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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Barry Millington's rating
Reader rating
Dedicated: Andrew Davis is a great Ralph Vaughan Williams interpreter
The 50th anniversary of the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams has occasioned a timely reappraisal. Tony Palmer’s film O Thou Transcendent and a number of critical studies have set the familiar idyllic pastoralism against a much darker backdrop. Anguish in the composer’s personal life and a sense of existential despair combine in some of his greatest works to produce a far more varied and interesting creative impulse than he is often given credit for.
Last night Andrew Davis, one of Vaughan Williams’s most dedicated interpreters, conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a programme that offered the quirkily original masque Job and the enigmatic Ninth Symphony, with the emblematically pastoral Tallis Fantasia and the exquisitely lyrical Serenade to Music.
The latter is reserved for special occasions, if only on account of the 16 soloists required. On the occasion for which it was written — Henry Wood’s 50th anniversary as a conductor — the solos were taken by distinguished British singers. Here they were rising stars but no one could complain when the prominent part of Isobel Baillie was so ably taken by the silvery-toned Sarah Tynan.
For the Tallis Fantasia the smaller ensemble was ranged along the top step of the orchestra; the use of minimal vibrato further suggested a sense of historical separation. The overall execution may not have been flawless but such touches made this performance rather special.
If the Ninth Symphony is often unsettling, it is partly because of the scoring, which includes three saxophones and a flugelhorn. Davis brought out the latently sinister nature of the Scherzo, which suggests a Sorcerer’s Apprentice with diabolic potential. He had the full measure of the finale, visionary and disturbing.
The expert realisation of the ambiguous closing bars, alternating beatific string and harp washes with defiant bass drum, cymbals, timpani and gong, perfectly encapsulated this composer’s intriguing complexity.
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I was lucky enough to hear this concert because, as you rightly say, Davis brought off such a terrific performance of the 9th Symphony. Emotionally charged and brilliantly played it made it made for a thrilling and moving experience. At long last the musical greatness of VW is being given the full acknowledgment it deserves in England.
I also like some contemporary music yet in marked contrast to VW , who was never mean spirited to other composers, it is shameful that the denigration of petty and less talented modernists and their narrow minded and snobbish advocates was able to exert any influence.
I hope Davis makes a recording of both Job and the 9th. They were so good !
- Ray Snaith, Newcastle upon Tyne
