Historian, arts etc ... no politics (note to self) - happier living in the past, mostly
Joined June 2019
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Just back from wonderful #Krishna #JohnTavener his master's unique voice, come away uplifted somehow, humming tunes too, bravo to @grangeparkopera and huge team for bringing it to life - we loved it.
Thought it would be marmite and @guardian and clique would strongly disapprove on tut-tutting political grounds #NeverMindTheMusic. So it proved.
#Parsifal staging @glyndebourne a huge fail. So sad. Thankfully sat far away thus not too distracted by director's unimaginative, prosaic take. Musically excellent, dominated by huge-voiced #JohnRelyea #Gurnemanz The only innocent fools listed here ...
As a non-German speaking Brit @haendelfest following Keiser's #Octavia was tough but natives little better off. No-one really cared as this totally neglected genre-defying composer is so tuneful, witty & fun! #LauttenCompagney and young singers 100% deserved standing ovation
5* evening @haendelfest #Poro @ohOrkiestra under Pastuszka, Lezhneva #OrnamentationQueen, Cencic, Richardot, Hymas, Edlin, Brés-Feuillet 100% top form, the old Ulrichskirche absolutely rocking for the finale, unbelievable, 🙏🏼 no staging to distract from pure #MusicalTalent
Halle for @haendelfest a superbly sung & played #Agrippina #WalterSutcliffe helps show the comic madness BUT his "anti-capitalist" Las Vegas power&sex&money&drugs concept tires very very rapidly after the interval, he needs to visit @rockimpark_com to see capitalism at its best
Brilliant night @grangeparkopera for #BrynTerfel double bill, Gianni Schicchi was excellent fun but #Rachmaninoff #Aleko was superb: ingeniously apt staging #PunksArePeaceful, gorgeous music, singing @AilishTynanEire @luisgomestenor and playing @BBCCO
Lovely to see a Rameau @GarsingtonOpera performed in the UK, a rare occasion #Platée Players of @EnglishConcert on fine period-performance form tho a heavy interpretation (of a cruel story) and lacklustre conducting took shine away. Et incroyable, zero haute-contre!
@KWhiteTenor missed hearing a voice like yours last night. Have you ever sung the role? Difficult for modern sensitivities. But Das Rheingold has no heroes either and still quite popular.
Already looking forward to 2024 @BeyondShakes Xmas Revels @WhiteBearTheatr if the team can recover from huge and hugely appreciated 2023. Many thanks. (Also excellent food, beer, wine, atmosphere at refurbed @SE11WhiteBear highly recommended
Interesting post-play chat #GeorgePeele's #OldWivesTale with @AnnalieseC & @RobertCrighton @BeyondShakes wasn't it really a (short and very entertaining) satire on #PhilipSidney's (very long but also very entertaining) #Arcadia? much material for podcasts itself
Great week of pre1600 ?drama ?prose ?fragments (whatever) triumphantly ended with "GeorgePeele" #OldWivesTale hilarious genre mash-up vividly brought to life by @BeyondShakes ensemble well-meshed after 4 days of different-play-a-night-rep
#SamuelDaniel #Cleopatra my fave, truly!
Miaow de force from @RobertCrighton brilliantly purring and pawing his way through Beware the Cat by William Baldwin. A sort of X-rated, Tudor revenge, version of Dr Doolittle.
Looking forward to #OldWivesTale last night of the #WinterRevels whitebeartheatre.co.uk/whats…
#ArdenOfFaversham an average property developer doesn't deserve murder, his Alice who brought it about is mad or bad or ? @BeyondShakes ensemble stepped up to make this committee?-play coherent - nice nod to @ShakeAuthTrust "chasm challenge" by making #BlackWill a Brummie
Remarkably dramatic evening with @BeyondShakes #SamuelDaniel #Cleopatra @WhiteBearTheatr
Strange as so little conventional action, just spell-binding storytelling of her last hours, in her voice but much also her voice in the reports of others, all subtly different, and modern
Pity those who missed tonight, #SamuelDaniel shining bright
What a neglected treasure, done incredible justice by @BeyondShakes's very fine team in #Cleopatra @WhiteBearTheatr
#ArdenOfFaversham for 3 of 5 #WinterRevels tomorrow
Always good to see Marlowe in London #DidoQueenOfCarthage @WhiteBearTheatr was a strong semi-staged version kicking off @BeyondShakes #WinterRevels lovely poetry of #SamuelDaniel #Cleopatra up next whitebeartheatre.co.uk/whats…
What a revelation #CéphaleEtProcris as good as a top Monteverdi opera (and they are very top) critics have written off #ElizabethJacquetDeLaGuerre but the miniscule forces of @Ensemble_OrQ proved them so wrong - better than overrated contemporary Lully, as tuneful as Rameau /1
And we are so privileged to have world class haute-contre @KWhiteTenor @arcolatheatre but the others soloists like @PoppySoprano and those at least doubling roles, all contributing to a superb night of drama. Bravo. Five stars from me. Go, it's a very well connected venue! /End