Monthly culture: July 2018
Friday, August 3rd, 2018 09:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth08JUL18: Madame Butterfly (Puccini), Glyndebourne
My first 'accidental Glyndebourne' of the month, with my friend M who had a spare ticket. A delightful drive down in her Mazda convertible! The opera itself is not one of my favourites (though M thinks of it as 'my opera', given my alleged Japanese great-grandmother, who I really hope didn't have as rotten a time as Cio-Cio San). This production was updated to the 1950s, with a very Americanised heroine. No mention of the A-bomb though this is set in Nagasaki. I still hate Pinkerton ('I can't bear the desolation in this room' but you caused it, scumbag) though do feel a bit sorry for his wife.
17JUL18: Hamilton (Miranda), Victoria Palace Theatre
Second time around! Deliciously air-conditioned. Cast slightly different from previous viewing (in particular, Ash Hunter as Hamilton) and still good. King George now does his thing at the front of the stage, a vast improvement as I could actually see him this time :) The second half struck me as rather sadder and more emotionally affecting than before. I thought the applause was less deafening this time around but it might simply have been due to the (external) heat. Still strongly recommended.
18JUL18: Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Albany
Local opera for local people! Blackheath Halls Community Opera (sans S, who opted out of this one) gave a splendidly surreal performance in the round at the Albany: chorus and children mingling with the fringes of the audience. The lighting was occasionally a bit too minimalist, but it added to the spookiness. I was especially wowed by William Towers (countertenor) as the Sorceress: a spectacular voice and presence.
20JUL18: Incredibles 2, Greenwich Picturehouse
It's so long since the first one ... and that shows in the polish of the production, I think. I did enjoy it, and it was very amusing, and it picked up a lot of superhero tropes (gender equality, swings in popular opinion etc). Lead-in was short unsettling animation 'Bao' which I found disturbing.
21JUL18: Pelleas et Melisande (Debussy), Glyndebourne
Second 'accidental Glyndebourne' of the month, taking P's ticket as he was suffering post-operation. The music is delightful, and the interval picnic was great: but OMG the production what were they thinking? Set in a claustrophobic facsimile of the Organ Room at Glyndebourne, it made very little sense even before the addition of incestuous rape, eye-gouging, Freudian imagery, sheep, sleepwalkers et cetera. Much better when I shut my eyes.
27JUL18: Iolanthe (Gilbert & Sullivan), Greenwich Theatre
All-male production of thoroughly frivolous operetta -- a lot of strong falsettos -- with a framing narrative of exploring youths discovering the score in a wardrobe. (Not a euphemism.) This is the story of Arcadian shepherd Strephan, who is half-fairy and half-mortal; his mother Iolanthe, who has spent years in exile; and his father, the Lord Chancellor, whose ward Phyllis is Strephan's intended. The Lord Chancellor -- not knowing that he's fathered a son -- has intentions towards Phyllis too, as do half the peers in the House of Lords. Hilarity, inevitably, ensues.
Excellent voices all round (Richard Russell Edwards as the Fairy Queen was memorable) and surprisingly little camping-up, thankfully.
31JUL18: The Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti), Opera della Luna, Wilton's Music Hall
You cannot go wrong with Donizetti, especially preceded by cocktails and wine in a quiet corner of the upstairs bar. This production was set in California, the Regiment being a biker gang and Marie having a down-home vernacular ('this whisky tastes of horse shit!')
I would have liked surtitles -- although this was sung in English, it's always hard to follow the 'plot' from the singing -- but was familiar enough with the story to relax and enjoy the spectacle. Performed with immense verve and evident enjoyment, this was a perfect match for the venue.
My first 'accidental Glyndebourne' of the month, with my friend M who had a spare ticket. A delightful drive down in her Mazda convertible! The opera itself is not one of my favourites (though M thinks of it as 'my opera', given my alleged Japanese great-grandmother, who I really hope didn't have as rotten a time as Cio-Cio San). This production was updated to the 1950s, with a very Americanised heroine. No mention of the A-bomb though this is set in Nagasaki. I still hate Pinkerton ('I can't bear the desolation in this room' but you caused it, scumbag) though do feel a bit sorry for his wife.
17JUL18: Hamilton (Miranda), Victoria Palace Theatre
Second time around! Deliciously air-conditioned. Cast slightly different from previous viewing (in particular, Ash Hunter as Hamilton) and still good. King George now does his thing at the front of the stage, a vast improvement as I could actually see him this time :) The second half struck me as rather sadder and more emotionally affecting than before. I thought the applause was less deafening this time around but it might simply have been due to the (external) heat. Still strongly recommended.
18JUL18: Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Albany
Local opera for local people! Blackheath Halls Community Opera (sans S, who opted out of this one) gave a splendidly surreal performance in the round at the Albany: chorus and children mingling with the fringes of the audience. The lighting was occasionally a bit too minimalist, but it added to the spookiness. I was especially wowed by William Towers (countertenor) as the Sorceress: a spectacular voice and presence.
20JUL18: Incredibles 2, Greenwich Picturehouse
It's so long since the first one ... and that shows in the polish of the production, I think. I did enjoy it, and it was very amusing, and it picked up a lot of superhero tropes (gender equality, swings in popular opinion etc). Lead-in was short unsettling animation 'Bao' which I found disturbing.
21JUL18: Pelleas et Melisande (Debussy), Glyndebourne
Second 'accidental Glyndebourne' of the month, taking P's ticket as he was suffering post-operation. The music is delightful, and the interval picnic was great: but OMG the production what were they thinking? Set in a claustrophobic facsimile of the Organ Room at Glyndebourne, it made very little sense even before the addition of incestuous rape, eye-gouging, Freudian imagery, sheep, sleepwalkers et cetera. Much better when I shut my eyes.
27JUL18: Iolanthe (Gilbert & Sullivan), Greenwich Theatre
All-male production of thoroughly frivolous operetta -- a lot of strong falsettos -- with a framing narrative of exploring youths discovering the score in a wardrobe. (Not a euphemism.) This is the story of Arcadian shepherd Strephan, who is half-fairy and half-mortal; his mother Iolanthe, who has spent years in exile; and his father, the Lord Chancellor, whose ward Phyllis is Strephan's intended. The Lord Chancellor -- not knowing that he's fathered a son -- has intentions towards Phyllis too, as do half the peers in the House of Lords. Hilarity, inevitably, ensues.
Excellent voices all round (Richard Russell Edwards as the Fairy Queen was memorable) and surprisingly little camping-up, thankfully.
31JUL18: The Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti), Opera della Luna, Wilton's Music Hall
You cannot go wrong with Donizetti, especially preceded by cocktails and wine in a quiet corner of the upstairs bar. This production was set in California, the Regiment being a biker gang and Marie having a down-home vernacular ('this whisky tastes of horse shit!')
I would have liked surtitles -- although this was sung in English, it's always hard to follow the 'plot' from the singing -- but was familiar enough with the story to relax and enjoy the spectacle. Performed with immense verve and evident enjoyment, this was a perfect match for the venue.
