V&A exhibitions are usually on a fairly large scale, but the opera exhibition surpasses even their usual standards. A little sign at the entrance suggests you allow 70 minutes for your visit; myself and my friends K and S were actually in there for nearly 2 hours reading the plaques, watching the clips and, of course, listening to the music.

The exhibition is beautifully laid out, taking you through 7 European cities and 7 opera premieres that took place in each, with associated music that plays through the headset that you’re given on entering as you walk through each area. Some are well known operas (relatively speaking; I think most people have some familiarity with ‘The Marriage of Figaro’) and some are much less well known (I hadn’t even heard of ‘Rinaldo’, although I am now desperate to see it when Glyndebourne stage it in 2019). There’s plentiful reference to the changing times as reflected in opera, for example sexuality and eroticism in ‘Salome’, and the banning of ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’ by Stalin as he felt it wasn’t appropriate behaviour for Soviet women to see.

Overall: a huge and beautiful exhibition which is a real feast for the senses.