By Joel Adams For Mailonline
Published: 14:00 GMT, 20 March 2019 | Updated: 14:02 GMT, 20 March 2019
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Matthew Feargrieve, 42, is alleged to have punched fellow opera lover Ulrich Engler
A hedge fun lawyer fought with a fellow classical music lover during a show at the Royal Opera House because he moved a coat from a seat, a court heard.
Matthew Feargrieve, 42, repeatedly punched Ulrich Engler on the shoulder in the performance of Wagner’s Siegfried at the world famous Covent Garden venue, it is claimed.
The dispute began because Mr Engler grabbed a coat belonging to Feargrieve’s wife from an empty seat and threw it on her lap, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
Victoria Murphy, prosecuting, said: ‘This is an allegation that arises from 7 October last year.’
‘They were at the Royal Opera House for the Ring Cycle performance,’ Ms Murphy said
‘During the Ring Cycle it is usual for audience to stay in the same seats.’
Richard Wagner's magnum opus Der Ring des Nibelungen takes place over four separate operas which between them take more than 12 hours to perform.
Last year the Royal Opera House put on the entire Cycle, produced by Keith Warner, with performances of the consecutive operas on almost-consecutive nights to allow patrons to enjoy the entire work.
The Feargrieves had tickets to the second run of the cycle, in which curtain-raiser Das Rheingold was performed on
