© Clive Barda
Bryn Terfel (Boris) and Matthew Rose (Pimen) at Covent Garden
After a really enjoyable week at the Aldeburgh Festival I returned to London for more epic treats! I do not think that you can do much better these days with Bryn Terfel, John Tomlinson and Matthew Rose in Boris Godunov. The cast at Covent Garden du jour in the 1970s was Boris Christoff, Joseph Rouleau and Michael Langdon - not shabby at all! And I was fortunate enough to have seen them in full cry. But this was something very special too, and despatched for good and all the notion that "the good old days" were better - well in this case anyway! So thank you Bryn, John Tom and Matthew for a very great evening. And also the splendid supporting players not least David Butt Philip, Roger Honeywell, Harry Nicoll, Fiona Kimm and the wonderful Boris Pinkhasovich whose Shchelkalov was as good as it gets. And well done to the magical treble Fyodor, Joshua Abrams - no more mezzos needed for this!
The ROH's superb chorus completed the vocal package, and conductor Marc Albrecht propelled Richard Jones's simple effective and compact two hours or so production with unerring judgement. Thank you Covent Garden for a great evening!
© Mark Allan
Gerald Finley (Forester) and Lucy Crowe (Vixen)
And yesterday I went, somewhat on the spur of the moment, to a hugely enjoyable evening at the Barbican where Simon Rattle and the LSO produced one of the pieces which is of immense importance in the Simon Rattle story, Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen. Simon joined the music staff at Glyndebourne in 1975 t the age of 20 and one of his first assignments was working as Raymond Leppard's assistant on the new production of the first Janacek to be produced at Glyndebourne, the Vixen. He had already fallen for the piece when working on it with Steuart Bedford as a student at the Royal Academy of Music. And this sealed the deal for him!
In 1977, at the age of 22 Simon with Vixen became the youngest conductor to take charge of a Festival production at Glyndebourne. And the rest is a little history as Simon went on to conduct so much for tour and festival in ensuing years. Now as the hugely eminent and distinguished conductor of the LSO, after his years in charge of the Berlin Philharmonic, it would be nice to think that he might return home to Glyndebourne.......out of my hands now!!
Yesterday evening was also special for me with Gerald Finley, a Glyndebourne chorister in the 1980s, wonderfully warm and sympathetic as the Forester, and Sophia Burgos, one of our 16 year old kids from After School Matters in Chicago 12 years ago, as the Fox. What a great journey Sophia has made in no small part due to her participation in our education and outreach programme with COT.
And Peter Sellars, who directed this effective semi staging of the Vixen, is also a child of Glyndebourne - so what a lovely reunion! One final point - Trevor Nunn showed up - the Porgy and Bess team reunited! So all round a special evening for sentimental old people like me!!
Now for a weekend off with family - and the opening of Garsington's Turn of the Screw on Monday.
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