Theatre 2017 - Review One: All the Angels

All the Angels, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare's Globe, London. January 2017.

Wow - what a way to start theatre trips in 2017! This play had appealed to me from the instant I saw it in the Globe's brochure a while back, and I was sad that I couldn't get to those first performances. When it was announced that it was coming back for the winter 2016/17 season I knew I had to go.  I'm not sure Rebecca knew what she was agreeing to but she gamely took on board my enthusiasm and we booked seats.

How to explain this...it is the story of Handel writing and staging the first performances of the Messiah but it isn't a performance of the oratorio, nor is it a straight play about the writing process.  It travels from Chester to Dublin and is about redemption and the power of music. It is also a masterclass in singing and composing.  It was also utterly spellbinding and overwhelmingly powerful.

I've loved (the famous bits of) the Messiah for a long time and the power of the music was made clear to me when we heard excerpts performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part of their candlelit Christmas festival a few years ago.  Hearing the evolution of the music in the candlelit Sam Wanamaker was magical. The voices filled the space wonderfully and being both an intimate but still quite large space it was wonderful to feel the music filling the space.

The two subplots, one imagined and one real, did bind the music together and being interested in Shakespeare and performance history I really enjoyed Susannah Cibber's story while the Crow's provided a valve from the heightened emotion of the Messiah.

The use of the singers as almost actors was inspired too - they personified the power of music in a very clever way whilst being consummate professionals. Kudos to them all as they had to perform singing badly too which must have almost been harder than Handel's original.

I think that you can tell I loved this piece of theatre,  I could quite easily have sat through it again that day despite the discomfort of the seats. If this doesn't make my top 10 plays of 2017 then this year is going to be really brilliant in terms of theatre.

Now if someone can recommend a really good recording of the Messiah for me to listen to I'd be most grateful

Theatre 2016: Review Thirty-Three

My Great Orchestral Adventure, Royal Albert Hall, London. October 2016.

Being an auntie is great, not only do I get to spoil my nephew rotten I also get to try loads of new theatre experiences with him. We've seen traditional children's theatre, Disney musicals and also watched Pixar films accompanied by a live orchestra but this was different again as it was almost just a classical concert.

The idea for this concert was very simple - Tim the conductor has lost his 'magic' baton and so can no longer conduct the orchestra. His brother Tom, with the help of the audience is going to go on a journey to find it and restore order to the instruments.

Well known classical pieces were played as we looked for the baton in the Hall of the Mountain King, in outer space and also on our way to Neverland.  We also fought with Valkyries and Sirens and danced with swans as well as taking a detour to go on a Bear Hunt.

I thought this was a really good event, of course being aimed at a younger crowd the audience was fidgety but the story was clearly told and the music brilliant.  It was also a great exercise in imagination and concentration and once my nephew got the idea that it was all imagination I think he loved it too. Our favourite pieces were the Neverland Suite and We're Going on a Bear Hunt - singing and dancing in the Albert Hall was fun and my nephew sang the whole of the Bear Hunt on the way back to the tube!

I think that we'll wait until he is a bit older before we try another classical music concert but I will look out for other new experiences to try - perhaps an introduction to more traditional ballet (after all we have all loved the Snowman) or even a first trip the Globe...

Theatre 2016: Review Seventeen

Symphonic Queen, Royal Albert Hall, London. May 2016.

The music of Queen has been important in our family for as long as I can recall.  As a child all of us liked listening to their music and both my sister and I remember clearly the band's performance at Live Aid in the mid 1980s.  I think that the Innuendo album was one of the very first CDs that my dad bought for the new CD player.  We never managed to see the original line up in concert - forget world peace etc. I am pretty sure that the first thing my sister and I would do with a time machine is get ourselves to a Queen concert!

On a very warm May evening my mum, sister and I went out to the Royal Albert Hall for this event, and again at least two of us when in with the wrong idea as to what was going to happen.  I know that I expected a staid classical music performance of Queen's music.  What we got was close to a full on rock concert!

Yes the music was played by the full Royal Philharmonic Orchestra but they were joined by 3 rock musicians and eight incredible singers.  The music translated wonderfully into this hybrid mix and soon the full venue was rocking along to the sound.

Many of my favourite tracks were played and in between the music a very amusing Ken Bruce gave information about the band, songs and where they were used. It sounds corny but on the night it was great and we all came out buzzing and how well the music translated into this new sound is just testament to how good the original tracks were.

Theatre 2015: Review Seven

Farinelli and the King, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe, London. February 2015.

Liking and admiring Mark Rylance as an actor has become hugely popular this year thanks to his role in Wolf Hall and as a result of this Rebecca and I were pleased to have booked tickets to Farinelli and the King way back last year.  We already knew he was great without waiting to see him on the small screen!

So much could have been wrong with Farinelli - it was a new piece of theatre (with music/opera), written by Rylance's wife for him and performed in a theatre that is not the most comfortable to sit in.  Luckily we found it to be a great afternoon.

It is based on a true story where the King of Spain is mad.  The play opens with the king (Rylance) lounging in bed fishing in a goldfish bowl and talking to the fish.  His state of health is ambiguous at this point as he mostly seems lucid.  His leading ministers are not happy with him and think that he should be replaced.  His situation worsens but with the help of his wife and doctor a new cure is tried - that of music and the leading castrati of the day, Farinelli, is invited to court and appears to cure the king.

There are a few nuances and added parts to the story but it remains very simple and very affecting, the king remains mostly well as long as Farinelli sings.  There is a very interesting device used for Farinelli however, and one that I didn't spot at first.

When Farinelli is singing the actor playing the role doesn't actually sing, someone else - when we saw it Iestyn Davies provided the amazing voice - appears on stage next to Farinelli and they mimic each others movements.  It sounds terrible written down but on stage worked amazingly, Farinelli the man wanted to be seen as different from the voice and so on stage he physically was.  Only in the very last scene did the two men actually interact and that added more poignancy to the piece than anything for me.

While the play was very good I have to say that I did find it a little jarring that despite the setting and costumes all being redolent of the 1700s the language used was entirely 21st century.  It made for some funny moments but did create a little barrier between me and the play.  Possibly a bad attempt at replicating actual speech from the time would have  been just as bad however!

This was a lavish production with not a weak member of cast and a full ensemble piece - something that I would imagine is hard to create when Rylance is the leading man.  His charisma and skill shone through and I am now desperate to see him on stage in a truly modern piece.  Farinelli and the King has a very short run at the SWP and while I'd love to see it transfer so more people could see it the setting was ideal and in a bigger venue the intimacy created here could not be replicated I feel.

Something entirely different

War Requiem (Britten & Jarman)

Having just read a book featuring Benjamin Britten and it being the centenary of his birth Mr Norfolkbookworm and I visited the cinema recently to see this film.

I'm not sure what to make of it.  The film is Jarman's response to the Requiem and the first 3rd was stunning telling the simple narrative of a soldiers and nurses in the First World War.

After this I'm not sure what it was about apart from the segment that was set to a crescendo of music as it showed the futility of all wars since 1914.  It was graphic but the images really fitted the music.

The parts of the film that were obviously symbolic passed me by totally I just didn't understand the images at all.

If the whole piece had been like the first movement I think I'd have been totally spellbound and profoundly moved. In the end I was just confused.

On reading about the piece of music I can see why it moved away from being totally a WW1 story - it wasn't written about that war, and wasn't about the 'Glorious Dead' of this war despite using the poems from then.

The music also wasn't quite to my taste, I can see (hear?) that it is technically good but I didn't connect with it totally.

On the whole I'm really glad that we had the chance to see this on a big screen thanks to having a great art house cinema but I don't think I shall be hurrying to anything else by either Britten or Jarman.

Theatrical Interlude 21

Fantasia: Live in Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London. October 2012

I think I am a bad influence on my family as this was an outing to the theatre with yet another member of the clan.

Joking aside I was very lucky to be invited on this trip and it was in fact my sister's birthday present from her husband.  Both of us have been Disney fans since we were little and I think that when Fantasia was released on video for the first time way back in the mists of time it was in fact the first pre-recorded film our parents gave us.

The luxury of the Royal Albert Hall was just what we needed on a damp, dreary October Sunday. We were sat up in the circle with a lovely clear view of the screen and the Royal Philharmonic and as soon as the lights dimmed and the music started we were swept away.

There were a lot of children, unsurprisingly, in the audience and one of the most magical things about the afternoon was their gasps of wonder/amusement as the film played. I'd forgotten some of the music/animation but what an experience for those lucky enough to be seeing bits of the films for the first time in such a setting.

My favourite scenes from Fantasia 2000 were both performed live - Gershwin's Raphsody in Blue and Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance (with Donald Duck) but sadly the Dance of the Hours performed by the hippos wasn't included.

The whole afternoon left me with a big smile on my face and I'm sure you can guess which films haven't been out of my DVD player since I got home...must put the Blu-Rays on my Christmas list!

A huge thank you to my sister and brother-in-law for making this trip possible - the 6 hours on the train were totally worth it!