Fourteen BBCM children attended this ROH school matinee sponsored by Legal & General. Prior to the matinee, most of the children listened to CDs of the opera and most of the children read or heard the story of the libretto. Below follow some of their reports (and a postscript by Agnes Kory):

'What I liked about Maskarade was lots of things. I liked to see the conductor with his stick. The music was very nice. My favourite was Act 3 because it was very creative and colourful.'
Joshua Leonce, age 5

'I liked how the opera was made because I liked the dancing and the singing. I was sitting with all the other children who learn singing with Agnes. My seat was number 71 and I sat next to my friend Anna. I really liked Leander and Leonora and all the pretty costumes. I enjoyed the show and now I am tying to practice my opera voice at home.'
Kata Oldland, age 6

'Today I went to an opera at the Royal Opera House. They flew and swung a lot. Part 2 was exciting but Part 1 was boring for me because they only spoke and sung. I loved sitting in my lovely seat in this really big place.'
Kay Howard-Shigeno, age 6

'I loved Leonora because she had a beautiful soprano. I saw a man dancing his bottom out: that was comical. I found that most parts of the music were played forte and I did not hear piano at all. I enjoyed Maskarade very much as well as a cup of ice cream during the interval. After I left the Opera House I did Maskarade word search with Kay which was fun because I already knew many of the words.'
Miteki Ochi, age 6

I had so much fun listening to the Opera and watching it. I really-really liked it. Some children had never been to an Opera and it was a new thing and we learned a lot. The Royal Opera House is very big and outside the building I liked its blue painted lines.

1. We had very comfy seats.
2. The music was calm and still with a nice rhythm.
3. I liked watching the conductor moving his hands and leading the whole opera.
4. It was a small orchestra but they all played really nicely and together.
5. I liked the way the singers sang.
6. I enjoyed the acrobats who danced and did acrobatics in the sky.
7. The dancers were excellent and did complicated things which I couldn't do!
8. The costumes were very colourful.

I liked all of it. My favourite part was the dancing. Thank you for everything, it was fun.
Anna Medeossi, age 7

I did not like Maskarade very much, I liked it a little bit. My favourite part was when the rude man, the husband, said "go to your chamber!" and then the lady started crying as she went to her chamber.
Natalija Elliott, age 7

We had wonderful seats. Part 1 was not that funny because there were not enough jokes but I really liked the music and singing because it sounded very clear. It was always in tune and in time too. Part 2 was a bit disgusting because people were not dressed properly. There was an acrobat who got his leg stuck in ribbons when he was flying: that was funny. It was very dramatic dancing and music. I could feel the music creeping up, so I wanted to dance too.
May Howard-Shigeno, age 9

Maskarade was very good, very funny and very exciting. It should probably be rated for age. It was also good because I missed school. Thank you for the gift bag and for the brilliant show.
Oscar Blouin Cooke, age 10

Two young people called Leonard and Leonora were supposed to marry but they had both fallen in love with someone at the maskarade. What they didn't know is that they had fallen in love with the person they were meant to marry in the first place. My favourite part is at the maskarade when everybody is dancing. Everybody was wearing such wonderful colourful outfits and were amazing at dancing. I think Magdelone and Leonora's dresses were the best .Leonora's was as blue as the sea. Magdelone's was as red as the finest roses and as pink as rosy cheeks. Everyone was a fantastic opera singer.
What I don't understand was the man with wings who was on the stage. Who was he and why was he always on the stage? The orchestra was the best though. They played so well. They were one of the best I have ever heard.
I really enjoyed myself. Thank you, I really appreciated going to see the Maskarade. I can't wait to go to the next one.
Akira Leyow, age 10

I really enjoyed this production of Maskarade. The cast was wonderful and the music was great, too. I particularly enjoyed Henrik's voice, and thought he was a well-chosen actor. I loved the Cupid character and all his acrobatics, and the dancing was very well choreographed.
I think it is an extremely useful idea to have most of the words shown above the stage (the surtitles) as it makes the performance easier to understand if you know what the actors are singing!
Mira Lazarus, age 13

I will start by telling you the history of this play. Based in Copenhagen and written in 1723 by Ludvig Holberg, the intention was to show that masquerades gave opportunities for young people to meet each other and have fun after they were banned in Denmark.
Well, personally I think the music went perfectly with the play. As for the actors, most played very well (Henrik, Jeronimus) but some characters were disappointing (Leonard, Magdelone), but over all I was quite pleased. The special effects were extremely well done, as for the decor, it did not change a lot, but it worked so well that they really didn't need to change.
The only real downside was that it took me a while to understand the plot, but this would not affect the younger kids, who would be mesmerised by the entire play so don't rely on my point of view. One character was actually very interesting, I don't now his name, but he will be recognised straight away: he looks like a fairy and you don't now if he is good or bad, he says probably one line in the entire play ("want a cup of tea?") but he seems to be always on stage. As for the dances they are truly enchanting.
Over all I would recommend this play to about everyone. The Royal Opera House is magnificent and is probably the best theatre place in the world. If I had the chance to see it again, I would, 'cause so much happens you don't now where to look. So over all I was nicely and pleasantly surprised.
Hugo Blouin Cooke, age 13

Postscript by Agnes Kory:
My own comments come from attending the dress rehearsal (16 September) and the last performance (13 October) of the Maskarade run (as during our BBCM matinee outing I was extremely busy concentrating on 14 BBCM children).
The music (of Maskarade) by Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865 -1931) is very pleasant, it is full of lovely melodies and spirited dance music. Danish conductor Michael Schønwandt (currently music director and chief conductor at the main Danish opera house) conducted with utmost care, sensitivity and skill: he clearly knows the score very well and respects every note in it. The humour in Nielsen's score was greatly helped by Michael Schønwandt's evident sense of humour. It is not clear why stage director David Pountney felt the need to vulgarise and evidently mock Holberg's comic but very human play and Nielsen's musical score. Little Miteki mentions in her review (see above) that she did not hear any soft music. This happened because, regretfully, the school matinee audience was often noisier than helpful in an opera house and because David Pountney often arranged loud stage business (such as banging doors relentlessly) when the music was at its softest. It is hard to understand why Pountney had to mock the true love between Leander and Leonora: does he think that true love does not exist or never lasts? Holberg and Nielsen felt clearly otherwise, so some respect for the author, for the composer and for Denmark (where Maskarade is regarded as their national opera) would have been appreciated. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE REVIEWS BY BBCM CHILDREN REPRESENT INDEPENDENT VIEWS and not my own views which I have deliberately not discussed with the children.