Rebecca Clarke [Peter Field]
INDELIBLY associated with the image of Jenny Agutter waving her bloomers at passing trains, the famous early-70s film of The Railway Children – taken from a book by Edith Nesbit – is something anyone of a certain age will remember with affection and feel protective about. So the news that Mark Anthony Turnage, a composer known for earthily hard-hitting scores, was planning an operatic adaptation raised concerns. Would the charm be lost? And what about the bloomers?
Well, the piece has just premiered off-season at Glyndebourne and is apparently a radical update (which
I haven’t yet seen), turning Edwardian poignancy into a Cold War spy thriller. But the reviews have been good. And the show comes to London for one night, Nov 8, playing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a concert staging that will reveal all. Turnage’s last attempt at family-friendly opera misfired. Maybe this time he’s nailed it. southbankcentre.co.uk
• More the kind of story you’d expect a Turnage to be tackling, the sex-and-sandals powerplay of ancient Rome inspired Monteverdi to write L’Incoronazione di Poppea (if indeed he did write it: there are doubts) with Nero and his love Poppea scheming their way to unjust deserts. Hampstead Garden Opera have a new production at Jacksons Lane, Highgate; and as HGO neatly sums up the plot, “he’s ruthless, she’s unhinged, together they’re unstoppable”. Runs Nov 7-16. hgo.org.uk
• Female composers from the past still struggle to be heard. And meriting far more attention than she gets is Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), whose output was small but magical, with a disarming and distinctive beauty. Born in England to an abusive father, she had a bad start in life, emigrated to America, and was largely forgotten until recently. But there’s a whole day of her work at Wigmore Hall, Nov 8, with three concerts in a row that offer a chance to take stock of Clarke’s legacy. Which is greater than most listeners know. wigmore-hall.org.uk
• Something else people tend not to know is the magnificent 18th-century Great Hall in St Bartholomew’s Hospital, which has just undergone a major renovation and is finding new life as a concert venue. The City Music Foundation is using it regularly for a commendable recital series that’s just started: citymusicfoundation.org And Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras are also moving in, with a baroque bill of Purcell, Bach and Handel on Nov 12 that should be a big event. bartsnorthwing.org.uk
• Other big events this week include Mahler’s 7th Symphony at the Festival Hall, Nov 13, done by the Philharmonia under Jakub Hrusa: southbankcentre.org.uk
On Nov 12, Simon Rattle brings his new orchestra, the Bavarian RSO, to the Barbican for Bruckner’s 7th Symphony: barbican.org.uk – and on the eve of Remembrance Day, Nov 8, there’s a Britten War Requiem in Southwark Cathedral, done by the ambitious and evidently up-scaling Outcry Ensemble with star soloists including Elizabeth Watts: theoutcryensemble.com
• But if all that grandeur is too much, try the more modest forces of a clarinet duo, Hannah Shilvock and Boyan Ivanon, in Highgate’s intimate Salon Music series, Nov 12. Two clarinets playing on their own make an unusual combination. But I’m told they’re inventive; their programme includes Piazzolla; and food and drink come with the ticket. Nothing there not to like. salonmusic.co.uk
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