Krishna review – the mystery of John Tavener’s ‘mystic pantomime’ is why it has been staged

Grange Park Opera, West Horsley, Surrey Singers and orchestra toiled admirably with this posthumous world premiere about the Hindu god, complete with inflatable deadly serpent. But the work feels straight from the 19th-century Orientalism playbook The first thing you should know about John Tavener ’s 2005 opera Krishna is that it is actually a “mystical pantomime”. If that very idea provokes even the faintest amusement, this is not the country-house opera for you. The second thing you should kno