The chicken or the egg

For hundreds of years we have been debating what came first, the chicken or the egg. In the interval of The Royal Opera’s new production of Matilde di Shabran somebody on the escalator attempted to use this as a metaphor for the relationship between Juan Diego Flórez and this piece by Rossini. Whilst it was Matilde which provided a platform for Flórez 's leap to fame at Pesaro, the opera itself is now being offered a renewed degree of attention as a vehicle for Florez's unique talents. In the case of Covent Garden, first came Juan Diego and then, to fit his capabilities and skills, Matilde was added to the opera season. Were it not for him, no artistic director would bother to put on this three-and-a-half-hour long opera, the first act of which lasts two hours (as long as Parsifal’s). Matilde's gorgeous music notwithstanding, the opera…