Benjamin Britten's Curlew River at Zellerbach Hall Auditorium, November 15, 2014

CalPerformances presents Benjamin Britten's Curlew River: A Parable for Church Performance featuring Britten Sinfonia
2014-11-15
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA
2:00 PM, Saturday, November 15, 2014

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Benjamin Britten's Curlew River: A Parable for Church Performance, (1964)
after the 15th century play Sumidagawa, by Jürö Motomasa

[1:50 PM seated; pungent “church” incense fills the air]
[2:03 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [2:06 PM] Te lúcis ante términum
2. [2:13 PM] I am the ferryman
3. [2:m PM] I come from the Westland
4. [2:m PM] But first may I ask you
5. [2:m PM] Clear as a sky without a cloud
6. [2:m PM] Near the Black Mountains there I dwelt
7. [2:m PM] A thousand leagues may sunder
8. [2:m PM] Ignorant man!
9. [2:m PM] I beg your pardon, living in this famous place
10. [2:m PM] Curlew River, smoothly flowing
11. [2:m PM] Today is an important day
12. [2:m PM] Look! While you were listening to my story
13. [2:m PM] Ferryman, tell me, when did it happen
14. [2:m PM] Hoping, I wander'd on
15. [2:m PM] He whose life was full of promise
16. [3:m PM] The moon has risen
17. [3:m PM] Go your way in peace, mother
18. [3:14 PM] Good souls, we have shown you here
    [show ends 3:17 PM; all off at 3:20 PM after a few minutes for applause and bows]

Cast

• Ian Bostridge as Madwoman: tenor vox;
• Neal Davies as Traveller: bass-baritone vox;
• Mark Stone as Ferryman: bass-baritone vox;
• Jeremy White as Abbot (narrator): baritone vox;
   
  
• Jeroen Breneman: acolyte/altar servant;
• Sivan Faruqui: acolyte/altar servant;
• Louis Pecceu: acolyte/altar servant;
• David Schneidinger: Spirit of the Boy;
   
  
• Britten Sinfonia Voices: chorus of eight pilgrims (three tenors, three baritones, two basses).

Britten Sinfonia

• Scott Bywater: percussion;
• Clare Finnimore: viola;
• Martin Fitzpatrick: organ, music director;
• Karen Jones: flute;
• Ben Russell: contrabass;
• Richard Wainwright: horn;
• Hugh Webb: harp.

Britten Sinfonia Voices

• Andrew Dickinson: tenor vox;
• Eamonn Dougan: baritone vox, conductor, chorus director;
• Gabriel Gottlieb: baritone vox;
• Thomas Herford: tenor vox;
• Oliver Hunt: bass vox;
• Louis Hurst: bass vox;
• Daniel Joy: tenor vox;
• Thomas Kennedy: baritone vox;
• Douglas Nairne: baritone vox.

• not identified, but there were three child actors in today's performance.

Production Credits

• Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): composer;
• William Plomer (1903-1973): librettist;
• Netia Jones: director, designer, video, costumes;
• Lightmap: video, projection;
• Ian Scott: lighting designer;
• Rachel Shipp: production manager.

after the Noh play Sumidagawa by Jürö Motomasa (1395-1431).

This play proffers such a dark, grey emotional landscape, it's hard for me to imagine Britten's motivation for its creation. I suppose it comes down to “different strokes for different folks” – I can appreciate the artistry of the work, and his genius in writing such beautiful melodies in support of a heart-breaking story – but it's not really the sort of thing that I want to experience all that often. I'd rather walk on the sunny side than to wallow in misery and despair, and while I have empathy for those who suffer such slings and arrows from the cruelties of fate, I'm sorry to admit that I'm not drawn to seek out the wounded and offer my succor – it's just not in my nature. Which brings me back around to this work. Perhaps I'm over reading the significance of the opening and closing sections of the performance, but I don't really see how it reveals the glory of God for a woman to search the country for a year only to find that her lost child was kidnapped and died while being taken to a life of slavery.

On a more prosaic note, I'd like to complain about the omission of the libretto from the pdf placed online by CalPerformances – certainly it couldn't have cost any more money to share that version of the document instead of the shorter one made available instead? Moreover, having made the effort to publish the libretto in the paper program, how the heck am I supposed to enjoy it when the performance takes place with the audience in total darkness? I realize that the darkness makes for better dramaturgy, and as a listener, I generally prefer watching from darkness, but when the text is presented as important enough to read, shouldn't that be taken into consideration by the production folks? Ah well, enough whining for tonight – I'm still glad that I attended, it was an interesting experience!

Georgia Rowe posted a nice preview article for the San Jose Mercury News

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