical history or bible, productions relied on lavish, court masque-style stage sets and the heroes ... despite their swaggering masculinity ...  sang in the high, clear notes of a choir boy.  Today we call this voice a countertenor, and it's rare to find even one compelling man who can deliver the goods.  Longborough gave us two.  Jake Arditti, who was triumphant in last year's Rinaldo, once again took the title role.  Not only is his singing exquisite, but he commands the stage with aggressive bravado, quickly dispelling the oddity (to modern ears) of a bullying military commander who sounds like a girl.  The equally impressive Tai Oney made his Longborough debut as Xerxes' brother Arsamene.  Leaving aside much detail, the plot is essentially a battle between the brothers for the same girl, and much of that fight plays out in duelling arias, with each man using vocal pyrotechnics to try to best the other.  Everyone wins.  The brothers get the girls they should, the audience gets a thrill ride and Arditti and Olney get solid foundations for what will be, no doubt, long and prosperous careers.

The rest of the cast was equally strong, including the period orchestra who sat on stage and thus became a part of the show.  Alice Privett delivered a particularly assured mix of voice and acting, and she's another I won't be surprised to spot on much bigger stages in years to come.

Director Jenny Miller once again met the combined challenges of Baroque opera, limited budget and small stage by shifting the action to a counter-intuitive modern setting.  Last year we inhabited the world of a travelling circus, this year Xerxes' court became a nightclub.  And once again, even though  I generally don't like radical interpretations on the set and costume front, this worked brilliantly.  Xerxes might have been a titan of history, but Handel spends little time on battles or politics.  This is a tale of convoluted relationships, with a bit of comic farce, in which a powerful leader is brought down a peg and taught some humility by the women in his life.  Turning him into a Sinatra-style nightclub boss worked beautifully, and creating a stage onto which various singers could step into the spotlight to deliver their arias was a brilliant move.

As a rare treat, this Longborough production is touring.  If you act fast, you can see this impressive performance for yourself.  They're in London on Thursday the 30th (details here) and on to Brighton on Sunday (details here).  Because this is a youth production, ticket prices are much lower than usual (both at Longborough and on tour) so this is a bargain way to take in some very impressive talent.  If you're free and in the area, make the effort.

I am very excited to see Alcina on the Longborough schedule for next year.  After the success of the first two, I don't think we'll be able to resist a third LFO Handel.  Meaning we might have some scheduling challenges.  Despite being patrons, we can usually only fit in two opera weekends a summer.  But next year, in addition to Alcina, we're being offered Tannhauser (a must) and the Marriage of Figaro (one of our all time favourites).  I'm afraid Janacek's Jenufa is going to be the obvious one to skip.  Although such is my faith in Longborough productions that, if we lived closer, I'd even give a 20th century "grim story of infanticide and redemption" (Wikipedia) a try.  I'm starting to think this opera company can make anything they touch turn to gold.

Potter tour lets muggles in on the magic

Hangin' in the Leaky Cauldron

My childhood body used to react in a very specific way when we came through the gates at DisneyWorld.  My chest would tighten, my breath would shorten, my jaw would drop.  In the presence of magic, where all the characters of my juvenile fantasies were made incarnate, I was so swept up in the excitement that tears would prick my eyes.

Decades later, I shamelessly confess: this is exactly what happened to me as I walked through the doors into the great hall of Hogwarts on the Warner Brothers/Harry Potter Studio Tour.  You can call me silly, or immature.  I really don't care.  There are few moments of real magic left in an adult's life.  When they come around, I'm all for embracing them.

If you are a Potter fan who's consumed all the books and films, this place is wondrous.  Absolutely on par with a Disney experience, three hours here will pass in the blink of an eye as you walk through the fantasy world to which you've hitherto only been an observer.  The grown-ups could have easily given it another hour or two, but the attention span of our accompanying 7-year-old mandated the pace.  Even the begrudging tag-alongs get drawn in.  My husband, who has read none of the books and was moved to only moderate interest by a few of the films, was intrigued by the details of the film making process, sets and production.  (If anyone ever does something similar for Peter Jackson's Middle Earth films, he'll be in there for days.)

The whole experience ricochets you constantly between the wonders of the massive set pieces and
fascination with attention to detail.  In the former category, most people know to expect the great hall and Diagon Alley.  You'll also find the imposing gates into the Hogwarts grounds, the Gryffindor common room, the potions classroom, a towering slice of the Ministry of Magic, the Hogwarts express belching steam, the creepy interior of Borgin and Burkes, and much more. There's an outdoor area where you can clamber aboard the Knight Bus, sit in the flying Ford Anglia or Hagrid's sidecar, knock on the door at Privet Drive or amble over Hogwarts Bridge.

The chocolate buffet from the start-of-term feast

This area is located next to a cafe, cleverly placed about 2/3rds of the way through your tour.  Just as you're all beginning to wear out you can get refreshments, sit for a while and let the kids run riot.  On offer, of course, is butterbeer, the non-alcoholic wizard kids' staple.  The drink is a bit like a root beer float consumed just as the ice cream has turned liquid, flavour enhanced with a shot of butterscotch.  Butterbeer-flavoured ice cream is similar, but its flavours are stronger on butterscotch and marshmallow.  Beware.  In both cases, you will find the first few bites lovely, but if you consume much you will feel as if you have ingested an entire bag of sugar, and will be looking for the bitterest coffee imaginable to counteract the effect.  Purchasing one treat for a whole group to sample will really suffice.

With my love of history, art and architecture, it was the attention to detail that most captivated me.  Every tiny item, down to things that might never appear on screen, was created as if real.  You can examine costumes and see how elements like cloth choice, buttons and shoe shape all worked together to reinforce a personality.  Every character's wand has a shape and handle that reflects personal style.  Every individual item in the room of requirement is completely finished, from the engravings on old sports trophies to the dust on artefacts and the hanging trim on broken chairs.  In Dumbledore's office, the books are all leather-bound, aged, and each has a different and appropriate title.  The food created for banquet scenes is innovative and mouth-watering.    The carriages of the Hogwarts Express have appropriate framed prints, the decorative carvings on the Hogwarts interiors have been carefully aged, the "Magic is Might" statue appropriately channels fascist architecture.  Perhaps most intriguing for the art historian: the scores of custom-created portraits that dress Hogwarts, all recreating recognisable styles.  A Gainsborough-esque Georgian wizard here, a swarthy Spanish type who looks distinctively like a Velazquez there.

The wandcraft lesson

Those who like technology can explore how green screens work, complete with a chance to ride on a broom.  The creatures shop shows how prosthetics can turn men into goblins or monsters, and shows off the sophisticated robotics that bring mythological beasts to life.  You'll be hard-pressed to deny that Buckbeak the Hippogriff lives.  And it's not just looking at stuff.  You can plunge your baggage cart through the wall of Platform 9 3/4, stamp a passport book every time you find a golden snitch or take a wandcraft lesson.  The instructor of the last told me I was particularly good at the sneaky behind-the-back move; no doubt a legacy of 20 years in the corporate world.  Everything is carefully set up to create excellent photo opportunities, of course.

All this climaxes with a piece of set design so magical it brings that heart-stopping, eye-pricking feeling right back.  I won't tell you what it is because, frankly, the surprise of not knowing what's around the last corner is part of the awe.  You exit through the inside of Olivander's Wand Shop, where thousands of matching boxes are each labeled with the name and role of someone who worked on the films.  A fitting tribute to the team and, in its vastness, a reminder of the mammoth size of this endeavour.

You exit, of course, in the shop.  Even this is beyond the ordinary, maintaining the fantasy that Hogwarts is real.  It's another beautifully modelled set, filled with properly enticing stuff.  You could be in an emporium off Diagon Alley.  There's sports kit for each of the houses, books and tankards.  You can buy your own "familiar" (stuffed toys, of course) or your own version of the Marauders' Map.  And, of course, you can a copy of any of the main characters' wands.

My niece went home with Luna Lovegood's, cradling a cuddly Hedwig, brain fizzing with new information and thoroughly contented.  The adults weren't too different, though we skipped the souvenirs.  If, like me, you've been waiting for a kid to have an excuse to go on this tour, forget it.  Just do it.  The magic of this very special studio tour will roll back your years faster than an over-wound time turner.

Blazing heat, less congestion make a memorable Hampton Court Flower Show

On the 25th anniversary of the Hampton Court Flower show, the Royal Horticultural Society hasdone a major overhaul of the layout and organisation that dramatically improves the visitor experience.  If past visits have left you jaded by crowds and exhausted by not enough places to rest, your worries are over.  With three days left to run, there's still time for you to head there and check out the changes.

The old central bandstand and food court area is gone, dispersed into at least four areas around the show.  We noticed more restaurants and drinks stands, and there's a substantial grassy area between the floral marquee and the Long Water that's been set aside for picnickers.  For the first time ever, we managed to snag tables at several times throughout the day.  The breaks gave us the energy to stay until the very end (7:30), discovering that the last hour is a glorious time to linger, talk to exhibitors and buy plants, since the bulk of the crowds have gone.

The other significant change is that the majority of plant sales are now gathered near the Stud Gate car park entrance.  This means that if you drove, you can buy your plants on your way out, rather than hauling them around the show ground all day.


All this added comfort and convenience was particularly prized this year, as we managed to make our annual visit on the hottest July day ever recorded in England.  Given how many years we've attended wrapped in Barbours, squelching through mud, we were delighted to have glorious sunshine.  But it did make mid-day a bit of an endurance test for both visitors and flowers.  Exhibitors were watering madly, but there's no denying things looked more bedraggled than usual.  (Including us.)

The show gardens are more widely dispersed around the grounds and there are now five categories:  the existing show, conceptual and summer now joined by world and historic.  I confess to liking the last two additions best.  World gives foreign organisations a chance to show off the merits of their countries, and is heavily sponsored by tourist boards.  Normandy brought one of Monet's Giverny paintings to life, Turkey gave us a sumptuous ... and best in category ... courtyard garden worthy of a Sultan's palace.

I suspect "historic" addresses the long-standing conflict between the public's taste for classic English gardens and the judges desire for cutting edge design.  They can love the conceptual gardens, making bold statements with giant guns and henges of driftwood in gravel.  The crowds gathered around cozy gardens with traditional plantings and Hobbit House-like sheds.


If there's one drawback to the additional categories, it's that there are now so many show gardens that they all start to run together.  My trend-spotting for this year:

• After a bit of a hiatus, purples and burgundies seem to be back as the favourite dominant planting colour.

• Garden walls and roofs are big, presumably for all those keen gardeners who are running out of space. 

• Hydrangeas seem to be experiencing a come-back, with all sorts of new colours and forms; it seemed like every fourth person was carrying one to the car. 

• An increasing number of gardens in every category are sponsored by charities.  I think this is becoming the defacto standard in charity branding.

The heat did more than just wilt flowers.  Though food and drink outlets have expanded significantly, and there's a great new food court with more gourmet options, vendors told us their sales had plummeted from last year.  It was simply too hot for people to want to eat much beyond ice cream, and nobody wanted to carry home cheeses, luxury pies or artisan sausages.  The craft tent was emptier than we've ever seen it; few had the fortitude to try on clothing or jewellery.  Overall, people were definitely buying less, because it was simply too exhausting to carry much around.  We made 80% of our purchases in the last hour, in the section closest to the exit.

This raises a possibility that rather than the new design spreading people out and making things feel less crowded, it was simply the heat driving people away that made the place less crowded.  Whatever the case, the combination of sunshine and less congestion made it a particularly enjoyable year.  I suppose I'll find the answer next year when it will, undoubtably, be cold and rainy once more.