Once again the Prom season is upon us, and there is an air of
expectation for Opera fans. Surely no where else in the world can we
hear such a sustained festival of music making for only £4.00 a ticket.
Consider recent initiatives that have been on offer to opera goers. One esteemed London house saw fit to spend a fortune on a second rate
operatic version of 1984 by a second rate conductor with little proven track record as a composer. Members of the public could then spend a small fortune on the dubious pleasure of sitting through it all.
There is none of that nonsense at the Proms. Each opera in the programme has much of interest to commend it, and no one's bank balance will be greatly challenged.
Going to the Proms can be a lottery. Sometimes everything can
work and the evening can be magical. On other occasions, the performance can be lost in the vast cathedral-like cavern that is the Albert Hall. It is with that in mind that I must express my one concern about Purcell's The Fairy Queen. Whenever we go to the Proms, my friends and I debate endlessly whether to go into the Arena or Gallery. For Purcell on period instruments it must be the Arena surely. There is always the fear that the music (and in Purcell
the lines can often be so exposed) just may not carry up into the gods. Period performances in a Victorian monolith have been known to
fail before, and careful balance of vocal and instrumental forces will prove critical.
But the lottery extends beyond decisions about choice of area
Within the Hall. My most memorable experiences at the Royal Albert Hall have sometimes been of performances of works that I did not know. Prom concerts at the Albert Hall are an ideal opportunity to become acquainted with unknown music.
In my case, Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle springs to mind, and although it’s not an opera as such, I still remember being deeply moved by a work I had never heard of by a composer I barely knew: Joan of Arc by Honegger. It is with that in mind that I will be there for Iolanta by Tchaikovsky. I am reasonably familiar with the more well known Eugene Onegin and Queen of Spades, so congratulations to Welsh National Opera on enabling us to enjoy something else by this ever-popular composer. This could be the sort of evening where new friends are made, and thanks must go to the BBC for giving us the opportunity to explore a neglected masterpiece.
One regular visitor to the Proms is Glyndebourne Opera. This year we have an all-star cast in Handel's Julius Caesar. Being only human, I must confess one small misgiving. Having seen Janet Baker in the title role all those years ago, she remains sans pareil, and no matter how brilliant Sarah Connolly is, nothing will ever erase from my mind the transport of delight Dame Janet gave me that evening. Yes, I know it is subjective, but I can rarely recall a tingle factor of such magnitude as when Dame Janet imperiously
commanded stage, orchestra and us into thinking we all were her (his)
subjects. She sang with such authority, poise and control. That solo
with horn obbligato in Act One, about the huntsman tracking his lair, was a tour de force that I will want to recall on my deathbed.
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So, given my (admittedly) closed mind, I will still be queuing to get
into the Arena. Glyndebourne has the best delivery of "music ensemble" in the world. Should one be able to get to the South Downs, tickets would be more than £100 I guess. And, what’s more, Glyndebourne Touring are not taking this opera on tour! Shame! Therefore, the only opportunity we have to enjoy such special music-making is at the Proms, and , semi-staged as well, this is an opportunity that can't be missed.
Two other operas must be mentioned. We have HMS Pinafore for the
G&S anoraks. About this I make no comment, except to say I am deeply fortunate in managing to arrange a prior engagement.
Given that this year the Proms are quite rightly celebrating special anniversaries, what a pity it is that we don’t have more than a snippet of Tippett's Midsummer Marriage and only a block of Berg's Wozzeck.
Then, joy of joys, there is Die Walkure, Bryn Terfel, Placido Domingo, et al. Ignore all concerns about anti-Semitism. Now is the time for hyperbole. This is simply music and musicians to die for. All lovers of opera, all students of music, all budding stars of the future, and all those who have £4.00 to spare should be there. Forget all about your worries about that house in an ash tree with a sword in it… Ignore your niggles about incest. Don’t be diverted just because Grimgerde can't get her horse to behave. Don’t get distressed just because Fricka is the most nagging woman any man can ever know. (and yes she just is bound to come on stage at the start of Act Two in a carriage drawn by a goat). And resist all temptation to want to help Wotan sort his revolting daughter out once and for all.
No, simply wear your most comfortable clothes. Join the queue by, say, 3pm with your copy of War and Peace as light reading till the real fun starts - and be prepared to enjoy. All human life will be there, and a full range of emotions exposed. Jealousy, greed, hope, and despair, lust and love are etched large as the evening progresses. Moments of heroism as Brunnhilde determines to defy her father give way to moments of the most tender beauty as Wotan sings his Farewell to his beloved daughter. Just listen to the cellos as Wagner gives us a most glorious lullaby when Wotan wills his daughter to sleep. Emotions change again as Loge calls up a ring of magic fire, and we will have to wait till next year for Siegfried to make nothing of it…
Performances in previous years of Parsifal and Rhinegold have been great successes. These have proved that Wagner can work in the Albert Hall. There need be no hesitation in giving the
planned performance of Die Walkure a Five Star Welcome. Yes it will be a sell-out. But, for those of us lucky enough to get in, it has all the potential of being a truly great evening of music making.
John Turner
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