Birtwistle Double Bill (The Corridor & The Cure)
Harrison Birtwistle: Scenas : The Corridor (2009) & The Cure (2015)
Eurydice/Medea..... Elizabeth Atherton (soprano)
Orpheus/Jason/Aeson...... Mark Padmore (tenor)
members of the London Sinfonietta conducted by Geoffrey Paterson
Recorded at the Linbury StudioTheatre, Covent Garden
Just a "Heads-Up" to Boarders on this bathetic Prom weekend dominated by "10 Pieces" aimed at musical tyros rather than the "creme de la creme" of Radio 3 listeners.
I thought that this double bill was like a double G&T - a real tonic. Superbly sung, played and conducted, it show-cased two pieces of echt-third period Birtwistle in interpretations that I cannot imagine being bettered. Gosh, these scores are so lyrical, so packed with invention, that they riveted me to my seat and the day's washing up was forgotten.
Of course, this is a confirmed Birtwistle camp-follower writing to you, someone who first heard a score (was it his opus 1?) and saw the man himself at a Barber Institute concert over 50 years ago. I know that many boarders, scarred by encounters with "difficult" or "granitic" works from Harrison's early maturity, have become scared to revisit his music, but let me tell you that his final (?) period flowering shows Birtwistle's melodic brilliance; some of his harder edges have been rounded by the sands of time. His mastery of form and function remain undimmed. The works have a sub-text: would it really be a delight to be young and fair, again? These pieces are top drawer Birtwistle and show the composer embued with the wisdom of age. These terrific performances will, I feel, assuage some Birtwistle doubters.
Does the writer have no doubts? Just one - these pieces worked so well as "Radio Operas" - but would I have enjoyed them as much live in the Linbury Studio? I didn't feel that I was missing a dimension - would the visual element have been a bonus or a nuisance?
Eurydice/Medea..... Elizabeth Atherton (soprano)
Orpheus/Jason/Aeson...... Mark Padmore (tenor)
members of the London Sinfonietta conducted by Geoffrey Paterson
Recorded at the Linbury StudioTheatre, Covent Garden
Just a "Heads-Up" to Boarders on this bathetic Prom weekend dominated by "10 Pieces" aimed at musical tyros rather than the "creme de la creme" of Radio 3 listeners.
I thought that this double bill was like a double G&T - a real tonic. Superbly sung, played and conducted, it show-cased two pieces of echt-third period Birtwistle in interpretations that I cannot imagine being bettered. Gosh, these scores are so lyrical, so packed with invention, that they riveted me to my seat and the day's washing up was forgotten.
Of course, this is a confirmed Birtwistle camp-follower writing to you, someone who first heard a score (was it his opus 1?) and saw the man himself at a Barber Institute concert over 50 years ago. I know that many boarders, scarred by encounters with "difficult" or "granitic" works from Harrison's early maturity, have become scared to revisit his music, but let me tell you that his final (?) period flowering shows Birtwistle's melodic brilliance; some of his harder edges have been rounded by the sands of time. His mastery of form and function remain undimmed. The works have a sub-text: would it really be a delight to be young and fair, again? These pieces are top drawer Birtwistle and show the composer embued with the wisdom of age. These terrific performances will, I feel, assuage some Birtwistle doubters.
Does the writer have no doubts? Just one - these pieces worked so well as "Radio Operas" - but would I have enjoyed them as much live in the Linbury Studio? I didn't feel that I was missing a dimension - would the visual element have been a bonus or a nuisance?
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Stayed listening, I did enjoy it and I'm not a Birtwistle fan at all. Definitely worth a listen for those who missed it.
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