Music that sparkles with richness of color
George Benjamin's music is on point in every bar, in every note, from the tightly held instrumentation he lets a richness of color sparkle that makes one marvel. The orchestral texture is closely woven, repeatedly ventilated by instrumental (exhaling) breathing. In addition, Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma create a sensitive total work of art with magical lighting direction as well as high scenic density and elegance. Aix has hit a bull's eye, whose stage (over)life should be secured in the long term.
(BR Klassik - You can find the complete review here)
***
Intriguing, mysterious, intense
While each scene differs markedly from the one preceding it, the overall sophisticated musical character is retained. Scored for a small ensemble of strings, woodwind, brass, percussion and harp, the music gleams under the Woman's desperate hope, rasps and rattles when she gives way to despair, yet chuckles at the lovers' dilemma and the composer's pomposity, all within a specifically defined musical language. [...] The whole thing is an extraordinarily intense experience. There are still tickets. Go.
(Bachtrack.com - You can find the complete review here)
***
Lessons in grief: Benjamin and Crimp's Picture a day like this triumphs in Aix
Picture a day like this shares the best qualities of Written on Skin and Lessons in Love and Violence – the poetry, the quality of singing, the score, the sure-footed sense of the dramatic. But where the previous operas were unremittingly bleak, Picture a day like this has a huge heart. I empathised enormously not just with The Woman but with almost all the people she meets, and came out filled with catharsis and new understanding of the process of grieving. Its 75 minutes were the most inspiring I have ever spent in an opera house. When it comes to a city near you (as it will for many – there are seven co-production partners), don't miss it. And someone please give Martin Crimp a knighthood to match Benjamin's.
(Bachtrack.com - You can find the complete review here)
