Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
After Fidelio and La Petite Bohème, Opera North’s third Christmas streaming is the perennial favourite, Cinderella. This is not the big budget blockbuster with an eighty piece orchestra and a Grand Ball scene to rival that of any Hollywood extravaganza of the 1930s, no, this is the Whistle Stop version comprising three actors, a piano…
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What would Christmas be without a dose of Dickens? Probably a lot merrier! Although the theme of the novel is one of redemption, it is still a dark work and not the stuff of sleigh rides and jingle bells. This interpretation, however, has jollied it up but I fear that it has dropped down the…
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La Petite Bohème is a sort of stylised pop video but for a piece of opera. I suppose that could make it an op video. I did indeed remind me of those wonderful pre-war animations which used to be shown on The Old Grey Whistle Test to give some obscure album track a bit of…
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As we all suspected 2020 has ended in tiers! Sadly the status of Leeds has not changed which means that there will be no live performances but we can still enjoy some fine productions which are being streamed on line. Leeds Playhouse A Christmas Carol, this year’s festive offering from Leeds Playhouse, will now be…
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It might not be opera as we would like to experience it, but nevertheless it was a great way to spend 40 minutes on an otherwise dull Saturday evening in lockdown. Regular readers will know that I have been less than impressed by the on-line versions of operas which have been filmed from the stage…
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Oddly enough, Christmas is nearly upon us once more. Easter was cancelled, as were our summer holidays, so it is about time we had something to look forward to, and what could be more uplifting than a tale about an elderly miser. As an old Yorkshireman it certainly works for me! Leeds Playhouse are in…
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To help us through Lockdown 2.0 and beyond, Opera North are live-streaming a couple of major productions which have been stymied by the situation. They have also announced that one of the major events planned for next year has had to be postponed. First, the good news. On Saturday, 21st November there will be a…
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‘Twas the night before lockdown, which meant that the elevation of Leeds into Tier 3 of the government’s alert level was suspended and we remained in Tier 2 thus people from the same household or support bubble could go to the theatre one last time before returning to house arrest. There could be no more…
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I went to see this production in sombre mood after having been out for lunch the previous day to what was my local pub when I lived at Candle House in Granary Wharf. It was 1.45pm on a Friday so I had booked a table but when I arrived I entered to the sound of…
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The rapper and playwright Testament gave a performance with members of the Orchestra of Opera North and the result was stunning. Could it be the world’s first Hip Hopera? I have to say that even at the tender age of 71 I am quite the fan of rap now that it has evolved into a…
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