THE MERRY WIDOW

THE MERRY WIDOW

OperaDella Luna at the Civic Theatre

10.03.12

This popular company brought their Widow, typically pragmatic and slyly inventive, to a Civic packed with their fans [aka "Lunatics"]. Last month, Limassol ...

Lehar's music is given due respect by the eight singers and the colourful band; Jeremy Sam's translation adds an acerbic freshness to a tale that can often seem saccharine and quaint.

The production, by Artistic Director Jeff Clarke, was full of clever ideas, notably here the puppets in the pavilion and the amazingly supple Grisettes in Act III – remember we're looking at a company of eight, with just two women …

Jim Hutchon joined the Lunatics in the Civic Stalls:


The Lunatics were out in force on 10^th March in Chelmsford. These self-styled ‘groupies’ are followers of the glittering ensemble opera group ‘Opera della Luna’ and had gathered in a full house at the Civic for Lehar’s ‘The Merry Widow’.

After more than a hundred years in constant production around the world, it’s hard to imagine anything new can be got from this light-hearted work, but the verve, style and imagination of the group brought a freshness and sparkle to it.

An effortless Trevor Jary hit all the right notes as Count Danilo, the male lead, while his female counterpart with the voice of an angel – the eponymous widow – was Rhona McKail, employing a TOWIE accent to suit her humble origins.

The Director, Jeff Clark (who was also the MD) used his small ensemble of only eight with simple stylish backdrops to create sumptuous scenes of lavish decadence in the mythical pre-WW1 Balkan principality. The highly talented orchestra and cast brought out the drama, humour and tunes to create a whole new view of the work.

Shadow puppets in the summer house and blow-up dolls in a Can-Can are experiences which will live long in the memory.

Essex Symphony Orchestra

BACH, BRAHMS AND TAYLOR

Essex Symphony Orchestra at Christ Church

03.03.12

The Storr is a spectacular rocky hill on the Isle of Skye. It was the inspiration for Matthew Taylor's symphonic poem, commissioned by the Essex Symphony Orchestra to celebrate their sixtieth anniversary.

Not an easy climb, and a challenging workout for the orchestra, led by Philippa Barton and conducted by Tom Hammond, who was the driving force behind the commission. But it was an impressive sound picture, an ever-changing panorama with lyrical passages on the flute and a vigorous closing fugue, a depiction of the vista from the peak.

Part of the raison d'etre of "Storr" was to create a companion piece to Brahms' Fourth Symphony, completing the ESO's programming of the cycle. Some very polished playing here, from the confident conversation of the strings in the opening Allegro to the bold build-up of the Finale [energico e passionato] through the sheer fun of the Scherzo, with a full, colourful orchestral palette: three basses and a contrabassoon at one extreme and a plucky triangle at the other.

The concert opened with Bach's Third Orchestral Suite: a lilting Gigue to end, after the bright resounding brass and urgent strings of the Overture.

OEDIPUSSY

OEDIPUSSY

at the New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich

07.03.2012

for The Public Reviews

We can never know how the Ancients would have experienced Sophocles on stage. But it's a fair bet that the knockabout tragedy now touring under the Spymonkey flag is true to the original only in the broadest sense.

Yes, the age-old story is clearly told, from the curse of Laius to the blinding of Oedipus. But the telling is interlaced with physical comedy and silliness of all kinds, and knowing nods to genres and geniuses galore: Pythons, Tati, Bond movies, panto, seventies sci-fi, the National Theatre of Brent ...

Not easy to encapsulate this unique experience in a few words; impossible to explain how it manages to be both coherent and chaotic, hubristic and hilarious.

The set is simple, starkly white, with tall narrow doors in a kind of colonnade – much fun is had with costumes, headdresses and props just too wide for the aperture. Another running gag – no surprise to Wolsey regulars – has our four players struggling to find the way into the upstage wings.

They spend most of the show in "space nappies", with huge bin-like headgear. But there are Trekkie frocks, too, and the inspired "winding sheets" in the opening narrative.

The two shepherds – Lucky of Thebes and Plucky of Corinth – owe something to the Comedy of Errors. They are superbly done by Aitor Basauri, in his sheep costume and his wig/beard. Aitor also did Merope [in his native Castilian], Laius, and a dire stand-up routine, desperately hoping for some "hacklers".

Inner monolgues are a feature. Petra Massey gives us too much information, Managing Artistic Director Toby Park, in his "don't-tell-the-others" moment, bitterly regrets his wasted life, and Stephan Kreiss angrily anticipates his half-century [in Lancaster] and plans a German version of this very show [now that I would love to see ...].

Many of the routines are classic fare – the torture of Tiresias – the singing lepers [beautifully realised, incidentally] are about as edgy as it gets. The music, Samuel Barber aside, is enjoyable pastiche, with live sax and vocals over the backing track, especially the title number, redolent of those over-blown rock operas that once filled our stadiums, and the "Known You All My Life" climax of our hero's rather sweet meeting with Jocasta.

Emma [Kneehigh] Rice's production has lots of clever comedy [the cat, the ball of wool, the sack] and quick visual gags [the sacrifice put to good use as a designer bag], not forgetting the self-referential asides: never try to have a conversation with a dramatic device.

The final blinding, though, with blood cascading down and spreading across the stage, would be effective in any version.

"Nobody Does It Better" over the curtain call; certainly true of these consummate clowns, skilfully subverting one of the greatest dramas in the canon. Who on earth could find them "middle-aged and safe"?

spymonkey presents oedipussy from Patrick Schulenburg on Vimeo.

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

COME AND SING ELIJAH

COME AND SING ELIJAH

at Chelmsford Cathedral

25.02.12

Mendelssohn's great biblical oratorio has always been a favourite with choirs and their audiences since its Birmingham première.

So it was a happy, if ambitious, choice for Chelmsford Cathedral's Choral Foundation – a performance from scratch with just a few hours' rehearsal.

Not the whole epic, of course, but sixty-five minutes of choruses and solos, mainly from the first part. An informal event, with a choir who turned out for the sheer joy of singing.

Well over a hundred singers turned up, and they made an impressive sound, conducted by Peter Nardone. The men, though fewer in number, particularly effective from the sides of the nave. A powerful opening chorus, the soaring lines of "Yet Doth the Lord", and an enthusiastic response to the exhortation "Call Him Louder": this Baal sequence also tested the stamina of accompanist Iain Farrington playing a demanding piano reduction.

The four soloists were treble Cameron Rosie, soprano Ruth Gomme, tenor Mark McCloskey [a superb "If With All Your Hearts"] and bass Simon Warne, bringing power and gravitas to the huge role of the prophet himself.

The next Choral Foundation event, supporting the work of the Cathedral's excellent music department, will be Crown Imperial on May 26, featuring music from the Queen's Coronation sixty years ago.

SCIENCE MUSEUM LIVE

SCIENCE MUSEUM LIVE

at the Civic Theatre

24.02.12

"Do you have a pacemaker?" ask the health-and-safety-conscious house staff. No, but I do have O-level physics, so no trouble recalling the neon-lit LIGHT, NUCLEAR, ELECTRICAL, KINETIC, POTENTIAL, HEAT, SOUND, and CHEMICAL as types of energy. Our old science teacher enjoyed a good explosion, but of course lacked the resources and the performing skills to keep us hooked for a couple of hours …

Mark and Mandy, from the Science Museum, started their spectacular show with a giant pinball chain reaction, using the amazing stage set which included a Tardis-style South Kensington portal. A golden ticket, a puff of smoke and we were off on an experience which included methane bubbles, air cannon, static electricity, frictional phonebooks, a working hovercraft and lots of "loud and dangerous" bangs.

I liked the video link to Prince Albert, though there was perhaps a little too much advertising for the Museum. Highlights of the live show were Hooke and Newton slugging it out, the tee-shirt trebuchet, the frozen flowers.

Good to hear the hordes of kids shouting out "Isaac Newton", and to see the audience so involved with the action. They were asked to write invention ideas in Albert's book, and came up with, among many others, the voice-box remote control, and the intriguing pickled-onion converter.