Nottingham

 

Bernstein Double Bill (Opera North)

 

November 18 and 20 2021

 

Theatre Royal, Nottingham

 

4****

 

Review: William Ruff

@ReviewsGate

A celebration of one of music's most versatile, most unpredictable composers

Opera North’s Bernstein Double Bill celebrates one of the twentieth century’s most versatile and charismatic musicians.  His Trouble in Tahiti is about the gap between the shiny dreams of 1950s American suburbia and the reality of dysfunctional lives lurking beneath all the gloss.  The set makes the point brilliantly with giant blow-ups of adverts for new washing machines and labour-saving kitchens – whilst in front of them husband Sam argues with wife Dinah before he goes off to do dodgy deals at the office.

The opera’s title is that of a trashy escapist film, the anaesthetic which eases the pain.  Quirijn de Lang was ideal as Sam both physically and vocally whilst Sandra Piques Eddy was able to dart from comedy to deep sadness with consummate ease.  The crisply clear trio (Laura Kelly-McInroy, Joseph Shovelton and Nicholas Butterfield) pointed up the satire with style, gusto and razor-sharp timing.  Anthony Hermus conducted; the orchestra sparkled.

In the second half’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story the orchestra did rather more than sparkle.  The tunes may be well-known but Bernstein made serious demands on his players, something which Opera North’s musicians clearly relished: the energy of the Prologue in which the rival gangs fight for street turf; the tenderness of Somewhere, the dream ballet in which the lovers unite.

The dancers of Phoenix Dance Theatre caught all this energy and expressiveness, translating the music’s virtuosity into a multi-faceted physical spectacular, taking the original story and making it universal.  The violence, the yearning for peaceful coexistence, the testosterone-fuelled High School dance, the tenderness: all familiar elements from West Side Story which fuelled this short, intense distillation.

In between the two Bernstein performances came a ten-minute interlude: Halfway and Beyond, billed as a ‘space for reflection at the centre point of the evening’, consisting of a poem written and read by Khadijah Ibrahiim expressed in dance.  This vision of hope created an atmosphere of poignant beauty, even though most people watching would have struggled to hear the words when there was so much for their eyes to see.

 

 

Trouble in Tahiti

SAM                               Quirijn de Lang

DINAH                            Sandra Piques Eddy

TRIO                              Laura Kelly-McInroy

TRIO                              Joseph Shovelton

TRIO                              Nicholas Butterfield

 

CONDUCTOR                    Antony Hermus

DIRECTOR                       Matthew Eberhardt

SET DESIGNER                 Charles Edwards

COSTUME DESIGNER         Hannah Clark

 

Halfway and Beyond

Words written and spoken by:                Khadijah Ibrahiim

Phoenix Dance Theatre

Dancers

Natalie Alleston

Aaron Chaplin

Alana Cowie

Megan Lumsden

Seirian Griffiths

Charlie Nayler

Stephen Quildan

Melina Sofocleous

Yuma Sylla

Matthew Topliss

Shawn Willis

With Isaac Sarsfield

 

Symphonic Dances

Phoenix Dance Theatre

Dancers

Natalie Alleston

Aaron Chaplin

Alana Cowie

Megan Lumsden

Seirian Griffiths

Charlie Nayler

Stephen Quildan

Melina Sofocleous

Yuma Sylla

Matthew Topliss

Shawn Willis

 

Halfway and Beyond/Symphonic Dances

Conductor                               Anthony Hermus

Director/Choreographer        Dane Hurst

Set Designer                            Charles Edwards

Costume Designer                  Ana Inés Jabares-Pita

Lighting Designer                    Kieron Johnson