Ben Long

@hugh_canning @RuthElleson @rbo_org If you go a few press releases deep, there’s a summary document with casts and dates that may be what you’re after? dropbox.com/scl/fi/ymimvb6…

Anyone - @ruthelleson? - know if there’s a season-at-a-glance option for finding out what’s on in 2025/26 or does one have to scroll through the entirely of @rbo_org’s dire, user-unfriendly website to get the info? 😬🤷🏻‍♂️🤣😂🤣

@jayforeman Even when I need to perform My train doesn’t show up on time So all I hear on the platform Is that disappointing chime

Challenge… Write lyrics to the theme from Wallace and Gromit. * Must rhyme * Must scan perfectly with the melody * Must NOT be about Wallace and Gromit GO!

@RuthElleson @DaveWishingsky Also seems to have been on the Northern and Bakerloo too, with the 38’s! ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/co…

@DaveWishingsky (Looking at the general shapes on the indistinct route maps on the walls, I think it’s the District Line.)

You can smell the cigarette smoke 😊

@HughCanning4 We have a new one of these in the centre of town. Trying to fit a large group of people around the table (that would be ok anywhere else) is… interesting… 😂😂

Bawled my eyes out (in a good way!) tonight @operzuerich hearing my first La Rondine… @ErmonelaJaho and @ben_bernheim leading a cast on fire, giving us every emotion imaginable. Fabulous evening and so glad to have got a last minute return!

Will I ever hear a performance of Mahler 8 as good as the one I heard tonight @bay_staatsoper? The work simply flew by under Kirill Petrenko, with the amassed forces gleaming in this glorious acoustic. The soloists too - phwoar! Very, very lucky to have been there at #bso500.

@AndrewHolding Would be great if you have one spare!

And a great Daphne it was too, for my first time seeing the work! Lovely to see you there :)

@HughCanning4 @HackneyEmpire @operfrankfurt @operamagazine One of the main attractions - gives me time to deal with DB😆

Laden with more luggage than normal, for a trip much longer than normal - it’s time to start my Study Abroad adventure @UniJena. A massive challenge, but with so many opportunities (and so much valued culture…!) along the way to seize I can’t wait to get going.

@HughCanning4 @HackneyEmpire @operfrankfurt @operamagazine Also speeding towards Frankfurt today - looking forward to my first Daphne and visit to the house on Tuesday!

@RuthElleson @ENBallet @Sadlers_Wells @LPOrchestra @LPChoir @southbankcentre @RoyalOperaHouse Two out of three for me this weekend… Meatloaf would approve!

Busy weekend: Today: #ENBOurVoices @ENBallet @Sadlers_Wells #Mahler2 @LPOrchestra @LPChoir @southbankcentre Tomorrow: #ROHForza @RoyalOperaHouse 😍

Fabulous evening with some @UniYorkGandS pals tonight seeing the @charlescourt Mikado @arcolatheatre - we absolutely loved it! Such an enjoyable, funny evening all round.

Over two remarkable evenings, I’ve heard some of the finest music ever written, played with such dedication it just had to succeed. The @bay_staatsoper certainly celebrated its 500th birthday in style @BarbicanCentre - danke für zwei unvergessliche Abende!

@RuthElleson I switched from an SE to the 14 Pro a year ago. I love my current phone (the camera is amazing) but if you don’t need all the features, a standard 14 is still a very good buy with a £100 price drop. Check Apple refurbished too… sometimes some good deals there!

If I was looking to upgrade my elderly iPhone XR, what newer models should I consider (bearing in mind I’m not remotely fussed about having the very latest/most expensive/most stealable one), and is the 14 series likely to drop further in price with the release of the 15?

@HughCanning4 @BarbicanCentre Really looking forward to it… organ moments especially😂

Back at the Barbican for the first time this season to ascend a towering edifice… No, not Cromwell tower but instead the alps of Bavaria in Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie with the Bayerische Staatsorchester!

After my latest trip away (returning armed with a new tote bag) normal service has resumed… snaffled a last minute return for the @RoyalOperaHouse Das Rheingold tonight! So looking forward to hearing the piece with full orchestra for the first time.

@HughCanning4 @MarkValencia @bbcproms I was in Munich when it was on and almost bought a ticket. Then I read the reviews… saw Peter Grimes instead😆

Les Troyens nails the argument that some operas work best in concert form. Place tonight's @bbcproms performance next to Tcherniakov's Paris fiasco and there's no contest.

@RuthElleson I see you’ve wasted no time in filleting the programme😂

So one *does* sometimes still get a libretto as part of a Proms programme. Needn’t have bothered bringing my 2012 one after all…