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Monthly culture: June
Monday, July 4th, 2016 08:42 pmA pretty appalling month for new culture: I attended two half-performances, and came away dissatisfied from both.
11-JUNE-16 - Phaedra(s) (Barbican)
Spectator piece
Isabelle Huppert in the title role(s) was fabulous. Sadly, the production (in French, with surtitles) was not -- beautifully lit minimalist staging, riffing on Euripides' original play and three modern writers who've transformed it ... into three hours of vomit, fellatio, menstruation, rape, and a lot of ranting. Our seats were upgraded but that did not make up for anything. I left at the interval, apparently missing the good bit at the end (but also some more violence, rape and murder).
23-JUNE-16 - Part / Beethoven (RFH, conductor Dohnányi)
review by someone who stayed the whole way through
Part's Fratres is a piece which I usually find very relaxing and meditative: Beethoven's fourth Piano Concerto (pianist Martin Helmchen) is generally a delight. However, I did not enjoy this concert, due to body-odour problem of man next to me (he also fidgeted a lot). Left at interval for trainpocalypse: it took me 2 hours to get home, so I'm glad I abandoned ship, though sorry to've missed Beethoven's Pastoral.
11-JUNE-16 - Phaedra(s) (Barbican)
Spectator piece
Isabelle Huppert in the title role(s) was fabulous. Sadly, the production (in French, with surtitles) was not -- beautifully lit minimalist staging, riffing on Euripides' original play and three modern writers who've transformed it ... into three hours of vomit, fellatio, menstruation, rape, and a lot of ranting. Our seats were upgraded but that did not make up for anything. I left at the interval, apparently missing the good bit at the end (but also some more violence, rape and murder).
23-JUNE-16 - Part / Beethoven (RFH, conductor Dohnányi)
review by someone who stayed the whole way through
Part's Fratres is a piece which I usually find very relaxing and meditative: Beethoven's fourth Piano Concerto (pianist Martin Helmchen) is generally a delight. However, I did not enjoy this concert, due to body-odour problem of man next to me (he also fidgeted a lot). Left at interval for trainpocalypse: it took me 2 hours to get home, so I'm glad I abandoned ship, though sorry to've missed Beethoven's Pastoral.
