UFO Info Week-End

I don’t mind pastiche but I draw the line at sincerely flattering both Strauss and Disney

I don’t mind pastiche, but I draw the line at sincerely flattering both Strauss and Disney in the same breath – I’m sure I heard “bibbity bobbity boo” at one point – and I was starting to feel pretty miffed with Renée Fleming for landing us in this mess.Things picked up after the interval; Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis was richly persuasive, the chamber ensemble at the back of the orchestra sounding at times like a viol consort. Previn looked, and conducted, like a new man, and the textures were sharply defined with clear and daring colouration. I still dislike the piece itself (having fallen in love with Tallis’s original unadorned melody, the Fantasia for me feels like flock wallpaper on Le Corbusier) but Previn did more to persuade me of Vaughan Williams’s respect for Tallis than any other performance I’ve heard. It seems strange that such a cosmopolitan conductor should have found his musical home in the English pastoral, but this repertoire is clearly still where Previn’s strength lies.The Strauss was no less sumptuous, but laboured under tempi that did little to assist Janice Watson or, for that matter, the audience. The tempi were a hangover from the fashion for slow Strauss that started in the Seventies with Jessye Norman’s inexorable recording of the Four Last Songs. All very well in the studio but difficult to pull off live, and a million miles from the fresh and flowing performances of Lisa Della Casa in Strauss’s lifetime.

Watson’s incisive, brightly attractive tone and intelligent phrasing was stretched to the limit by Previn’s speeds; the close of “September” was so drawn out that there was really nowhere left to go with “Beim Schlafengehen” and “Im Abendrot”. The sheer sound was heavenly – as it always is in Strauss and as it always is with the LSO – but the measured ecstasy of these songs was pulled too far to breathe, and the poetry was forced into word-by-word delivery. On the basis of this museum-piece performance, I’m curious to see what Previn will do with the Brahms Requiem tonight; a piece that really depends on its poetry – curious and anxious.The revival of Così fan tutte at Glyndebourne a few days earlier could not have been a greater contrast, with lively tempi, swift action and fresh performances from orchestra and singers. Having had misgivings about Graham Vick’s stilted Figaro I was surprised to enjoy the Così from which it was extrapolated.

The rehearsal-room concept works well, there are some lovely set-pieces from the chorus, and an interesting Freudian subtext at play in the relationships between the four young lovers and the very parental Despina and Alfonso – Elizabeth Gale and Alan Opie, both consummate comedians. The cast looked and sounded very sexy (anyone who thinks opera singers are naturally overweight should see this production) especially Laura Polverelli and Nathan Gunn as Dorabella and Guglielmo, neither of whom would be kicked out of bed for eating biscuits by any sane individual. The only question-mark was over Alexandra von der Weth’s slapstick Fiordiligi (a bit of a tart from the start in Vick’s production), whose sexual capitulation lacked any poignancy despite an enchanting performance of “Per Pieta”. I’d advise waiting for the performances that Sir Andrew Davis is scheduled to conduct, as Davis seems to draw much more shape from the orchestra than does Louis Langrée, but this is an enjoyable, intelligent production.’Così fan tutte’: Glyndebourne Festival Opera (box office 01273 813813) to 14 Aug. Moloko believe in giving the people what they want. What they want is “Sing It Back” and not only do Moloko give it, but they keep on giving it for 20 minutes – ample time to fit in a drum solo, a rap and a burst of Donna Summer.