Anyone who hadn’t taken the precaution of reading the Lichfield Festival programme carefully might well have been disappointed to discover that in fact the famous cellist has, because of a degenerative shoulder condition, been forced to give up playing the instrument permanently.
I’ve only seen ever the Magic Flute once before, Glyndebourne on tour with magnificent production values, a full-sized orchestra and an overall grand tone as was to be expected. But this new Lichfield Festival production was far, far better.
