★★★☆☆
After the rows and ructions, and the departure of Wasfi Kani’s opera company to pastures new, a new Grange Festival has risen phoenix-like in Hampshire, and seems to be successfully imposing the rule of LAW (Life After Wasfi). Fairy lights and floodlit trees now illuminate the estate after dark; there are new picnic lawns, shops and marquees; a path to the river has been created, as has a less bumpy lane to the main road; and the auditorium has been given a small makeover with new seating donated by Cameron Mackintosh.
There’s innovation on stage too. Michael Chance, the artistic director, has lived up to his name by boldly launching the new festival with Monteverdi. Admittedly The Return of Ulysses is a baroque masterpiece,