Wednesday, 31st October, 2007
2:17 pm : Opening Night
Well, last night we opened the Britten Parables at Holy Trinity, South Kensington, and we’ve also got more super dress rehearsal photos from Ralph at xmo4.com. Of course, these operas are sung in English, but that doesn’t mean you can always follow what’s going on. With a little bit of help from the internet, I’ve just about managed to figure it out.
The Prodigal Son is a New Testament story, from the Gospel of Mark, I think. A family and their servants live by the fruits of their toil on the land. When the elder son and the men go off to work in the fields, the younger son hears a voice tempting him - it’s all in his mind, but the Tempter is played by a character in the opera. He asks his father for his inheritance before his time, but is granted it and wanders off to enjoy the high life in the city. Of course he squanders his riches on wine and girls, and he is left penniless. He returns home to ask for forgiveness from his father and from God, but instead he is received with great joy as everyone thought he was dead. They throw a big party, and even his envious elder brother finally joins in.
The Burning Fiery Furnace is a famous Old Testament story (from the book of Daniel) about three young Israelites in ancient Babylon. At a feast with King Nebuchadnezzar, they’re for some reason given new ‘Babylonian’ names, but they refuse to eat and drink with the courtiers. The Astrologer seems to convince the King that this is a grave insult. He’s further wound up by the three refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden idol - and indeed anyone except God. He orders them to be thrown into a fiery furnace, but once inside, the men are joined by an angel, and their faith successfully defies the heat within. When they appear untouched by the fire, the king repudiates the Astrologer and is converted to their faith.
The music’s pretty cool, especially in the second one. I think 20th Century opera is an acquired taste, and the orchestral music has been described to me as ‘impossibly hard’, but the performers have done a really good job and pull it off well. We even had some good feedback from last night’s audience members. Let’s just hope a few more people will come and see it this Thursday and Friday … there are few other companies around brave enough to tackle something like this!
