Skirting the sensational

I only very recently began going to live Met relays in the cinema, but if you can get in it’s very well worthwhile. In Cambridge, where the sound is so-so, as I discovered going to Siegfried, there is no hope of getting in except on the day booking starts. In Huntingdon, where the sound is fantastic, there was just a handful of oldsters for Die Walküre in May, who were rewarded with the best Act I that I have ever seen, thanks to the electrifying conducting of James Levine and the amazing Siegmund of Jonas Kaufmann; and the rest of the performance was of a high standard.

Siegfried
skirted the sensational, thanks to the last-minute replacement in the title role, Jay Hunter Morris. Remember that name. I Googled him and he has been around for some time, singing mainly in the United States, but his appearance in this most taxing of all operatic roles will clearly mark his breakthrough.