Belongings

Glyndebourne Youth Opera projects have been thrilling and delighting me now for many years, not just by the quality of these productions but equally by their dedication to an educational programme that truly embraces young people from across the community. Long may they continue to debunk the myth that opera in its many forms is an elitist art form. Belongings is the latest, a tale of fractured communities, of displacement and alienation and the parallel between UK evacuees in WW II and contemporary refugee children displace by modern conflicts. The story is good and for the most part I enjoyed the music, although I did feel that the strong wartime patriotic musical theme was not matched in musical strength by anything that reflected the contemporary refugees’ cultural background, for me a missed opportunity. But the real joy is in the cast of 66 local youth who through extensive rehearsal and tuition bring to this most famous of stages, a musical experience that is truly professional and at times very moving and nothing is skimped on from musical excellence through to beautiful staging and costumes, worthy of any of the Festival productions.

Glyndebourne Youth Opera

11 November

Andrew Kay

Rating: