Lunch followed by Opera at the RNCM Saturday 16th December 2023

It was a cold damp Saturday that saw the Manchester Commanderie

and guests gather at the Royal Northern College of Music for lunch

followed by prime seats for the Opera ‘The Snow Maiden’ by

Rimsky-Korsakov.

Our excellent lunch commenced with a duo of smoked salmon and

salmon escabeche with dressed rocket and tomato. Accompanying the

course was Chateau Reynon 2021, mainly Sauvignon Blanc which

proved to be an excellent match to the dish.

The main course was Pork Fillet stuffed with apricot and sage, wrapped

in parma ham, with roast apple, prune and earl grey sauce. Our red wine

was 2015 Château de la Rivière, Fronsac, bringing back memories of

the Commanderie visit in 2014. This was much enjoyed and attentively

served by the student servers.

The dessert was Frutti di Bosco. A pastry case filled with cream sponge

and forest fruit. As we were to return at the interval and time was short

we continued with the red wine.

All too soon it was time to move to the theatre for the Opera

performance. It was a capacity audience who were immediately

immersed in the snow themed stage setting. It included the pond with

water which was to feature significantly in the second half. The first act

lasted around 80 minutes and was enjoyed but some found the

background story a bit puzzling!

We returned to our lunch venue for a glass of sparkling Bordeaux at the

interval. The quality and range of sparkling Bordeaux is improving every

year.

Act 2 proved to be faster paced and helped us to more fully understand

the story. The pond came into play at the conclusion when the Snow

Maiden and her suitor melted away.

The singing throughout was excellent from soloists and Chorus. The

orchestra performed brilliantly, conducted by Matthew Waldren.

It was another delightful visit to the RNCM and the Commanderie thanks

the Kitchen and banqueting staff for the most enjoyable lunch.

Commander Richard Martindale