Usher Hall concert performance. the International Festival team have assembled what director Brian McMaster describes as “a cast of singers that is pretty staggering‘.
With soprano Christine Brewer as Isolde (whose final and famous Liebestod alone is worth going for). Jane Irwin as Brangane. tenor Christian Franz singing Tristan and the rather lovely bass-baritone John Relyea as King Mark. McMaster's claim is no exaggeration. In the pit are the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra with Jonathan Nott as part of their week-long Festival residency.
(Carol Main)
I Usher Hall. 473 2000. 30 Aug. 5pm.
5760—535.
ANARCHY IN THE UKULELE - THE UKULELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN
Small guitars . . . big ideas .00.
As the literal and metaphorical runt of the musical instrument litter. the ukulele has never had a fair deal but here. six (and a bass) of them are thrust centre stage to carry the weight of an entire show. which they do with class and ease.
Seventy nimble fingers cast a
peculiar spell on the near full house. taking well worn tunes. from grunge anthems and legendary silver screen soundtracks to 50s swing and ethereal 70s pop. reconfigured with a notional oompah beat. Yes. it is vaguely silly. but the level of musicianship and deadpan delivery assures us that this is no novelty act but a subtle work of musical comic magic.
(Mark Robertson)
I Pleasance. 556 6550. until 29 Aug. (5pm. £7 7—872 (29.50—00.50).
MIKELANGELO AND THE BLACK SEA GENTLEMEN Rousing cabaret cocktail 0000
Riotous fun and frankly unforgettable. this is a twisted cabaret of dark delights. The Black Sea Gentlemen. a troupe of lost souls drawn together by the indomitany depraved and unquestionably magnetic Mikelangelo. weave a seductive spell around the audience. inviting them to explore the shadowy recesses of the s0ul. Through a heady cocktail of humour. poetry. rapturous performance and top draw musicianship. a timeless. sordid underworld is conjured in this wedge of pure musical theatre. The music itself. a rousing bolt through traditional Eastern European stylings. is powerfully potent stuff and creates a
Synergy with the playful pomp of its players. all making for a dastardly. daring Balkan treat.
(Mark Edmundson)
I Spiege/ Garden, 226 0000. until 28 Aug (not27). 77pm. £9.
KURDISH NIGHT
Exiles’ music rings true
‘The daf drum is a very secret sound. A big sound.‘ says Aaras Ali. a young Glasgow-based musician and one of the hundreds of Kurdish exiles in Scotland heading for the major (five hour) concert of Kurdish music presented by the Edinburgh International Festival. The daf. or def. drum is a pre-lslamic instrument. and is played as far away as China. It‘s mentioned in Rumi's poetry. and is used in the Sufi temple (khangha). Here its rhythms feature in the religious chanting of the final part of the concert — played by the Sufi order of Oaderita. from the Kurdish population of Iran. Kurdish music is marked by its modality (the Dorian. the scale played from D on the white keys of the piano) but also by its passion. and part of the concert celebrates the ballad-like an of hairan. from a variety of leading singers. But the whole evening kicks off with the folk forms of song and music which evolved in the mountains.
.i - or $23,211.? ., w," WI}. 75cm ".1 m J' . . o . ° ' o . . ’ i W! iffimm With a million untested vouces all straining to be heard around Fringe time, its
:11
reassuring to know there’s someone who is a known quantity when you’re deciding
where to part with your hard earned cash. Singer/songwriter Macleod has more than proved her worth. Her album of celtic-infused pop Crossing Tides is worthy of investigation and live she confidently mixes blues, folk, jazz and soul without resorting to formula.
Acoustic Music Centre (a) St Brides, 346 I405. 25 Aug. 10.30pm. £10 (£8).
villages and towns of the Kurdish hornelands. Songs and dances will be accompanied by Kurdish instruments including the tanbur. one of the world's oldest stringed instruments: the balaban. a clarinet cousin. and varied flutes and percussion.
ln Glasgow. Aaras is used to downloading the sounds of these instruments to play on his keyboard. and feels strongly that 'we really need to hear our music — to hear the real thing'. (Norman Chalmers) I Usher Hall. 473 2000. 28 Aug. 8pm. E 72.
NEXT ISSUE OUT
MINIPROFILE
Who? Weezer
What? The crown princes of modern-day guitar power pop. Why? Behind Paris Hilton. pornography and Jesus. (the first two being in many ways interchangeable) Weezer probably aren't far off the top spot for most featured entity on the electric inter web.
Take. for instance. the girth of an unofficial Weezer fan site. host to no less than a 15 page recording histOry. breakdown of entire equipment usage since formation in 1994. full anthology of chart positions. news articles and reviews of every LP. SP and EP released. as well as guitar transcriptions for each to boot . . . for the more 'hands on' fanatic.
Not that it should come as any great surprise. The online domain of the very fathers of geek rock as we know it — something that. at its best. gifted us the rise of such Ioveables as Ben Folds Five and Cake. and, at its worst. dumped the inescapable nasal twerp of Wheatus on our ain/vaves — was always likely to be a second home of a fan-base dominated by the ‘bookish s0rt'. Speaking of whom. front man Rivers Coumo has recently announced his intention to return to finish his degree in English at Harvard once Weezer's latest round of touring is over. And where else but on his very own blog? Which pretty much says it all. (Malcolm Jack)
Corn Exchange, 0870 769 0700. 26 Aug, 7pm. £23.50. Part of T on the Fringe; see our Offers page for ticket giveaways.
21') Aug—8 Sep 2005 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 101