Veranstaltungsort: The Grange, Alresford

A fine singing cast gives creditable performances in Johann Stauss II's most famous operetta, but Paul Curran's updating of Act 2 to 1930s Berlin takes the fizz out of the Champagne.

Singing performances are excellent, the staging is well crafted and Stravinsky's eclectic score entertains from start to finish. But it's an evening's opera that doesn't touch the soul.

Terrific music making with a light directorial touch brings mixed results to Monteverdi's 1643 masterpiece. 

In a setting that might be The Grange itself, a production which steadily tightens its grip until a blistering finish.

Some exceptional singing intermittently enlivens Daniel Slater's production which, dramatically and emotionally, takes time to ignite.   

Murder in the library? No, this isn't a re-run of Poirot, but a new production of Verdi's Macbeth to open The Grange Festival's 2022 season.

Britten's four lovers were costumed in quasi-contemporary, even glamorous manner, stripping to their underwear for the end of Act 2... so more Love Island than Ancient Athens.