Unhappy music

James Last died today after many years of Happy Music. While generally criticized for recording lift music, he was very successful and sold an awful lot of albums. His real name was Hans Last but his first music label producers told him that James would sell more records. He shrugged and the rest is history.

More Sad Music was had tonight at the Farnham Maltings. I was there for the direct streaming of La Boheme from the Royal Opera House. And it was wonderful. Okay, very sad but seriously wonderful.

It was the last performance of the John Copley production which has been in their repertoire for over 40 years, directed, beautifully, by…you guessed it, John Copley. (He is so old, he knew Maria Callas!) And while all the performances were superb, as you’d expect from a Royal Opera House production, the standout for me was newcomer to the ROH, Jennifer Rowley playing a perfect Musetta.

Now, I might not know the finer points of opera but I do know a thing or two about acting and performance and hers were flawless. The stage changed when she was on it, lit up by her personality and fantastic voice.

Jennifer Rowley – photo from intermusica.co.uk

The rest of the cast included Joseph Calleja (Rodolfo), Anna Netrebko (“They call me Mimi. I don’t know why.”), Lucas Meachem (a Marcello who was a perfect partner for Jennifer’s Musetta), Simone del Savio (Schaunard) and Marco Vino (Colline).

The story is very sad (of course) and when [SPOILER ALERT] Mimi dies at the end, the heart strings are tugged so hard that tears can’t be avoided. I was weeping during the curtain calls.

My favourite quote of the evening comes not from the opera, however, but from an old chap who left after Act III (there’s four acts). He was a bit gruff and grumble; the type of man you can depend on for a quote.

There’s this Twitter thing with the live streaming events. Viewers are encouraged to send tweets to them saying where you are and what you think of the performance. The tweets are then put up on the screen during the interval(s). There’s people watching all over the world in cinemas, outdoor big screen venues, theatres and there’s regular tweets from places like Barcelona, New York, Bradford, etc. I think it’s wonderful and, naturally I always tweet.

Anyway, this old chap was hopping onto his trike, during the second interval and explaining to the lady usher that he was leaving before it was too late because he had to pedal home to Long Garden Walk. She empathised, while helping him through the emergency door because of his limited mobility (this was without the trike).

Anyway, as he mounted his trusty steed and started his pedalling, he parted with the memorable:

“And all this tweeting nonsense. Why do they do it? It’s so tiresome!”

I’m not sure how it could possibly affect him. After all, he only has to look away from the screen. Still, I thought it was very funny and chuckled to myself as he disappeared across the bridge.

It was my first Boheme, I’m almost ashamed to admit but feel very lucky to have seen such a brilliant production for my first. The next live streamed opera is Le Nozze de Figaro in October and I’m totally looking forward to it.

Just as an aside…I thought Castle Street look lovely as I walked to the Maltings this evening and couldn’t help but share it.