Alexander Hall

The members of the ENO Chorus were quite splendid, producing an impressive body of sound in the more extrovert scenes, none more so than at the end of the first act, and never static or idle in placement either, but also with restraint and focused tone in those moments of quiet introspection when they act like a Greek chorus.

I missed a sense of wonderment – it’s not only the flute that is magic – not least in the garden scene where the animals (quite incongruously in zoological terms, chimpanzees cavorted with wild boar and stags) needed more inspired direction.