Happy days are here again
mainIf you read the small print in The Times newspaper tomorrow, you will find the announcement of an engagement between Gus Christie, 45, master of the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, and the soprano Danielle de Niese, supreme in steely and determined baroque roles.
The pair have been an item for about four years and De Niese, Australian born of Dutch and Sri Lankan parentage, has left critics and audiences breathless with admiration pretty much every time she steps on stage.
Last summer, she told my colleague Fiona Maddocks in the Evening Standard: “People keep referring to me as the chatelaine of Glyndebourne. I just love that expression, chatelaine,” de Niese hoots. “But I’m not. Actually I still live with my parents in New Jersey. Gus and I are having a lovely time getting to know each other. We see each other when we can. I’m travelling so much, that’s not always easy.’
It sounds like they’ve made it easy, after all.
Congratulations to Gus and Danielle. Life, like opera, is not always what you plan.
We in Danielle’s home town Melbourne wish her and Gus every happiness for the future. Do come to Melbourne some time, Danielle, to sing here!!