Ringside Seats: In one of London’s premier boxing venues, Richard Laing enjoys seeing a small opera company punching above its weight

‘Now fight with me, or be my friend!’ Siegfried’s first instinct is to come out swinging, so he should feel right at home in York Hall. This iconic building, so closely associated with pugilism and plucky challengers, may lack the grandiosity of Freemasons’ Hall, Regents Opera’s Valhalla-like previous venue, but it suits the company’s ambitious project perfectly, and seems to welcome a younger, more diverse audience than one finds in traditional opera houses.