By Barry Millington [Evening Standard, 27 April 2010]

If for no other reason, Thomas Adès’s and Philip Hensher’s Powder her Face will go down, like the Duchess of Argyll herself, for an act of dubious taste. The first blow-job on the operatic stage is administered by the “Dirty Duchess” (sadly based on a real-life celebrity), servicing a waiter in her hotel room.