Wagner in Arcadia: Roland Matthews discovers Wagner performance thriving away from the metropolis

When Wagner conceived both Tristan and Die Meistersinger with a resolutely practical eye on their appeal to the lyric theatres of the day it is unlikely he had in mind performances in the rarefied setting of an Arcadian mansion. Yet 2011 seems to have been the year for country-house Wagner, on UK shores at least. Glyndebourne opened its season with Die Meistersinger, Grange Park ventured into Wagnerian territory for the first time with Tristan, and there has also been the evolving Ring cycle at Longborough which continues to defy expectation and common sense. What would Wagner have made of it all?