The Collegiate has long since been renamed the Bloomsbury, Stanley: since it belongs to UCL it's only ever been a part-time pro venue, since the college has first call in term-time.

The Drill Hall's still there, too: sometimes used by the Beeb for radio comedy shows, its well equipped studios and near-central location make it a popular rehearsal/audition venue for smaller companies, certainly far nicer than that appalling Alford (Awful) House near the Oval, which I'm sure you must have visited occasionally, and easier for many to reach than the Dance Attic (now in Fulham Rd, but formerly in Putney).  

Nope, he was at The Minotaur.

Of which more anon.

Well, at least for a while - it was one of the venues cut-off by ACE and is now left without its grant-in-aid funding

Fair point, although it might be a bit premature to introduce a radical new reinterpretation at the premiere

It must have been Composers Night last night, Stuart. I spotted at least three others (most looking slightly pale and worried by the end ).

I very much share others' enthusiasm. It's a terrific score with glorious things in it. It made a big impression on first hearing and I can't wait to explore it further with the broadcast, DVD etc. Many more riches to be found I imagine. In terms of Birtwistle's other work (should I be saying 'trajectory'?), I suppose it counts as a 'culmination' or a 'completion' piece rather than one which heads off in a totally new directions but that doesn't lose it any points as far as I am concerned. It is a damn'd fine thing with some fantastically exciting writing for the orchestra in particular.   

As Ollie said, Christine Rice and John Tomlinson both magnificent. It is difficult to imagine them ever being bettered in the parts.   

I can't agree with some of the reviews which said it needed cutting, or that it had longeurs. Not for my money it didn't. As far as I was concerned it felt that Birtwistle knew exactly what he was doing and was rather brilliantly using some of the narrative techniques and pacing of Greek drama to match a 21st century sensibility to great emotional effect. I wouldn't want to lose any of it although, as opilec says, there is a problem with breaking it up with an interval. Once the story/ritual/pulse has been set in motion, you really need to see it through at its own inexorable pace from beginning to end. On the other hand I can see that 2 hours 20 mins is quite a bladder stretch. Not sure of the answer to that one (doesn't Wagner have single acts that last that long?) but a 25 minute tension-sapping interval definitely ain't it.

The set design was great, I thought, some of it (deliberately?) reminiscent of Mask of Orpheus. I do see what Ruth means about some of the direction though, the slaughter of the victims in particular. I felt the problem there was that Langridge couldn't decide whether he was doing this as stylised theatrical ritual (which can be terrifying) or as gruesome realism (ditto), and it fell unhappily in between the two and failed as both. A pity, I agree, but fixable.

And, no, the Keres didn't really work either, did they. Not good. A job lot of Lord of the Rings costume rejects? I hope it was for that reason that I was actually a bit disappointed last night with the very final moments of the opera when an (amplified?) Ker had the last word/screech after Asterios's life has ebbed away. Their silent arrival would have been enough after that astounding final soliloquy from John Tomlinson. (Er, but I wouldn't presume to know better than Sir H over this; it may well have been the particular representation of the Keres in this production that made the very final bars seem less dramatic than they should have been.)

The great news is we have a big, big new work to get our teeth into and two magnificent central performances to bore the grandchildren with.

Well, it's in the libretto: "Ruuuuuuaaaaaaaaaak!" The thing that spoilt it slightly was the amplification. Otherwise I thought it worked. Or would it be better as yet another modern work that just dies away ... ?

The sets and general design reminded me most of Gawain (hardly surprising), but there were clearly elements of Orpheus there too. As George says, very much a "culmination" work. I have a sneaking suspicion that, performed without an interval, (and most definitely without cuts!) it might be one of those works that actually seems shorter as a whole. I mean, whatever next: a supper interval in Das Rheingold?

Yes, the Keres' costumes could do with a rethink. (Can they only fly round in circles?)

But the whole opera made a mighty impression on me, and the only things stopping me going again are a lack of funds and the fact that it's fast selling out.

Yes, it's funny that - perhaps the reactionaries just shout the loudest?

My seat was bang in the middle of the Stalls (I plumped for the full-price ticket in the end  ), so presumably a lot of the people around me were regular opera-goers - and not necessarily big fans of new music. Both during the interval and after the performance all the comments I heard from audience members were extremely positive and admiring. There were a few bemused chuckles at the cartoonish gruesomeness of the Keres but my impression was that the opera was a big hit with the audience. Not a single complaint heard about the music - and without wishing to be patronising, I was decidedly impressed by the open minds and ears of the audience.

I thought the last night was tomorrow, opi! (And I know you're going to the LSO tomorrow, cos I just read it on anuvver fred, diddenay?) So when is it? I might try and get a standing place or a day ticket if I've finished the piece of writing I'm currently in the middle of by then.

And talking of work, thanks so much for the 'shadow' in small print! No way you could have known, but it's just reminded me of a Very Good Idea I had this morning and had completely lost sight of in the course of trying to get something down on paper this afternoon.