Julian Anderson - "visual" composer

Julian Anderson's Thebans comes to the ENO Saturday. I'm intrigued because Anderson has always been a good "visual" composer. Eden, for example, translates Brancusi's The Kiss. Two solid figures become one : viola and cello curl sensuously around each other, embracing, so to speak, in melody.

One of Anderson's "Great Hits", The Book of Hours, takes its cue from Les Trés riches heures du Duc de Berry, illuminated painstakingly by hand and gilded with real gold. That rather describes Anderson's technique, too. Not one slipped note, everything intensely coloured, and enhanced by electronic effects applied at first like fine gold leaf over rich painting. Layers of texture and colour again, deftly applied in careful miniature to create a flamboyant yet deeply satisfying whole. The first part is beautiful, an intricate tracery built around four basic notes. Its exotic textures are interrupted two-thirds of the way through by a strange electronic interlude. After a Luftpause, deliberately creating distance from what has gone before, the second part opens with deliberate distortion - people who listen for sound will get a shock! It´s the sound of a scratched LP, a reminder perhaps that recorded music is artificial and ephemeral. Then the distortion clears and the music reveals itself again, reborn and even more vivid. Towards the end there's an apocalyptic electronic cadenza, which fits in with basic ideas in medieval cosmology, such as "the world overturnn'd". In other words, fate, sudden upheaval, etc, ideas which are strikingly modern in our uncertain modern era. Of course you don't need to know any of this, though Anderson is far too literary a composer not to be aware of this extra dimension.

Edward Gardner is conducting Thebans at the Coliseum. Anderson and Gardner go back a long way. Gardner conducted Anderson's Symphony at his big Barbican debut nearly ten years ago. Symphony was inspired by art: Axel Gallen-Kallela´s painting of Lake Keitele. Gallen-Kallela is the best known Finnish painter of his time, and his works will be known to any Sibelius fan. It doesn´t matter what the picture looks like, this is its spiritual atmosphere. For a full minute, all you can hear are vague sounds, like the rushing of a stream almost at freezing point. It´s wonderfully impressionist - you imagine the cold and the stillness, the wind, birds flying overheard. Ultimately, though it´s the inventive, multi-layered orchestration that entrances. Flurries of harmony take off in different directions, and melody starts in one part of the orchestra, to be completed in another. Julian Anderson is the current composer-in-residence at the Wigmore Hall. Read about his concert last year, which placed his music in the context of Hans Abrahamsen and Salvatore Sciarrino, whose music also contains a strong visual element. Read more HERE.

Massenet Thérèse Wexford broadcast

Last year's Wexford Festival  Massenet's Thérèse on BBC Radio 3. Claire Seymour reviewed it for Opera Today (link HERE) :

"Set in Revolutionary France, during the Terror of 1793-94, Thérèse (1907) is a melodrama which pits public against private, loyalty against love. As with Foroni’s Cristina, the eponymous heroine is based on a historical figure, in this case, Lucille Desmoulins who was executed in 1793, eight days after her husband, Camille. In Jules Claretie’s libretto, Thérèse finds herself torn between her allegiance to her husband, André Thorel - a Girondist and man of the people - and her passion for her aristocratic lover, Armand, Marquis de Clerval, who has fled to escape the Revolution. Thorel, the former childhood companion of Armand (his father was the Marquis’ steward), has purchased the Clerval chateau in order that it may one day be returned to his friend. When Armand reappears, still deeply in love with Thérèse, she is torn between her amorous feelings and her fidelity to her marriage vows......."

"....At the heart of the score are the passionate exchanges of Thérèse and Arnaud, and French-Canadian mezzo soprano Nora Sourouzian and French tenor Philippe Do prove that they possess the stylishness, lyricism and sensitivity to convey the poetry of these scenes most beautifully. Do has both the strength, though the voice is never forced, to bring a fierce ardour to the passionate high-points and a floating mezza voce which can modulate the emotional fire with sensitivity and lightness. Thérèse’s Act 2 aria, ‘Jour de juin, jour d’été’ was deliciously sweet and exquisitely phrased. Brian Mulligan, as André, made a considerable impact, demonstrating fine stage presence and singing with an open, burnished tone. Damien Pass was very competent in the small role of Morel. "

Mailied with a twist

It's May and all the buds are bursting into bloom !  O Earth, O sun, O joy, O hope,, O love, O Love !  The protagonist loves the girl because she makes him happy, which is fair enough. But as Richard Stokes pointed out ages ago, it's Goethe, and there's a broader idea in the end. Sei ewig glücklich, wie du mich liebst! May you ever be happy the way that you love me.

 Wie herrlich leuchtet Mir die Natur! Wie glänzt die Sonne! Wie lacht die Flur!

 Es dringen Blüten Aus jedem Zweig und tausend Stimmen Aus dem Gesträuch,

 Und Freud und Wonne aus jeder Brust. O Erd', O Sonne! O Glück, O Lust! O Lieb', O Liebe!

So golden schön, Wie Morgenwolken Auf jenen Höhn! Du segnest herrlich Das frische Feld,

Im Blütendampfe Die Welt. Mädchen, Mädchen, Wie lieb ich dich! Wie blickt dein Auge, Wie liebst du mich!

So liebt die Lerche Gesang und Luft, und Morgenblumen Den Himmelsduft,

Wie ich dich liebe mit warmen Blut, Die du mir Jugend Und Freud und Mut zu neuen Liedern
Und Tänzen gibst.

Sei ewig glücklich, wie du mich liebst! (which Beethoven repeats 3 times)

ENO 2014/15 - sound heads, good sounds

"From terrorism, invasion and despair through to miracles, enlightenment and joy, two millennia of history, four centuries. of (opera)....... reveal the unique ability of opera to convey what it is to be human"  .... a good summary of the English National Opera's 2014 2015 season. Sixteen productions, eleven of them new, from Monteverdi Orfeo to another world premiere by a British composer. ( Don't forget Julian Anderson's The Thebans on Saturday). Along the way, Henry Purcell's The Indian Queen, Verdi Otello, The Girl of the Golden West, The Mastersingers of Nuremburg, John Adams The Pirates of Penzance. The Queen of Spades and much more. A season with lots of varety, and even an opera for children. Getting the very young involved, is a good idea - it's done a lot in mainland Europe.

Even more interesting is what the announcement reveals about the ENO's financial strategy.  Contrary to the negative flak in the media, the ENO expects to end the year with a surplus, following better than expected box office sales, Attendances were up 11% over the previous year, while the average finamcial take per performance rose by13%. Some nights, there was standing room only (Madam Butterfly, The Magic Flute) and Peter Grimes, Rodelinda and Rigoletto ran 77% capacity. Audience capacity rose by 7% to 76%. That's  still much lower than the ROH where the house is often within 5% capacity, but the comparison isn't really fair since the ROH audience is very different. Overall audience was 182,242

Martyn Rose's first full year as Chairman of the Board at ENO has seen ventures like Opera Undressed do well. A total of 1800 seats were sold for Opera Undressed, some within minutes, as with The Magic Flute, . Of those who booked for Opera Undressed, 28%  booked for further performances. The Secret Seat scheme  where you pay £20 on the chance of getting something much better has done well - many of my friends have been delighted at getting dress circle seats at a quarter the normal price. Very nice, but it's a system which can't really be extended too far, unlike Opera Undressed, which targets first timers and charges more.

The ENO's HD screening of Peter Grimes was the highest grossing UK screening ever for an opera by a British composer - pity it was ruined by transmission problems as it took place on the night of the worst storm all winter. HD broadcasts are expensive and risky (even ROH doesn't make huge profits) but the ENO  will be doing five broadcasts in 2014/15, some overseas. Three safe bets - Otello, La Traviata and Carmen (vindicating Calixto Bieito) but more imaginatively, The Pirates of Penzance and The Long Way Back Home, the newly commissioned opera for children. These latter are perhaps more significant because they're aimed at audiences who wouldn't otherwise come to "formal" opera,  and extend the ENO's reach to new potential markets. The Long Way Home sounds wonderful - might it be the surprise hit of the season?

The "national" in ENO has always been a joke, but this year, the ENO is working with the Old Vic Theatre in Bristol, the oldest purpose built theatre in the country.  Perhaps the ENO's Bristol  Orfeo will be as successful as the ROH's L'Orfeo at Shakespeare's Globe. It's a good connect between performing space and work, and extends ENO outside London. It's wise, too, that the ENO, like the ROH, is cultivating relationships with other organizations. Alliances with other houses, of around the same size and eclecticism as the ENO spreads costs and reduces risk. No-one stands alone in this business.  The ENO is also starting an interesting  partnership with UCL, the university which has been mounting rare operas for over 60 years.

Peter Sellars has been appointed  "Director in Residence" which hopefully means his staging of John Adams The Gospel According to the Other Mary which was not well received at the Barbican despite being conducted by Dudamel. More fun maybe with Purcell The Indian Queen, a joint venture with Teatro Real Madrid. Edward Gardner conducts the Mastersingers of Nuremburg and The Queen of Spades. The "9/11" opera is Between Worlds, composed by Tansy Davies, about a man walking a tightrope between the Twin Towers.

ADDENDUM : yet again the media seizes on a relatively minor issue and blows it out of proportion.  It's not essential that people who write about opera need to know anything about it, but it would be nice if some could just comprehend the wider issues ? No, the ENO is not switching to music theatre, it's just giving Michael Grade and Michael Linnit a space for them to do new work in the summer. Music theatre done well can be good, and might bring in new audiences for opera. Besides, if ENO makes money out of Linnit and Grade, why not ? It's not like they're handing the place over  and paying him for the privilege. qv the South Bank and Alex Ross.

Rameau Zaïs Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment QEH

Shepherdesses, gods and supernatural sylphs, jostling merrily together in Jean-Philippe Rameau's Zaïs, performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment complete with dancers.,This is the latest venture by the Rameau Project, a multi-disciplinary group dedicated to Rameau scholarship. In October, Anacréon (1754), reconstructed from archival sources, and Pigmalion will receive their modern premieres.

Zaïs (1748) opens with a Prologue in which the orchestra depicts Chaos itself - the origin of the Universe, from the Elements - Earth, Air, Fire and Water - are brought into being, an ambitious concept, but one which reflects the audacious bravado of the high Baroque.  The strings scream turbulence like howling winds, and percussion beats thunder. Four flautists stand apart from the main body of the orchestra, playing wavering lines that might suggest flames. Anyone still under the misapprehension that period instruments can't do gusto needs to hear the energy of the OAE, unleashing the creation of the Sun no less, and the world of gods and men. A woodwind chorus plays birdsong, reminding us how deeply Messiaen's roots reached into the past. Jonathan Williams conducted, bringing out the sprightly humour in the work which I feel is so important in the idiom. Rameau was a radical in his day, no po-faced curmudgeon.

Zaïs, King of the Sylphs, has fallen in love with a mortal, the shepherdess, and she with him, thinking he's a shepherd. Jeremy Budd and Louise Alder wore normal concert black, as did Ashley Riches (Cindor), Katherine Watson (Amour). David Stout (Oromanés), Katherine Manley (The High Priestess), Anna Dennis (A Sylphide) and Gwilym Bowen, a cupid-like Sylph. This was surprisingly effective. Realism is not of the essence in an allegory like this, any more than in the pastorals of Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard or Le Petit Trianon.  Choreography is hard to authenticate, but it was interesting how this dancing reflected the music. Edith Lalonger had the dancers use stylized poses, their arms hovering in the air during pauses in the music. What did real shepherdesses wear in those times?   They can't have moved like characters in a toile de jouy. These certainly weren't Grecians of Antiquity. So it's fair to imagine them as 18th century Parisians re-imaging the past.  Are the costumes in Rameau's operas an elaboration of normal court dress, if "normal" could ever apply to Versailles? 

The love between Zaïs and Zélidie,transgresses social boundaries so must be tested throufgh a series oif trials. which involve impersonation and deception, magic flowers and offers of immortality. The role of Zaïs is far more demanding than the others, so it would be quite unfair to quibble about the use of a score. Budd has the notes and carries them with fine flow: Zaïs must be quite some guy. Interestingly, Rameau seems to give more gravitas to the male characters than to the women,  allowing Riches and Stout some very good moments. The choruses were the Choir of the Age of Enlightenment and Les Plaisirs des Nations.

The dancing gives visual content to abstract ideas. I thought of the way French philosophy predicates on formal logic and precision. Boulez, for example, studied and conducted Rameau. Eventually, love wins out. Zaïs and Zélidie are miraculously time shifted into  barren desert. Thunderclaps in the orchestra and whirling winds. These could hardly be staged realistically in the short time frame Rameau gives them, but the storm is more allegory than nature. This is an aesthetic very different indeed from later forms of opera. Hopefully the Rameau Project will enlighten us further. Cuthbert Girdlestone's monumental biography of Rameau remains the cornerstone, but much has happened in Rameau studies since it appeared in 1959. Graham Sadler's new book is eagerly awaited.

Please see my other pieces on Rameau : Platée (Prince kisses Frog), Hippolyte et Aricie
 Les Indes Galantes, Castor and Pollux.(Shocking but Not Wrong)...

Lohengrin Wiener Staatsoper Klaus Florian Vogt

"Lass zu dem Glauben dich bekehren: Es gibt ein Glück, das ohne Reu! " sings Elsa von Brabant, confronting Ortrud. At this point, Eva's love for her mystery Knight is so pure, that she asks no questions. Happiness, with no regret or doubt. But then she goes on to grill her bridegroom, and all falls apart. Why shouldn't a girl know who she's getting into bed with? Why is the secret so extreme that Lohengrin must reject this great love for Montsalvat? Wagner Lohengrin at the Wiener Staatsoper was live screened last night. and should, hopefully be available in the archive. Watch it if you can, because it's very thoughtful indeed, and links Lohengrin to Parsifal on many intriguing levels.  Plus the singing - Klaus Florian Vogt is divine and conductor Mikko Frank reveals sonorous, disturbing mysteries in the score.

The motto "Es gibt ein  Glück" appears on the drop cloth, and later in a painting on the back wall of the set, much as in the way mottos - and hearts - appear so often in traditional German settings.  Heinrich "der Deutschen König", with his Saxons and Thuringians, has come to Brabant, then one of the Frankish lands. Dressed in fustian and Lederhosen, they present an image of German-ness at once domestic and militaristic.These men are in armour, though their uniform, their buttoned-up jackets suggesting repressed violence and conformity, much more effectively than flashy mock medieval coats of armour or neo-Nazi brownshirts. Thus Elsa (Camilla Nylund)  in her white shift seems painfully exposed. Ortrud (Michaela Martens) girded in metal-studded velvet is every inch a warrior. Telramund (Wolfgang Koch) is a convincing leader but also compromised and world-weary. When Lohengrin appears, he's in a white shift which billows like the wings of a swan. It's a provocative reference to the way Parsifal wandered into the Grail community. Director Andreas Homoki uses costume to amplify character. As the balance of power shifts, Elsa and Lohengrin dress up while Ortrud dresses down.

The simplicity of the set focuses  attention on the singing and on the dynamics between singers. The folkloric setting also emphasizes the divison between men and women, another subtle counterpoint to the misogynist world of Montsalvat. The women of Brabant know their place in society but support Elsa. The chorus in the wedding is delightfully lyrical. The staging once again evokes the image of a swan. In the prologue, Nylund held a swan while she played with her brother: clearly it's a symbol of purity and innocence. Yet swans are mute until they die. Homoki hints at levels of interpretation but keeps them elusive. Later, when Lohengrin prepares to take his leave, Vogt is seen writhing on the ground, his body twitching like a dying bird. His acting is extraordinarily moving, suggesting pain and regret. "Es gibt ein Glück, das ohne Reu!" resounds, unspoken, in memory. 

Camilla Nylund's voice is pure, and the clarity of her diction suggests underlying strength of character. Nylund's Elsa interacts well with Michaela Marten's Ortrud.  Neither of them are exaggerated stereotypes, both feel like real women caught up in an extreme situation. Wolfgang Koch's Telramund is no monster : the softer inflections in his voice suggest a man trapped almost against his will. Günther Groissböck's Heinrich der Vogler is cleanly assertive - we can savour the interplay between tenor, baritone and bass and ponder even more hidden levels of meaning. Detlev Roth makes the Herald feel much more part of the proceedings than usual. Altogether, this Lohengrin feels deeply human and all the more compelling for that reason

But as I said earlier, Klaus Florian Vogt is divine.  He has created the role  numerous times, yet manages to make this portrayal sparkle with freshness and individuality. In his Act Three dialogue with Nylund's Elsa, Vogt's voice becomes powerfully intense: is this the battle he has been sent to be tested for? Saving Elsa from the court of judgement was easy in comparison. When Vogt sings In fernem Land, his voice seems to radiate a spiritual quality.  His voice softens for a moment on the words "meine Lieber Schwan" then moves on ever more refined, as if he's reaching apotheosis. [His performance moved me so much that I haven't stopped wondering about the role. Have the Grail Knights, despite the intervention of Parsifal, continued in their old ways ?  Whoever his mother is, has Lohengrin been sent to learn the errors of blind faith and obedience without question?]  After listening to this Vienna Lohengrin, I listened again to the recent Munich and Milan  Lohengrin with Jonas Kaufmann. Kaufmann fans will want to kill me, but Klaus Florian Vogt (whose range is higher)  is in an altogether more elevated league.

Bizarre PR BBC Proms 2014

Press coverage of the 2014 BBC Proms has been bizarre. Is ithe BBC mindlessly self-destructive or is the media so gullible that it thinks The Pet Shop Boys are the big story? Whether the cause is internal or external, the coverage is pretty strange. (here is my piece on the2014 announcement)

The Proms are by far the biggest achievement of British broadcasting, ever. They are a huge asset - perhaps even the last vestige of Britain's credibility as a world power. So why make it look stupid? In principle, gimmicks are no big deal as long as they're done with humour, eg the Dr Who Proms, which were justifiably popular.  So why has the media fixated on Pop, Horse puppets and orchestras from abroad? Overseas orchestras have figured at the Proms so long that their absence would be  bigger cause for concern.

Roger Wright's recent Proms seasons have been so good that this year pales in comparison. The differences are more comparative than substantial. Perhaps we need a rest from the sheer euphoria of the Wagner marathon, the Barenboim showcases and choral blockbusters of recent years. Beneath the silly gimmicks like the War Horse and Ceebeebies, this year's offering aren't bad, though you need to think rather than repeat press releases.  Perhaps that's the crux of the problem. How can anyone with even a basic grasp of modern repertoire  equate Luca Francesconi with Gabriel Prokofiev? Or connect the Strauss offerings with the Elgar series? Both reprise a world that was to end in war. I don't know why the publicity for this year's  Proms is so odd, but we,  the audience, need to think for ourselves.
HERE is my summary of the BBC Proms 2014 season

How children learn about opera in China

How to help kids love opera? These days every decent house needs "outreach" partly to develop genuine interest and partly to justify funding. Some of my recent posts on the subject : Will children ever learn about opera ? and End the Missionary Position in Classical Music

 Here's how children learn about opera in Hong Kong. These schoolgirls were given a brief to make a documentary about any subjectb they liked and somehow picked Cantonese Opera with its long and complicated history and sub-genres. They had to research the subject for themselves, read up, do interviews and then do the "practical" working with opera personnel as well as with film makers. They wrote the script and presented it themselves. The film is six years old  and the final sequence about Chinese opera in English is misguided, but these girls are in PRIMARY school. This isn't a single occasion, but a regular experience for many kids in many schools. I went through that system too though I didn't do it until the first three years of secondary school. It was my school that pioneered the system sixty years ago. They did a full production of Purcell Dido and Aeneas. and even sewed the costumes themselves.  I was seven, way too young to be involved, but remember being fascinated.  A few years ago, they did The King and I which went on to DVD and sold well.

The secret of real education, I think, is to learn by doing: self motivation and fun. The subject doesn't matter, and the whole class gets involved. It's also a good way to teach kids how to organize themselves and project manage. Good multi-skilling training for life in general.

BBC Proms 2014 - safe, bland but not bad

PSYCHIC POWERS! I guessed the First Night of the BBC Proms 2014 - Elgar The Kingdom, Andrew Davis BBC SO (the BBC house band). Read more HERE  It pays to be "forward thinking". So follow my site - I cover 40 or so Proms each year.

A surprisingly safe Proms season otherwise, as if it's been designed to placate the vociferous lobbies who need to find something to complain about in order to be happy  I for one will miss Roger Wright who did know his music and did have vision but who was hamstrung one one side by dumbed-down bean counting and on the other by self-appointed "Friends". So there are plenty of British composers, a number of women, sports events,  kids events, musicals, youth orchestras etc. Nonetheless there's enough real music to look forward to.

Glyndebourne's all-new Strauss Der Rosenkavalier arrives in London on 22nd July right at the start of the season when excitement is still high - good programming and a great way to  integrate serious opera into the Proms, as was done last year with the Wagner marathon. Strauss Salome on 30/8 (Runnicles, Nina Stemme) and Strauss Elektra on 31/8 (Bychkov, with Christine Goerke!) plus songs and other pieces incl. Ein Heldenleben.

The much missed  Jiří Bělohlávek  returns on 23/7 with a meaty programme of Bartók and Shostakovich, and  Gergiev will conduct a new edition of Janáček Glagolitic Mass on 24/7, thankfully not with a pick-up orchestra but with the LSO.  Roger Norrington conducts Bach St John's Passion with James Gilchrist and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, which should be interesting. Simon Rattle conducts St Matthew Passion with the Berliner Philharmoniker on 6/9.

This summer marks 100 years since the start of the First World War, so there'll be themed events, and for good reason. 1914-18 changed the world forever.  So naturally, Butterworth, Gurney, Elgar -- and Mozart's Requiem on 3/8 but more unusually Gareth Malone's "War Horse Prom" with "Life-Size War Horse Puppets by the Handspring Puppet Company". Most of the 1914-18 commemorations so far are so bland as to be almost risible. But the Proms are hardly the place for more incisive contemplation. I'll be doing more on the impact of war on music over the next few years, God willing. Fortunately, Andris Nelsons conducts Britten's War Requiem on 21st August - he's so good that nationality becomes irrelevant (as it should be).

More of a challenge will be Prom 28 on 7/8 when Sakari Oramo conducts the UK premiere of Luca Francesconi 's Duende the Dark Notes together with Stravinsky Oedipus Rex and Beethoven Egmont Overture. What an intriguing programme! Francesconi is one of the great modern European originals  -- do not miss his opera Quartett at the Linbury, ROH from 16/6. 

Watch out for the Cleveland Orchestra (7/9 and 8/9) , The Berliner Philharmoniker's all-Russian Prom (5/9),  Ivan Fischer's Budapest festival Orchestra (25/8, 26/8)  Three seriously good Mahler Proms coming up - Mahler 4 (16/8) with Bernard Haitink, LSO and Camilla Tilling, Mahler 2 (29/8 Daniel Harding) and Mahler 3 on 11/9. That's probably the best pick of the season - Riccardo Chailly conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. And Chailly is back on 12/9 with Beethoven 9.
And the Last Night of ther Proms 2014?  No gimmicks this time but genuine music values.

As always, every Prom will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 online, internationally and on demand for 7 days. 

photo Yuchi Morioka

Elgar The Kingdom - for the Forward Thinking

After hearing Andrew Davis conduct Elgar The Apostles (op 49, 1902-3) at the Barbican (read my review here), I decided to revist its companion piece, The Kingdom op 51 (1901-6). The Kingdom is ideal material for the BBC Proms because it's spectacular and needs a space as grandiose as the Royal Albert Hall. Oddly enough it was last heard at the Proms in 1999, though it's been done 8 times since 1930. Andrew Davis conducted the BBC SO  then - it would be interesting to hear him conduct it fifteen years later   Mark Elder conducted the most recent recording (2011) of the Kingdom and also of the Apostles (2012), both with the Hallé, already well revered in Elgar's time. All the more reason to be intrigued as to when it will be done again and by whom  HUGE GRIN !!!!!!!

Elgar's The Apostles will crown this year's Three Choirs Festival at Worcester, Elgar's home town.  The massive computer glitch that hit the box office has been fixed, so it's worth seeing what's left. Please read my summary of the 2014 Three Choirs Festival HERE. I'm a regular devotee.

End the Missionary Position in Classical Music

Time to end the Missionary position in classical music, where middle class western pundits pontificate on what's best for lesser beings. The motives may be noble but the underlying assumption isn't. When "civilised" folk bemoan the fact that non-white, non middle-class audiences don't flock to concerts and opera, they're implicitly replicating the values of imperial aggression. Just as Victorian missionaries took it upon themselves to force the "natives" to hide their nudity and ancient beliefs, modern cultural do-gooders take it upon themselves to wail that other people don't do as they do, and get paid hefty amounts of public money in the process.

Why shouldn't the "natives"  (of any colour or class) enjoy pop, rock, grime, hip hop or whatever? The western classical tradition is barely 300 years old. Chinese opera, for example,  pre-dates Monteverdi, and rose from a sophisticated literary tradition that goes back much further. Indeed, classical tradition isn't any more superior in the west than other western traditions like popular music, hymns and theatre.  Classical music proselytizers are far too full of themselves.

Yes, it would be good if classical music audiences reflected the demographics of the world outside the concert hall. But that's not going to happen because someone gets public funding to talk about it.  Fact is, people come to classical music when they are ready, and people are ready in different stages. This kind of hand wringing serves to entrench the idea that classical music is elitist It's short-sighted luvvie policy to con younger audiences into halls while effectively excluding loyal and well-informed audiences (who often see through the sham of trendy thinking). There will always be a mix of young (student) audiences and older folk - those in the middle have mortgages and young families to worry about. Respect that. Above all, it's a stupid idea to dumb down. Sure that raises sales statistics, but long term it does no good for the kind of quality and high standards that make good classical music so enthralling in the first place.

There was news this week that China might be the most Christian country in the world by mid century. Pay heed, for this is relevant to the future of classical music. In China, millions have been poor for millennia, but the idea of culture as something to strive for has kept people motivated. Parents would starve so their kid could go to school.  Non-western people are not primitive  If they can recognize the intrinsic value of something, they'll go for it. That's why thousands of Chinese kids play piano, listen and enjoy. Sure they have pushy parents and enroll in competitions, but so do kids in the west. Somewhere along the way, people enjoy themselves. It's not at all unusual to see kids at concerts in China. Even in London: I observed a Russian pre teen at Faust last week, intently involved with what was going on. A lesson to some badly behaved adults who think they know everything and sneer.

So the trendies can contemplate their navels all they like, it won't change a thing. Better, I think to respect classical music for what it is, and keep up the standards. Definitely music education in schools makes a difference. But these days there are so  many more choices and opportunities.  Western classical music is something very special and very precious, so it needs support.  But ramming it down people's throats doesn't help. Old style mssionaries got kicked out of  China 65 years ago, but Christianity has grown better than ever because the time is right. It sells because the product is worth buying. So, too, with music.

Cantique de Pâques - Arthur Honegger

For Easter, the glorious Arthur Honegger: Cantique de Pâques  for  soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, female choir and chamber orchestra. It was written in 1918, when the composer was in his mid twenties but it's a surprisngly "modern" work. It isn't heard nearly as often as it should be, because the ensemble isn't the easiest to programme, and the piece runs 6 minutes.  Perhaps that's why Honegger transcribed it for soprano and piano in 1924. But the original version is so beautiful that it really needs to be better known

Bunnies and Bombs - Easter 1914

Why is this Easter bunny wearing an ammo belt and beating a marching drum ? And why are these soldiers arresting the bunny ? Perhaps the impact of war hadn't sunk in. Or maybe  escapist fantasy helped.  Why do Christians go to war ? Below, an image that deals better with the meaning of Easter. A soldier lies dying. A farmhouse burns in the background. Maybe at home, the soldier's farmhouse might be burning too. But the fallen soldier looks up at a wayside cross. Erschiene mir zum Schilde, zum Trost in meinem Tod Shine your shield on  me and comfort me at the moment of my death" 

London's South Bank - cutting thru the coterie

Priority case for Sajid Javid.  The South Bank should be the nation's cultural flagship, if only because it's gobbled millions. Since the South Bank management, The Arts Council England and the Guardian, formerly a newspaper, are far too cosy together, it will take a strong-minded Culture Minister to cut through the coterie.

From Douglas Cooksey :

"Dr Johnson is famously remembered for his quote that when a man is tired of London he is tired of Life. Having now lived in London for almost 50 years, I can say with some confidence that I am emphatically not yet tired of Life. However, in common with - one suspects - a great many genuine music lovers, there is a sense of total frustration at what has been happening at what we must now apparently call 'London’s Southbank Centre'.

"Of course all things change, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.  It would be completely unreasonable and stultifying to expect them to remain the same. However, despite a renovation costing in the region of £100 million, the Royal Festival Hall has declined from its original status as one of the World’s great concert halls, spoken of in the same breath as Vienna’s Musikverein, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall or Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and has sunk into a sort of pervasive self-inflicted squalor.

"What other major concert hall in the World permits unfettered access to all levels to members of the public, even during concerts? Previously at RFH one had to show a ticket for an event before proceeding to an upper level. Now, however these uppe- level areas are used as free Central London meeting space for all sorts of unrelated groups, even amazingly on occasion for groups of people dossing down to sleep.

"During one of Lorin Maazel’s recent Philharmonia concerts there was actually a children’s party in progress with children screaming and running riot at every level. Prior to this concert my partner and I were amazed to find couples with buggies picnicking on the upper levels, even directly outside the main entrance to the Stalls. A new low came when the public address system announced the start of the concert in 3 minutes time and the voraciously picnicking couple next to us swore loudly because the announcement had woken their child in his buggy.

"The opening up of the Royal Festival Hall to all-comers has also had discriminatory and Health & Safety consequences. In the first place, totally free access at all times has meant that older concertgoers now have little or no chance of a seat before, during the interval or after a performance because every seat in the public areas tends to be already occupied by people working on their laptops or by ad hoc group seminars, frequently being addressed by a speaker. When an older person may have made a long journey from, say, Bristol to attend a particular concert, only to be denied a seat by freeloaders, it clearly discriminates against the elderly and infirm, and is a strong disincentive for them to attend.

"More fundamentally, with several times as many people as originally planned now using the building at all times of day, there are genuine Health and Safety concerns; for instance, earlier this week I took two Czech and German friends to a concert, one of them a former member of a professional all-girl punk band (and therefore probably well used to touring insalubrious venues), and they were appalled to be confronted with three out of five toilets completely blocked. (Incidentally Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, which holds around 60,000 people, is an object lesson in the matter of hygiene and I was going to say that RFH would do well to take a leaf out of its book!) With the hall now in constant use throughout the day, mountains of garbage regularly accumulate in its waste bins and - leaving aside the stench - this should surely be investigated by Health & Safety as a matter of urgency.

"What is so depressing is that this is no slide into genteel poverty caused by lack of investment or by an ageing infrastructure – after all we’ve just spent more than £100 million renovating the hall - but largely the result of a series of conscious decisions by a perverse and unpleasant management operating to its own agenda which appears to seek to turn the hall into a “People’s Palace”, available to all people all the time. Regular concertgoers clearly now come a poor second. One has only to look at the Southbank’s monthly programme, where classical music is now relegated to the last 4 pages of a 28 page A4 booklet, to realise where the present regime (for that is what it is) sees its priorities. When just before Christmas the Philharmonia Orchestra wanted to announce its forthcoming season at roughly the same time as the LSO’s at the Barbican, I am given to understand that the orchestra was ‘instructed’ by the Southbank’s Management that it could not do this until some 5 weeks later, thus putting the Philharmonia at an unfair competitive disadvantage with their main rivals.

"Serious music lovers are now forgoing the Royal Festival Hall in increasing numbers, put off by the unpleasant surroundings. Who wants to emerge from a concert as that sublime final paragraph of Mahler’s 4^th symphony 'Kein Musik is ja nicht auf Erden' ('No music like this is heard on Earth') fades into complete silence only to be confronted with pounding rock music from a party on the ground floor or by the raucous din of drink-fuelled hordes of revellers on the terrace.

"The Royal Festival Hall was erected as a temporary structure and has never been a wholly satisfactory venue for orchestral music but despite its faults we grew to love it, not least for the memories of all those great performances and great performers we heard there  – Klemperer, Karajan, Stokowski, Barbirolli, Boult, Celibidache, Giulini, Carlos Kleiber and even those two legendary Toscanini concerts – but perhaps it should now be turned over to GLC Parks & Leisure and a new ‘fit for purpose’ acoustically satisfactory concert hall like Birmingham’s built at a location with good transport connections such as Kings Cross. Above all it should be managed by a team in sympathy with its primary purpose as a place for music, not as a public space. In the wake of various Parliamentary scandals and an upcoming General Election we are almost certainly on the point of ridding ourselves of a swathe of career politicians who have existed wholly within the Westminster bubble, impervious, even contemptuous of public opinion. Perhaps now is also the moment to see the back of career arts administrators and to appoint some new blood."

See also :

Ellis Woodman in the Telegraph

Richard Morrison in the Times

Puccini Manon Lescaut Rattle Westbroek Baden Baden

The very idea of the Berliner Philharmoniker playing Puccini operas  should raise a wry smile when one thinks of the orchestra's magnificent past.  But why not? Their artistry gives this Manon Lescaut a musical grandeur not often heard in an opera house. Sometimes, shifting the walls between sub-genres in music can be a good thing. Antonio Pappano plans to do much the same thing in reverse by getting the Royal Opera House orchestra to do more symphonic repertoire.  Read my review of Pappano's far superior Manon Lescaut HERE. Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker have been venturing to Baden Baden and into opera for some time, so their Puccini Manon Lescaut may or may not be interesting as a portent of things to come.

Thumbs up for Rattle and the orchestra, and most certainly for Eva-Maria Westbroek's singing.  In Massenet's Manon the heroine (or anti heroine) suffers for love in a dingy garret. Puccini's Manon indulges in physical and material excess. Her family may be packing her off to a convent for her own good. Westbroek's voice is lusty and her interpretation is well rounded in every sense. She creates a Manon who embraces pleasure with such feral enthusiasm that when she dies of thirst in the desert, Westbroek makes it feel like soul murder. Massenet's Manon sails off to an unspecified fate, but Puccini's Manon is destroyed to her very core. Westbroek's singing in the final act rises to heights of intellectual intensity one doesn't often encounter with "popular" Puccini. Westbroek may never sing a put-upon Cio Cio San, but her Manon is a creation of genuine originality.

Westbroek's lush blonde voluptuousness is nicely set off by Lester Lynch's Lescaut.  Thank goodness that we're now mature enough to face race without having to be coy, negative or embarrassed. Westebroek and Lynch are truly brother and sister, soul twins, so to say. They sing with similar physical intensity, so the dynamic between them works extremely well.  Puccini's Lescaut plays a much greater part in this opera than in Massenet's, so Lynch's portrayal adds a great deal to meaning. If only there were more roles which Lynch could do with Westbroek!

Nonetheless, the Romantic Hero in this opera is the Chevalier des Grieux.  Massimo Giordano sings the part effectively, though he doesn't quite have the quirky charisma of the Westbroek/Lynch combination, and is eclipsed by Bogdan Mihai's superb Edmondo and even Liang Li's Geronte de Ravoir. In the final act, though, Giordano lets loose. His singing becomes more impassioned, and he emphasizes words with greater force. In death, his Des Grieux seems to find himself.  Magdalena Kozena sings one of the musicians, not normally a huge part but she sings it with personality and flair.

The Baden Baden Festspielhaus is the biggest and most modern (1997) in Germany, and caters to a wide range of activities. It doesn't have the traditions of, say, the Vienna State Opera or Bayreuth, but every house fills a different niche.  Last year Baden Baden presented a very good Don Giovanni with Anna Netrebko, Erwin Schrott and Luca Pisaroni, which would have been welcome anywhere.  This Manon Lescaut was staged by Richard Eyre, whose greatest moment was the ROH La Traviata (1994) . Thirty years later, not much seems to have changed. This new production sports art deco angles but otherwise is rather provincial. Given the high standards Westbroek and Rattle achieve, it's a bit of a lost opportunity.  Admittedly the Lousiana scene is difficult to stage, especially as there aren't many deserts in New Orleans - so much for the myth of "historical accuracy".

Another interesting thing about Baden Baden is that it seems to be modelling itself on the Met. Alas,  they've copied the ludicrous interval interviews , though the interviewer herself is infinitely more articulate.  It's sad that an intelligent woman should have to mimic the Met's airhead gushing. If Baden Baden wants to make a name for itself it should do something more upmarket.
Watch this in full on the Berliner Philharmoniker website. 

Needless to say, this will be TOTALLY OUTCLASSED by OPOLAIS, KAUFMANN and Pappano at the Royal Opera House in  June