The triple bill opened with Tread Softly set to Gustav Mahler's arrangement of Schubert's String Quartet in D minor. The choreography was wonderfully fluid yet structured. The movements also had a acrobatic quality to it that was breathtaking. Sadly the final 3 minutes was interrupted by a power cut which the company had to re-start at a climatic point.

The second item was the much loved Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saëns). Rather than recreating the "animals", the dancers expressed animal movements in a fun and human way. The cuckoo was particularly cute. The penultimate number, The Swan, was done with much elegance and grace yet without pretending to be a swan. The kids must have loved it in the afternoon matinee.
Julian Anderson wrote the music for the last item in the programme - titled The Comedy of Change. The work opened with silence as the larvae were hatching (the dancers were encased in cocoons), followed by a primordial sound world. The whole dance was a lot of fun to watch - lots of randomness. All in all a fun (hence the title) work to experience.



Thank goodness there were no more cast changes. The orchestra played the opening chords with unusual umph. Massimo Giordano was a gallant Cavaradossi. Bryn Terfel was his usual fantastic self where a lot of care went into his portrayal of Scarpia - less on the voice and more on the drama. The real transformation was Angela Gheorghiu. When I saw her in the premiere of this production (design Paul Brown, director Jonathan Kent) a few years ago I thought her Tosca as an attention seeking school-girl which looked ridiculous across from the very deep and grown up Scarpia (Bryn Terfel). In tonight's performance she was full of fire with a greater breadth of emotions and tone, where a few of her top notes rang throughout the auditorium. My guess is the revival director Stephen Barlow made the school girl grow up. So tonight's Tosca turned out to be exceptional. 


Joseph Calleja and Thomas Hampson as Alfredo and Giorgio recpectively added fizz to the drama. Pappano was milking every moment of this Verdi score - without wallowing or sentimentality. This La Traviata will stick in my mind for years to come. 
