Szymanowsky, Rachmaninov & Schoenberg - Philharmonic Hall Liverpool - 28/04/2016

On Thursday the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic were joined by the latest in a run of outstanding soloists that Phil audiences been treated to in recent weeks. Chinese pianist Niu Niu may be only 19, but he’s already an experienced concert performer and recording artist and his 2013 EMI album of Liszt transcriptions was recorded in the RLPO’s studio, The Friary in West Everton, so he’s no stranger to Liverpool.

Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini was a great choice of work for Niu Niu to debut with the orchestra, its variations enabling him to demonstrate a wide range of colour and texture, from dramatic weight to delicate fluid playing.

The prolific Polish conductor Jacek Kaspszyk, making a welcome return to Liverpool, opened the concert with the rarely heard Concert Overture from his countryman Karol Szymanowski. An early work, the overture feels as though it owes much to Richard Strauss in the opulent scoring and shifts in dramatic energy. A substantial piece for large orchestra, we are left wondering why this doesn’t feature more often in concert programmes.

A similar question might be asked of the work that occupied the second half of the concert, and the extravagant orchestration probably serves partly as an answer in both cases. Schoenberg’s orchestration of the Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor turns a relatively unloved chamber work into what is effectively a symphony. Another early composition, both for Brahms and for Schoenberg, it begins feeling very much like the symphonies of Schumann, flirting with Mendelssohn in its intermezzo movement before finally finding the world of Brahms’ Hungarian Dances in its exuberant “Rondo alla Zingarese” finale. For this work, Kaspszyk placed the French horns to the far left of the stage behind the back desks of first violins, which created an unusual but intriguing spread of sound.

Sadly, the appearance of names like Szymanowsky and Schoenberg on a concert programme often frightens audiences off at the box office, and there were quite a few empty seats in the hall. This is a shame, as these two less familiar framing works to Rachmaninov’s perennial crowd-pleaser were hugely well received and, above all, the whole concert felt like enormous fun for audience and performers alike. Appropriate for the concert to end on an exuberant note, as it also marked the final appearance of first violinist David Whitehead, who is retiring after 32 years’ service with the orchestra.

Niu Niu - Image (c) Mark McNulty

This review was originally written for Good News Liverpool

Iphigenia in Splott - Everyman Theatre Liverpool - 14 April 2016

Following a triumphant opening run last May at Sherman Theatre Cymru, Gary Owen’s award-winning Iphigenia in Splott embarked on a 12 venue national tour, beginning at the National’s temporary space on the South Bank and ending this week at Liverpool’s Everyman.

It’s the second of two one-woman shows to appear here in as many weeks in a specially adapted stage layout, the first being A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing, reviewed here last week. But, apart from fiery delivery from a solo performer, the two shows could barely be more different. While the former is a deeply introspective piece that makes the audience work along with the actor, Owen’s Iphigenia gives us a lot more signposts along the way, handing us the moral message neatly packaged at the end.

Sophie Melville plays Effie, who skulks onto the stage shrouded in her street uniform hoodie and begins by addressing us in accusatory tones – she knows what we all think when we see her, she tells us, in no uncertain terms. This modern day Iphigenia has little similarity with her Ancient Greek counterpart, sacrificed by Agamemnon at Aulis, but the references are clear enough as she is pushed to an ultimate test for the ills of an ailing society and ultimately makes her own sacrifice for which, she makes clear, we are all deeply in her debt.

Melville’s performance is pin-sharp and keeps the audience on the edge of our seats and holding our breath for much of its unbroken 75 minutes, and under Rachel O’Riordan’s expert direction she times every passage perfectly, whether storming about the stage or holding us in silent suspense. Even passages of laboured breath become supplementary dialogue.

Hayley Grindle’s stage design and Rachel Mortimer’s lighting are inseparable, as the almost bare stage is formed into time and place with the movement of light within an array of flickering tube lamps, and further atmosphere seeps from Sam Jones’s subliminal, pulsating soundtrack.

We can all share the anger of Effie as she rails against austerity and the fact that those least able to defend themselves are left to bear the greatest burden, and her own story of self-redemption is a powerful one. Gary Owen touches further contemporary issues but without ever straying from his central message, introducing, among others, an ex-soldier whose life has been shattered by an IED.

There are times when the writing is almost too tidily done, leaving little work for the audience to do, but there’s no denying the power of both the story and its delivery, and a standing ovation at the end speaks for itself. And the question we are left with in the closing lines – just exactly what will happen when we can’t take any more?

Sophie Melville - Photo (C) Mark Douet

This review was originally written for Good News Liverpool

A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing - Everyman Theatre Liverpool - 5th April 2016

This week the Everyman’s versatile stage has been reconfigured into what is almost a proscenium arch in miniature to fit the first of two touring one-woman plays.

Eimear McBride’s novel, A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing, has been adapted and directed for the stage by Annie Ryan as a vehicle for the astonishing talent of Aoife Duffin, who gives a riveting performance delivering 80 solid (and I mean solid) minutes of raw power and emotion.

Taking the fractured structure of the original text as read, Ryan has rearranged it on the page to give clarity to the changes in character, as the actor plays not only “A Girl” but also many of the other key players in her life.

We begin in the womb as the girl experiences the sounds of voices from the outside world, and from the outset we’re made aware that her life, and that of those around her, is not destined to be an easy ride. The piece moves rapidly, with broken sentences charting a path through moments of tenderness and horror. The central relationship between brother and sister is key and interwoven into their story are those of the people who come to shape and direct their lives toward the devastating conclusion.

There is an abundance of very powerful material here, and it is not an easy watch, but it’s punctuated with some surprising moments of genuine humour.

The torrent of words that flow like a stream of consciousness certainly recall many of Beckett’s monologue plays but, in the material and the delivery, Liverpool audiences will also be put in mind of the incendiary performance from Leanne Best in The Matchbox back in 2012, which this piece certainly approaches in its emotional intensity.

Actors sometimes have the support of a staff physio during lengthy tours with demanding work, and you might think that Aoife Duffin would need a therapist of a different kind delivering these lines daily, but she seems remarkably calm offstage. Maybe there’s something cathartic in the process. Certainly the audience leaves the theatre looking a bit shell-shocked, but while the emotion of the work may be overwhelming, so is the skill of this remarkable actor who, under the skilful direction of Annie Ryan, brings McBride’s challenging writing vividly and lucidly to life on stage as though this is where it was meant to be.

A matter of life and death, and essential viewing.
 

Aoife Duffin - Photo (c) Mihaela Bodlovic

This review was originally written for Good News Liverpool.