Stoke-on-Trent went batty about The Bat last night. A capacity crowd raised the rafters at the Regent Theatre for Strauss's Die Fledermaus, the opening performance of Glyndebourne on Tour's week-long residence. You could go along just to gawp at the amazing set – an art nouveau cylinder which twists and turns more than the average politician (and believe it or not, this opera from 1874 manages a couple of modern political cracks worthy of Have I Got News For You.) The costumes are equally stunning. I so want the Klimt dressing gown for Christmas; they should be selling them like T-shirts in the foyer. Tune after effortless tune The music consists of tune after effortless tune, all of which you'll recognise. Now I have to say that a whole opera in waltz time can give you serious tummy-ache; but not when played, as here, with wit, vim and vigour by the tour's next music director, Robin Ticciati. It's great to hear a full orchestra on top of its game producing that lovely cushion of sound for the voices to float above.
Ah, the voices. Great vocal acrobatics from Amelia Farrugia, as Adele, the lady's maid who becomes a made lady; some imperious velvet tones from Majella Cullagh as Rosalinde, who does a credible imitation of a singing Zza-Zza Gabor; Peter Hoare as the peripatetic tenor Alfred, with a voice far richer than he is; Rosalinde's husband Gabriel von Eisenstein, John Graham-Hall in Bertie Wooster mode; and a nice comic turn from Richard Van Allan. None of the singers seemed to have any difficulty filling the huge space of the Regent, and as we've heard (or haven't heard) in the past, it isn't that easy. Farce with music I suppose the great thing was the feeling that this just couldn't go wrong. Farce – and this is a farce with music – can be achingly bad; this produced genuine belly laughs from the entire audience, and it's worth going along just to hear several thousand people laughing at once. You'd have to be bats to miss it. {Die Fledermaus is on again on Friday. Tonight, Wednesday, and Saturday, it’s Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte; and on Thursday, for one night only, Britten’s The Turn of the Screw.} Chris Ramsden | 
