Live in Concert: BBCScottish S O: Rachmaninoff and Wagner: Thursday 27 September

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Three!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... but HS is quite right: Wagner didn't intend his works to be heard in this way. Sadly, there seem to be so very few singers who have the voices to carry across a stage and over an orchestra pit without shreiking and/or skwarking. Putting them in front of the orchestra (I originally wrote "Musicians" which shows my priorities!) is a way of ensuring that they sing the notes, rather than shout them.

And, at least in Leeds, the semi-staged production ensured that the singers weren't "on a level" all the time. And Richard Farnes' grasp of the Music! And that superb orchestra!!

[amateur51]

... but HS is quite right: Wagner didn't intend his works to be heard in this way.

True, he intended them to be heard in a building he created on a hill in Bayreuth but I'll wait a lifetime to get a ticket for that, so Leeds Town Hall does just fine

[Roehre]

... but HS is quite right: Wagner didn't intend his works to be heard in this way. ....

No. But he did not intend them being produced in the way many directors nowadays think they should either

[Pianorak]

. . . I'd go so far as to say that I prefer my Ring done this way these days because you don't have to cope with the diector's imagination and the whole thing tends to move along at a cracking pace

In other words: Good-bye to Gesamtkunstwerk.

[amateur51]

No. But he did not intend them being produced in the way many directors nowadays think they should either

[amateur51]

In other words: Good-bye to Gesamtkunstwerk.

Good-bye to Gesamtkunstwerk, Farewell Leicester Square, It's A Long Long Way to Götterdämmerung, But My Heart's Right There

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Good-bye to Gesamtkunstwerk, Farewell Leicester Square, It's A Long Long Way to Götterdämmerung, But My Heart's Right There

... and the use of video projection in Leeds adds a little more "gesam" to the "kunstwerk"!

[Colonel Danby]

I don't have anything against concert performances of operatic works, even single acts or heaven forfend "bleeding chunks", but I don't think you can beat a visit to the opera house for a staged version of the whole thing. I too was there for Haitink's concert adaptation of the whole 'Ring' cycle over 6 days in Birmingham while the House was closed (1997?) with a stellar cast including Jerusalem, big John Tomlinson etc but it wasn't as sensational as Uncle Bernie's Covent Garden performances actually on stage at the ROH, my first complete Ring thing done over a year, even if the director was Richard Jones, and I had to stand up for the whole cycle. Unbelievable, with 'Rhinegold' and 'Wälkure' done on successive nights.

[Flosshilde]

Act 2 coming up on Thursday. I've booked for it, but have a nasty cough which probably won't be clear in time . What do I do - stay at home & listen on the radio, or go, & sit at the back so I can make a quick exit it I'm overcome (with the need to cough, not with emotion)? Unfortunately there aren't any loud bits I can use to hide my cough in.

[amateur51]

Act 2 coming up on Thursday. I've booked for it, but have a nasty cough which probably won't be clear in time . What do I do - stay at home & listen on the radio, or go, & sit at the back so I can make a quick exit it I'm overcome (with the need to cough, not with emotion)? Unfortunately there aren't any loud bits I can use to hide my cough in.

Am I right that you've had this cough for a while, Flossie?

Or is it a new one?

Or am I mistaken?

Whatever, if you've got a cough, I hope that you get over it soon & that you enjoy the performance

[Flosshilde]

A new one, started last Monday. I did have a cold about 3 weeks ago - I'm not sure if it went away, or if I managed to suppres it because I was very busy & it's now come out again.

[Dave2002]

:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

re Rachmaninov Isle of the Dead

(Is there a smiley for this on this site?)

[amateur51]

A new one, started last Monday. I did have a cold about 3 weeks ago - I'm not sure if it went away, or if I managed to suppres it because I was very busy & it's now come out again.

Take lots of unwrapped sweets & hope that the magic of Wagner cures you

[cloughie]

Take lots of unwrapped sweets & hope that the magic of Wagner cures you

...and no Tchaicoughsky!