I always find it difficult to review something when it’s my first experience of a genre. Sure, I can whack out a review for a film within ten minutes, get all the salient points across and reach a conclusion based upon script, acting, direction, effects and just general enjoyment. But to do so based upon the initial experience of something wouldn’t be right and I don’t think I’d be able to do it justice. So instead I shall simply talk about my first experience of the opera and Puccini’s Madam Butterfly at the Royal Albert Hall.

There’s not really much anyone can say about the venue that hasn’t already been said a thousand times before. But its unique central stage certainly allows set designers to try something a little different and that’s what we saw last night. The stage is dominated by a huge pagoda, sat at the centre of a series of wooden walkways above a Japanese water garden, filled with water during the first act and tended by extras whilst the main plot happens for the most part in the middle. Unfortunately there are some restricted views in the upper circle and around a quarter of the stage was hidden from us from our vantage point. This meant that quite a chunk of the acting took place outside our vision when the actors did stray from the centre, but the voices and music carried nonetheless.

The production was a translation into English from the original Italian (which had already made a colleague of mine baulk when I told him beforehand), and to be honest a great chunk might as well have been in Italian for what I could pick up. But I certainly didn’t see that as a problem. The singing, together with music performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was absolutely sublime in whatever language it was being sung in and understand every word or not, I found the story incredibly easy to keep up with.

Madam Butterfly topped of a stunning evening of food, wine, incredible deserts, smart clothes and great company. Never before having considered opera as a form of entertainment that would interest me, my eyes have now been opened and I wonder what I’ve been missing out on all these years. It’s time to get the diary out and plan the next one.