The Minotaur

For those of us who believe opera to be the greatest of all art forms, the premiere of a full scale new work is an important and exciting event. Before going to see "The Minotaur" I knew little of Harrison Birtwistle's music and had seen none of his previous seven operas.

The libretto is by David Harsent, a regular collaborator of Birtwistle's, and follows closely the mythical story of the Minotaur, the half-man-half-bull trapped in the labyrinth. The libretto was skillfully constructed and well written, although the first half was a bit too long with rather too much hand-wringing from Ariadne and not just one but two horrific encounters between the Minotaur and the 'Innocents'. The second half flashed by.

The music at times was very violent but there were also moments of repose and lyricism. The dramatic music was enormously effective. The vocal lines were less jagged than I had expected and there some good themes: the saxophone associated with Ariadne being the most obvious. The best way I could describe the music is as 'aggravated Benjamin Britten'; indeed there was more than a whiff of "Peter Grimes" about the whole piece, complete with orchestral interludes.

The title role was created for John Tomlinson and he gave a superb performance. When in public, goaded and encouraged to cruelty by the masked chorus, the Minotaur can only roar, but when alone he articulates his frustrations and feelings. Every word and feeling in Tomlinson's performance was clear and it was both impressive and moving.

High vocal honours were taken also by Christine Rice as Ariadne, the longest part in the opera. John Reuter was fine as Theseus and there was a great double act from Andrew Watts and Philip Langridge as the Snake Priestess and her assistant. The Keres, who sweep onto stage to remove the hearts of the Minotaur's victims made a terrific Valkyrie-like effect vocally and dramatically. There was an outstanding performance from Amanda Echalaz as the chief Ker . Birtwistle had provided her with a bravura line, which she executed with considerable vocal fire power. This was her debut with the Royal opera and I hope to see and hear more of her.

There was excellent singing from the chorus and a spell-binding performance of this huge and complex score from the orchestra. Antonio Pappano demonstrated yet again what a brilliant and eclectic operatic conductor he is. How lucky we are to have him at Covent Garden.

The production by Stephen Langridge was straight forward and served the opera well.

A work that was certainly worthy of the full resources of the Royal Opera House and one that I am sure should be able to hold its place in the modern repertoire.

The Sixteen in Durham

Durham Cathedral was the glorious setting for this visit of The Sixteen on their Choral Pilgrimage 2008 with the title "Treasures of Tudor England". And the treasures were works by sixteenth century English polyphonists Robert Parsons, Christopher Tye and Robert White.

I especially enjoyed Parsons's "O bone Jesu" which opened the second half of the concert and White's setting of the Vespers hymn "Christe qui lux es et dies", with polyphonic verses alternating with the Chant.

Although the choir's numbers had been enhanced to 29, the Cathedral is a vast space to fill but their accuracy, precision and firmness of tone ensured an always impressive sound.

As so often with concerts of this type of music, non-stop polyphony can get rather wearing on the ear. The opening chant verse of the Compline hymn was like a breath of fresh air. And much as I admired and enjoyed the performance I think that music of this type does really cry out for some sort of context. I missed the smell of burning candle wax, the whiff of incense, the chink of the thurible and the rustle of fine vestments...

A Weekend in Leeds

I had to be in Leeds for work on Friday so I thought I would stay over and take in a bit of Leeds culture.

Friday night was Phoenix Dance Theatre's "Cattle Call" at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. I have seen Phoenix before and been impressed by their work but this was dreadful. The cast consisted of two women in "Tosca" frocks and a few men and women in warm-up clothes. The action was them standing up , sitting down and moving chairs around the stage. Occasionally there were confrontations over a microphone and fights broke out. The music was dominated by the singing of the two Toscas (if it was indeed them we were hearing) who had harsh ugly voices. All the music was amplified to painful levels. "The Times" on Saturday rated this as the number one dance event for the week. I thought it was rubbish.

Leeds Town Hall is a very impressive building, which I last entered when it was used as a court many years ago. The building is in the classical/baroque style, rectangular in shape, with two storeys over a basement. Once you have ascended the grand flight of stone stairs at the front, the entrance opens into a vestibule, with a domed ceiling. The floor is inlaid with tiles said to be similar to the tiles used in the Senate House in Washington. At the centre of the ground floor is the Victoria Hall, 92 feet high, 161 feet long, and 72 feet wide and with concert seating for 1500 people. The sides of the Victoria hall are divided into five bays by Corinthian columns which were decorated in imitation of Rosso-Antico marble with capitals gilded in bronze and gold. The circular roof is divided into five sections supported by the columns. Behind the plasterwork the roof is supported by laminated wood beams arranged in pairs; the only other buildings in this country to have this design were the Crystal Palace and King's Cross Station. Both the walls and ceiling are decorated with elaborate plasterwork. At each end of the hall and around the walls are various inscriptions, some in Latin and some in English, picked out in gold.

This lavish hall is the venue for the Leeds International Orchestral Season and on Saturday evening the orchestra of Opera North took the stage, conducted by Frederic Chaslin. The concert opened with Shostakovich's Festive Overture. This gave me a chance to assess the hall's acoustic, which is full and resonant, although with a tendency to be a bit 'churchy'.

The main piece in the first half of the concert was Chopin's Piano Concerto. This is sometimes criticised for its slightly perfunctory orchestral parts but I think that Chopin did not view a concerto as a battle ground between soloist and orchestra but rather as a piece for piano supported by orchestra. And so it was on Saturday. The soloist was Evgenia Rubinova (a former silver medallist in the Leeds Piano Competition) and she was excellent, revelling in the wonderful elegance of this concerto.

The second half of the concert was Prokofiev's fifth symphony. This was the first time I had heard this but it completely justified the programme note that told us that Prokofiev thought it his finest work and that it is one of the greatest of 20th century symphonies. Particularly memorable were the scherzo and the lovely passage in the last movement for divided cellos. The orchestra attacked the piece with panache, completing an excellent concert in a splendid venue.

National Youth Orchestra

The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain celebrates the 60th anniversary of its first performance this year. It consist of players between the ages of 13 and 19 who must play their instruments at least at the level of grade 8 distinction standard. Something like 600 players audition each year for the 160 places. Their concerts are then given under the direction of some outstanding conductors: no less a figure than Antonio Pappano heads the list for this season.

It was in 1971 that I first heard this orchestra, playing Berg Webern and Debussy's "La Mer"at the Proms under Pierre Boulez.

Last week they came to the Sage under the exciting young Russian conductor Vassily Petrenko, Principal Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert opened with the world premiere of a short piece by Mark Simpson, himself a former member of the Orchestra and a former winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. This was followed by Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales showing off a full and silky sound from the orchestra. The first half concluded with Strauss's Four Last Songs, sung by the Austrian Soprano Gabriele Fontana. She is a distinguished Strauss singer and was wonderfully supported by Petrenko and the orchestra. there was some beautifully controlled quiet playing and Petrenko spun out the quieter passages at very slow speeds.

The second half of the concert brought one of the greatest orchestral challenges and showpieces: Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". And it was thrilling! The discipline of the orchestra was superb and they threw themselves into the music with electrifying verve.

This was an excellent concert and a wonderful showcase for this extraordinary group.

A recording of the repeat of this concert at The Barbican can be heard on the BBC Radio 3 website until 14 April:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio3_aod.shtml?radio3/performanceon3_mon