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Post by Mr Snow on Apr 8, 2018 8:18:34 GMT
I would like to have been at the first performance of the Rite of Spring in 1913 and, of course, the trouble that ensued. Yes, other people, including Mr Snow, have also mentioned the riot that was caused by the first performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in 1913. Well, on 31st May 1964 I attended a performance of Bellini's 'Norma' at the Paris Opéra starring Maria Callas, and experienced what amounted to a minor riot in the theatre that night. In the opening scene, after Callas had sung her opening recitative and aria ('Casta Diva') to moderate applause, there is a further recitative ('Fine al rito') before the cabaletta ('Ah! bello a me ritorna). For some inexplicable reason during this recitative, Callas let out what can only be described as an ugly squawk on the top B flat before she went on to sing the cabaletta without any further trouble. But the audience had not forgotten that cracked note and as Callas made a majestic exit to the rather stately slow march that followed, members of the audience began literally fighting with each other, some decrying Callas for the broken note, others defending her and people started yelling things like 'English pigs!' and 'German swine' at each other, some altercations actually taking place between people in the stalls with others in the higher regions of the house. The atmosphere was quite frightening and the brawling continued on into the first interval when it arrived. I read afterwards somewhere that the French police were called to quell the fighting in the foyers during first interval although I never actually saw any police. But I did meet somebody some years later who was also there and said that he was genuinely concerned for the safety of his pregnant wife when the fighting broke out in the stalls. Fortunately there were no further problems in the rest of the opera and Callas received a triumphant reception after her magnificent performance of the final scene. I can genuinely confirm that the disturbance earlier in the night was no fun and I hope never to be at a performance of anything where such a situation happens again. Fascinating and you’ve reminded me of something I knew about and overlooked. A decade ago we were at an outdoor performance of Cavallieria Rusticana in Sicily, when the Tenor's voice literally dried up in the warm night air. The conductor stopped the band and shouted at him and the crowd vigorously booed him while a jug of water was brought on stage. He limped to the end and when he came on for his call the aggression was unbelievable. He then gave the crowd 'the finger' before stomping off. If he'd stayed he might have been lynched. I think in reading the history we like to focus on the controversy without considering fully the ugliness that can lie behind it. Having seen this crowd behaviour first hand, once was more than enough and I’ll change my choices. Out goes Rite of Spring and in comes Godot.
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Post by Mr Snow on Apr 5, 2018 10:55:58 GMT
Wicked on Broadway - when no one but the cast knew defying gravity was going to happen. (well really just that OG cast, but the first performance would have been extra special) We must be careful not to project onto these. Richard Rogers used to be say that in reality the audience goes out humming the songs they were humming on the way in. That said, the ones that broke traditions - mainly to see if I ‘got’ them by myself. Tristan and Isolde Showboat Rite of Spring Pal Joey Oklahoma Callas’s First Norma, before she was “Callas”
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Post by Mr Snow on Apr 4, 2018 7:50:16 GMT
Judging by your new picture with your updated Spring look Ryan I don't know why you weren't considered for Dorothy. They were after him until they saw the riders he demanded.😎
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 30, 2018 20:51:02 GMT
Wonder where he's had the best 'wine'? I don’t drink "A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover." Happy Easter to you too.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 30, 2018 14:58:43 GMT
When you eat out, parsley, do you ever have pudding, or do you usually leave after your first course? Wonder where he's had the best 'wine'?
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 30, 2018 14:48:55 GMT
OH and I are seeing this on tour as I loathe Wiltons so didn't want to see it in London, and though OH suggested Brighton Festival, the performances start at ridiculously unhelpful times. So we're going to Oxford, meaning we can also take in America's Cool Modernism at the Ashmolean, and I'm hoping to visit the relatively new 5-screen Curzon cinema. Enjoy and you can earn my eternal gratitude* if you can make a note of the other song played near the end? *Note the values of currencies can go up or down, but gratitude karma will always be worth more than Bitcoin. Particularly the eternal kind.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 30, 2018 9:07:49 GMT
Went back yesterday for 3rd visit. If the first two were wonderful this time we could only say very good.
Maybe the new cast will improve but when the curtain went up the opening no was just not as sharp as it used to be. I remember the second time we went and I thought can it be as good? The curtain went up and once agian the ensemble went through the opening no as one. Each tap sounded like a single loud explosion. It was beyond good. Sadly, last night those impossible standards were not matched. This time it sounded like troupe, albeit a very good one, but it set the tone and the question never quite went away.
I wasn’t a big fan of Sheena, but Steph Parry was not really an improvement. More than one note missed.
Another thing. The dialogue has been slowed down a little and the humour comes across better and more consistently but at the same time some of the long term players have introduced a (very) few ‘broad’ actions. Overall though this is an improvement.
As was Ashley. It’s a bit of an annoying part but he makes him likeable and he dances and sings brilliantly.
So it will be a while before I suspect one final visit. If you are still wondering whether this is for you, I say go. People will talk about Clare Halse for decades. It’s her show and she’s still amazing. The final no just builds and builds and is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.
First time using Today Tix, 2 stalls for £50. Wonderful.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 28, 2018 15:18:42 GMT
Material is very similar to the JW proms a few years ago. And half the singers too. None the worse for it. After seeing Candide at the Menier I’ve been revaluating Bernstein’s work. What a guy, and a great composer. So a big thank you from me for posting this. Anyone else hear a similarity to one of the themes in On the Waterfront Suite 1955 and Make our Garden Grow, Candide – 1955/6?
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 20, 2018 21:17:11 GMT
Autumn
Das Rheingold Die Walküre Siegfried Götterdämmerung Verdi's Requiem Simon Boccanegra Carmen Hansel and Gretel
Winter
The Queen of Spades La traviata Katya Kabanova Così fan tutte
Spring
La forza del destino Faust Billy Budd Andrea Chénier Tosca
Summer
Boris Godunov Carmen The Marriage of Figaro La Fille du régiment
I see I was correct (once again you add?) predicting the new Carmen would be a scarcely seen thing!
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 16, 2018 16:11:17 GMT
First Caroline is Great…fun. So nice to meet my second TB member.
And the show was pretty good too.
Re the marmite moment, I loved it. So beautifully knitted together. IN fact the opening of Act two through to Being Alive, seemed to be on a higher intensity than the rest of the evening. Although I also enjoyed the 3 versions of the opening of A Funy Thinkg… and the Latin Something’s Coming.
Not so good bits. If everyone had sound problems it soothes my objections. In a box high up, the speakers were suspended from the ceiling directly in front of me. It meant the voices were loud and quite probably I was hearing only one side of a stereo mix. If only I’d checked Theatre Monkey, should I have known? A Weekend in the Country, a personal fave, was lost in the medley. Although I liked all the performers I found that Liz Callaway started all her songs in the same little girl bland voice that is so familiar from Disney movies and the Elaine Paige R2 show. Only as songs developed did she allow her voice become more natural and the story emerge?
Enjoyed myself but not a show I would rush to see twice.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 15, 2018 16:11:40 GMT
Oh what a bunch of wallflowers! I still don’t know if I can make this, but if I do I’d love to meet some of you. I will be standing alone (probably all night!) as near to where the photo below was taken, from 6.45 and in the interval. Drinking G&T’s in Ryan’s honour. I answer to the name Tony and will have a blue Theatre board badge on the right lapel of my Blue Suit. Yes I’m tallest and baldest one there! Central Bar near left side. www.southbankcentre.co.uk/visit/cafes-restaurants-bars/central-barIt should be a wonderful evening, it would be great to put a few faces to the names.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 15, 2018 9:28:52 GMT
Very sadly its now (almost) impossible for us to be there and only if things change I might be able to attend on my own (will know by lunchtime), leaving at least one free.
Unfortunately, tickets are with me in Essex. So unless I can travel does anyone know if the Southbank Centre are helpful if I were to scan copies of the tickets and forward?
If anyone is interested in attending please IM me. Don’t want the tickets wasted and would be happy to know a board member is attending in our place.
Box on Blue side.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 12, 2018 9:23:27 GMT
Happy to meet up (+ Marchioness Snow), but will need to eat first!
Does someone who knows RFH (or environs) want to suggest a place?
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 11, 2018 8:37:03 GMT
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 11, 2018 8:11:40 GMT
That sums it up for me, thank you. I very much doubt this production will be revived more than once or twice. The legacy of Kasper Holten will be very expensive, with numerous recent productions that just have curio value. I would not be so sure The entire run was sold out more or less And it was a relatively long run With many performances I'm pretty sure Carmen is the worlds most performed/popular Opera. It isn't hard to sell it out (sic). Is this a production the traditionalists will want to see twice? I don't think so.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 9, 2018 17:03:08 GMT
countryside of Salzburg, Austria Is it true what they say about the Hills?
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 9, 2018 16:30:33 GMT
Iolanthe tonight.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 9, 2018 6:38:40 GMT
Frankly I'm still making my mind up about it as it is so different from any other version of Carmen I've seen. In the end I enjoyed it more than was irritated by it - Carmen is not one of my favourite operas so I can take a less reverential approach than in some other works. That sums it up for me, thank you. I very much doubt this production will be revived more than once or twice. The legacy of Kasper Holten will be very expensive, with numerous recent productions that just have curio value.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 8, 2018 15:07:29 GMT
Discount for groups via an email.
From Subject Received Size Categories The Ticket Factory Groups Groups save at Elf – A Christmas Spectacular
ELF - A CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR 20 - 24 December | Genting Arena, Birmingham Groups receive a £10 discount on adult tickets on orders of 20+ on band B,C & D tickets
CALL OUR GROUPS TEAM ON 0844 338 8002
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 8, 2018 14:53:12 GMT
At the Opera, there was a bloke literally shaking in his seat!
"Mar 8, 2018 2:00:59 GMT parsley said: I saw it at the ROH
Tuesday evening
Hated the first act So much
Was shaking in my seat"
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 8, 2018 8:10:07 GMT
Now Denmark Street has gone too. And printed magazines will mostly disappear like the NME has done. It was the last gender-neutral standing of the weeklies anyway, in its bastardised form. It may notbe what it was but ...where is? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_Street
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 7, 2018 16:02:07 GMT
I was but a child in the late 70’s and NME was MY paper. CSM, Nick Kent, Burchill, Parsons, Baker all became part of my world. I kept every copy for about 5 years and boxed them and put them in my parent’s loft when I went to University in 79. (PS nobody called it Uni then).
Fast forward 15 years and I went into a Music shop in Denmark St. I saw second hand copies gong for £5-£10 each! Phone Mum and she said she’d had to get a skip in for all my crap when they moved!
The editor in that golden period was Nick Logan who became rich by founding The Face. I once sent in an unsolicited review of a book on Musical Theatre by Ned Sherrin. He was good enough to write back and encouragingly praised the review but pointed out it wasn’t really their thing.
Sadly our interests grew apart, many years ago.
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 7, 2018 12:46:54 GMT
OOOOOOh we are in Liverpool 5th of April.
Right in the middle of a 6 week break? How does that work for them?
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 7, 2018 8:37:56 GMT
I spent quite a while with husband going "so....there was the nasty child abuser living with the woman with kids and he had nothing to do with it, and then there was the other man with the walking frame who was ALSO living with the cut up girl's sister and then he was in disguise with a beard. And Strike knew because he had knicked a certificate from up North when he was the low life that robbed that woman before he headed down South and taken his name...." And he was in the picture on a weekend away when girl was killed (that was his alibi) but the helpful Strike uncle left a very dead looking plant on Strike's mum's grave that was the same type as in the photo in full bloom....handy! Blimey, it took a bit of untangling there! Are you posting on here now Mrs Snow?
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Post by Mr Snow on Mar 5, 2018 8:23:23 GMT
Haven’t seen the other winners but I think Ladybird will last and become a favourite picture for many people.
As a father of a daughter I can't recall a truer depiction of that period of coming of age. Our relationship featured none of those incidents and our personalities are all different, but I could feel the truth in it.
Some films never win Oscars but stick around forever and inspire many more that follow.
Hope to catch up on some of the others.
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