It is ironic that English National Opera should find itself in trouble with the Arts Council — placed in “special measures”, in a phrase oddly reminiscent of Nazi Germany — at the precise moment that it is on an artistic high with a new production of Richard Wagner’s The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.

There have been excellent reviews, including a five-star rave in the Daily Telegraph from Rupert Christiansen. He wrote that the “greatness of this wonderful production” — besides “its human warmth, gentle comedy [and] stylish execution” — lay in its focus on the achievement of German culture and its exploration of the relationship of art to community. The last is a topic no doubt much on the minds of ENO bosses at present.

The review pointed out that the show was a revival of a production first mounted five years ago by Welsh National Opera, which featured Bryn Terfel in the role of the cobbler-poet Hans Sachs and Christopher Purves, a bass-baritone long resident in Summertown, as the pedantic town clerk Sixtus Beckmesser.

I was lucky enough to see a performance at the Wales Millennium Centre on a sunny Saturday in late June which coincided with the celebration of Armed Forces Day out in Cardiff Bay. Vintage aircraft swooped overhead as we pushed though crowds into the auditorium. Just before the curtain rose, the Prince of Wales took his seat in the Royal Box. There was no Camilla, though she was with him in Cardiff. Too long, at six hours, for her to be without a fag, I supposed.

I had the good fortune, too, having mentioned Bryn Terfel, to see his operatic debut as Guglielmo in a WNO production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. This was in 1990. Will the 25th anniversary of this be marked in any way this year?