Cendrillon

To the Royal Academy of Music to review their performance of Massenet's Cendrillon (a review of the opera will be posted shortly). This was the first time I'd been in the theatre there, the auditorium is remarkably wide for its relatively short depth, presumably due to the constraints of fitting the theatre into the existing building. Unfortunately, with the seats in curved, amphitheatre formation, from our position in D1 and D2 we could see clearly into the wings. So our view of the performance was combined with the sight of stray cast members lurking off stage. This slightly village hall atmosphere was compounded by one of the cast peeping round the rear curtain at the end to check whether it was the right moment to come on for their bow. The on-stage performance was, naturally, intensely professional (as you would expect from one of London's premiere conservatoires) so it was a shame that the presentation did not quite come up to the same standard.