Theatre of the week
and unfortunately a bit of a let down compared to last week, as I wasn't terribly impressed with either Legal Fictions nor The Minotaur.
Legal Fictions was a bit of a mix. The high point was definitely seeing Nicholas Woodeson (you, know Posca) in person. An absolutely fantastic actor, who totally outshone his counterpart in both works. Which is a shame. The first of the two one acts Dock Brief was actually pretty funny, and in the way of good humour, resonated quite strongly with this particular budding lawyer. You dream of glory and inspired speech, but what if your moment comes and you freeze? Still good stuff and really well paced. The second, one act was called Edwin and was boring as sin and slow as molasses in winter. I get that they were trying for the whole doddering fool thing, but it meant that the funny bits were way too spread out and it was almost all I could do to keep still and my mind focused. Overall, glad we went, but also glad that we didn't pay more than £12.50 per ticket. For reference, full price was £30.
The Minotaur we knew was going to be variable. For one, it was a world premier, which means 20th century music, which is always hit or miss with me. For two, this is the Royal Opera after all, and it will be technically incredible. Fortunately, in the latter department we were not disappointed. The cast, to start, was absolutely, frickin amazing. John Tomlinson sang Asterios (the minotaur) and Christine Rice sang Ariadne. I hadn't heard of him before, but Johan Reuter has a voice as smooth as velvet (he sang Theseus) ; and Pumeza Matshikiza (one of the innocents) is definitely a name to remember. She outshone the rest of the ensemble hands down and I have a feeling that she was purposefully holding back. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for her in future performances. . .but I digress.
The other striking technical thing about the performance was the orchestra - it was HUGE. Not only did they fill the entire pit to the point you could barely walk between the rows, but it wasn't enough. Percussion filled two boxes (you know the most expensive seats in the house, where the royal family sits when they come) stage left and all the brass minus three french horns (who they sat with the clarinets, no clue why) took up the two boxes stage right. Unbelievable.
The set was awesome and they got around the whole why-would-you-put-one-of-the-world's-best-basses'-head-in-a-box issue by making the bull head out of mesh! So not only did it not get in the way of him singing, but it really emphasised the whole man/beast dichotomy rather well. The rest of the costumes were fantastic (except for the Snake Priestess - why was she dressed like a viking? Why was she played by a man? I didn't get that role at all.), and the set was beautifully done. Minimalist, yet evocative with fantastic use of light. I'm liking very much this trend in theatre sets.
So what about the opera itself. . .well, it didn't really work for me. More bloody and violent than almost anything else I've ever seen, barring only Sweeney Todd, and that only by a slim margin. They really didn't spare much of anything, but if I had to be thankful for something it was that it was only 2 hours 50 minutes and that they did gloss over the rape of the first innocent. The music also didn't work for me. Reminded me a lot of Bartók a la Duke Bluebeard's Castle during the last performance of which I fell asleep, as marimbanlr and outotoro probably remember. So, yeah, not musically my cup of tea and excessively violent. *grimace*
Still, it was really good to get to see and I did really like the various themes they teased out and explored and how no one character was a hero; they were all guilty of using Asterios for their own ends. His death scene was amazing though - heart wrenchingly poignant, and, at last a moment of reconognisable tonality!!. Had the rest of the opera been like that it would have been my definition of an unqualified success. Still a success, just one that I'm glad I'll probably only ever see once.
Legal Fictions was a bit of a mix. The high point was definitely seeing Nicholas Woodeson (you, know Posca) in person. An absolutely fantastic actor, who totally outshone his counterpart in both works. Which is a shame. The first of the two one acts Dock Brief was actually pretty funny, and in the way of good humour, resonated quite strongly with this particular budding lawyer. You dream of glory and inspired speech, but what if your moment comes and you freeze? Still good stuff and really well paced. The second, one act was called Edwin and was boring as sin and slow as molasses in winter. I get that they were trying for the whole doddering fool thing, but it meant that the funny bits were way too spread out and it was almost all I could do to keep still and my mind focused. Overall, glad we went, but also glad that we didn't pay more than £12.50 per ticket. For reference, full price was £30.
The Minotaur we knew was going to be variable. For one, it was a world premier, which means 20th century music, which is always hit or miss with me. For two, this is the Royal Opera after all, and it will be technically incredible. Fortunately, in the latter department we were not disappointed. The cast, to start, was absolutely, frickin amazing. John Tomlinson sang Asterios (the minotaur) and Christine Rice sang Ariadne. I hadn't heard of him before, but Johan Reuter has a voice as smooth as velvet (he sang Theseus) ; and Pumeza Matshikiza (one of the innocents) is definitely a name to remember. She outshone the rest of the ensemble hands down and I have a feeling that she was purposefully holding back. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for her in future performances. . .but I digress.
The other striking technical thing about the performance was the orchestra - it was HUGE. Not only did they fill the entire pit to the point you could barely walk between the rows, but it wasn't enough. Percussion filled two boxes (you know the most expensive seats in the house, where the royal family sits when they come) stage left and all the brass minus three french horns (who they sat with the clarinets, no clue why) took up the two boxes stage right. Unbelievable.
The set was awesome and they got around the whole why-would-you-put-one-of-the-world's-best-basses'-head-in-a-box issue by making the bull head out of mesh! So not only did it not get in the way of him singing, but it really emphasised the whole man/beast dichotomy rather well. The rest of the costumes were fantastic (except for the Snake Priestess - why was she dressed like a viking? Why was she played by a man? I didn't get that role at all.), and the set was beautifully done. Minimalist, yet evocative with fantastic use of light. I'm liking very much this trend in theatre sets.
So what about the opera itself. . .well, it didn't really work for me. More bloody and violent than almost anything else I've ever seen, barring only Sweeney Todd, and that only by a slim margin. They really didn't spare much of anything, but if I had to be thankful for something it was that it was only 2 hours 50 minutes and that they did gloss over the rape of the first innocent. The music also didn't work for me. Reminded me a lot of Bartók a la Duke Bluebeard's Castle during the last performance of which I fell asleep, as marimbanlr and outotoro probably remember. So, yeah, not musically my cup of tea and excessively violent. *grimace*
Still, it was really good to get to see and I did really like the various themes they teased out and explored and how no one character was a hero; they were all guilty of using Asterios for their own ends. His death scene was amazing though - heart wrenchingly poignant, and, at last a moment of reconognisable tonality!!. Had the rest of the opera been like that it would have been my definition of an unqualified success. Still a success, just one that I'm glad I'll probably only ever see once.