★★★½☆ Williamson and Sitwell make strange, yet oddly perfect, bedfellows.
Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
October 16, 2015
This is just the sort of thing a music college ought to be doing. Malcolm Williamson’s second opera caused quite a stir when it debuted at Aldeburgh in 1964. The sometime-maverick Sydney-born composer was a man on the rise and had made important friendships leading many to see him as one of the great white hopes of tonal music in Britain, a close third to William Walton and the unassailable Benjamin Britten. For reasons unexplained, despite its success, Williamson’s take on Edith Sitwell’s exploration of the oddities of the English character was never published, just one of the reasons for its relative neglect over the years. I’d add to that a sizeable cast (despite potential for doubling) and an unconventional dramaturgical format lacking in narrative thrust at a time when opera was seen as almost exclusively a medium for musical story-telling. Well done then to Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Williamson’s old alma mater) for letting their opera students explore the work and giving an audience probably a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get a look at what turns out to be an intriguing...
Continue reading
Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month
Already a subscriber?
Log in
Comments
Log in to join the conversation.