Hugely absorbed by Prom 45, (19 Aug), a platform performance of Janacek's The Makropulos Affair with a mainly Czech cast,and Jiri Belohlavek at the helm on the podium. So many memories of Charles Mackerras leading in this repertoire at the ENO and his indispensable Decca recordings,guiding me through an enticing learning curve.
Makropulos is a complex work and several nuances nagged at me for a couple of weeks until I realised I had a DVD, from an off-air video, circa 1995, on the shelves, in the well-remembered and much lamented 'C4 Goes to Glyndebourne' series, succinct intros by Michael Berkeley - on this occasion sited against a wintry Sussex setting more suited to Ingmar Bergman's, The Seventh Seal, eager for a game of chess!
LPO/ Andrew Davis, richly accompanying a production free from directorial concepts and an a complicit trust in the work; Nikolaus Lehnhoff, director, with tv director, Brian Large, reflecting the confidence of the production, encased in designer, Tobias Hoheisel's dominating legal setting, several thousand files with simiar covers, lining the ice-blue walls beginning to crack with the time scale of Emilia Marty's demise after more than 300 years, surviving on an elixir. Anja Silia get a rare accolade from me, a truly great performance of someone who has felt the touch of death with a terrible feeling of loneliness. Heart rending and many of the complexities instantly resolved by subtitles. A splendid supporting cast;
Kim Begley, (Albert Gregor), Victor Braun, (Baron Prus), Andrew Shore, (Dr Kolenaty),Anthony Roden, (Vitek), Robert Tear, (Hauk-Sendorf) and Manuela Kriscak, (Kristina).
A NVC Arts Production for C4 and I hope it is still available.
Makropulos is a complex work and several nuances nagged at me for a couple of weeks until I realised I had a DVD, from an off-air video, circa 1995, on the shelves, in the well-remembered and much lamented 'C4 Goes to Glyndebourne' series, succinct intros by Michael Berkeley - on this occasion sited against a wintry Sussex setting more suited to Ingmar Bergman's, The Seventh Seal, eager for a game of chess!
LPO/ Andrew Davis, richly accompanying a production free from directorial concepts and an a complicit trust in the work; Nikolaus Lehnhoff, director, with tv director, Brian Large, reflecting the confidence of the production, encased in designer, Tobias Hoheisel's dominating legal setting, several thousand files with simiar covers, lining the ice-blue walls beginning to crack with the time scale of Emilia Marty's demise after more than 300 years, surviving on an elixir. Anja Silia get a rare accolade from me, a truly great performance of someone who has felt the touch of death with a terrible feeling of loneliness. Heart rending and many of the complexities instantly resolved by subtitles. A splendid supporting cast;
Kim Begley, (Albert Gregor), Victor Braun, (Baron Prus), Andrew Shore, (Dr Kolenaty),Anthony Roden, (Vitek), Robert Tear, (Hauk-Sendorf) and Manuela Kriscak, (Kristina).
A NVC Arts Production for C4 and I hope it is still available.
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