A Night at the Opera

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

A wonderful read, IGI, even though I'm not likely to get there to see the performance. Thanks very much.

It's being broadcast on the big screen in Bristol* on Wednesday 30th May, ff, and there's to be a BBC Radio 3 broadcast on 30th June, so plenty of opportunities to catch up with it one way or another.

I enjoyed it so much, I'm going again!

* Other venues are available.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Anyone able to get to Grange Park Opera here in darkest Hampshire should try and get to their production of Madama Butterfly:

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=714:madama-butterfly-grange-park-opera-31st-may-2012&catid=8:opera-reviews&Itemid=16

[Dave2002]

La Perichole at Garsington/Wormsley is great fun, and very well done. If you can get tickets (bit pricey...!!) think about taking a coat/rug for later in the evening. There were tickets available for some performances until recently.

OK - it's not Verdi or Wagner, and the music doesn't take you to the heights of Messiaen or Mahler, but it's a fun evening out. Unlike Glyndebourne, Garsington/Wormsley provides tents complete with tables and chairs, so if you take a picnic you don't have to take all the clobber. There are even some scout people who will help you to move your remaining picnic stuff to a tent. Currently they appreciate a small (at least) tip as they're planning a trip to Iceland.

One surprise for me was that it is sung in English. I'm not sure if that is the case for all Garsington productions.
Then again, it has been done that way elsewhere and in another continent - http://open.spotify.com/track/6jpXoJmbdNYl6eidPpEqgs - though with a surprisingly English sounding cast.

The opera pavilion is a DIY flat pack job - not quite self erect, and not quite suitable for every garden. Can be stowed away for winter - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...y-review.html# [from 2011]

Seems it has won RIBA awards, and has been nominated for the Stirling Prize - http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/...-riba-winners/

For some reason I'm now listening to songs like this - http://open.spotify.com/track/6STROHfavXLkwArFPWKbSU

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

La Perichole at Garsington/Wormsley is great fun, and very well done. If you can get tickets (bit pricey...!!) think about taking a coat/rug for later in the evening. There were tickets available for some performances until recently.

The Festivals have taken a collective hit with the poor weather. I was at Holland Park yesterday and they were saying how, although there is a very loyal audience, they've missed out on the 'passing trade' element they usually pick up. Anyway, for those prepared for the British 'summer', i.e. rug/ blanket/ scarf/ Thermos flask, OHP's new production of Onegin is extremely fine:

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=740:yevgeny-onegin-opera-holland-park-13th-july-2012-&catid=8:opera-reviews&Itemid=16

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Well, the new season is under way! I've just returned from the first night of Martinů's Julietta at ENO. Here's my hastily penned review:

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=777:julietta-english-national-opera-17th-september-2012&catid=8:opera-reviews&Itemid=16

It's such a surreal opera and so suited to Richard Jones to direct. Although the production has been around for a while - it premiered in Paris in 2002 - it's well worth catching one of the remaining five performances.

[french frank]

I like the idea of the Richard Jones bingo card ...

I've been trying to get hold of a copy of Neveux's novel. It seems a bit like late symbolism, a world similar to Rodenbach's Bruges-la-Mort - Korngold's Die tote Stadt, composed at the beginning of that same inter-war period as Martinu's opera.

[The last role I saw Peter Hoare in was WNO's Hansel and Gretel, also directed by Richard Jones, libretto translated by David Pountney.]

[aeolium]

Thanks for the review, IGI, and the pictures of the set. Every opera review should have pictures!

I hope R3 will be recording one of the performances for broadcast.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I like the idea of the Richard Jones bingo card ...

Concept created by Ruth (from the old BBC boards) - it features classic Jones tics: gaudy wallpaper, jerky choral choreography, animal masks, piles of books etc - taken up by many, including The Times' Neil Fisher.

Thanks for the review, IGI, and the pictures of the set. Every opera review should have pictures!

I hope R3 will be recording one of the performances for broadcast.

Thanks. I think production photographs really add something to reviews, which is why we usually include several at Opera Britannia.

Fingers crossed for a Radio 3 relay - it's such a rarity that I would be surprised if it was completely ignored by the Beeb.

[Bryn]

Concept created by Ruth (from the old BBC boards) - it features classic Jones tics: gaudy wallpaper, jerky choral choreography, animal masks, piles of books etc - taken up by many, including The Times' Neil Fisher.



Thanks. I think production photographs really add something to reviews, which is why we usually include several at Opera Britannia.

Fingers crossed for a Radio 3 relay - it's such a rarity that I would be surprised if it was completely ignored by the Beeb.

They did broadcast the Anthony Besch directed production in 1978, the David Pountney production for Opera North in 2002/3 and, of course, the concert performance of Juliette from the Barbican in 2009. Let's hope indeed that this newer production also gets broadcast, though a BBC Four broadcast is far too much to hope for.

Oh dear, if last night's Night Waves is anything to go by, there will be no Radio 3 relay. At least, no mention of anything of the sort was made during their piece on the E.N.O. production.

[aeolium]

Why has ENO not ventured into the field of live cinecasting or webcasting performances, as the Met, the Royal Opera and Glyndebourne have done? Even if there are financial and technical challenges in this, could they not do it in partnership with another media organisation (as Glyndebourne did with the Guardian earlier this year)? Surely this route, rather than relying on the uncertain involvement of the BBC, is the way towards finding a greater audience for the ENO's productions?

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Why has ENO not ventured into the field of live cinecasting or webcasting performances, as the Met, the Royal Opera and Glyndebourne have done? Even if there are financial and technical challenges in this, could they not do it in partnership with another media organisation (as Glyndebourne did with the Guardian earlier this year)? Surely this route, rather than relying on the uncertain involvement of the BBC, is the way towards finding a greater audience for the ENO's productions?

John Berry, ENO's artistic director, has been rather dismissive of opera via the cinema:

http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/36085/eno-chief-claims-opera-screenings-dont

I think he's right in that cinema screenings don't necessarily translate into more 'bums on seats' in the opera house. Whenever I attend an opera relay, I don't discern operatic newbies, but an older generation of opera lovers who, talking to them, are no longer able or willing to travel to London to see live opera. However, it is a way to generate interest and share the good work a company does with a wider audience who cannot attend in person. I would suggest that if it does want to create a new audience via the cinema, opera companies may wish to charge something less than - on average - £28 a ticket.

[aeolium]

I think that's a rather negative attitude on the part of John Berry, though he does acknowledge the success of the Met's screenings. I don't really see how it could NOT attract some new interest in opera rather than simply those who are already interested in opera but are unable to travel to London. How would people in Wrexham for instance, who are going to be able to see ROH productions on cinema, have the chance to see live opera otherwise without very expensive travel/overnight stays etc? The attitude seems to be saying: "You come to us - we will not come to you", which I'm not sure is a great one to have these days. Would you really say that the gramophone had not created a new audience apart from those who were able to go to concerts?

My experience of seeing opera live in cinema, generally Met productions (though also, wonderfully, the McVicar Glyndebourne production of Giulio Cesare) has been good. The last one I saw, the Met Walküre, was well attended with people from all age groups. Some evidently were opera regulars but I don't think all were. The sound quality was extremely good and it was better visually than some live opera experiences I have had, where the view was not ideal (though I'm still not keen on close-ups of singers).

By the way, is that really right about £28 per ticket? The Met productions in the cinemas near where I live are £15 per ticket (last year £12). I don't know about ROH prices as their productions are not being screened in my area. The Glyndebourne Giulio Cesare was £10, though some years back.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

If you're anywhere near Glyndebourne Touring Opera's trail this autumn - Norwich, Wimbledon, Plymouth, Canterbury, Milton Keynes - I urge you to catch their revival of Melly Still's production of Rusalka. I netted her in the unlikely realms of Woking yesterday evening and found it rather wonderful:

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=805:rusalka-glyndebourne-touring-opera-24th-october-2012-&catid=8:opera-reviews&Itemid=16

[David-G]

It was absolutely superb! Supremely beautiful and very emotional music, wonderful singing (especially Natasha Jouhl !!), imaginative and beautiful production tightly related to the music. Handkerchief definitely needed. Very highly recommended.

[french frank]

Norwich, Wimbledon, Plymouth, Canterbury, Milton Keynes