Foulds Three Mantras was a thick wash of sound - a lot like a film score (think a marching Imperial Roman army). OK I Guess. Messiaen - Turangalila Symphony. That was epic. The orchestral colours still sound modern to our 21st century ears. Steven Osbourne's hands flew across the keyboard while Valérie Hartmann-Claverie conjured up some weird 'Doctor Who' sound from the ondes martenot. BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena did the complex score justice. Loved the last movement - oozing with joy.
Michael Levine's set design for Dialogues des Carmélites was minimalist. Actually, was there any set design? I suppose the director Robert Carsen was clever at introducing formation of human figures in many different ways to suggest the context of the opera. It kind of worked. Blanche, sung by Sally Matthews, was pretty good. Though I did find the whole work quite tedious - I think the intimate nature of the dialogues needed a small and intimate performing space i.e. not the Royal Opera House. The ending was worth waiting for. Dramatic. Poignant.
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