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Fiona Maddocks's rating
, Catchee Damon Albarn's Monkey
By
Fiona Maddocks
24 Jul 2008
If only all opera were as alive and various as this. Latex in excess, kung fu, flying fish, jugglers, roller-skaters, plate-spinners and the White Skeleton Demon - not to mention zombie flesh-eaters on stage instead of the usual corporate skin creepers you find in the row behind you.
All this, together with dazzling video graphics, luscious songs and the secret of eternal life explained in under two hours. Damon Albarn's self-styled "pop opera", Monkey: Journey To The West, is a sensual delight and a life-enhancing triumph.
Created with Gorillaz graphic artist Jamie Hewlett and written by Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng, it was first seen in Manchester last year, a coproduction with the Thé‚tre du Ch‚telet in Paris and the Staatsoper Berlin. The album is due out shortly.
Albarn, 40, best known as charismatic Blur frontman and mastermind of the cult cartoon group Gorillaz, has always had eclectic musical tastes, from rock to African drumming. He's classically trained with a fine ear for sonic colour and an obsession with modal patterns used in Chinese music.
You can hear all this in the fertile, amplified score, which uses Eastern and Western instruments in happy juxtaposition - woodblocks and pipas, trumpet, strings and the magical, ululating Ondes Martenot, the swoopy electronic machine made famous by Messiaen, one of Albarn's heroes.
It is an episodic story in which Monkey travels the world in search of enlightenment with big numbers rather than a sustained musical development. Heavenly Peach Banquet and the pounding, minimaliststyle choruses immediately stick in the head.
Devotees will have heard Albarn's many alter egos in evidence. I heard snatches of Shostakovich and Philip Glass, Sgt Pepper and the Wizard of Oz. The story is not far from Mozart's The Magic Flute. The dragons, magic potions and Buddhism were pure Wagner, who would have loved the underwater devices for his Rhinemaidens and, given his odd proclivities, the Spider Woman flying on her red silks. The least interesting riddle in all this is whether it's real opera and proper for the Royal Opera House. This is a hoary and ultimately trivial topic. The ROH is a theatre, not the holy of holies, and Albarn's music is as legitimate there as anyone's. It'll never elbow out Tosca or Bohème but it's a beguiling endof-season spectacle. The audience leapt to their feet as one.
Until Saturday, 020 7304 4000
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (4)
i was there on the 8th and was appaled by the seating arrangement, especially whn i had forked out over £75 each for two tickets (yes direct, not from unofficial sources), as I wanted a good sea near the front. for that kind of money you at least expect to get a comfortable cushioned seat, rather than what was a make shift mechano like seats which were very hard. the seats must haver been made for a primary school as i had to sit there for over two hours with arms in lap as there was no arm room.
The show it self was good, but they had not advertised it was to be subtitled, as it was all in well not english. There were screen to each sode of the stage that showed what the actors were saying or singing, but if you read it, you would miss what was going on on stage. the screen should have been situated for better reading and in a way you would not miss what was going on.
It is in my view, not wrtht the money it cost to see and I would have preferred to have gone and seen a proper more entertaining and comfortabel show to spend over two hours watching. I think theofficial reviews done by the artsy fartsy types have been very very over rated.
- Michael Miller, uk, 11/11/2008 13:54
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Very poor effort. Music was a complete disappointment, even the tumble by one of the rollerbladers failed to liven things up. No need for the overall exuberant appearance on stage by Mr Albarn and co. The sets were the only bright point.
- Jj London, London, 11/11/2008 12:54
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Monkey is an outstanding piece of modern alternative opera. The sets, costumes and animations are all crafted with a sense that they are part of this magical 2D world, yet there is a nod to Jamie's tongue-in-cheek humour still.
The music it self elevates the opera to a whole new level as it extenuates the performers actions and pushes the story on deeper and deeper. With rising crescendos and sensual rhythms, it really is phenomenal!
- Dk33, London, UK, 11/11/2008 12:54
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I loved it. It was funny, spirited and the performers were fantastic. It might not be High-brow art, but it was certainly entertaining... well for those of us that wanted to be entertained.
- Kw, London, 11/11/2008 12:54
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