Britten

[silvestrione]

Yes, I agree Ronay is a very good sports writer, ranging from hilarious to trenchant, and managing to keep an even keel, morally, in, what he will often remind you is, a suspect world. Therefore I think his response here is valuable, hard-hitting, honest and direct. I have not seen this production, but it does make me suspect that it is in the current trend of a director intervening unsubtly. An onstage rape!

[oliver sudden]

I suspected the same until I read the other reviews. Would very much welcome input from anyone who’s seen it!

[Master Jacques]

Yes, I agree Ronay is a very good sports writer, ranging from hilarious to trenchant, and managing to keep an even keel, morally, in, what he will often remind you is, a suspect world. Therefore I think his response here is valuable, hard-hitting, honest and direct. I have not seen this production, but it does make me suspect that it is in the current trend of a director intervening unsubtly. An onstage rape!

The trouble is, that this particular reviewer doesn't have the experience to separate the production from the work. In a word, he didn't prepare himself for the experience by doing any homework, expecting to be spoon-fed as a modern "consumer". This is the curse of lazy, modern opera-going and opera-production. Added to which, the music clearly meant nothing to him whatsoever. He had not the faintest inkling of the musical masterwork he was there to experience. As a result his silly pensées are not worth reading, a classic example of the superficial, arrogant bigotry of populist journalism.

[Ein Heldenleben]

The trouble is, that this particular reviewer doesn't have the experience to separate the production from the work. In a word, he didn't prepare himself for the experience by doing any homework, expecting to be spoon-fed as a modern "consumer". This is the curse of lazy, modern opera-going and opera-production. Added to which, the music clearly meant nothing to him whatsoever. He had not the faintest inkling of the musical masterwork he was there to experience. As a result his silly pensées are not worth reading, a classic example of the superficial, arrogant bigotry of populist journalism.

Yes indeed . You wouldn’t go to a football match without understanding the rules would you ? It’s an insult really.

Extraordinary the way Britten gets inside the James tale and produces something even more creepy. Just one tiny detail - Those demonic piano scales that Miles practises …rings true for any child pianist made to endure them.
Can’t hear the words “easy to take “ without shuddering.

[Hitch]

The days of Neville Cardus seem far away.