The evening didn’t start well.  The writer’s request for a complimentary programme to enhance information for a review was soundly rebuffed by the Vorderhausmanager in charge of the Opera House, Charles Edward Maxwell.  His riposte of ‘This is not how it’s done in Germany, you have to write and fill out a form’ was somewhat akin to ‘We have ways of making you feel unwelcome’!  But then perhaps Mr Maxwell’s unkindly intervention could be somewhat reflective of the rather stiff attitude at the top at the Munich Staatsoper?