The (French) Beggar's Opera

[MickyD]

A delightful evening out last night at the little jewel of a theatre in the small town of Tarascon near Arles....a group of youngsters from the local Conservatoire of Music gave their version of Gay's 'Beggar's Opera'...dialogues in French but all the songs in English. They even managed to amass a 30 piece baroque orchestra. It was so nice to see teenagers having so much fun.

Apart from a single CD of extracts, I've never added this work to my shelves. I'm tempted to try the Hyperion version from Jeremy Barlow, featuring the late Bob Hoskins.

[HighlandDougie]

Micky

What a delightful-sounding evening. Were the dialogues in classical French - or had they borrowed some of the local patois, which, given Tarascon/Arles's proximity to Marseille, might have been quite lively? Incidentally, I see that the Roque d'Anthéron programme features a reasonable number of harpsichordists this year, as well as the usual recitals/concerts. I'm starting off with Nelson Freire and taking it from there.

[MickyD]

Hi Dougie,

No, in fact the kids did it in modern French and costume, but it worked very well. I was amazed that such a big baroque band managed to be assembled...they even had a musette on hand! Because of the somewhat shaky, amateur performances, it somehow fitted the piece very well! You would have really enjoyed it, I think, and that little theatre really is worth a visit...so strange to see it in such a small town.

I'd love to go to La Roque this year, but will be in the UK working. I've seen Skip Sempé and Pierre Hantai at the festival before, which was great. Kenneth Weiss should be worth seeing in a Bach programme, I think. Hope you get to some nice concerts!