A Midsummer Night's Dream..on 21st Dec !!

[ardcarp]

Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream begins Live from the Met at 6pm on Radio 3 tonight. IMHO it is Britten's most 'accessible' opera, wonderfully scored, and our very own Iestyn DAvies will be Oberon. Presumably a local kids' choir will be involved.

[DracoM]

NYC. I think? Met?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Met performance is conducted by James Conlon..

The most accessible? I wouldn't have said so, until I took my daughter to see an Opera North production. She was so taken with it that she asked whether it was the best opera ever written. Praise indeed.

[cloughie]

Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream begins Live from the Met at 6pm on Radio 3 tonight. IMHO it is Britten's most 'accessible' opera, wonderfully scored, and our very own Iestyn DAvies will be Oberon. Presumably a local kids' choir will be involved.

I guess it is more topical in Australia.

[Quarky]

Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream begins Live from the Met at 6pm on Radio 3 tonight. IMHO it is Britten's most 'accessible' opera, wonderfully scored, and our very own Iestyn DAvies will be Oberon. Presumably a local kids' choir will be involved.

"most accessible"? Yes I would agree with that, for listeners like me, who have developed an obsessive reaction to Britten's extra-musical personality.

"Wonderfully scored"? Yes I would agree with that. A welcome change to the Italianate Blockbusters.

But what happened to the new Saturday schedule?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

NYC. I think? Met?

Well Met by moonlight?

[LeMartinPecheur]

I'm interested in the way there seems to be a decision to do the work in English rather than American. I realise that there's a good scattering of true Brits in the cast, but also apparently plenty of Statesiders working to suppress their native twang.

I suppose that absolute 'authenticity' requires an English accent somewhere between London/ Warwickshire(?) c1600 and C20/21 London/ Suffolk (more the latter I'd hope), but would (eg) an all-US cast need to attempt this?

[Mary Chambers]

Presumably a local kids' choir will be involved.

It's the Met Opera Children's Chorus, and very good they are - which is more than can be said for the radio presentation.

[Mary Chambers]

I'm interested in the way there seems to be a decision to do the work in English rather than American. I realise that there's a good scattering of true Brits in the cast, but also apparently plenty of Statesiders working to suppress their native twang.

I suppose that absolute 'authenticity' requires an English accent somewhere between London/ Warwickshire(?) c1600 and C20/21 London/ Suffolk (more the latter I'd hope), but would (eg) an all-US cast need to attempt this?

They're trying to sing the English accent Britten set - his own and Pears's rather than Shakespeare's, I think. They aren't doing too bad a job on the whole.

[gamba]

cannot bear the sound of excessive vibrato/warble from singers, especially sopranos, so switched off.

[mercia]

I never have any problems with the Met radio presentation - are there factual inaccuracies in what they're saying ?

[Mary Chambers]

I never have any problems with the Met radio presentation - are there factual inaccuracies in what they're saying ?

I didn't notice any, though I may have forgotten. My objection was that it just seemed infantile. It was mostly a description of the plot.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

My objection was that it just seemed infantile. It was mostly a description of the plot.

Ah! That's Shakespeare for you.

[DracoM]

And the deeply, deeply toe-curling interview with Titania - all about how shy she was, and how did she manage to sing so high?!! FGS............

[Stanley Stewart]

Romeo: "Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace,
Thou talk'st of nothing.

Mercutio: True, I talk of dreams..." Act I, Sc iv