Teatro Real de Madrid 2023, Rigoletto: it was …terrible! Orgies, perversion and masturbation on stage while the poor sopranos do their job flawlessly. The director apparently found no other way to draw attention to his production. How can you even mix this with the classics? And most importantly, why? After the first act, people began to leave. Bottom line: if you sit and listen with your eyes closed, it’s amazing. The director Miguel del Arco should be fired! I think Giuseppe Verdi turned in his grave 🤦🏻‍♀️

A group of ladies did a tour of Teatro Real with a guide called Hortensia. Right from the get-go Hortensia showed she was very businesslike and informed us that if we didn’t keep up with her she “would hit us with the sole of her shoe”. Obviously she wasn’t saying that literally but she kept calling us to “come on, come on”, even though we were all keeping up as best we could. She really turned unpleasant when a couple of women needed to take a toilet break during the tour, and generally made us all feel a nuisance to her. Whilst outside on a balcony of the theatre she ridiculed a man below singing, which showed again her unpleasant nature. This woman should not be dealing with the public as she clearly does not like the public.

The tour was not worth the money or the time sadly. The guide was perfectly fine but the limitations were huge. No photography, limited actual ‘tour’. The Covent Garden Opera House tour is far better if you’re ever in London.

I have toured many opera houses in my travels. This was wasn't as I had hoped. I bought my ticket online and made use of the audio guide on my phone. It was easy to get started. However, after 2 stops I lost service so had to read the digital paragraphs instead of getting audio. It came back towards the end. Some rooms were very nice but the theatre itself wasn't that impressive. Grateful for the human guides along the way as a few times I got turned around and they assisted me beautifully. I suggest to only do if you have time. It took me under 1 hr.