The Metropolitan Opera in New York has been broadcasting Saturday matinees live to cinemas in Europe for ten years. It’s a super way to see tip-top productions with the bonus of watching what’s going on back-stage and hearing the singers being interviewed. Only been around for ten years but already I have my favourite moment. The opera was Benjamin Britten’s, Peter Grimes, directed by John Doyle.
The John Doyle story is worth a mention. He directed plays for small theatres out of London, doing a lot of work for the Watermill Theatre near Newbury in Berkshire. His trademark technique was putting on musicals with a small cast doubling-up as singers and musicians. The first production I saw was Cabaret. His shows sold out but rural Berkshire is a big step away from the stage of the Met.
His break came when his Watermill production of Sweeney Todd transferred to London and then to Broadway. That led to him putting on another Sondheim show, Company, on Broadway. Next the Met asked him to direct Peter Grimes. To be candid, his small-scale production technique did not transfer well to the huge stage at the Met but in the cinema it was a different story, with the advantage of close-up shots.
We have got to my favourite moment. It came in the interval when, instead of the usual interviews back stage, we went to Aldeburgh in Suffolk, where Benjamin Britten lived. There a BBC presenter stood in the drizzle outside the Aldeburgh cinema interviewing, live, the manageress. The cinema was screening Peter Grimes, so it was the interval for her too. She wasn’t especially informative but it was a nice touch.
It’s often said that opera companies have as much drama behind the scenes as they do on stage. Nowhere is this truer than at Grange Park Opera in Hampshire. The house belongs to the Baring family and the summer opera festival was dreamt up by Wasfi Kani OBE. It has been a success with Londoners and locals making up the audience. Over the years production standards have risen and it rivals Glyndebourne and Garsington at the top of the country house opera league.
Now for the drama; the Barings, after an inexplicable delay, eventually presented Wasfi with a new lease and a very much more expensive one at that. They must have thought they were in a strong position as, if she didn’t pay up, they could continue to run the opera festival with a new boss. What they didn’t count on was Bamber Gascoigne an 82 year old all-round good egg who two years ago inherited an estate in Surrey from his great-aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Roxburghe. West Horsley is frankly a big white elephant but Wasfi turned to him to free herself from the Barings and in 2017 will be moving her festival there. Meanwhile the atmosphere this year at Grange Park is poisonous. The jolly on-stage joshing between Lord Ashburton (with his black Labrador) and Wasfi which was part of the fun in the early years is over. I hear that Lord A is not too concerned if the potholes on the long unpaved drive deepen. What he will do with his opera house in 2017 remains to be seen.
Wasfi is already advertising her new opera house as The Theatre in the Woods. This time she has signed a 99 year lease.
The closest thing we had to Glyndebourne in Northern Ireland was Castleward Opera.
It’s season was in June. An converted kind of barn in the stableyard was used for performances.
I loved it.
Alas, several major sponsors (airlines etc) pulled out and that sounded the death knell, so to speak.
Is NI Opera any good? Their tickets seem well-priced.
Christopher, yes, I’d say they’re reasonably well priced (subsidised by the NI Arts Council); certainly far cheaper than The Royal Opera or ENO.
I’m not a huge fan. Their productions tend to be modern populist, as opposed to traditional.
Perhaps that is the fashion nowadays.
I’m guessing that you will not like Richard Eyre’s new production of Manon Lescaut at the NY Met. Here’s a flavour from their website.
Sir Richard Eyre’s production sees Puccini’s opera move from 18th century France to World War II occupied Paris, with Kristine Opolais and Jonas Kaufmann singing the lead roles in a tale of obsessive love between a country girl-turned temptress, and a poor student.
– See more at: http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/metropolitanoperahouse/metropolitan-opera-manon-lescaut.php#sthash.2wUkhWzg.dpuf
Correction: Should read its in lieu of it’s – iPad predictive grammar!
Re the good egg; the inheritance was virtue rewarded as Bamber used to go and see his great aunt from time to time and the West Horlsey legacy was the unexpected result. ( He was a very close friend of my late brother who was married to Bamber’s sister)
Francis
You may be interested to know that NI Opera is excellent. All their recent productions have been internationally and favourably received. They also host an amazing Festival for young and energing Irish singers each August in Glenarm..historic village,and home to The Earls of Antrim.
Thank you, I am interested as will be readers in Northern Ireland. I am going to Tristan at ENO this afternoon.