What’s on the Internet This Week? I’m still trying to absorb the Government’s pledge of £157 billion to ‘support the Arts, Culture, and Heritage as a result of Covid-19’. I can understand, and am grateful for, Netflix’s gift of £500,000 to be distributed £1000 a time to help those workers who have nowhere else to turn and I can exactly see how to apply for that help through Official London Theatre, but so far there is no news as to how the government’s £157 billion is to be used, for whom, how, and when. Right now, it’s still a promise with no details attached. A good promise, to be sure, but only step one, bones with no meat on them. And, in the meantime, the need is great all over the entertainment industry and those who were desperate before the pledge was made are still desperate. So, thank you, Netflix and Sam Mendes (who was the guiding star to obtain the Netflix grant). That money is already filtering out to those who need it most. Now, could we please have some details from Chancellor and the Minister for the Arts, who have pledged the big money, as to how and when it can be accessed? There’s some great stuff to watch on the internet this week but, somewhat surprisingly, even to me, my show of the week is a gentle, bucolic concert. Unmute – A Musical Reunion – Garsington Opera at Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXIp8Eyl4L0&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=Master+List&utm_campaign=335a1d193c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_25_2018_20_58_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_087289d63a-335a1d193c-202441125 The most peaceful and charm-filled offering of the week comes from Garsington. Six soloists and musicians from the Philharmonia, perform Mozart, Tchaikowsky, Beethoven and Strauss, nothing too taxing on your frazzled nerves, interspersed with gentle readings from Samuel West, in the beautiful gardens of Wormsley. I defy anyone not to be soothed by this delightful concert. “Music hath charms….” And all that. Amadeus – National Theatre at Home https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-amadeus I remember the impact of Peter Schaffer’s Amadeus at its premiere in 1979. Shaffer’s fictionalised account of the effect of the young Mozart on the Vienna of his time and, especially, on the Court Composer, Antonio Salieri, hit me with a punch I still remember 40 years later. The absolute knowledge that you are watching a great play for the first time comes rarely but it came with Amadeus. There is a moment (watch out, spoiler coming) when Salieri, sure he can dismiss Mozart as simply a childish, foul-mouthed upstart with bad manners and no respect for his elders, hears the Sinfonia Concertante for the first time and knows, just knows without any possibility of doubt, that Mozart is a genius and that he, Salieri, despite his wealth and fame, is not. How the actor playing Salieri plays that moment decides the impact of the play. In this Michael Longhurst production for the National Theatre, Salieri is Lucian Msamati and Adam Gillen is Mozart and the decision was made to have a live orchestra, a pickup band called the Southbank Philharmonia, on stage instead of the music being heard but not seen as in previous productions. It also has the musicians ‘acting’, walking around on the stage and being part of the action. This, for me, distances the centre of the play, the deep emotions of jealousy and rage which cause Salieri to declare war, not only on Mozart but also on music, even on God. But that’s just me. I love this play and, despite my misgivings, hope you will too. Salute to Harry http://www.shaftesburytheatre.com/news/hello-harry-online-concert-announced This is a free concert tribute to Harry Gabriel who has been stage door keeper at the Shaftesbury Theatre since 1980, put together by Giles Terera who does everything right and seems to be everywhere at the moment. We are promised appearances by theatre luminaries including Judi Dench, Anthony Hopkins, Chita Rivera, Sharon D. Clarke, Imelda Staunton and the like. 7.30 on Wednesday July 15th. This sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun – songs and stories about the shows and artists who have appeared at the Shaftesbury through the years. And So We Come Forth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY2p-CDNnYM This is the second of Richard Nelson’s plays designed for Zoom, part of his ongoing saga about the Apple family in Rhinebeck, New York. There have been four previous plays about this family, all commissioned by New York’s Public Theatre. Much beloved of American intellectual theatre lovers, this series of plays strikes a chord which attracts rave reviews whether on stage or on line. I don’t see it myself, but you try. Let me know what you think. Set in early July 2020, amidst protests against racial injustice and the easing of coronavirus lock downs, And So We Come Forth stars Stephen Kunken, Sally Murphy, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, and Jay O. Sanders, all performing from their homes. Travels with a Curator – the Frick https://www.frick.org/interact/miniseries/travels_curator/travels_curator_japanese_palace_dresden This is another of these fascinating lockdown journeys that curators of museums are taking to keep their fans interested while we can’t visit the museums ourselves. Here is my favourite, Xavier Salomon, Chief Curator at the Frick in New York, who is getting better and better at these presentations on camera, this time taking us to the Japanese Palace in Dresden, home of Meissen porcelain and telling the story of the animals and birds made in the Meissen factory in the 18th and 19th centuries and where they ended up. This is one of the many subjects I didn’t know I was interested in until I found it on the internet and got hooked. Norm Lewis in Lincoln Center https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3QeeuC1uNs&dlv-emuid=fe906641-1fb0-46b3-a574-26518964df33&dlv-mlid=39855240 This didn’t make me cry but it did make me sad. Seeing the enormous Lincoln Center, just steps from my New York home, completely deserted except for one lone but hugely talented performer, Norm Lewis, brings home (in my case, literally) what we are missing. Met Stars Live in Concert https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgxwJWjGKrjFVcZwNBQwmqTzjdgzj Starting on Saturday, July 18th, the Metropolitan Opera is starting a series of live concerts from all over the world. The greatest stars of the opera firmament will be performing from their own hometowns and striking locations across Europe and the United States. You’ll have to pay $20 each for these but the line-up is spectacular. The first, on Saturday, is Jonas Kaufman live from a historic abbey in Polling, Bavaria at 1pm EDT, which is 6pm BST. You can buy your tickets in advance from metopera.org, as of Tuesday, and the concerts will then be available for 12 days following the live event. A quick look at the repertoire for this first concert suggests that it will consist of ‘lollypops’, accessible and immediately recognisable arias from famous operas. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. Follow up concerts are a Who’s Who of the opera world, spaced two weeks apart including, Roberto Alagna, Piotr Beczała, Angel Blue, Joseph Calleja, Javier Camarena, Diana Damrau, Lise Davidsen, Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Aleksandra Kurzak, Anna Netrebko, Sondra Radvanovsky, Bryn Terfel, Pretty Yende, and Sonya Yonchevaand. Locations include a terrace in Èze, France, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, a castle in Oslo, palaces in Vienna and Malta, a historic mansion in Washington, D.C., and churches in Barcelona and Wales. I’m excited. The Philharmonia Sessions, part I: Sheku performs Saint-Saëns https://www.youtube.com/philharmonialondon On Thursday, The Philarmonia Orchestra starts a new series of online concerts with the phenomenal young cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, performing the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No.1. The conductor is John Wilson. Also on the programme is one of the most popular classical pieces in the repertoire – Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Live at 7pm on Thursday, 16th. Swan Lake in the Bathtub
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p08k25yw/culture-in-quarantine-filmed-in-lockdown-swan-lake-bath-ballet If you want to know what artists do with themselves when they’ve been unable to work for weeks and are bored out of their skulls, take a look at this. Even when they’re joking, ballet dancers can’t help being wonderful.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
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