Gloriana - what else?

[Ein Heldenleben]

Goes head to head with the World Cup this evening I believe. How will the forum split? A nation holds its breath.

I watched the match and listened to the opera . I thought it was an excellent performance - the opera that is . I thought the Germans were exceedingly lucky. It's interesting that the work has been well received in Madrid - I can't believe Elizabeth the 1st is a popular figure there. This is an opera which has , following its disastrous premiere , not really been honoured in its own land . Lord Harewood put it well in Kobbé where he contrasted the aristocratic culture that produced the poetry writing Earl of Essex and the contemporary one that couldn't recognise a masterpiece when placed in front of it.