I'd never heard of the opera The Indian Queen, by Purcell, but what extracts I could find of it on the ENO website sounded good. And the guy they had reviewing it on that website mentioned that it's a beautiful choral work, and I love Baroque opera anyway. So I booked - one of the cheapest seats, natch, at an unusually good value £12. Near the side aisle, so I'd have a railing to get me down the steep steps of the Coliseum balcony.
When I arrived, the lobby was chaotic and there was a huge queue heading for the balcony stairs. I finally learned that the balcony was closed and they were upgrading us - not enough seats booked further down, I guess! I did worry slightly about where I'd be sitting. As we queued, and two ladies tried desperately to cope with the demand, the bell rang several times for us to take our seats. Someone was worried we'd miss the start, but was assured by one of the ushers that they wouldn't start until we all had tickets. I'm not sure they stuck rigidly to that rule, because I'd hardly taken my seat when the lights dimmed and the orchestra struck up. Mind you, the opera was scheduled to run for 3.5 hours, including interval! Naturally, they wanted to get going.
Ah yes, my seat. So, I was upgraded to the Dress Circle - two levels below the balcony, and a level I've never before visited. Immediately, I had far fewer steps to climb. And I got to go up the elaborate central staircase. When I got there, I was delighted to see that the steps were much shallower, and I could negotiate them without difficulty. And when I took my seat, I was dead centre of the row, had more space than in the balcony (especially with the seat beside me free), more legroom, a more comfortable seat (plusher and with excellent lower back support), and was oh, so much closer to the stage. I spent the whole night savouring the experience - I'll probably never be that low in the Coliseum again (not if I'm paying, anyway). That seat I was moved to, that I got for £12 plus fees, had a face value of £105. Not so shabby.. Feeling flush in consequence, I treated myself to an overpriced - but tasty - ice cream at the interval.
Now, this opera is a curious thing - Purcell never finished it, and died with only 45 minutes of music written. The story concerns a Mayan princess who marries a conquistador - of course it ends tragically. Anyway, it soon becomes apparent how they filled in the majority of the content - there are several dance sequences, depicting Mayan legends. Gaps in the music are filled with cricket sounds - gaps in the narrative are addressed by the very effective use of a Latina narrator, who at the end takes on the role of the princess' daughter. Well, I'm guessing at her origins, given how naturally she seemed to take to the pronunciation of the complicated Mayan names. Speaking of narration, I did notice a sign language interpreter to the side, which I thought was overkill, given that there were surtitles too.
I thought it was just gorgeous. The music is truly sublime - and I thought it was a lovely touch when, wanting an offstage choir, they decamped to the boxes on either side of the stage and sang from there. The melodies are lovely, with some terrific opportunities for the singers to show their range. Well done then to the Purcell content! As for the show around it - it's truly audacious. It'd have to be, with so much time to fill. I think it works - the fusion of song, dance, and spoken narrative is striking. The backdrops are suitably alien-looking and vaguely Mayan. (Unfortunately, in the second act, one of their huge backdrops kept getting stuck whenever they tried to lower it.) Truly, I do recommend it - but you need a good deal of stamina, it's so long. Only two performances remain - Thursday and Saturday.
In Guildford today. I was looking at Meetup for the rest of the week, and found something I'd be interested in tomorrow - the Top Secret Comedy Club. Apparently, 68 people from Meetup were attending, last I checked. Mind you, the organiser is charging £1.25.. I went on the venue website and got a ticket for £1! It's another of these venues where they try out new comedy, and apparently they can get some famous faces. On Thursday, I am going to a Meetup event - a classical concert by the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts at St. Peter's Eaton Square. So, two places I've never been before. And we're told that the organiser of this Meetup has some free tickets for the event, priority going to holders of the Ken's Events card. So I bought one - not only would it be better value than having to buy a ticket for this event, but it'll probably come in handy for future events held by this group - there are lots. I think Meetup might be good for my finances!
And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend..
No comments:
Post a Comment