Don Pasquale at Glyndebourne

 Picnicking on the lawn at Glyndebourne

After the seaside jollifications of Hastings Old Town Carnival, we found ourselves at Glyndebourne on Sunday for a performance of Don Pasquale, with the skittish Danielle de Niese in the star - indeed the only - female role.  After a slight scare about the possibility of rain - which sends assembled picnickers under cover where they camp like refugees in dinner jackets - the weather was miraculous.  The result was one of those perfect afternoons where the misery of the world can be ignored for at least a few hours.  The gardens stretched on all sides in a profusion of greenery, with pastoral views worthy of Capability Browne.  The vast majority of people were togged up in dinner jackets and smart frocks, which is always a tad surreal, but is part of the scene.  The grey pound was being burnt in fistfuls, as champagne was poured and foie gras consumed on picnic tables lugged in from substantial estate cars parked a few hundred yards away.

I find myself wondering on such occasions what would happen if a bomb were to fall or a fire to break out - captains of industry, leading members of the Bar and the judiciary, senior civil servants would be wiped out in a trice.  There is an overwhelming atmosphere of privilege that is an essential part of the Glyndebourne experience - and of course each of us who attends enjoys basking in the environment, for however brief a period.  

Even those with the largest chip on their pink shoulder would be ravished by the music.  Whatever one may feel about the bruising expense of the evening, with tickets ranging from £100 to £250 apiece, the singing, orchestral playing and the productions are world class.  Don Pasquale is a fairly daft plot with characters  difficult to empathise with (though I did wonder whether some of the audience could identify with the concept of an elderly gent being ripped off by an unscrupulous younger woman).  The music is fabulous, with a tune every minute.  And the best of it all is that it's just three quarters of an hour away from Hastings.

Antony Mair   

Bust of Sir George Christie, founder of Glyndebourne