Flavio by Händel, Fri 12 Feb 1999, From (1999/1999), Directed by James Conway, Conductor Seamus Crimmins, Theatre Royal, Wexford, Ireland

Flavio or “A slap on the cheek” is a little comic masterpiece by Handel with better tunes than Messiah and a plot from Hell. Guido loves Emilia, Teodata loves Vitige, and all four have very high voices; Emilia’s father slaps Guido’s dad, the king (another high voice) makes a play for vengeance: lust before love, murder before marriage is the rule of 24 eventful hours with no heros left at the end. An opera for those who like their beauty irreverent, and their irreverence beautiful.