Repeat of Bridcut's 'Britten's Endgame', BBC4 tonight.

[Pulcinella]

I have one query - about the scenes from Death in Venice with von Aschenbach in front of a back projection. Does anyone know whether this was (from) a semi-staged performance, or set up purely for the film?

I wondered that at first too, but then thought that it must have been set up just for the film, as some of what was being projected did not (at least to me) seem relevant to the opera at times.
I enjoyed the film on the whole, though found some of the chronology not well explained (it jumped around a bit too much for my liking) and the filming of the excerpts from Sacred and Profane was very odd (to me, anyway!).
Very gracious of HM the Queen Mother to be so kind about her Birthday Hansel.
I would have thought that she would have preferred a case of gin.

[kernelbogey]

I wondered that at first too, but then thought that it must have been set up just for the film, as some of what was being projected did not (at least to me) seem relevant to the opera at times.....

That was also the conclusion that I came to, as it sometimes had shots of Britten himself in the back-projection; though you never know what opera directors will try....

The variety of those interviewed worked well, especially where their answers to the same question were edited together.

[Richard Tarleton]

Sue Phipps's story about showing her wicked stepmother over the house was, once again, spine-chilling in its possible consequences.

[Mary Chambers]

Sue Phipps's story about showing her wicked stepmother over the house was, once again, spine-chilling in its possible consequences.

Spine-chilling in what it says about attitudes, too. I think she said in a different interview that her stepmother then lectured her for an hour and a half about the wickedness of homosexuality.