'Dark' by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar
19 December 2017
I’ve just finished watching ‘Dark’ – the first German language commission from Netflix. This 10-part TV serial is a science-fiction thriller set in a small town in southern Germany. Superficially it has a lot in common with that other Netflix hit ‘Stranger Things’ (reviewed here in August 2016 and November 2017) but ‘Dark’ is much, well, darker. ‘Dark’ is written by Jantje Friese and directed by Baran bo Odar. It soon becomes clear that this is a time travel tale with an incredibly complex plot. To follow it you need to piece together a jigsaw involving three family trees over at least three generations, as you encounter many of the family members at several points in their lives – but not in the order you would expect. This family saga aspect, set in a small German town, reminded me of Edgar Reitz’s epic ‘Heimat’ films. ‘Dark’ also has elements of ‘Back to the Future’ and Steven Moffat’s brilliant 2007 Doctor Who episode, ‘Blink’ (starring Carey Mulligan). I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to unpick the complicated plot and it was terribly satisfying to work out some of the connections and twists just before they were revealed. The acting is great and the casting of the younger and older versions of each character is amazing. Highly recommended, with two caveats: don’t be tempted to binge-watch – you will need time between episodes to process what on earth is going on!; and make sure you select the original German-language version with subtitles rather than suffering the dubbed American voices.
Labels: Drama, TV
'Antony & Cleopatra' by William Shakespeare
13 December 2017
On Tuesday I was at the Barbican in London to see the Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ starring Antony Byrne and Josette Simon. Incredibly, I last saw Josette Simon on stage in 1995 as Katherina in Mihai Maniutiu’s brilliant production of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ at Leicester Haymarket. 22 years later, she is still a striking, mercurial performer, playing a capricious Cleopatra with a childlike playfulness and petulance. I had never previously seen ‘Antony & Cleopatra’. It’s one of those Shakespeare plays that relies on people immediately and unquestioningly believing the word of a messenger who arrives to tell them someone has died – without any evidence of the veracity of the message. But the central relationship between Mark Anthony and the Queen of Egypt is very believable and well played in Iqbal Khan’s production. I also liked Ben Allen who plays Octavius Caesar as a public schoolboy who feels upset and disappointed when his opponents won’t play fair. The original music, composed by Laura Mvula, is an interesting mix of rock, folk and classical which uses a worldless female singer (Zara McFarlane) to create a mystical, ancient world feel.
Labels: Drama, Theatre
Milton Keynes Sinfonia concert
13 December 2017
There was much disappointment last Sunday when the annual Northampton Symphony Orchestra Christmas Cracker concert had to be cancelled because of the snow. It’s the first time in the 17 years I have played in the orchestra that we have cancelled a concert. A great shame for everyone who had been looking forward to dressing up as their favourite hero or villain (the members of the orchestra as much as the children in the audience!) Fortunately the snow arrived on Sunday morning and didn’t affect the Milton Keynes Sinfonia concert which I was playing in on Saturday evening. I made one of my occasional appearances with Milton Keynes Sinfonia in a popular programme which included the Sibelius Violin Concerto, played by the exciting young soloist Charlotte Moseley, and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Symphony No 5’. I was ‘bumping’ the 1st horn part to allow the Principal Horn player, Kate Knight, to concentrate on a beautiful performance of the big horn solo in the slow movement of the symphony. Tchaikovsky 5 is a very exciting piece to play but must be one of the most exhausting works in the repertoire: by the end of the last movement I was relying on Kate to support me as my stamina waned. It was a lovely concert and it was great to see a packed audience at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes.
Labels: Concerts, Music
'Symphony No 4' by Sergei Taneyev
7 December 2017
I am grateful to Lee Dunleavy for recommending, on FaceBook, the 4th Symphony by Sergei Taneyev which I have been listening to this week (in the Naxos recording by the Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Sanderling). I must admit I had never heard of Taneyev, a Russian composer born in 1856 who died in 1915. He he studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Rubinstein and composition with Tchaikovsky, who became a close friend. Taneyev later taught at the Conservatory himself, where his pupils included Rachmaninov. He wrote four symphonies, although the first three were not published until long after his death. Symphony No 4 was published in 1901 (as No 1) is a powerful, romantic work which shows the influence of Tchaikovsky and also reminded me of another Russian work, ‘Symphony No 5 (The Heroic)’ by Alexander Glazunov which I played with Northampton Symphony Orchestra earlier this year (reviewed here in March 2017). I am definitely going to listen to more Taneyev.
Labels: Albums, Music
