Prom 21 - 2.08.14: Kiss Me, Kate

[Ferretfancy]

Curious to see your reference to seeing Oklahoma! at the Coliseum, Ff, but realised it was probably a slip of the pen when you referred to it as new. The original production was, in fact, staged at Drury Lane Theatre, circa 1946, and transferred for several years to the even more cavernous Stoll Theatre, Kingsway, where I first saw it.

During my stint of National Service in the early 50s, followed by frequent visits to London before I took residence for 30 years, I recall regular visits to the Coliseum before Sadler's Wells moved in, 1968; Annie Get Your Gun - the wonderful Dolores Gray - Call me Madam, Guys & Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, Kiss me Kate - all with a few of the original Broadway cast - Damn Yankees, The Pyjama Game etc. Amplification? A few mics along the 'floats' but most of the players knew how to project but this was an era where a piercing "SPEAK UP" from the auditorium greeted any mumbling.

I also recall a later production of Oklahoma! at the Palace Theatre, early 80s, with Alfred Molina, a scary Judd! Best of all, I remember Trevor Nunn's staging at the Olivier, NT, in 1998 and still give it an outing on DVD.

My serious memory slip! It must have been Drury Lane and not the Coliseum. I remember it was a certain Harold Keel, who had I think taken over from Alfred Drake. As a 12 year old, the sight of the naughty postcard ladies on Judd's wall coming to life rather impressed me, but I was probably more taken by the clowning of Ali Hakim!
I also remember the 1980s Alfred Molina production.

[Ferretfancy]

I was in the Arena just to one side of the camera platform which must have blocked the view for many. It was a hugely enjoyable evening, especially as were were well placed to see the little touches added by the performers as well as the main action. I always have a problem with sound reinforcement on the vocals in this hall, and it was too high last night, so that the orchestra were rather covered from our vantage point. That said, it went with a terrific swing, and all the players seemed to be enjoying themselves while executing some tricky moves on the stage which projected forwards from the usual orchestra boundary

Excellent choreography added a great deal to the show, and Tony Yazbeck as Lucentio also gave us a an excellent tap routine. Alexandra Silber was good, although she had been encouraged to shriek a bit too much, even as a shrew!

All in all, this was another John Wilson triumph and an exhilarating evening. Now for Shostakovich 4 on Tuesday!

[amateur51]

. Now for Shostakovich 4 on Tuesday!

I envy you Ferret - what a programme that is. Shame it's not being televised but the audio will do

[Dave2002]

I envy you Ferret - what a programme that is. Shame it's not being televised but the audio will do

I think there are still seats left, and one can always queue and prom. When was Petrenko substituted for Bychkov? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/...ugust-05/14996

I'm sure I heard a BBC announcer saying it was Bychkov only a couple of days ago - maybe it's a recent change.

[jean]

Before July 29th - see #4 here.

[Pianorak]

No-one should be a professional singer if they need a microphone.

I entirely agree with that!

[french frank]

Interesting comparisons, but doesn't that argument depend on there being uniformity of style within each genre? Which there surely is not. If one can say "I like opera but not musicals because of the stylistic differences" what about the stylistic differences between, say, Doctor Atomic and The Coronation of Poppea? Or between Show Boat and The Phantom of the Opera? It's all a matter of degree.

Then think of it as a continuum. You can jump on and off as your taste dictates, on for Monteverdi, off for Mozart, on for Verdi, off for Adams &.. If you stop jumping on at a particular point, travelling in either direction, yes, it says more about your taste than 'differences', if you wish - but it isn't that people like/dislike the work because it's opera, Verdi or musical, Porter, Lloyd Webber, or because a label has been slapped on it - as some would try to argue: it's because they hear and like or hear and don't like. De gustibus &c.

I saw the film of Kiss Me Kate many years ago, and I remember enough (echoes of the Brush up your Shakespeare routine, I hate men, Always true to you dahlin' in my fashion) to know that I'm not sufficiently attracted to that 'sub-genre of opera' to want to hear it again.

[jean]

Then think of it as a continuum...

Even more so if you remember Operetta - a genre almost forgotten here, but not in Eastern Europe.

[MrGongGong]

I would take the opposite view. No-one should be a professional singer if they need a microphone.

Utter nonsense, there are many ways to sing
some involve using microphones
some involve find an acoustic like the Wigmore Hall
and some involve having a few pints and serenading passers by on the way home

[Nick Armstrong]

Even more so if you remember Operetta - a genre almost forgotten here, but not in Eastern Europe.

Thank the Lord I live here then...

[Dave2002]

I saw the film of Kiss Me Kate many years ago, and I remember enough (echoes of the Brush up your Shakespeare routine, I hate men, Always true to you dahlin' in my fashion) to know that I'm not sufficiently attracted to that 'sub-genre of opera' to want to hear it again.

I would hope that last night's live performance in the hall would have at least countered some of that view. However, I would say that on film, or TV, or done in less than outstanding productions your judgement would largely coincide with mine.

Also, I think mostly one doesn't listen over and over to musicals, though some perhaps do. Some operas do stand a lot of repeated listening, though not all.

Musicals may be a "thing of the moment" giving a short lived pleasure - but nevertheless it can be pleasure. Also, as with theatre, some of the better ones do come up differently, and with renewed interest, in different productions.

[Dave2002]

Utter nonsense, there are many ways to sing
some involve using microphones
some involve find an acoustic like the Wigmore Hall
and some involve having a few pints and serenading passers by on the way home

Indeed.

I did see a brave bass-baritone singer busking in Leatherhead a few days ago, I think singling mainly Welsh songs, but he has apparently
performed in operas, including Die Meistersinger, and also sang in Hungary.

Back to last night's performance - there was no way I could imagine any singer, however good and well trained coping with the RAH in
the production as it was without some amplification. Microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers etc. are simply tools, which may be of service to music, just
as new instruments allow composers to express themselves in different ways.

[french frank]

I would hope that last night's live performance in the hall would have at least countered some of that view.

The key fact is that it's something other than the quality of the material or the performance. Enjoyment seems to be of different kinds - a glass of brandy, a walk in the country, a Beethoven string quartet, an Agatha Christie novel, a game of squash - the sensation of enjoyment is not of the same kind in each case, and you can grow sick, tired, bored with/of some things and not of others. Perhaps it was a surfeit of musicals when I was in my 20s - because that was what I would have been most likely to listen to, more likely than classical music; just as ten years before it was pop music. I would rather sit in a totally empty, silent room than listen to pop, rock or musicals. As I've said - that says something about me, nothing about the music. The very sensation which gives some people pleasure is positively unpleasant to me.

[Dave2002]

I hardly ever listen to Mahler nowadays. I simply think about the symphonies, then the music starts playing in my head, then I decide that I don't really want to hear it either recorded or live again. I will get round to Mahler again, eventually, but I'm not intending to spend a lot of time on it until then. In fact I do this with most composers - it saves time.

[teamsaint]

Thank the Lord I live here then...

not tempted by a move to Cheryomushki ?