Tag: Alfred Schnittke

Life With An Idiot by Victor Erofeyev, Adapted By The Cast, Gate Theatre, 26 October 2001

Janie and I were both very taken with this piece; both the conceit of it and the way the cast and director had turned it into an excellent short piece of drama.

Rachel Halliburton in The Standard gave it a very good review and summarises the story well:

Idiot Halliburton Standard Idiot Halliburton Standard 15 Oct 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, is less sure that westernising this quintessentially Soviet story works, while praising some aspects:

Idiot Billington Guardian Idiot Billington Guardian 16 Oct 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Rhoda Koenig found it a little dated.

Idiot Koenig Indy Idiot Koenig Indy 20 Oct 2001 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I don’t recall either of us being unwanted idiots, but I do recall really liking this play/production.

Daniel Hope & Friends, Wigmore Hall, 16 April 2001

I think I booked this one because of the Weill/Brecht. I really like the songs from The Threepenny Opera and you don’t often see them on the Wigmore Hall listings. Janie likes a bit of Shostakovich, so we thought we’d give it a try.

The concert comprised:

  • Alfred Schnittke – Sonata No 1 for Violin and Piano
  • Dmitri Shostakovich – Sonata for Violin and Piano Op 134
  • Maurice Ravel  – Kaddish
  • William Walton – Sonata for Violin and Piano
  • Kurt Weill, Simon Mulligan & Bertolt Brecht – Songs from “The Threepenny Opera”

In truth, I think this concert convinced us that 20th century music, on the whole, is not for us.

Here’s the first movement of the Schnittke, to give you an idea:

Try the last movement of the Shostakovich

I do recall rather liking the Kaddish, which I hadn’t heard before:

Here’s the first movement of the Walton:

Finally, here is a link to a more recent recording by David Frühwirth & Henri Sigfridsson, which I think is a similar sound to that of Hope & Mulligan doing the Threepenny Opera thing, although I think Hope and Mulligan were a bit more jazzy.