In a return to the BBC Proms in London, a new venue for the festival would call. Whilst I’ll confess the Printworks in Canada Water is a bit out of the way for this travelling reviewer, it was a fleeting chance to see another side of London. In a more laid-back, approachable look on classical music, the venue itself on first appearance looked cluttered, very busy.
As things went on, I found the whole thing to be truly wonderful, the direction of James Bonas with a metaphorical butterfly net keeping everything grounded, yet delightful.
The head turning array of soloist, orchestra, dance, art, beat-boxing and sound design filled the venue with the ambition of a classic happening. The star of the show was very much American counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo who has dazzled audiences across the pond and over the world. It is his clear sex appeal and queer ideals that dust the show with beautiful goings on. In both the bejewelled Handel and Phillip Glass repertoire (extracts from both their operas, some never heard at the Proms along with a world premier from Glass) he proves his broad taste and mighty passions, his voice sharp and touching.
All the other goings on segway well into each aria, the dancers never quite getting the limelight (with emotive choreography by Justin Peck). The live painting of Glenn Brown was only truly visible to one side of the vast elongated factory. Players from English National Opera and conductor Karen Kamensek never wained is this apparent gamble that paid off all round. Costumes by Raf Simons are billowy, colourfull fun creations, slight and web like for the dancers, exaggerated for Costanzo.
Jason Singh would beatbox and add whispy vocal tricks to make space between the notes of the arias. What almost attempted to steal the show was the finely crafted surreal video work which graced the brick walls. The likes of James Ivory with Pix Talarico, Tilda Swinton and Daniel Askill and more had unsettling, vivid and witty films that got away with a lot of it’s demands.
A heatwave joined for the latest excursion to Penarth for Cardiff Opera for their latest concert. Having seen their Julius Cesare by Handel, this unassuming collection of young singers and instrumentalists offering up to the Welsh capital events both popular and rare.
The Siegfried Idyll from Richard Wagner is perhaps one of the finest depictions of a forrest. It’s a much more gentle side to the arrogant and racist composer, presenting the piece to his wife Cosmina on Christmas morning. Later recycled into the opera of the same titular hero, this is gateway Wagner for people not to sure of the five hour epics which follow. It was the strings here which let down the side on a few occasions, some problems might have been with the vibrato. Though it all, the sweetness and charm of the work still shone through, conductor William Stevens with a no thrills command of the score.
In a hefty follow up, Mahler’s The Song of the Earth sees ancient Chinese poetry mixed with the composer’s angsty, Austrian existentialism in a heady brew. This is Mahler’s good bye to the world, at least for me much more then the 9th and 10th symphonies (the latter incomplete at his death). The woodwind was fairly tight here, the players reduced to a very small size for such a work got away with it, though it may not have captured that universal metal the composer demands.
Fine footed tenor Robert Felstead get some lush moments of nature and drinking, the rowdiness of the role a bolstering, unshaven thrill. For me the real joy came with soprano Rebecca Chellappah who sings the majority of this song cycle with grace, has an affirmed sense of drama and musicality. The Farewell takes up half the piece and is a devastating departure, Rebecca awash in this grand movement of the passing of time, as nature thrives. All that was missing was the celeste for the final flurry in the last few bars.
Every summer, we would mostly be graced by our very own Youth Orchestra on tour. Wales should be proud that we in fact have the oldest youth orchestra in the worlds having been founded back in 1945. Conductor Kwamé Ryan from Trinidad and Tobago, leads all with a spirited energy and his commitment to the future of music lives in moments like these. Though quite formal in his maestro, he wrings out of these students a fine musicality.
Argentum by Dani Howard held up as a good choice of a concert opener. Quite happy and had the feel of a giddy, John Adams sort of mood. Her take on celebrations would mark the work with a dedication for the marriage of some close friends. She speaks of pride and happiness in a union of this manner and you could hear this at the Last Night of the Proms, such is its appeal.
In the Violin Concerto of Korngold, Jennifer Pike shone, the gleam of a Hollywood veneer never far away. The composer had the privilege to be able to recycle film scores he had already written after fleeing Austria and making it to California. Pike soaks up the loving atmosphere of the three movements, the finale clearly from Robin Hood as it rolls along with a rompy air. Pike made the piece appear as child’s play, though I’m sure it has it’s technical moments of bravado. We don’t tend to hear enough Korngold, the delight of an encore was another work: the finale of his score to Captain Blood with Errol Flynn, a pirate party if ever there was one.
Whilst Russian music might not be a frequent hitter at this present time, the Youth Orchestra gave a decent take of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Each night the title character regales her husband the Sultan with tales in an effort to save her life, as he longs for more conquets. The sumptuous violin motive (with harp) pin points Scheherazade as safe, each of the movements the stories she tells. Leader Esme Lewis fared well in this central role, along with her efforts throughout the programme. There are wild moments of the sea storms, princesses and even a festival in Bagdad, all taken from the Arabian Nights collection of stories. It’s the vividness of the orchestration and clever melodies that have made this work a crowd-pleaser for over one hundred years. It may be fairly overdone by today’s standard, but it does give this youth orchestra a piece to cut their teeth with.
Granted, I was able to detect the odd fluff in the brass and woodwind. All things which can be ironed out with further practice and commitment. Fine work from all involved!
I cannot help but think how lucky some children are to experience theatre like the work that is put on currently across the UK. While independent and fringe theatre is also fantastical and amazing, something about changing a well loved children’s classic and adapting into something new just adds to the wonderful experiences that children can undertake today. And set in the London Coliseum, surrounded by gold and beautifully carved architecture, this was the perfect setting for this show.
Peppa Pig: My First Concert is a little what it says on the tin. With the character’s of Peppa, George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig in a combination of puppetry and costume, Peppa and family experience the ranges of classical music but with a child’s input. Supported by a small but well equipped orchestra, children and adults a like are introduced to instruments in a simple and effective way.
We are introduced to well known classics such as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Mozart but to gain the interest of children, audience participation is involved with hand gestures, dancing, singing and basic description of what the music tries to convey. It not only makes something seen as potentially old fashioned into something youthful and exciting but also brings such beautiful music in a beautiful setting to the modern age, influencing children from young and changing the ideals of classical music as originally something for the old and middle class.
It also is an easy way for adults and families to get into classical music. We may have heard these songs, minimally on adverts or tv shows, in the background of productions, some of us perhaps knowing a little of the narrative but this was a great introduction to why composers wrote certain songs and what they try to convey.
Peppa Pig: My First Concert is a must see for all the family and especially a fantastic way to engage children in culture that is rich in our society and history.
It was touch and go for the return of the Welsh Proms if maestro Owain Arwel Hughes would conduct after a Covid scare. Owain’s loyalty to the Welsh side of the Proms is extensive and helped bring in large, attentive audiences.
A Prom from the Kenneh-Mason brood would bring some new blood to the festival in fine music making form. I’ve seen a few of them here and there in more intimate recitals, yet here the siblings played together and then duet after duet would form. Little doubt being the most musical family in these lands, the talent on display is but hereditary brilliance. The combined forces of Isata, Braimah, Sheku, Konya, Jeneba, Aminata and Mariatu graced the stage and all proved to be no gimmick.
A broad programme of bite sized work (some miniatures some extracts of larger pieces) loomed heavy over the night but the long list was gracefully ticked off as each brother and sister had their time to shine. My views on Eric Whitacre are very mixed and the opening of his Seal Lullaby was pretty and gave everyone some moments of harmony. The work of Coleridge-Taylor is newer to me (a diverse composer with work still being discovered decades after completion) and has blues charm and a gusto all of its own. Schubert on the piano was a highlight the quirky scales and stunning timbres of the composer always stood out and left me wanting more. Chopin I’ll take or leave, but still played very well indeed. The youngest sister doing Frank Bridge was impressive even with some understood nervous energy.
A showy take on Liszt’s famous Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 is bonkers, made famous by Tom and Jerry and the real crowd pleaser of the night. Sheku got to pick a more quirky piece for his cello and that of Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano (Allegro). His take on Welsh hymns also are met with acclaim, the family having proud Welsh roots. They came into their own in the marvellous riffing on a medley of songs from Fiddler on the Roof. These classics are played with joy and are inflected with some marvellous colours thanks to the combination of duo piano and strings. Even a surreal encore of Bob Marley only added to the pot of an evening that wont be forgotten in a bit. Come back when you can!
Welsh Proms continues at St David’s Hall till 16 July 2022.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s new album Song is released 9 September 2022.
WNO Migrations The Mayflower WNO Chorus photo credit Craig Fuller
(2 / 5)
The new opera Migrations, developed by the Welsh National Opera (WNO), brings together disparates histories and issues to send an anti-racist message. The opera consists of six interlocking tableaux protesting racism, slavery, and violence to the natural world. These issues deserve to be told and dramatised, yet drama requires tension, emotions, and characters, which are wholly absent in this production.
Migrations is a pot pourri of protest banners without a trace of life. None of the librettists took the trouble to write a character with real emotions, pain and joy, hope and disappointment. Singers explain disparate histories and issues to the audience rather than tell a story. The message is right and timely, but an opera is not a protest march.
Migrations was conceived as part of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the sailing of The Mayflower in 1620. This shows little understanding of the Pilgrims, who are here presented erroneously as oppressed people escaping persecutions. In reality, they were theocratic colonisers with little tolerance for each other never mind anybody else. The choir as Pilgrims singing ‘Freedom’ sits awkwardly with the overall anti-colonial, anti-racist, and anti-slavery message.
There are only two tableaux that stand out. One is Flight, Death or Fog, the story of Pero Jones, enslaved to the Pinney family in Bristol. Aubrey Allicock’s Pero has an impressive presence on stage which confers dignity and gravitas. The other is This is the Life! set in 1968 and depicting two Indian doctors coming to Britain to ‘fill the NHS skills gap,’ as they tell the audience. The Indian classical music and flamboyant Bollywood dance manage to lift the spirits.
WNO Migrations This is the Life Natasha Agarwal Neera Jamal Andreas Jai Bollywood Ensemble photo credit Craig Fuller
Treaty Six by Sarah Woods depicts the plight of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation in today’s Canada trying to stop a pipeline going through their land. The English Lesson features a group of refugees reflecting on who they were at home and their status as refugees in a new country. Eric Ngalle Charles’s Birds sees children as birds migrating and endangered by humans destroying the natural world. The music and the children’s singing lack the necessary sombre tone to convey the message.
On the whole, this mishmash is kept together competently by the singers, the always excellent choir, and orchestra conductor Matthew Kofi Waldren. The music too often resembles a second-rate musical, with the exception of the chorale and Jasdeep Singh Degun’s Indian classical music.
Thinking back to a musical interlude at school – an “Ensemble at Assembly” was something to be reckoned with in the “Big Hall” at that time. Ancient tunes and solemn characters with frameless glasses prised onto long noses frequently moving as the notes went higher; earphone bun styled hair (before Princes Leia of “Star Wars”) withering looks from the Head Mistress as we, as pupils, were a captive audience and could not move.
Sinfonia Cymru erased that memory, as the brilliant graduates began their tour of Village and Community Halls entertaining with their free music concerts, giving of their own time performing in Mid Wales (String Quartet), the Valleys and South Wales (Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon and Horn), West Wales (Four Cellos) ending with concerts in North West Wales (Harp Flute and Cello). Sinfonia Cymru are the UK’s leading professional under thirty orchestra. Their concerts are around 50 minutes with a mix of music with something for everyone
In the middle of May it was the turn of the Valleys area of South Wales and their first visit to the only remaining Miners Welfare and Institute in the Rhondda Fach, namely Tylorstown Welfare Hall. It was an informal musical intermission with Sinfonia Cymru, represented by five talented graduates namely
Epsie Thompson (Flute)
Emily Wilson (Clarinet)
Polly Bartlett (Oboe)
Emma Westley (Bassoon)
Alex Willett (Horn)
A Wind Quintet of gifted flair accompanied by the richness of their musical instruments played with distinction.
The acoustics of the Welfare Hall enlivened the rumbling Sea Shanties which set feet tapping along to the rhythm of such as “What Shall we do with a Drunken Sailor?” Dedications to various composers including Malcolm Arnold. A musical “race” staged between each performer as they rushed to win the accolade of finishing all together. The classics were there with Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from “The Nutcracker” alongside “The Flight of the Bumble Bee” which had the audience humming along in unison, helping to produce a honey of a rendition. Monet’s “Water Lilies” painting inspired musicality with the finale being a mix of Latin American and Jazz originated from the composer Bizet’s opera “Carmen”
It was a musical journey on a tide of chilled relaxed memories.
Afterwards there was an opportunity to talk with the members of the String Quintet, and their Chief Executive Officer Peter Bellingham.
If you get the opportunity when Sinfonia Cymru are on tour – catch up with them and enjoy their creativity and versatility.
From their website enjoy
AR HYD Y NOS All through the Night
As recorded/videoed at Rhosygilwen Cilgerran Pembrokeshire earlier this year.
On Thursday, 30 June Sinfonia Cymru will be performing at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) in Cardiff from 7.30 pm
On Friday, 1 July Sinfonia Cymru will be at Pontio in Bangor from 7.30 pm
Both performances are a collaboration with celebrated artist, poet, and singer Casi Wyn inspired by Welsh culture, history, people, and landscape.
In the ever brilliant concerts at St Martin in the Field, pianist George Fu gave a dizzying recital leaving a huge impact on the afternoon audience. His love for Chopin leaked over the entire programme, with Mazurkas, a Ballade and even an encore from the Polish composer. My thoughts on Chopin won’t appease conventional tastes, especially in the standard repertoire, Fu brought out some really insightful moments in these classics. Both familiar and friendly, Chopin does have a far reaching appeal, his canon forever having an influence on the piano. It’s curious to hear how simple the music sounds, yet Fu is constantly in flux, awash in a musical feat of reverence.
Caroline Shaw and her piece Gustave le Gray, is inspired by the artist and has a lot of weight to it. A perfect companion to the Chopin. Revealing a lot of the trappings of romanticism, the piece utilised a liberal use of the dampener pedal and had a passionate use of fingering. It did outstay it’s welcome, though this held up as a fine discovery. My reason for attending was the finale of the late Frederic Rzewski and highlights from his North American Ballads. Down by the Riverside is an endlessly charming and touching plea for peace, an old spiritual. This holds up as a fine example of Rzewski’s skewered use of original pieces and transforms them to something spectacular. This reaches it’s zenith in the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, a devastating depiction of it’s location, the mechanised patterns of the machines executed as forearms bashing on the keys. The amount of tone clusters in this is eye watering and a revelation, the look on some of the shocked audience and school children present was highly amusing. Fu shines in this music which leaves no prisoners. Keep a close eye on this one.
A Festival of Korean Dance has graced The Place for the past week. Some really enticing work has been done and I was lucky to see Collective A/Cha Jinyeob and their MIIN-BODY TO BODY. There was a lot to unpack in this show, how women are expected to be and behave in South Korea proves a conservatism we might not be able to grasp in the West. A male dancer dominates the space as beginners, slowly falls and writhed around in the circle of sand. The female dancers show a lot of vulnerability here, sharing more than expected, the amount of leg spreading in the show proved liberating, due to the demands of their culture expecting the opposite, as explained in the post show discussion. A monologue about cuckoos and the lack of interest in having a baby proved very telling.
These slight bodies stack on top one another, they form and separate. Video work and lighting are a very nice touch, the sand proving powerfully versatile with lights cast upon it. They want to challenge gender roles, something which is under post-mortem in many cultures presently. Yet, the most moving part came with a beautiful duet between both male and female, with the former carrying off with great ease the latter at the conclusion. Some other movement would evoke a cat walk, dancing in a nightclub and the violent swishing of long hair. “Miin” refers to an attractive person in Korean and this remains the prominent element of the show. These are artists who are tired of objectification and sexism. The post show talk would ask how if the show is in fact about feminism, the dancers also being translated into English as the discussion grew. This was a strange hour but it did have some touching and intense highlights.
MIIN-BODY TO BODY continues at The Place till 25 June 2022.
If the objective of art and performance is to encourage the observer to ask questions of both the piece and of themselves, then this production certainly does that. ‘Violet’ the new contemporary opera from Music Theatre Wales with music by composer Tom Coult and libretto by Alice Birch is both thought provoking and arresting.
Set largely in one room in a seemingly affluent household within a small village, the opera explores the concept of losing practical time daily and the impact this has on an individual and a society. The undeniable vocal talents of Anna Dennis as the main protagonist, Violet and her, at best fractious at worst toxic, relationship with husband Felix played by Richard Burkhard make for bitter exchanges fuelled by vitriol and spent passion. The libretto uses blunt truths and humour to articulate the harsh realities of a broken marriage, underscored by tones of misogyny and coercive control. The characters are not likeable and the musical score, performed brilliantly by the London Sinfonia orchestra echoes this jarring, uncomfortable feeling for the observer.
The vocal range of all the performers is incredible. Violet’s calm acceptance while those around her crumbled was portrayed by Anna Dennis with a serenity and almost childlike absence of concern that would have been welcomed by me as a viewer. The juxtaposition of Dennis’ piercing soprano and Richard Burkhard’s baritone was palpable and the shift in the balance of their relationship demonstrated to great effect through the peaks and troughs in tone and pace of the accompanying score. Frances Gregory as Laura the maid brings an understated yet powerful presence to the mix and Andrew MacKenzie Wicks as the clockeeper has an ominous presence throughout the performance, and acts as a reminder of the inevitability of time passing whether we want it to or not. The music takes the audience on a journey through a range of sounds both familiar in the ticking of a clock and at times challenging and uncomfortable. What felt like a cacophony of sound at times, perhaps representing the confusion and uncertainty felt by the characters in their increasingly desperate situation, ultimately left me a little overwhelmed which may have been its intension.
Rose Elnile’s staging was minimal but effective and the mix of old and new meant that the action could have taken place years ago or yesterday, bringing the unnerving concept of the opera closer to home. The animated backdrop representing the outside world transforming from idyllic summer sky to a dystopian nuclear cloud with floating dandelion clocks was an interesting addition that prompts a conversation about climate change and taking notice of what is going on around us. The twist at the end of the performance, no spoilers, didn’t work for me as a viewer but it made for a discussion point that will divide opinion and interpretation.
Cécile Trémolières costume design was interestingly simple with Violet morphing from a ‘Baby Jane’ esque image at the beginning to something from the Famous Five at the end reflecting her development in confidence and independence. Violet’s costume was the only one with any real personality or individuality and this served to single her out as a dissenting voice among the masses.
Time as a construct and how we value or use it is subjective and divisive, I suspect this contemporary opera is likely to be the same. If you are new to the genre of opera as I am, this is certainly an interesting baptism. I’m still not sure if I liked it, but I was talking about it when I got home and that has to mean something.
Contemporary opera may be an unfamiliar genre to many, even fans of musical theatre, and this was not in the background of Tom Coult or Alice Birch before they collaborated to compose and write ‘Violet’. Opera traditionally is not sung in English and is set in specific times and places as the protagonists, often lovers, work out their fate, usually tragic, as they struggle against the prevailing social and political conventions. ‘Violet’ is not a story of love seeking to prevail in spite of contrary circumstances, like Tristan and Isolde, La Boheme, Tosca or Madame Butterfly but more Nabucco, of emancipation from constraints to freedom, and lovelessness.
Co-Produced by Music Theatre Wales and Britten Pears, the premise of ‘Violet’ is bold and imaginative in the same way as Nick Payne’s ‘Constellations’ was when it broke new ground at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012, exploring questions about time, free will, choice and death. It is of time disappearing an hour per day over 24, disrupting the balance of nature and the orderly life. Set in an indeterminate historical period and place, the story relates the effect of famine, drought and human misery on the personal lives of the characters, the fourth of whom is the clock-keeper (Andrew MacKenzie-Wicks) whose chief function is to manage the display on the clock-tower stage-right showing the passage of time and the diminishing hours.
The dramatic narrative is set around the centre-stage dining table of a well-to-do couple, Violet (Anna Dennis) married to the controlling Felix (Richard Burkhard), supported by their maid Laura (Frances Gregory). Violet and Felix sit at opposite ends ( reminiscent of the distance Putin keeps from visiting world leaders) while Felix and the clock-keeper sit adjacent to each other for their conversation about stopping the disappearance of time, indicating Felix is more concerned with worldly affairs than any intimacy with his wife. The costumes designed by Cécile Trémolières support the narrative and character arcs, the static male characters remain in puritanical black while Violet’s attire changes to show more colour and variety as she comes to assert herself more, seeing hope and opportunity with the disappearance of the hours that she hadn’t before. To reinforce the lack of reference to specific time and place, Laura initially wears a maid’s bonnet suggesting this is provincial 17th century era but then the men don Elizabethan ruffs, and Violet kneads bread on the table between plastic milk cartons and supermarket cereal packets.
The backcloth shows a skyscape that changes as the hours disappear, from blue with white clouds to garish orange, purple and black intimating the arrival of catastrophe. As we hear how orderly life is breaking down, so too the props are thrown about, aided by Laura who finally smashes the table after a tree suspended above dropping lower every day is left fallen across the domestic wreckage. The staging by director Jude Christian and designer Rosie Elnile is riveting in its focus to assist the narrative, with visual text beneath the stage in Welsh and English as helpful assistance. A particularly effective piece of staging was the last occasion we saw the clock-keeper, up on his tower lamenting the end of time, lit from behind to show on the backdrop as if he was a hanged man. In view of Felix’ fate, this was a brilliant touch.
Moments in the Alice Birch’s libretto narrative I particularly liked were the conversation between Felix and the clock-keeper, when Felix wants an explanation and insists the clock-keeper should give him one, which he can’t. The clock’s mechanisms are working fine but still an hour gets lost every day. This refers me again the premise of ‘Constellations’ where contradictory happenings can coexist across multiverses. The most magical moment was when Violet pulls a length of flax seemingly from the hidden edge of the long table that was centrepiece just before like everything else it was wrecked by the entropy of time. Suggesting reference to Macbeth, she wraps it around her husband’s neck as she prepares him for a dreamless sleep before he is found hanging from the clock tower, “sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care, the death of each day’s life”. Indeed this story resonates strongly with the violation of nature Shakespeare portrays in his Scottish play. Excellent allusion.
There was a hole or two in the plot though e.g. on Day 4, as the town clock jumps 7 hours from midnight, and we learn that the lost time is daylight hours. Then when light is extinguished finally and Violet has her boat ready to escape with Laura who is afraid of drowning, we understand there are no news reports from the wider world about what has happened yet Violet assures Laura that many boats have crossed the sea over the horizon without sinking.
This brings me to the disappointment I felt about the outcome. Seeing no more of Violet whom with Laura we assume has been liberated to find a new life at last, the bizarre denouement is relayed as an animated collage on the backdrop, including the announcement a baby was born in January. Is this to Violet, yet how and by whom? A series of numbers is flashed up which I took to refer to quiz teams as we watch a quiz show where a contestant has to give 10 answers about the side effects of sarin, else calamity will ensue as images of warfare increasingly dominate the screen. The final quiz question is shocking. Why would a man use a gun? Answer – to shoot his children in the face. This is a nihilistic message with no apparent redemption for anyone. Unlike Shostakovich’s tenth symphony, also desperate, terrifying and dark but which is ultimately triumphant in the face of impossible horrors, ‘Violet’ fails to leave us with optimism about surviving catastrophe.
The narrative tension is supported consistently throughout by Tom Coult’s score, uncomfortably atonal, performed by the singers who must be credited for the hours of work they must have done to mesh their voices with the dissonant orchestration of the London Sinfonietta conducted by Andrew Gourlay, woodwind and brass very much at the fore punctuating the vocal exposition of the story, though with chimes and the ticking of clocks providing atmosphere and variety with some electronics. Anna Dennis is especially impressive in the title role as she hits her notes with astonishing precision. But for those who dislike the artificiality of musical theatre where dialogue can seem forced and contrived, they may not be impressed by such torturous delivery. While giving credit to the singers for maintaining their difficult lines over 90 minutes of a story about the disappearance of time, it may seem ironic how slowly the pace of the drama passed. With little obvious harmonic contrast,‘Violet’ seemed dissonant from start to finish, with no let up of the strident tension as an orderly world disintegrates. Comparing dissonance to being pepper, Prokofiev said no one wants to listen to music that’s all pepper. While after 4 hours of dissonance, the groundbreaking score of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde finally resolves with consonance, ‘Violet’ does not.
In summary then, ‘Violet’ as concept with narrative potential is intriguingly bold even if the denouement is finally disappointing, its staging was marvellous, and its performances commendable. Its shrewd avoidance of specificity as to time or place lends it the opportunity for long-term appearance in the canon of opera.
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw
(4 / 5)
(5 / 5)
(2 / 5)
(3 / 5) MIIN-BODY TO BODY
