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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
Risqué business: Alan Opie, Rachel Nicholls and Allison Cook in Ian McEwan’s debut as a librettist, For You
Fantasist: Allison Cook plays the housekeeper with a neurotic edge
An egotistical conductor and composer seduces a female horn player by promising to add her very own 32-bar solo to a piece of music — or as he puts it: “There’s an insertion I need to make.”
It would never happen in real life, of course, but Ian McEwan’s mildly salacious scenario, his debut as an opera librettist, serves as a spicy vehicle for Michael Berkeley’s latest opera, For You.
The artist in question, Charles Frieth, behaves atrociously to everybody: his long-suffering assistant Robin, his orchestra, his mistress (the horn player, Joan) and not least his sick wife, Antonia.
Only his housekeeper Maria emerges unscathed but this encourages her to harbour a dangerous fantasy about the maestro that leads to disaster.
The characters are etched with impressive economy by McEwan.
He has not made the mistake of attempting to fill them out with novelistic detail: rather their individual quirks are captured in the dialogue, which is less poetic than conversational.
Berkeley in turn invests the text with singer-friendly, expressive music, placing himself firmly in the tradition that runs through Mozart and Britten. Both composers in fact are quoted and each of the two acts culminates in a classic sextet.
In that of the first act, the voices soar and interweave with much contrapuntal jostling, wife and mistress vying for supremacy.
Some of Berkeley’s most imaginative music is in set pieces like these and the various “arias” in which the characters muse, hope and lament.
For You is essentially about self-delusion and facing the truth, though Frieth’s idea of the latter is that great art justifies even the most egregious behaviour.
The opera does not always avoid banality, but at its best it probes the dark recesses of the human soul.
Even the monstrous Frieth attracts some sympathy, though not as much as Berkeley himself. A few years ago his opera Jane Eyre was stolen from his car. Then the entire summer tour of For You had to be cancelled on account of the lead singer’s indisposition.
But last night the indispensable Music Theatre Wales gave the delayed world premiere with the excellent Alan Opie convincing as an artist who is heartless, yet capable of introspection.
Allison Cook has a suitably neurotic edge as Maria, Christopher Lemmings projects a much put-upon Robin, and Rachel Nicholls, Helen Williams and Jeremy Huw Williams are admirable in the remaining roles.
Direction and sets (Michael McCarthy and Simon Banham) are functional, but Michael Rafferty expertly conducts the fine MTW Ensemble.
Further performances at the Linbury, in Cardiff and Durham. www.musictheatrewales.org
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
