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Dead Man Walking - Met Opera On Demand Click here to watch One of the the Met Opera ‘s most surprising hits in recent seasons has been Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s searing Dead Man Walking. The Met has just made it available online via their invaluable MetOperaOnDemand platform. The Met Opera has been suffering since Covid from the same ills as most other opera companies, smaller audiences, higher prices, the need to dip into their previously enormous reserve fund, and the public’s apparent ennui with the great 19th century warhorses which have been their bread and butter forever. Oh no, not another La Traviata, seems to be an almost universal cry from those asked to pay most of their week’s salary to go to the opera, in London or New York. This may partly explain how it is it possible that the operas which are saving the Met’s metaphorical bacon are the difficult, complicated, contemporary works. Fire Lock Up In Your Bones, The Hours, and this one, Dead Man Walking, have been bumper sold-out hits for the company. Dead Man Walking, the film on which the opera is based, is a 1995 crime drama about a man on death row who enlists the support of a Catholic nun in his final appeal. It is, in turn, based on a memoir, the true story of Sister Helen Prejean who, after corresponding with the prisoner, Joseph De Rocher, agrees to become his spiritual advisor. At first glance, an unlikely tale on which to build artistic or commercial success in any medium. But, first glances can be deceptive. Sister Helen’s book, Tim Robbins’ movie, and the Met’s opera have all become roaring hits. The film starred Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn and was a critical and commercial triumph. Sarandon's performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, while Penn was nominated for Best Actor and Tim Robbins for Best Director. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato stars as Sister Helen, giving what The Washington Post hails as “some of the finest and most engaged work I’ve ever seen,” alongside bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, who offers “a richly human performance” as the condemned Joseph De Rocher. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Ivo van Hove’s haunting production, which also features soprano Latonia Moore as Sister Rose and legendary mezzo-soprano Susan Graham—who sang Helen Prejean in the opera’s premiere—as De Rocher’s mother. The Book of Dust - La Belle Sauvage Click here to watch I’ve never been very big on fantasy but Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy was an exception. Directed with exquisite care by Nicholas Hytner when he was Director of the National Theatre, it was a journey into another world, one whose characters and situations seemed super-real and worthy of our complete attention. Now, the National has released The Book of Dust-La Belle Sauvage, a new path into that world. Set twelve years before his epic His Dark Materials trilogy, this gripping adaptation revisits Philip Pullman's fantastical world in which waters are rising and storms are brewing. Two young people and their daemons, with everything at stake,find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others. Eighteen years after his groundbreaking production of His Dark Materials at the National Theatre, director Nicholas Hytner returns to Pullman's parallel universe. Toss of a Dice - Nederlands Dans Theater Click here to watch The Nederlands Dans Theater has been one of the world’s greatest modern dance companies since its foundation in 1959 when a few dancers, seeking more artistic freedom and contemporary diversity, broke away from the more traditional Nederlands Ballet. The group grew into an innovative dance company with its own signature, rooted in the principles of classical ballet in conjunction with the ideology and language of modern dance, inspired by Martha Graham. Its presiding genius has been the choreographer Jiri Killian who arrived as a 23-year old dancer in 1979 and stayed as Artistic Director until 1999. Much of what we associate with NDT are his choreographic innovations. Do seek out the many others, online and in person, to get some idea of what he brought to the world of dance. To whet your appetite, here is a snippet of one of Jiri Killian’s signature works, Toss of A Dice. The company is currently appearing at Lincoln Center in New York which is the only incentive I need for sharing with you this splendid Dutch company. Improvisation Workshop – NDT Click here to watch Here too is something for you to do at home – two of the Nederlands Dans Theater dancers, Luca Tessarini and Nicole Ishimaru, leading an improvisation workshop which we can all participate in. It’s not difficult but it’s surprisingly efficacious, using our bodies in natural and unnatural movements. I just intended to watch this to see what they did and couldn’t help joining in. See if it has the same effect on you. Daryl Sherman - Live From the New Jersey Jazz Society Click here to watch And, from improvisation, the heart of the jazz form, comes this unexpected treat. From the jazz world which is, and always has been, almost exclusively male, a few great female jazz pianists have emerged. Mary Lou Williams, Barbara Carroll, Lil Armstrong, Marian McPartland, all gone now. But one who is still blessedly with us and still performing with huge success is Daryl Sherman, who has been at the top of that exclusionary tree for nearly 50 years. Born in Rhode Island, she has been a part of the New York City jazz scene since the mid-70s and she is one of the rare singing pianists equally talented in both roles. From her early stints at Sinatra hang-outs like Jilly’s, there’s hardly a jazz joint, supper club or hotel Daryl has missed, including a 14-year stint at the Waldorf Astoria where she played Cole Porter’s legendary white piano. She was Artie Shaw’s chosen singer with his last orchestra. Other jazz greats compete to perform with her and audiences welcome her all over the world including at my club, The Pheasantry, in London. On this rare live recording from New Jersey Jazz Society, she plays with the great bass player Jay Leonhart. But be patient, she doesn’t start playing until 38 minutes from the top of the tape. Just scroll through until you get to it. It’s worth waiting for.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
March 2024
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