I have just spent over £500 on Edinburgh Festival tickets so I feel free to make some critical comments on the Festival programme and invite all festival goers to make comments as well.Last year we launched the Ear because we were frustrated with the critics treatment of the music and opera programme in particular their savaging of Gustavo Dudamel.We were rewarded with 1500 people visiting the site in the 2 weeks of the Festival we covered.This year we are launching the EAR well in advance and invite your participation.My initial impressions are that we have more opera this year but only one properly staged opera, the Festival Theatre which we fought for over a long period is dark most evenings and the orchestral choices are not too exciting, what do you think?
April 10, 2009
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I think we have two fully staged operas this year – Admeto at the Festival Theatre, and the Return of Ulysses (at the King’s). I’m not quite sure exactly how much of an opera the “St Kilda” piece is, but it sounds interesting so I’m going along. “Actus Tragicus”, of course, isn’t an opera at all but I’m quite happy to sit and listen to Bach for hours on end so I’m looking forward to that.
Elsewhere – it’s not a very exciting year for orchestral music, agreed. There’s nothing that really leaps out at you like Dudamel’s first visit two years ago, or the Gergiev Prokofiev series of last year. Some of the smaller concerts at Greyfriars – the Sixteen, the Monteverdi choir – sound the most interesting to me.
Theatre programme – you can never really tell in advance what this is going to be like. The Last Witch and Faust might be the best of them – I remember Purcarete doing a rather mad “Parsifal” for Scottish Opera a few years back. Still swithering as to whether I need a ticket for the Henrysson piece. Elsewhere – well, Brian Friel’s a fine playwright and “Translations” is a fantastic work but it does seem to be the sort of work that there’ll always be the chance to see outside of the Festival itself.
Festival Theatre does appear to be underused this year, I wonder why?
Comment by PhilJ — August 4, 2009 @ 12:32 pm |