CONTACT US   SUBSCRIBE   PREMIUM   ADVERTISING

73F Hi 78F
Lo 67F

Recent Blog Posts

Shades of White: Wagner on the South Bank

by Zoe Strimpel
Sun, 9 Mar 2008 at 7:07 PM

Print Send RSS Share:    

The South Bank is such a dense complex of arts and culture that you could go crazy trying to decide what to see — or, indeed, do little else but camp out in that bit of riverside between Waterloo and Southwark for weeks on end and never get bored. Culture minister Margaret Hodge said last week that the Proms, a summer classical music festival, were elitist in part because their program is overwhelming and chaotic. By that token she might dismiss the entire South Bank cluster, which broadly includes the National Theatre, National Film Theatre, Hayward Gallery, and Royal Festival Hall. Each building has several sub-chambers and performance halls.

Ms. Hodge might have been forgiven for thinking last night's blistering Wagner medley concert at the Royal Festival Hall was not for every walk of society. As with, say, the "From Russia" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, an inordinate amount of white hair was visible above swaths of expensive tailoring. The young were not much in attendance, and the crowd was not ethnically diverse. Tickets cost in the region of £45 ($90).

But it was awesome — even for those, like yours truly, who find the idea of Wagner the man difficult. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (who better to play such a program?), conducted by Mariss Jansons, was technically wondrous, textured, and unified. Standouts were a stunning "Tannhäuser" Overture, Siegfried's funeral march, and the famous, rousing "Ride of the Valkyries." Mihoko Fujimura, the Japanese mezzo-soprano, sang the "Wesendonck Lieder," adding yet another strand of texture to the fulsome program.

It's a shame a greater variety of people weren't there to appreciate this concert. More important, though, was the happy fact it took place at all.

London Arts & Letters Homepage

Dog Days of Summer
A New York Sun Advertorial Section

NEW YORK >

Study Sought Of Test Score Gains in N.Y.

Rochester Billionaire Targets Silver With New PAC

Crane Inspector Pleads Not Guilty

New York Moves To Defend Gun Law

Hedge Fund Scammer Tells NY Judge He Tried Suicide

Murder, Rape Numbers Mar Positive Crime Statistics

NATIONAL >

'Paradise Is Burning': Fires Prompt California Evacuations

FARC Hostages Return to America

White House Says Ruling Could Free Detainees in America

McCain Extols Free Trade in Colombia

Race Profiling Considered In FBI Terrorist Probes

Bush Vows More Troops in Afghanistan

ARTS+ >

Painting for Eternity: Pietre Dure at the Met

America's Birth Papers at the NYPL

Phillip Pearlstein, Objectifying the Nude

'Tis the Season for Big Bands

'Red Cliff' Investors Cover Costs

Movies in Brief: 'Diminished Capacity'