AFTER successful socially-distanced outdoor performances this summer, a reworked version of Jacques Offenbach’s Mesdames de la Halle, titled In The Market for Love, premiered inside Glyndebourne’s opera house on Sunday.

There was something bittersweet about returning to Glyndebourne in these circumstances: as ever, all stewards and staff were the height of convivial politeness, albeit this time they were taking temperatures and helping us navigate Covid-friendly one-way systems rather than splayed patrons on picnic blankets. 

The auditorium looked around 30 per cent full, feeling sadly quiet at first when one is accustomed to a more rowdy timbre.

And director Stephen Langridge’s decision to set the one-act comic opera after an epidemic in Paris – with plenty of gags about masks and social distancing – initially made me uneasy: weren’t we here to escape that gloom for an hour? 

Thankfully, when the curtain rose, everything else was cast from my mind: an impressively detailed, deep set was thrilling after months of seeing stages streamed on screens.

Kate Lindsey, performing as lover Harry Coe in a trouser role, sung with a beautiful, pure, full Mezzo-Soprano tone, while Soprano Nardus Williams’ Ciboulette was more exuberant, leading to some wonderful, buoyant duets. 

Stephen Plaice’s new translation was titillatingly funny: a mixture of quickfire eloquence and lewd tales, all delivered with lustful diction across the cast.

A memorably hilarious performance from a jaunty Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts was one highlight: he was regularly registering ‘ineffable astonishment’ while struggling to keep up with a steamrolling plot. 

Tickets are still available for the run until October 25, and I wholeheartedly recommend the experience.

Against the odds, Glyndebourne have produced a delightful romp: In The Market for Love is a powerful tonic for these unsettling times.  

Rating: Five stars

Joe Fuller