I cannot deny that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I didn’t get into the books as soon as they were published -I’m one of those contrary folks who hates hype and I was working in a bookshop the summer of 1997 when the first book came out, so we heard a lot about this AMAZING new book and I made my mind up I absolutely wouldn’t read it (stupid, I know). Sometime during my gap year in 1999 I decided to read ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, and that was it, I was sold for life.

Luckily I have quite a number of friends who are also big fans and one of them, my friend K, is also super-organised, so she booked tickets for several of us to go to the British Library exhibition a few months ago. I knew the exhibition was to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the books being published but I still hadn’t really got much of an idea of what to expect. It was, in fact, FAR better than I expected.

The exhibition has an intro with some background about the series (and some of JKR’s original illustrations -fascinating) and then goes through all the subjects taught at Hogwarts – Potions, Alchemy, Herbology, Charms, Astronomy, Divination (boo), Defence against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. Each section looks at what JKR wrote in the books and how it relates to history (did you know Mandrakes have their roots in Greek mythology?!), to evidence and to language- I was astonished by how much historical derivation there was.

However the BEST bits of the exhibition, by far, were the original manuscripts and illustrations which were scattered throughout the exhibition. I had no idea JKR had done so many illustrations herself, nor how many changes there were between her original version and what eventually got published (no spoilers here, but you HAVE to read the original draft of the first chapter of ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, it will take your breath away!)

Overall: if you’re a HP fan, a genuine must-visit.

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.