We have just come back from a matinée performance of Benjamin Britten’s Paul Bunyan by ENO in Wilton’s Music Hall – a strong and intense performance with a vast cast, but to me a bit baffling because I hadn’t had a chance to read the synopsis and had forgotten that the very English Britten, like Auden, went to New York in the early stages of the war, which is where he wrote Paul Bunyan, with a score by Auden, as an operetta for performance in a high school. This is why it is infused with a pop, but lyrical, Americanism. Highly recommended, although probably no tickets are available.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
We went to this last night and absolutely loved it. I tweeted that it bore a resemblance in tone to the Muppets Most Wanted movie (which featured a comical gulag chain gang much like the lumberjacks) and the conductor answered by saying that he often said in rehearsals that the piece had a muppets feel to it. It really is that much fun. I was also very pleased to find that they have installed padded seats in the balcony of Wilton’s – so much better than the old wooden benches. I booked our tickets for this (myself, my partner and our teenage daughter) back in January when booking opened for friends of Wilton. Membership is cheap and priority booking is very useful for things like this and ROH productions at Wilton (we saw their La Tragedie de Camen there last year) which sell out very quickly.
Joan
Jolly impressed that you’ve been too. We weren’t in the padded seats. Charles