musical priorities can get in the way of a real marriage of theatre and music. which opera should be.’ * FR EEI O AD The proof of their arguments was evident earlier the same day at Ine’s
(1e Castro’s afternoon rehearsal. Ten golden brown steps rise to an imposing black throne. behind which a blood red camellia is lit on a ON THE
canvas screen. To the side. four black columns rise the full height of the stage. Impressive enough. but at the flick of a switch the struts of the FEflNAL columns are illuminated by individual lights that immediately alter their
dimensions. giving the set the depth and grandeur of the l4th century
Portuguese court where the fatal action plays out. Your Chance to see some Of the beSt ShOWS In
Two scenes are given a run through. The closing of Act 1 features full this year's festival! You may claim as many different offers chorus in symmetrical procession. candles. pikes and cruciiixes held as you wish, but only one pair of- tickets per voucher. on aloft: intricate vocal harmonies are stabbed by sharp percussive phrases . like the outside political pressures that continually attack the peace of 6 FIRST COME' FIRST SERVED basus. Piease take the the central lovers. Later. a more intimate moment is achieved as two the maSaZ'ne along W'th YOU eaCh t'me- All Offers are figures. bathed in red light. form a single silhouetted cross against music subject to availability and the individual management's 0' gm" “Cf‘U‘X ““9 “PM“CY' , , . decision is final. Tickets should be picked up on the day
The staging is far from conventional. but Ines de Castro wrll have a . ENJOY THE SHOWi distinctively different tone from the surreal surprises of Life With An Of the performance m eaCh case-
Idiot. which seemed to suit perfectly Moore’s theatrical impudence. That said. he believes he’s very much more in tune with MacMillan. When he first heard about the composer. he felt it was ‘an identikit of the major things that I believe to be important — socialism. football. music. theatre. Catholicism. Jimmy was expressing the same concerns in music as I was trying to do in a theatrical context.’
That Moore’s introduction to the name MacMillan came when in Idaho with another Scottish composer. Ian McQueen. should come as no surprise. MacMillan is well respected in America and on home turf — a major retrospective of his work was held at the I993 Edinburgh
CARMEN FUNEBRE
Free tickets on Thursday 22 August at 10.30pm. Tickets should be collected from the Famous Grouse House box office from 9.30am.
10 pairs of tickets available.
‘There is one critic who’s actually very supportive of me, but he has this worry. In his last review, he said, “He’s not content with just being a composer, he’s got to be a Scottish composer, he’s got to be a socialist composer, he’s got to he a Catholic composer.’
James MacMillan
., at 9pm. Tickets should be collected ' ‘ from the Music Box box office from
I BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA
Free tickets on Saturday 24 August at
10.30pm. Tickets should be collected
from the Filmhouse information desk from 9am on Thursday 22 August.
50 pairs of tickets available.
BUGSY MALONE NATIONAL YOUTH MUSIC THEATRE
Free tickets on Saturday 24 and Monday 26 August at 9.45am. Tickets should be collected from the George Square Theatre box office from 9am.
5 pairs available per show.
. ”I - THE WAR IN HEAVEN
t .‘ "‘\ PERFORMED BY 7:84 ‘ a .\ é/ Free tickets on Thursday 22 and
“‘ Friday 23 August at 7.15pm. Tickets should be collected from the Theatre Workshop box office from 10am.
5 pairs available per night.
International Festival — but there is still what the composer himself regards as ‘some critical suspicion’ emanating from London.
‘What do you expect after writing a piece called Britannia.’ throws in Moore. ‘and you put the English culture in as “Oh. knees up. Mother Brown; knees up. Mother Brown”? I think you should just call your piece ling/[sh Bastards and be done With it.’
MacMillan laughs. then elaborates. ’Up here. it’s almost expected that I would want to explore the issues that I do in music. Down there. there’s an attitude in some of the London music circles that music is and should he the most self-obsessed of the arts — it needs no reference other than itself. That attitude goes completely against everything I do. There’s a kind of pro-compositional stage with me which involves a white heat burst of inspiration. usually resulting from some encounter with extra-musical issues. whether it’s political or historical or human or religious or whatever. The next stage is to turn the pre-music or the extra-musical into the musical.’
MacMillan‘s inspirations have ranged from poems by the mothers of the Argentinian ‘Disappeared’ (Brisqueda) to the Piper Alpha disaster (Tait-earth) — prompting one London critic to call him an ‘ambulance chaser". Moore is appalled at this slight. MacMillan more forgiving. and it sparks an interesting exchange.
MacMillan: ‘There is one critic who’s actually very supportive of me. but he has this worry. In his last review, he said. “He’s not content with just being a composer. he’s got to be a Scottish composer. he’s got to be a socialist composer. he’s got to be a Catholic composer.” ’
Moore: ‘But how can you not be? That’s you. It’s like waking up one morning and saying. “I’m not going to be Jewish any more.” You just
can’t do it. If you’re brought up a Catholic. it’s very much part of your DEATH BY COUNTRY
psychic awareness. It’s not like you trade on that. I used to get that a lot _..‘ .. Free tickets on Saturday 24 and
— “working-class playwright”. But it’s like Shakespeare — the best plays - -- .. .3 Sunday 25 August at 8pm. Tickets
have always been written by bright grammar school boys.’ ' g should be collected from the Queen’s If a couple of like-minded lads can make their indelible mark on the ' Hall box Office from 10am.
world of opera. then maybe that artform’s unnecessarily elitist aura can . .. 10 pairs available per night.
he knocked aside. At the rehearsals. there was a clear sensation that -
something major was in the process of being created. Perhaps others felt
it when they read the proof pages of Lanark or saw the rough cut of
Trainspotting. Ines de Castro could be Scotland’s first opera triumph.
Ines de Castro (Festival) Scottish Opera, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh.
0131 225 5756, 23/25 Aug, 7.15pm, £5—£45.
9
The List 23 Aug-5 Sept l99615
J 1 ‘