Mainly Opera and Ballet
The wonderful acoustics of the Glyndebourne opera house yielded a perfect musical experience, enhanced by imaginative off-stage contributions that came from more than one location. The conducting by music director Robin Ticciati allowed Wagner’s music full expression in this abstract production. See my review for The Article.
Benjamin Britten’s musical version of Shakespeare’s famous play uses chords that never quite stabilise in order to create a linkage between the natural and supernatural worlds. On this occasion we were well served by a full moon, plus fine weather, showing the gardens through the glass sides of the Garsington opera house — see my …
In earlier operas such as Peter Grimes and Turn of the Screw, Britten had already shown a striking musical ability to interleave scenes of innocent joy with others of dark and mysterious intensity, so he was ideally suited to turning Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream into an opera. It was first performed at Aldeburgh in 1960 …
