Arts-info.co.uk - The Performing Arts Guide

Laugharne Weekend for literature, music & arts 2012

Alan — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:44:22 +0000

The tickets are now on general sale for the Laugharne Weekend 2012. This annual festival that embraces the arts, music and literature is held every spring in the West town where Dylan Thomas hailed from. If you are planning a UK short break why not head off to Laugharne and have a weekend of fun.

Some of the diverse venues that are being used over the weekend include a Congregational Church for music to be played quietly, an eccentric 30′s/40′s museum and art gallery called the Tin Shed and the biggest venue of the weekend, the town’s Millennium Hall. Also in use will be Dylan Thomas’ Boathouse, which is an intimate venue that overlooks the estuary complete with all its herons.

Home of the Laugharne Rugby Club, the Fountain Inn, is where most of the festivals music events will be taking place, as well as the Potreeve Bar and Restaurant.
This timeless, mild, beguiling island of a town with its seven public houses, one chapel in action, one church, one factory, two billiard tables, one St. Bernard (without brandy), one policeman, three rivers, a visiting sea, one Rolls-Royce selling fish and chips, one cannon (cast-iron), one chancellor (flesh and blood), one portreeve, one Danny Raye, and a multitude of mixed birds, here we just are in Carmarthen, and there is nowhere like it anywhere at all.

It’s pretty much impossible to discuss Laugharne without mentioning Dylan Thomas, who lived here and set his best loved work, Under Milk Wood, in a fictional version of here. And, furthermore, his description remains pretty much true today (though it’s odd that he doesn’t mention the castle that’s right slap bang in the middle of town). Another great reason to visit for a UK short break.

Laugharne is the end of a road to nowhere. It’s just five miles off a beaten track, but somewhere in the course of those five miles you cross over into not just another era but another dimension: there is, as Dylan says, “nowhere like it anywhere at all.”

That doesn’t mean you can’t find out what it looks like, and what there is to do and see, both here and in the surrounding area. There are plenty of websites that will help you out with this. But really, if I were you, I’d forget all that research – it’s the worst thing about the internet, the way it sucks all the surprise out of the world – and just come and see for yourself.

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Strictly Gershwin

Alan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:13:51 +0000

Strictly Gershwin is an all singing and all dancing show focussing on entertainment which Craig Hassall, the managing director of the English National Ballet (ENB), has ironically apologised for.

It has truly split opinions with many thinking that Strictly Gershwin is too razzle-dazzle with the consequence being that the Gershwin’s talents are wasted in this latest effort by the ENB at the Coliseum, whereas others feel the adaptation from the Albert Hall has worked very well, with the addition of dramatic focus working in its favour and the dancers perform it beautifully.

What is agreed is that the numbers are performed with a big band style, and the dancing varies between simple duets and elaborate crowd scenes. Last year, Strictly Gershwin was performed in the Royal Albert Hall, but it has moved for its long winter tour into the London Coliseum. One consequence of this is that it is no longer performed in the round, which was never an ideal setting for a dance show.

This is a big show designed with the box office in mind. A veritable smorgasbord of dances to really appeal to the Strictly television fans, complete with glitzy costumes and lighting. It is not your traditional ballet, as it is looking to be open to a wider audience than would usually consider the ballet a good night out.

Created by Derek Deane in 2008, the big assets were Barbara Cook and the ballroom dancing duo of Lilia Koplova and Darren Dennett. These stars have moved on now, and the ENBs own singers and dancers are not quite up to their impeccable standards.

The showmanship is up in this performance, which is not unusual in a Deane production. With as many sequins as can humanly be put on the costumes, a completely overactive conductor hitting his own bottom with his baton, and excessively cheesy tap dances, there is no mistaking this as one of Derek Deane’s own.

The big ballet ensembles for Gershwin’s best known compositions such as ‘An American in Paris’ and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ are big group numbers with excellent costume work. Whether it is Eiffel Tower tutus and hats, or sexy blue plate tutus, the beautiful costumes are just about able to compensate for the lack of pizzazz in the choreography.

The best dancers on the night were Klimentová and Muntagirov, both of whom could dance comfortably on any stage in the world. That said, they both had their moments when you didn’t think that they believed in what they were doing. This wasn’t improved by their fellow cast members such as Gruzdyev or the man playing Gene Kelly who were simply not able to pull their weight.

The applause at the end of the show made it obvious that the negative reviewers weren’t universal, but by appealing to a wider audience the ENB has rather left some of the more poignant moments in ballet by the wayside. The special effects come across as lazy and while they may be fun it just doesn’t seem right on a ballet stage.

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Alan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:51:16 +0000

Romeo and Juliet, the 1960s ballet by Kenneth MacMillan has remained a consistently popular performance since it started. A new run of the ballet is taking place at Covent Garden and this latest production, which stars Thiago Soares and Marianela Nunez, is one of the best productions of the ballet yet.

When a new production of an old ballet is done it is one of the greatest challenges for the company to make it feel fresh and exciting, and this is exactly what this new ballet achieves. You feel as if the performance is being put on for the first time and this is a very exciting feeling for anyone who’s seen this ballet before.

Soares is an incredibly talented dancer who has been with the Royal Ballet for many years. Nunez is also an exceptional dancer and is probably the best stylist of the pair. Soares is somewhat out danced by another performer in the production, Richard Cervera who performs as Mercutio.

The problem with this is that the character of Mercutio should be more about scars and tobacco and not about clean cut dancing, so it all seems a little bit out of character. The harlots are led by Itziar Mendizabal and they give a different performance to what you might expect if you’ve seen the ballet before.

Romeo carries himself as a man who knows his standing in life and he has a remarkable hunter quality that is very present in the dancing from Soares. His dancing is excellent but you can see that he is more talented with his upper body than he is with his legs, but the remarkable work he does with his arms makes up for any lack of performance elsewhere.

Tybalt is played by Thomas Whitehead and his performance is arguably one of the best in the production and possibly he is the best Tybalt that has been played in the history of this ballet. The story of Romeo and Juliet is as strong as ever and in this production it is highlighted how the two families are essentially nothing more than gangsters.

Their lives and society revolve around status deals and macho posturing and really nothing more. The initial gleeful skirmish really shows how the families will be portrayed throughout the ballet and it has an incredible visual style. When you mix this style with the fatalist music, the blend is stunning and you can see how this ballet is a work of pure genius.

The way the tempo changes from scene to scene is excellent and the dancers are very adept at adjusting their dancing styles. In the scene where Juliet shows she has a preference for Romeo over her intended husband, Paris, the pace of the action changes dramatically and it is a remarkable moment to watch.

The ending of Romeo and Juliet is well known but the emotions throughout this ballet are powerful and the story has been re-energised into a new production that you won’t forget easily and you will be drawn into like never before.

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Classical music fans will have a great 2012

Alan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:34:09 +0000

Classical music fans in the UK are set to be spoilt for choice over the next few months, with some old favourites and some brand new pieces being performed by some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors.

Politics and classical music may not seem to a be a natural mix, but that hasn’t stopped several venues putting on performances inspired by real-life figures and real events. Prokofiev – Man of the People? is an exploration of the Russian composer’s life and music by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Southbank during January.

Another Russian is celebrated in Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony which is being performed by the Liverpool Philharmonic in a double-header with John Adams’ more modern piece, The Chairman Dances, a musical portrait of the Chinese leader Mao Zhedong.

Back in London, Black Angels, a response to the Vietnam War by composer George Crumb, is being performed by the Kronos Quartet at Hackney Empire while Esa Pekka-Salonen, along with the Philharmonia, is putting on Il prigioniero, the Dallapiccola composition that deals with fascism, at the Royal Festival Hall.

There are plenty of shows both inside and outside the capital for those who prefer to explore new musical creations, including the long-awaited new opera from Jonathan Harvey, Wagner Dream, which is on at the Barbican.

Also in London are new pieces from both Detlev Glanert and Wolfgang Rihm are being performed by English National Opera and you can expect an entertaining night out at London Sinfonietta’s take on Hommage à Klaus Nomi, a contender for the title of the campest opera ever written, by Olga Neuwirth.

Old and new collide with an innovative musical adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest by Gerald Barry being premièred by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group at London’s Barbican before they head home to Birmingham’s Symphony Hall at the end of April.

World-famous musicians are heading for the UK this spring, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra which will be making three appearances at the Barbican, each time with a different star conductor. Mariss Jansons and Bernard Haitink are appearing with the orchestra in May, while Nikolaus Harnoncourt opens the season on April 22.

Opera stars Mark Padmore, Kristine Opolais and Thomas Quasthoff will be singing a very special performance of Britten’s War Requiem in Coventry Cathedral to mark the 50^th anniversary of the show’s première. Accompanied by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, this promises to be a special performance and an emotional night.

Finally, the Olympics continue their bid for UK domination with an extensive programme of cultural events to run alongside the sporting competition. The Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music will feature a performance of L’Olimpiade by Vivaldi, with the same opera getting another outing at Garsington Opera in June.

The opening ceremony of the Games will be celebrated at the BBC Proms on the same night with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Daniel Barenboim, while the Royal Opera House is offering its own tribute to the London Olympics with a staging of the complete Ring Cycle by Wagner later in the year.

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Sibelius is still a huge challenge

Alan — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:34:37 +0000

Sibelius composed seven symphonies and even today they remain a challenge to modern orchestras as they explore sounds that are untraditional and that many orchestras are unpractised in. Many of the sounds that are explored in these symphonies are things that orchestras simply do not have to perform in any other piece of music.

The ambition of the works was outstanding and the BBC Symphony Orchestra have been attempting their performance, but because of the complexity they have recruited six different conductors in order to perform all seven symphonies in the best way. They have been doing performances since October and they will finished the run in May.

The symphonies were written over 25 years and smashed conventions at the time and many people regard them as one of the most important moments in the history of composition and 20th-century music.

Sibelius is the most famous composer in Finnish history and if you are walking through the streets of Helsinki then you will find many concert halls which have been named after the famous composer. Most of those that are not named after him will probably be named after one of his works. Today, Finland produces some of the world’s most famous works and composers and many people expect this is because of the intense influence that Sibelius had on the population of the country.

Sibelius was a great composer but his private life was rather strange. He was known as a very intense man but was incredibly charismatic. He was also a depressive and a hard drinker and this desperation comes through in many of his earlier works. Interestingly he finished his last piece in 1926 and never returned to writing music despite living three decades longer.

Those who listen to the seven symphonies composed by Sibelius can hear how he has put a great many of his emotions into them. There are moments of sheer beauty in his work but also times when the melodies are very restrained and these are quite telling of his changing moods and tempers.

Interestingly many people who knew him say that he might have composed an eighth Symphony at some point in his last 30 years of life, however, he was known for being very critical of his own work and it is expected that he burnt the eighth Symphony and it is never going to be heard.

The most experienced of the six conductors that the BBC Symphony Orchestra has recruited is Neeme Jarvi who is possibly the most famous classical Estonian musician on the planet. He will be conducting one of the pieces in April and has commented, “The second symphony was a huge turning point for Sibelius and I’m delighted to be able to conduct it because it is always such a well-received piece by audiences, mostly because of the wonderful and very loud ending.”

Another conductor is Alexander Vedernikov who stated that he very much enjoys the Northern influence that comes from Sibelius having composed in Finland himself.

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Royal Ballet live on cinema screens

Alan — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:37:14 +0000

Cinemas in Merseyside are going to be broadcasting the production of The Sleeping Beauty, that the Royal Ballet will be performing, live. The production is going to be streamed directly from London’s Royal Opera House and is expected to be a huge event. The Sleeping Beauty was first staged in Russia in the late 19th century and is set to the music of Tchaikovsky.

The production was revived five years ago to celebrate the 75th birthday of the production and the design of it was brought up to date by Peter Farmer. Anthony Dowell was responsible for additional choreography and was assisted by Christopher Wheeldon and Frederick Ashton.

In this production, Laura Cuthbertson is starring as Princess Aurora who was put to sleep for 100 years after accidentally pricking her finger with a needle, Prince Florimun is played by Surgei Polunin. The music by Tchaikovsky is being recorded in 5.1 surround sound and broadcast into cinemas in the same way. The set of the production is very dramatic and involves a great many changes, from shadowy ruins to grand palaces and the entire production is being shot in high definition.

The sales director of Vue Entertainment is Mark De Quervain and he has recently commented, “The way this production is being broadcast can bring ballet to a wider audience and even those who don’t normally go to the ballet will have an opportunity to see this performance live.”

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Norfolk and Norwich festival

Alan — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:34:10 +0000

An arts performance that reflects the make up of the population in Norfolk has been revealed as being the highlight of 2012′s Norfolk and Norwich festival. The show, entitled 100% Norfolk, has a cast of 100 who will be combining their personal stories into a performance reflecting Norfolk life in 2012. Other acts that will appear include a performance from the circus troupe Compagnie XY at the Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth.

Organisers have said that those recruited for 100% Norfolk would be a representation of the 862,000 strong population of the county, and contained factors that were based on gender, age, place of birth and current location. Anyone wishing to take part should contact the festival office. The Orchestra Spira Mirabilis are also due to perform at next years contemporary music and arts event.

As part of entertainment for the children, Erth Theatre’s Dinosaur Petting Zoo is to tours outdoor spaces and school playgrounds. William Gallinsky is the artistic director of the event, and he has said that they were already thrilled with the confirmed line up and this was just the tip of the iceberg. He added that they wanted more people than ever before to discover the Norfolk and Norwich festival in 2012.

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Scottish Ballets Sleeping Beauty

Alan — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:18:08 +0000

Ever since its Glasgow premiere back in December 2007, the Scottish Ballets inventive retelling of the Sleeping Beauty has received great plaudits, and is now enjoying a timely and well deserved revival.

It follows the typical route of the yuletide productions that Ashley Page, the choreographer and soon to be departing director of the Scottish Ballet, and Antony McDonald, the designer, produce. The beautiful and swirling music from Tchaikovsky is set amidst a whirl of comedic touches, innovations that are almost surreal and historical references that are very clever.

You can only hazard a guess at what Marius Petipa, the ballets original choreographer, would have made of the heroine falling asleep after pricking her finger on a cactus plant that had been given to her by some wicked fairies who were disguised as gardeners. The beauty of this exemplary show is the balance it finds, crossing between traditional and outlandish seamlessly.

The party thrown to celebrate the christening of the unlucky princess Aurora could have, in many ways, come from the mind of Petipa himself. Set in an imperial garden in Russia the stage is ablaze with the Regency colours of the early 19^th century. The arrival, however, of Carabosse the witch and her vulcan eared, egg headed daughters Lucinda and Pina confronts us with an image akin to something from the mind of Hieronymous Bosch.

Genteel blends with gothic, the dancing dynamic and captivating, and the overall show exceptional.

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BP gives cash to the Arts

Alan — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:04:18 +0000

Last year BP was responsible for the worst oil spill in the history of the United States and in order to help repair its corporate image the company has pledged to give £10 million to cultural institutions over the next half decade. The company is backing programmes by Tate Britain, the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Opera House.

Head of the marketing unit at BP is Iain Conn who has said, “We always looking for ways to reach out into the community and not just with our energy products. We want to make a meaningful contribution to society and this pledge is just a small part of that.”

The culture minister has welcomed the contribution saying, “BP has been a business leader for a very long time and it is fantastic to see them getting involved with the support of the arts.” Government funding for arts was cut significantly earlier in the year and this contribution is going to help ease some of the fallout in the area.

Many protests against BP have been based around the Tate Britain and back in April to mark the one-year anniversary of the spill, a naked young man had black oil poured over him as he lay on the floor of the art gallery. BP has never publicly announced how much they donate to culture in the UK every year but it is estimated to be more than £1 million. The company have long been a supporter of the Royal Opera House and have been involved in helping to pay for exhibitions at the Tate Britain for a long time. The National portrait Gallery has also received money from BP.

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National Youth Jazz Orchestra

Alan — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:36:35 +0000

The National Youth Jazz Orchestra last year held a sell-out concert that is still being remembered a year later and it seems as if the year has come around very fast and the second event is going to be held next week. The interest in the concert has already been enormous. The NYJO is an orchestra that features the best young jazz artists in the country and gives them an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of an audience.

The orchestra’s roots go back to the mid-1960s when the orchestra was founded by Bill Ashton. He was an Oxford graduate who wanted to give people who are under 25 years old an orchestra where they could practice jazz music. The orchestra has a focus on people who are good at sightreading and have technical proficiency and his orchestra has a legacy which continues to inspire young artists and audiences today.

There are 24 young people involved in the orchestra and every year they put on about 50 performances around the country. In total they have released 50 albums and toured internationally. In the past they have been selected to perform in front of the Royal family and also have been televised on numerous occasions.

Another main aim of the orchestra is to encourage people’s interest in jazz music and every year there are special events designed to get people interested in jazz. This show is going to feature a great deal of Christmas music including the Christmas Carol Suite from Paul Hart and a selection of music set to the famous Christmas book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

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