Monthly Archives: September 2019

Benyounes Quartet

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West Hill Community Festival, Hastings, Friday 20th September 2019

The acoustic in Emmanuel church is ideal for strings and made the perfect venue for this opening concert in the West Hill Community Festival. While none of the works could be said to be familiar to a wide audience they proved to make up a very well balanced programme and one which highlighted the introspection of the composers in the deeply felt slow movement in all three cases.

The Benyounes Quartet opened with Haydn’s Quartet Op76 No1. This late work looks longingly towards Schubert in its overt romanticism and brings a sombre tone to the final movement before ending on a more positive note.

Mendelssohn’s Op12 No1 Quartet opens with an intense but flowing cantabile before the profound beauty of the slow movement. There are hints of sturm und drang in the later movements which the quartet found with great subtlety.

After the interval we heard Debussy’s G minor Quartet. This is an equally troubled work, but the quartet – who have recently recorded it – were able to bring out the nuances in its development, again being particularly moving in the slow third movement.

As if to compensate for the intense emotional turmoil of much of the music, the encore – an Idyll by Frank Bridge – proved charming and relaxing.

The church was packed for this free concert, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the festival continues across the weekend with a large range of events, centred on the church and across the West Hill.

 

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet

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Marlowe Theatre Canterbury

Well this is Matthew Bourne so you arrive expecting nothing remotely conventional or “traditional” (whatever that means) and you’re right. This riveting show is a ravishing dance piece with the plot of Romeo and Juliet so radically and freely reworked that I doubt Shakespeare himself would recognise it. And it matters not a jot. It’s fresh, original and utterly compelling.

We’re in the Verona Institute in the near future – some sort of care facility for people with mental health problems maybe but more like a prison with officers, bars, keys and locks. Residents (inmates?) are dressed in simple white clothes and of course there isn’t an en pointe shoe or a pair of tights in sight. There are no pointless leaps just because one/some of the male dancers can do spectacular ones either. Instead we get a great deal of muscular ensemble dancing either bare foot or in plimsoll-like footwear. I have no idea how Bourne thinks of these visually vibrant, but often quite simple choral/corps de ballet movements (such as shifting forwards in relentless rhythm) and makes them feel completely fresh.

The other hero of this show is Prokofiev’s score – unusually for Bourne it’s played live in the pit with passion and panache by a nineteen piece band conducted from piano and harmonium by Dan Jackson. It’s extraordinary music. Every single note packs a powerful narrative and Bourne matches it with action so perfectly that within two minutes of curtain up you’ve forgotten that this ballet has ever been done in any other way. It will be a long time before I forget the death of Tybalt (a thuggish guard: Dan Wright) presented here as an act of group throttling, the strap tightened with each of Prokofiev’s dramatic fortissimo minor chords. It’s drama at its spikiest.

Of course every dancer in this company is good. They wouldn’t have been cast in this production if they weren’t. Paris Fitzpatrick and Cordelia Braithwaite as the titular pair of star crossed lovers earn a special mention however. As individuals, often troubled, anxious or cross, they present believable characters, As a pair, in what is effectively their marriage consummation pas-de-deux, they roll over each other and use a series of very ingenious wrap round movements which fit the music perfectly. It’s a skilfully enacted symbolic representation of their physical union and I found it deeply moving.

Susan Elkin

ENO: Orpheus in the Underworld

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Orpheus in the Underworld
Jacques Offenbach (1819 – 1880)
Hector-Jonathan Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy, after classical mythology. Freely adapted from the original French by Emma Rice and Tom Morris.
 
Conductor, Sian Edwards (Valentina Peleggi, Nov 21, 26, 28)
Director, Emma Rice

 

Emma Rice makes her opera debut for English National Opera’s Orpheus Series

Opens Saturday 5 October at 7.30pm (12 performances)

Emma Rice brings her wit and charm to English National Opera’s new season, with her operatic debut: an adaptation of Offenbach’s riotous operetta Orpheus in the Underworld (1858).

Emma Rice’s productions sparkle with theatrical spectacle and vivacious humour, whilst never shying away from the deeper meanings and emotions. The Artistic Director of Wise Children, formerly of Shakespeare’s Globe and Kneehigh, this is Rice’s first opera.

The production forms part of ENO’s Orpheus Series, a reimagining of four operas exploring the Orpheus myth in autumn 2019. Each is interpreted by four directors from diverse theatrical disciplines, all in sets by renowned designer Lizzie Clachan.

Emma Rice comments: “Music has always been a huge part of my life and my work. The chance to work on one of the greatest stories of all time with this heart-stopping music pulsing through its veins was one I couldn’t refuse! Intoxicating, seductive, funny and heart-breaking, Orpheus in the Underworld fills and fulfils my dreams. In rehearsals, when I hear 55 amazing musicians singing some of the most thrilling music I have ever heard, I have to pinch myself! Poignant, prescient and romantic to its bones, this promises to be a treat for the heart, mind and soul.”

Orpheus in the Underworld begins with tragedy. A young couple’s marriage is overwhelmed by grief and, seeking comfort, Eurydice is fooled into taking Pluto, ruler of the Underworld, as her lover. When she suddenly dies and is transported to a hedonistic, party filled Underworld, her estranged husband Orpheus resolves to try and bring her back. To achieve the impossible he will need the help of the glamorous, conceited but rather bored gods. Little does he know that the gods have plans of their own for Eurydice…

Originally composed as a parody of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice which had premiered nearly a century before, Offenbach’s operetta poked fun at the characters of ancient myths. An immediate box office success, the score’s high-energy ‘Galop Infernal’ was adopted by cabaret shows, immortalising it in popular culture as the soundtrack to the ‘can-can’ dance. Emma Rice’s adaptation brings the story up to date with a chilling reflection on the high-spirited hedonism that Offenbach originally staged. This production sees the glitzy world of cabaret veiling a seedy, rotten Underworld; where objectified Eurydice is at the mercy of male desire.

Tenor Ed Lyon sings Orpheus. Trained at St John’s College Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio, he has appeared internationally, with a wide repertoire that ranges from baroque to contemporary.

Established ENO star Mary Bevan returns in the role of Eurydice. Having joined ENO’s Harewood Artist programme in 2011, Mary has gone on to sing many roles at ENO and internationally. Praised for her ‘dramatic wit and vocal control’ (Opera), she is a winner of the UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in Music.

Baritone Lucia Lucas makes her ENO debut as Public Opinion. California born and Germany based, Lucia recently made history in the title role of Tulsa Opera’s Don Giovanni, where she became the first transgender woman to perform a principle role on the operatic stage in the United States.

Bass-baritone Sir Willard White trained at the Jamaican School of Music and the Juilliard School in New York. Since his operatic debut with the New York City Opera in 1974, he has sung regularly at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and at the Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg festivals. He will be singing the role of Jupiter, with Robert Haywood taking over on November 21, 26 and 28.

The all-star cast is completed by Alan Oke singing John Styx while ENO Harewood Artists Alex Otterburn and Idunnu Münch are Pluto and Diana. Anne-Marie Owens is Juno, whilst Keel Watson takes the role of Mars and Judith Howarth sings Venus. Ellie Laugharne completes this host of operatic talent as Cupid.

Former ENO Music Director Sian Edwards takes the conductor’s baton, with current Mackerras Fellow Valentina Peleggi supporting for three performances in November.

The set is designed by Lizzie Clachan and the costumes are by Lez Brotherston. Choreography is by Etta Murfitt, Lighting design is by Malcolm Rippeth and Sound Design by Simon Baker.

Emma Rice and Tom Morris have freely adapted the piece from the original French.

Orpheus in the Underworld opens Saturday 5 October at 7:30pm at the London Coliseum for 12 performances: Oct 5, 11, 23, 30 & Nov 1, 8, 12, 21, 26 at 19.30. Oct 19 at 14.00. Oct 26 at 13.45. Nov 28 at 19.00

Tickets start from £10 (plus booking fee)*

*£2.25 booking fee applies to online and telephone bookings

LOCAL COMPOSER, POLO PIATTI, TO HAVE WORLD-PREMIERE IN USA

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It is quite unusual for a living composer based in the UK to have one of his major works world-premiered in the USA. But this is the plan for Hastings-based composer Polo Piatti’s ‘Bohemian Concerto’ for piano and orchestra. The concerto will be performed at the prestigious Sandler Centre for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach in October 2019. Piatti’s work was first discovered by international renowned concert pianist Thomas Pandolfi, who then set things in motion to perform it with the spectacular Symphonicity Orchestra, conducted by maestro Daniel W. Boothe. Piatti’s ‘Bohemian Concerto’ is a very romantic work that requires not only virtuosity of the pianist, but also a great deal of sensitivity in order to extract all the subtleties, emotions, vigour and passion encapsulated in the work.

 

Regarding the intriguing title of the work, Polo Piatti explains: “This concerto is all about the Bohemian life of an artist, a life full of ups and downs, of ecstatic highs and devastating lows, of constant hopes and broken dreams, near misses and silver linings. The work goes from happiness to pain and from desperation to success, describing an artistic life lived to the full and without safety nets.”

Piatti has written, produced and arranged music extensively, mostly for the concert hall, theatre and film. Born in Argentina, he embarked on an international career as a concert pianist at an early age. He completed further studies in Paris and Berlin, moving later to work and perform in London. He has lived in Hastings for over twelve years where he founded and is the Artistic Director of the prestigious ‘International Composers Festival’ and the ‘Hastings Sinfonia Orchestra’. In 2017 he opened the Opus Theatre, a 700 seater concert hall in Hastings, with the intention of offering world class performances that are accessible to everyone. Further world-premieres in 2020 include his multi-faith oratorio ‘Libera Nos’ with the renowned London Mozart Players in conjunction with the Hastings Sinfonia Orchestra and his ‘Christmas Concerto’ for guitar and orchestra. Most recently he has been commissioned to write a concerto for violoncello and orchestra. Piatti is a member of the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain.

English National Opera kicks off 19/20 season with Wayne McGregor’s interpretation of the Orpheus myth

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Orpheus and Eurydice

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714 – 1787)
Libretto by Pierre-Louis Moline. Version by Hector Berlioz.
 
Conductor, Harry Bicket
Director, Wayne McGregor

Opens Tuesday 1 October at 19:30 (8 performances)

English National Opera kicks off the 19/20 season with Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice (1762). The oldest of ENO’s Orpheus Series, it is directed by Wayne McGregor CBE in his ENO directorial debut.

Following a prestigious career in contemporary international dance, resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet and double Olivier Award-winner Wayne McGregor CBE presents a dance led ENO directorial debut with Orpheus and Eurydice. He previously collaborated with ENO on the choreography of Salome in 2005 and this summer for ENO’s production of Noyes’s Fludde in which he choreographed the Raven and Dove Dance.

ENO’s Orpheus Series reimagines four operas exploring the Orpheus myth in autumn 2019. Each is interpreted by four directors from diverse theatrical disciplines, all in sets by renowned British designer Lizzie Clachan.

Orpheus and Eurydice tells the story of musician Orpheus who, overcome with grief at the death of his beloved wife Eurydice, will go to any lengths to be reunited with her. Descending to the perilous depths of the Underworld, Orpheus must charm its demons with sublime melodies to bring Eurydice back to the land of the living. There’s just one catch: Orpheus must lead his wife out of the Underworld without looking at her; or else she will be lost forever.

Gluck’s 18th century work bridges the Baroque and Classical periods and this production stems from Berlioz’s dedicated reworking of Gluck’s score. Its rich orchestral writing compliments McGregor’s distinct balletic choreography, and 14 dancers from Studio Wayne McGregor perform alongside the three lead operatic voices in an inter-disciplinary merging of dance and opera.

Distinguished mezzo-soprano Alice Coote OBE sings Orpheus, leading the three operatic principles. Renowned for her works across the great stages of the world including the Metropolitan Opera, New York and the Paris Opéra, she is best known for her breeches roles, of which she has been described as ‘a modern master’ (Chicago Sun Tribune).

ENO favourite Sarah Tynan returns to sing her first of two Eurydice roles this season, fresh from her triumphant turns as the titles in The Merry Widow and Lucia Di Lammermoor last season, the latter of which she performed ‘with a silvery purity of tone and an exquisite sense of line’ (the Guardian).

The trio of lead voices is completed by Lancashire born ENO Harewood Artist Soraya Mafi singing the role of Love. A fast-rising star soprano, she made her ENO debut as Edith in 2015’s The Pirates of Penzance, going on to sing Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2018.

Notable classical and baroque conductor Harry Bicket, Artistic Director of the English Concert and Music Director at Santa Fe Opera, returns to ENO where he began his career, bringing with him a fine period sensibility.

The set design is by Lizzie Clachan and the costumes are by fashion designer and artist Louise Gray. Lighting is by Olivier Award-winning lighting designer Jon Clark. Ben Cullen-Williams is the production’s video designer, with choreography by Wayne McGregor.

The translation is by Christopher Cowell.

Orpheus and Eurydice opens Tuesday 1 October at 19:30 at the London Coliseum for 8 performances: Oct 1, 10, 17, 24, 31 & Nov 14, 19 at 19:30. Oct 12 at 14:00.

Prom 69

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Few things are musically more uplifting than hearing a fine foreign orchestra playing its own national heritage. The Czech Philharmonic plays with an exceptionally incisive string sound and the technique with which they played Smetana’s The Bartered Bride overture and three dances was stunning: all those delicious rhythms caught with glittering, percussive precision particularly in the third dance. Semyon Bychkov, who beats time quite simply and has his orchestra traditionally seated, certainly knows how to make Czech music sing. It made a delightful concert opener.

It was an inspired programming idea then to change the mood completely with the intensity of the letter scene from Eugene Onegin in the concerto slot. The orchestra played with well balanced operatic excitement from the first note and Russian soprano, Elena Stikhina sang this gloriously melodic scene with rich clarity and plenty of warmth and passion.

After the interval the mood became much more sombre. Shostokovitch’s 65 minute eighth symphony is bleak and emotionally raw and it’s not surprising that it doesn’t get as many outings as say, the fifth or the ninth. I can’t think of any other symphony which has a 30 minute first movement either but it was evocatively played here particularly when it reached the long, plaintive cor anglais solo. I also admired, among other strengths, the quality of the trumpet solo in the third movement and some vibrant viola work along with the strange gurgling flute sound the score requires. For me, though, the hero of the evening was the piccolo player who more than earned his money with prominent – and beautifully played work – in each of the three pieces.

Susan Elkin

CDs/DVS September 2019 (2)

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Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande
Zurich Opera, Alain Altinoglu
BELAIR BAC 157

Debussy’s only opera was conceived as a fairy tale, a fantasy, but there has been a recent spate of productions which try to give it a naturalistic gloss. Glyndebourne’s most recent production did this with considerable success, by putting the whole story into the thinking of the composer. In Dmitri Tcherniakov’s approach we are in a highly realistic modern, and very expensive, flat which serves for all the scenes. Characters eat, drink and move about in the most relaxed way but the text regularly has nothing to do with the visual impact. Melisande, a convincing portrait of neurosis by Corinne Winters, is either insane at the start or becomes increasingly so as the work progresses. Golaud is her psychiatrist – there is no hint of royalty or palace about the production – and Pelleas his younger sparring partner.

It is unclear how much of what is said is aimed to help Melisande come to her right mind – to unlock the causes of her neurosis – or whether they are all equally mad.

Thankfully the singing is splendid and the orchestral playing beautifully balanced. I found myself quite often simply listening. Yet again the CDs might have been more impressive than the DVD.

Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Theatre des Champs Elysees, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, Jeremie Rhorer
NAXOS 2.110592

This is an odd but remarkably successful combination of forces. Le Cercle de l’Harmonie under Jeremie Rhorer bring us original instrument tonalities and a really sparkling support where on stage Laurent Pelly’s production is as post-modern as one might wish for with its setting of vast pages of manuscript paper.

The cast are in modern dress but the interaction of characters is so forceful as to sweep away any lurking objections. Add to this some very fine singing, particularly from Michele Angelini’s glorious high tenor as Almaviva, and there is a great deal here to admire and enjoy.

 

Jaromir Weinberger
Orchestral works
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Karl-Heinz Steffens
CPO 777 513-2

It would be easy to dismiss Weinberger as a one-work-wonder but this would be a disservice to his abilities as this new cd shows. We may all know the Polka from Schwanda, the Bagpiper but the excerpts here show the work is full of lovely folk melodies and a creative use of orchestration.

Set alongside the six Bohemian Songs and Dances, and the overture to the ill-fated The Beloved Voice, and we get a sense yet again that the one popular hit can be a mill-stone to a composer who might be much better known without it.

 

Mieczyslaw Weinberg
Chamber symphonies 1 & 3
East-West Chamber Orchestra, Rostislav Krimer
NAXOS 8.574063

I have to admit not knowing Weinberg before encountering this new recording and made the mistake of assuming it was by Weinberger. No connection of course and these lyrical chamber pieces speak eloquently for themselves. The composer did not have an easy time and spent the last years of his life in obscurity, his style now very much out of fashion. Thankfully we are – I hope – more open to recognising quality regardless of whether it happens to be fashionable or not and these are certainly worth following up in their own right.

 

 

A CHANGE OF SEASON FOR THE BRIGHTON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

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The Brighton Phil announces their new season at Brighton Dome: the same excellent orchestra, a new approach to programming. 

The Brighton Philharmonic looks forward to its 2019/20 season in the orchestra’s ‘spiritual home’, the Brighton Dome, with an exciting series of Sunday afternoon concerts that is something of a departure from previous seasons.

Artistic Administrator Ian Brignall explains: “This season is, without doubt, a bit of a change from the norm, with a mix of symphonic repertoire (including the ever-popular New Year’s Eve concert) and concerts showcasing the talents of our wonderful musicians in different sections of the orchestra. We will welcome a superb array of guest artists to perform with us including conductors Natalie Murray-Beale and Stephen Bell, violinist Thomas Gould and soprano Ailish Tynan.”

The Brighton Philharmonic Strings will open the season with the “Violin Operator” Christian Garrick in November playing, amongst other things, the jazz Violin Concerto written for him by Sir John Dankworth, alongside music by Piazzolla, Anne Dudley’s Poldark TV theme and some of Christian’s own compositions.

Our concert on 1 December (dedicated to the memory of Sarah Gershon) includes perennial favourites Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Haydn’s Farewell Symphony.  

Brighton Philharmonic Brass will open the second half of the season in February with a delightful programme of music spanning nearly 500 years, from Purcell’s Trumpet Tune and Air to Chris Hazell’s jazzy, light-hearted Brass Cats suite (loosely based on the cats, all former strays, who were living with him at the time).

We have also gone back to the Society’s roots as a musical promoter, welcoming back the hugely popular piano duo Worbey & Farrell (who closed our 2017/18 season so spectacularly with Carnival of the Animals) at the beginning of March, of whom our own Conductor Laureate Barry Wordsworth has said: “They have an astonishing ability to convey to their audience the joy and fun inherent in making music.”

And, of course, no season would be complete without an appearance by our beloved Barry Wordsworth, who returns to Brighton Dome to conduct the season finale on 29 March, joined by popular regular soloist Thomas Carroll who will perform the wonderful Elgar Cello Concerto.

Describing the changed format for the season Nicolas Chisholm, MBE, Chairman of the Brighton & Hove Philharmonic Society, which manages the orchestra, said: “Our programme is, to some extent, a response to the financial climate; it is an expensive and challenging business to put on a concert season and although the orchestra has benefited over the years from the generous financial support of the John Carewe Brighton Orchestra Trust, as well as the continued support of Brighton Dome, it is simply not economically viable for us to continue to put on large symphonic performances for a whole season.”

He went on to comment that “Equally importantly, however, we wanted to develop an innovative programme that allows our musicians to continue to perform enjoyable music to the very high standard our regular audiences have come to expect, while providing something to attract audiences we may not have reached before. The BPO board is determined that the orchestra will survive and thrive as we approach our centenary six years from now. We are about to embark on an exciting journey, and we are sure we can count on our loyal supporters and Dome audiences to accompany us every step of the way.”

Tickets for the new season will go on sale on Monday 7 October 2019 from Brighton Dome Ticket Office.

Merry Pirates at Opus Theatre in Hastings

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As part of its UK tour in 2019, Merry Opera is coming to the Opus
Theatre in Hastings on Saturday September 21st with an exuberant
production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. Buckle your
swash and enjoy an evening packed full of sentimental pirates,
blundering policemen, absurd adventures, improbable paradoxes –
and realistic women. A cocktail of Victorian light party fun with a
twist of Merry Opera.

Founded by someone who got fed up with falling asleep in operas,
Merry Opera is a professional company that has been touring for
the last 10 years, developing a reputation for staging classic operas
with a cheeky twist. This tour takes us to theatres across the UK, a
Wetherspoon pub in Tunbridge Wells and the Cutty Sark ship in
Greenwich.

 

Opera Now magazine wrote: ‘Merry Opera has a nice line in these
slightly off-beat touring shows, performing them with charm,
energy and wit’. The Daily Telegraph wrote: ‘The future of opera is
being seeded here, and it needs nurturing’.

 

Our singers go on to Glyndebourne, Grange Park, Wexford and
young artists’ programmes in Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Freiburg. The
leading ladies in our la Traviata which we toured to Malaysia in
2012 were snapped up by Wexford and Vienna for that same role.
One of our singers won the UK Bayreuth Wagner prize and has since
sung at the Royal Opera House and the Festival Hall.

 

The Pirates is directed by John Ramster, who trained under Clare
Venables at Glyndebourne and now combines teaching opera
stagecraft at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Guildhall in
London with an international career. His work takes him to Serbia,
Portugal, Denmark, France, Finland and most recently Norway,
where he directed Wagner’s Flying Dutchman, and will take him to
Iceland in 2019. He has created original operas for Merry Opera,
including a staged production of Handel’s Messiah that has been
touring to much acclaim to churches every year since 2011.

 

Argentine Tango at Opus Theatre

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Saturday 7th September 2019

Who would have thought there were so many tango dancers on the south coast? Opus Theatre was near capacity for an extended session which brought us a relaxed introduction to the history of the Tango together with demonstrations and musical examples.

Presented in cooperation with Hastings Tango Club and Casa Tango, much of the afternoon centred on Polo Piatti himself who not only comes from Argentina but has an intimate working knowledge of Tango’s origins and darker secrets – many of which are probably best kept in the dark. He was joined by Dr Graham Whitham, Rosie McAndrew and Philip White from Hastings Tango Club and Phoebe Brown and Paul Nash from Casa Tango, all of whom added their own comments and experience as the session progressed. There were many things which came out of the session which were probably unknown to any of the audience not immediately caught up in the passion of the dance form. The first, and most striking, was the fact that there is no specific way of dancing the tango. It is essentially improvised and demands strong leadership and even more subtle ability on the part of the partner being led. Equally surprisingly, in its earliest form it was danced by men dancing together, without any indication of sexual undertones. There are early photographs of male couples, taken at a time when only women of dubious character would be seen dancing publicly with men.

Another key element was the emergence of Tango from an urban rather than a rural background. It is essentially street dancing, where there is little room for large scale movement or for the formations familiar in many international folk dances.

Many of these factors came together towards the end of the second half when another couple danced on the small platform at the Opus to Polo Piatti improvising a tango at the piano. Neither knew in advance what was coming and it was thrilling to see all three of them responding to the creativity of the others.

Polo has suggested that Opus Theatre might mount a Tango Festival next year – an idea which was universally and enthusiastically received – so we can look forward to that to build on this, highly successful, start.