WNO: Pelleas et Melisande, directed by David Pountney. Picture (c) WNO

Here’s my regretfully-qualified Birmingham Post review of WNO’s Pelleas et Melisande. The last seven days have been amongst the most interesting in my reviewing life, and it must be fairly unusual to see two potentially great productions of two not-exactly-everyday operas (Nielsen’s Saul og David in Copenhagen and Pelleas in Birmingham) both holed under the waterline by the same director. What David Pountney has done for Welsh National Opera as a company is magnificent, and huge amounts of what he does is so compelling. And yet, time and again…

But anyway: Tristan und Isolde at Longborough this afternoon. Hopefully my review will be available on the Post website within the next 48 hours.