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Post by countryjames on Aug 18, 2021 20:11:54 GMT
Saw this at today’s matinée and was absolutely enchanted by Linzi Hateley. What a delightful performer, what a beautiful tone, what charming self-deprecation. I’d seen the Press Night in a professional capacity but felt that with LH the show was more integrated, less star-centred. That moment reminiscent of the Candide finale at the end of Close Every Dorr when the orchestra cuts to vocal a Cappella really hit home and raised a lump. Of course, much is cheesy, but there are still very affecting as well as entertaining moments and and the Ensemble seemed on fire - such energy. Of course, despite a COVID week off, it has had time to settle too. Slight hitch with the descending drapes that the children couldn’t reach and that even the stagehands scuttling on couldn’t completely resolve, but it’s live theatre and great to be back. A capacity audience went justifiability wild. I still think Jason Donovan is, however entertaining, terrible but had a heart-warming afternoon
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Post by countryjames on Jul 16, 2021 7:14:43 GMT
So if it was press night last night when should we expect the reviews? Critics are in on Monday 19…
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Post by countryjames on Jul 31, 2019 9:35:19 GMT
John Rigby is a great musical director! Don't suppose you've got any contact details? Try via his agent ...
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Chess
Feb 16, 2018 20:11:44 GMT
Post by countryjames on Feb 16, 2018 20:11:44 GMT
John Rigby is a very direct conductor and with extensive classical experience, including Lyric Opera, Dublin, Opera Holland Park and Opera North, as well as regular concerts for Raymond Gubbay and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, will, I am sure, ensure that musical values are protected.
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Post by countryjames on Nov 28, 2017 10:48:46 GMT
Another unpopular post but.......the live screening only highlighted the excruciating vocal inadequacies of the majority of the cast. The sound was truly awful too. Dominic Cook told us it had taken a year to cast this....what a waste of time! Late to the party on this but the sound was very poor in the local Kino in Rye too in terms of balance and I had wondered if part of that was the lack of vocal strength from too many of te cast - I didn’t think Imelda Staunton well suited at all vocally and only Tracie Bennett, Alison Langer and Philip Quast seemed to hit the spot (I’ve always been a bit allergic to Dame Josephine Barstow even in her halcyon days and the physical and vocal mannerisms seemed as irritating as always). Seeing it live tomorrow, so may gain a better perspective...
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Post by countryjames on Nov 12, 2017 10:59:51 GMT
I presume you will present a list of Schwarzkopf's best recordings when I post my monograph on the great lady. Yes I will - I think nearly all of my absolute favourite Legge recordings have Schwarzkopf in them. ps. I forgot to mention the outstanding Klemperer/Vickers/Ludwig Fidelio. And Schwarzkopf speaks Marzelline’s dialogue on the Fidelio even though she doesn’t sing the role....
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Post by countryjames on Aug 31, 2017 8:44:51 GMT
No, it's one opera given around 30 performances on a two year cycle with rotating casts. So, next year is Carmen again.
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Post by countryjames on Aug 30, 2017 12:57:03 GMT
I'm just back from Bregenz where one of my artists (I'm a manager for opera singers) was appearing in Carmen. Inevitably on a huge stage with an audience of 7000 subtlety isn't the name of the game and musical compromises are made in the way of cuts to get the show down within two hours as with that number of audience getting them in and out for an interval drink / comfort break is practicable. The night I went was at least dry (several shows were rained off this year) but it does indeed get cold by the lake as the evening goes on. However, taken on its own merits it's a great experience and I was surprised both at how good the sound (with directional microphones) and musical discipline (despite orchestra and conductor being in a separate hall) were. And Bregenz itself is a delightful town with easy access across the Boden See to Lindau and a wonderful cable car ride up in to the mountains.
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Post by countryjames on May 1, 2017 12:48:45 GMT
The acting side is considered extremely important in classical training these days, which is hardly surprising given the need of singers to meet the directorial demands put upon them of people such as, for example, Katie Mitchell, Deborah Warner, Cal McCrystal, Nicholas Hytner, Rory Kinner and Phelim McDermott...
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Post by countryjames on Feb 24, 2017 20:50:12 GMT
Ah, as usual, the matinees. A pet gripe of mine. Nuff said. I agree with that gripe! The matinees are often more popular than some of the weekday evenings and matinee audiences have often been given a raw deal! Not sure this is always now the case though. In the original London production, once the alternate system was established as the demands of the role became clear, the principal did the Thursday matinee and Saturday evening. I can still remember the relief at seeing the midweek show (I bunked off from school) as it was the only one for which tickets could be obtained and seeing Elaine Paige's name on the board ...
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Post by countryjames on Jan 28, 2017 23:51:14 GMT
Saw this this evening and enjoyed enormously, I went with a soprano friend who is preparing Donizetti's opera based on the play which she is singing in Klagenfurt later this year as Maria Stuarda and she found it hugely useful.
I was very pleased to have Juliet Stevenson as Mary. It wasn't until after the coin toss that I realised that this was the casting I'd been hoping for (and I'd not checked the Almeida twitter feed so didn't know what was going to happen this being a two show day) and I found the beauty of her voice and the emotional honesty and vulnerability of her performance really compelling. The restrained hauteur and anger that arose in the confrontation with Elizabeth was astonishingly vivid and the translation works with the age difference (not historical) by emphasising that Mary's years in prison have aged her. She also captured Mary's relinquishing of the material world with what I can only describe as a spiritual fervour at the end. It was very moving.
Lia Williams was terrific too, increasingly nervy as Elizabeth (why did the screens say Elizabeth 1 at the end? There hadn't been any other Elizabeth on the throne before then as a reigning monarch) and capturing the peevish insecurity as well as an unexpected sensuality.
The supporting cast was mostly excellent. I particularly enjoyed Vincent Franklin as Burleigh and Rhudi Dharmalingam's charismatic turn as Mortimer, although John Light's projection as Leicester came and went and Carmen Munroe's Kennedy was frequently inaudible and seemed to stumble badly at the start. Wasn't over convinced by Melville as female either. "I am a priest" didn't ring true I in this particular historical context (and yes I appreciate the staging was updated).
The play remains a wonder, Schiller using historical events (as did Shakespeare) to explore ideas of political manipulation, historical record (history being written up after the event by the winners) and gender identity that seem extraordinarily modern, although I think there may have been some tweaks in the translation used. I will dig out my old OUP and reread to see how many of the more contemporary resonances are in fact there.
Certainly didn't seem long but was surprised, especially given that this was the last night of an run that was extended, how perfunctory the curtain call was. The audience obviously wished to express further and deeper appreciation to the cast but after one bow that was it. Great evening though :-)
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Post by countryjames on Jan 23, 2017 14:19:13 GMT
Patience is an absolute delight of a piece. Two of my artists are involved (omen conducting and one singing Grosvenor) so I'm particularly looking forward to it :-)
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Post by countryjames on Jan 6, 2017 20:39:44 GMT
Thanks for this. Have managed to get two tickets for the last show.
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Post by countryjames on Jul 22, 2016 10:27:12 GMT
It seems Maria Coyne was on as Christine tonight (Thursday). Yes, apparently Celene Schienmaker git through the matinee (very well actually, although I'd agree with the poster that she seems a little mature) and then went home: that's what I wa told at stage door by a friend in the show. Not having seen Phantom for around eleven years. I'd forgotten what a well constructed piece it is and how magnificent it looks. Of course, we have allegiances to those we've known and loved over the years, and I missed Rachel Barrell as Christine(who did the pointe work) and Sally Harrison as Carlotta (yesterday afternoon's cover Carlotta did the flouncy, screechy thing which was both annoying and hard on the ears). However, Nadim Naamam was an ardent, well sung Raoul and after a slow start when he seemed low on charisma as well as short at both ends of the vocal range, Scott Davies' experience as The Phantom showed in what becoming a surprisingly moving and involving Second Act. Apart from some chatter during the Act Two Entracte, audience behaviour seemed pretty good (there were one or two usher pounces on phone users) and there was an enthusiastic standing ovation from some which was impressive for a mid week matinee.
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Post by countryjames on Jun 15, 2016 19:22:08 GMT
I think it a great pity that this hasn't caught a wider audience. I think it a charming, beautifully executed show that darkens touchingly in the second act and that the three principals give splendid performances, and serious respect to the ladies of the ensemble for any number of reasons. Has Jamie Foreman left early?
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Post by countryjames on Jun 14, 2016 20:14:12 GMT
Anyone got any good suggestions of places to eat nearby beforehand? Cote, St Martin's Lane does an excellent Pre Theatre, or you could treat yourself at Tge Savoy ....
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Post by countryjames on Jun 11, 2016 14:46:07 GMT
Was it a malfunctioning dancing bloody fountain?
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Post by countryjames on May 29, 2016 20:44:26 GMT
Not heard of any of them. Might not bother seeing it now All members of Opera North's excellent and highly accomplished, musically and dramatically, chorus.
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