Sunday 16 February 2014

2557 Elkie Brooks at the Sage, Don Giovanni at the ROH and Private Lives Noel Coward

There is a bright blue cloudless sky contrasting with reports of continued new flooding threats as the river rise and the energy companies struggle to return electricity to homes and clear away the debris. There is a sense of people standing down for the weekend to recover from the effort of past weeks. It is Sunday 16th February 2014 and this evening the British Academy of Film and Television arts makes its annual awards in relation to films at the Royal Opera House London.

Apart from the Spring series lectures at Newcastle University attend on Thursday afternoon there have several outstanding live events over the past two months and other this autumn still to be recorded. I cannot recall knowing much about the Mozart Opera Don Giovanni which I experienced for the first time on relay from the Royal Opera House on Wednesday evening , a cold and windy evening where I arrived in something of rush only to learn that the winds was affecting the world wide relay and that interruptions could be anticipation. During there first half of the opera there were three breaks, fortunately of no longer than 3mins and a lost of the subtitles in two instances. The management rallied providing little cups of chocolate during the intervals was not hot and I did not enjoy but then issues a free pass in compensation for another event of similar cost which was splendid..

The opera is extraordinary with eight principal roles and in true Mozart style there are several instance where almost everyone is involved in groups, in couples in quick succession so while there are no great aria compared to Puccini, Verdi one sits marvelling at times overwhelmed. For once at least six of the singers had the physique and were of an age to reflect the roles they were playing and the other two were passable, The set was also one of the most extraordinary if not the lost extraordinary and created experienced. A mansion on several floors which revolves close to tee front of the stage and upon which thee are constant projections throughout successfully reflecting the mind of Don Giovanna based on the legend of Don Juan supposed taking to his bed, so to speak over 2000 women of all ages and descriptions during his short life before he is left in the hell of isolation. The first act lasts 95 mins and the second 85 with only 35 mins in between with a good introduction before and during the interval by the Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel

“Mozart’s Don Giovanni – first staged in 1787 – offers boundless scope for directors. Kasper Holten offers a new interpretation that foregrounds the theme of imagination. Don Giovanni is cast as an artist who seduces an endless stream of women through his ability to create wonderful illusions. His catalogue of sexual conquests is a vain attempt to escape his own mortality and comes at a high price.

Holten presents an exciting visual universe that ranges from colourful comedy to exhilarating drama. Set designs by Es Devlin – who was most recently at Covent Garden with Les Troyens – and costume designs by Anja Vang Kragh (Stella McCartney, John Galliano, Christian Dior) complete an impressive creative team. The production highlights the beauty and invention of Mozart’s dazzling score, which ranges from gorgeous arias and dramatic duets to the brilliant layering of dance melodies that bring Act I to a virtuoso close! From the ROH site

And from Wikipedia, Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant, complains of his lot ("Notte e giorno faticar" – "Night and day I slave away"). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni rapes or seduces the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna. When the two appear, Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna is holding onto his arm. Something has happened and she insists on knowing his true identity (Trio: "Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai!" – "Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!"); before he can break free from her grasp she cries for help. The Commendatore appears and forces Giovanni to fight a duel. Donna Anna flees into the house. Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: "Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!" – "Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!").

Scene 2 – A public square outside Don Giovanni's palace
Giovanni and Leporello arrive and hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking to wreak her revenge ("Ah, chi mi dice mai" – "Ah, who could ever tell me"). Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but he is the wretch she is seeking. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Elvira the truth, and then hurries away.



Leporello tells Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth it. His conquests include 640 in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 ("Madamina, il catalogo è questo" – "My dear lady, this is the catalogue"). In a frequently cut recitative, Elvira vows vengeance.



They leave, and a marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry ("Ho capito! Signor, sì" – "I understand! Yes, my lord!"). Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: "Là ci darem la mano" – "There we will entwine our hands").

Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction ("Ah, fuggi il traditor" – "Flee from the traitor!"). She leaves with Zerlina. Ottavio and Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Anna's father. Anna, unaware that she is speaking to the attacker, pleads for Giovanni's help. Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Elvira returns and tells Anna and Ottavio that Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Giovanni tries to convince Ottavio and Anna that Elvira is insane (Quartet: "Non ti fidar, o misera" – "Don't trust him, oh sad one"). As Giovanni leaves, Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father's murderer (Anna aria: "Or sai chi l'onore Rapire a me volse" – "Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour"). Ottavio, not convinced, resolves to keep an eye on his friend ("Dalla sua pace la mia dipende" – "On her peace my peace depends").

Leporello informs Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Giovanni's house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Giovanni's "Champagne Aria": "Fin ch'han dal vino calda la testa" – "Till they are tipsy"). They hasten to his palace.

Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him ("Batti, batti o bel Masetto" – "Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto"), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni's voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto's hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Giovanni then leads both to his ballroom, which has been lavishly decorated. Leporello invites three masked guests to the party: the disguised Ottavio, Anna, and Elvira. Ottavio and Anna pray for protection, Elvira for vengeance (Trio: "Protegga il giusto cielo" – "May the just heavens protect us").

Scene 3 – Finale: Ballroom As the merriment, featuring two separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni tries to fool the onlookers by dragging Leporello into the room and threatening to kill him for assaulting Zerlina. But Ottavio produces a pistol, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced on all sides, Don Giovanni escapes – for the moment.


Act 2
Scene 1 – Outside Elvira's house

Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: "Eh via buffone" – "Go on, fool"). Wanting to seduce Elvira's maid, Giovanni persuades Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Elvira comes to her window (Trio: "Ah taci, ingiusto core" – "Ah, be quiet unjust heart"). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open dressed as Giovanni. From his hiding place Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her, while Leporello poses as Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Elvira is convinced and descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. ("Deh vieni alla finestra" – "Ah, come to the window").



Before Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, searching for Giovanni with the intent of killing him. Giovanni (dressed as Leporello) convinces the posse that he also hates Giovanni, and joins the hunt. After cunningly dispersing Masetto's friends (Giovanni aria: "Metà di voi qua vadano" – "Half of you go this way"), Giovanni takes Masetto's weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto ("Vedrai carino" – "You'll see, dear one").
Scene 2 – A dark courtyard

Leporello abandons Elvira. (Sextet: "Sola, sola in buio loco" – "All alone in this dark place"). As he tries to escape, Ottavio arrives with Anna, consoling her in her grief. Just as Leporello is about to slip through the door, which he has difficulty finding, Zerlina and Masetto open it and, seeing him dressed as Giovanni, catch him before he can escape. When Anna and Ottavio notice what is going on, all move to surround Leporello, threatening him with death. Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Giovanni, claiming that he is her husband and begging for pity. The other four are resolved to punish the traitor, but Leporello removes his cloak to reveal his true identity. He begs everyone's forgiveness and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: "Ah pietà signori miei" – "Ah, have mercy, my lords"). Given the circumstances, Ottavio is convinced that Giovanni was the murderer of Donna Anna's father (the deceased Commendatore) and swears vengeance ("Il mio tesoro" – "My treasure" – though in the Vienna version this was cut).[16] Elvira is still furious at Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. ("Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" – "That ungrateful wretch betrayed me").




Scene 3 – A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore. Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Giovanni taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello's girlfriends. But the servant is not amused, suggesting it could have been his wife, and Don Giovanni laughs aloud at his servant's protests. The voice of the statue warns Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "Here am I waiting for revenge against the sacrilegious one who gave me death" (Dell'empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta). The servant trembles, but the unabashed Giovanni orders him to invite the statue to dinner, threatening to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner but for fear cannot complete the task (Duet: "O, statua gentilissima" – "Oh most kind statue"). It falls upon Don Giovanni himself to complete the invitation, thereby sealing his own doom. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.

Scene 4 – Donna Anna's room.
Ottavio pressures Anna to marry him, but she thinks it inappropriate so soon after her father's death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful ("Non mi dir" – "Tell me not").






Scene 5 – Don Giovanni's chambers


Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays then-contemporary late-18th-century operatic music: "O quanto in sì bel giubilo" from Vicente Martín y Soler's Una cosa rara (1786), "Come un agnello" from Giuseppe Sarti's Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782) and finally, "Non più andrai" from Mozart's own The Marriage of Figaro (1786).[17] (Finale "Già la mensa preparata" – "Already the table is prepared"). Elvira appears, saying that she no longer feels resentment for Giovanni, only pity. ("L'ultima prova dell'amor mio" – "The final proof of my love"). Surprised by her lack of hatred, Giovanni asks what it is that she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the "support and glory of humankind" (sostegno e gloria d'umanità). Hurt and angered, Elvira gives up and leaves. A moment later, her scream is heard from outside the walls of the palace, and she returns only to flee through another door. Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; upon peering outside, the servant also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the D minor music from the overture now accompanying the bass voice ("Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m'invitasti" – "Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you"), the Commendatore offers a last chance to repent, but Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue sinks into the earth and drags Giovanni down with him. Hellfire, and a chorus of demons, surround Don Giovanni as he is carried below.



Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. Giovanni is dead. Anna and Ottavio will marry when Anna's year of mourning is over; Elvira will spend the rest of her life in a convent; Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.


The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – "Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" ("Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual"). In the past, the final ensemble was sometimes omitted by conductors (such as Gustav Mahler) who claimed that the opera should end when the title character dies. However, this approach has not survived, and today's conductors almost always include the finale in its entirety. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera. “



On Sunday February 8th 2014 1 saw Elkie Brooks in concert for the third occasion with one of the previous Ist October 1985 for £8 at the city hall with programme marking her album Screen Gems. I saw her aroind 1980 following the success of Pearl where I have the original gramophone long play record. My memory of the cocnvert nearly thirty years ago was that the amplifier was switch in as loud as possible taking the enjoyment edge. The concert in Hall one of the Sage on a damp Sunday evening cost £27.50 for a seat in the second side box on the east side but with seat 8 on the back row against the front railing giving an uninterrupted view with four lasses making up the rest of row having travelled by train and enjoyed themselves throughout with drinks and dancing although most of the audience was more of my age and hers. I was lucky to get the seat only having booked late.


Elkie born Elaine bookbinder has been married twice with her long term husband and two sons employed in the continuing business which is some going for a 69 year old. The soft lighting helping to cover the wrinkles but she had a figure and an energy for someone in their twenties. There was no padding with long instrumentals in the two one hour sets which covered all the audience favourites and demonstrated that she has lost nothing of her power. The two versions of Pearl’s a singer were performed backed to back, and he signature numbers of Lilac wine, Sunshine after the Rain and Fool if you think its over received prolonged applause.

I am listening now to my tapes which includes the Best and Pearl 3, Round Midnight and From My heart which includes Cry me a river, Don‘t Explain If you leave me now and Nights of White Satin.

On Thursday 8th February 2014 i saw a filmed version of a live performance of Noel Coward’s Private Lives with Toby Stephens brining back memories of a BBC TV production Alec McGowan and Penelope Keith from the mid 70’s and at least one radio production. It is a divertissement.

From Wikipedia Act 1


Following a brief courtship, Elyot and Sybil are honeymooning at a hotel in Deauville although her curiosity about his first marriage is not helping his romantic mood. In the adjoining suite, Amanda and Victor are starting their new life together, although he cannot stop thinking of the cruelty Amanda's ex-husband displayed towards her. Elyot and Amanda, following a volatile three-year-long marriage, have been divorced for the past five years, but they now discover that they are sharing a terrace while on their honeymoons with their new and younger spouses. Elyot and Amanda separately beg their new mates to leave the hotel with them immediately, but both new spouses refuse to cooperate and each storms off to dine alone. Realising they still love each other and regret having divorced, Elyot and Amanda abandon their mates and run off together to her flat in Paris.



Act 2
After dinner at the Paris flat several days later, Elyot and Amanda use their code word "Sollocks" to stop their arguments from getting out of hand. They kiss passionately, but the harmony cannot last: while Elyot and Amanda cannot live without each other, neither can they live with each other. They argue violently and try to outwit each other, just as they had done during their stormy marriage. Their ongoing argument escalates to a point of fury, as Amanda breaks a record over Elyot's head, and he retaliates by slapping her face. They seem to be trapped in a repeating cycle of love and hate as their private passions and jealousies consume them. At the height of their biggest fight, Sybil and Victor walk in.

Act 3
The next morning, Amanda tries to sneak away early, but is surprised to find Sybil and Victor there. As they talk, Elyot comes in, and he and Amanda start bickering again. It has been decided that neither of the new spouses will grant a divorce for a year, to give Amanda and Elyot time to confirm if this is really what they want. As tempers rise, Sybil and Victor begin to bicker with each other, defending their respective spouses. Amanda and Elyot realise that Sybil and Victor are as suited to each other as they are, forgive one another and sneak out, leaving the younger two together. As Elyot and Amanda tiptoe out, Victor and Sybil have reached the point of mutual violence.”




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