AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT says Alison Neale, who went to see I Fagiolini: The Little Match Girl Passion ….
Picture credit: Matthew Robins design sketch for The Little Match Girl Passion, 2012
Confession: I don’t like opera. I’ve tried, really I have, but sitting through three hours of extravagant over-emotion in a language I don’t understand just isn’t my idea of fun (even when it’s in English it might as well be Dutch, and surtitles detract from the show). Give me a musical any day. However, there are songs – wonderful, marvelous songs – that send my heart a-flutter and make me want to throw my arms out wide and … okay, yes, re-enact Maria’s entrance to The Sound of Music. Dirndl and all.
So with my (lamentable, probably) preference for ‘the best of’, these events in the Howard Assembly Room at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House are perfect for me – or anyone like me who just wants smaller doses of song. I saw a great selection of operatic love duets there earlier this year, and so I was keen to see what this solo-voice ensemble I Fagiolini were about. Plus, Phil Kirby assured me, there were going to be puppets.
The first half had a German theme, with a cappella (without accompaniment) pieces by Michael Praetorius, Gregor Aichinger and finally J.S. Bach. The Bach piece was fascinating: bearing in mind I know next to nothing about the technicalities of music, it felt like an experiment in moods and ideas, with each of the eleven sections very different from the others: jolly or serious, jaunty or calm. My favourite piece in this half, though, was that by Aichinger, wherein the five singers weaved their voices in and out, sometimes merging, sometimes singing away at their own part. Gorgeous and probably seriously tricky to do.
The second half was a whole other show. Three familiar Christmas carols (sung in Danish, but Away in a Manger would be lovely in any language) got the audience in the mood for Christmas. Then came the main event: The Little Match Girl Passion.
I was beginning to think I’d been brought here under false pretenses, but no: up on the large screen appeared a decorative round window, behind which fell increasingly heavy snow. Over the next, I don’t know, half hour or so? Matthew Robins silently manipulated scene after scene of shadow puppetry to tell the heartbreaking story to accompany I Fagiolini’s singing, percussion and – hmm, I’m not sure how to describe it – vocal noises?
David Lang was inspired by Bach’s St Matthew Passion to retell the tale in a new way: “The girl suffers, is scorned by the crowd, dies and is transfigured. I started wondering what secrets could be unlocked from this story if one took its Christian nature to its conclusion and unfolded it, as Christian composers have traditionally done in musical settings of the Passion of Jesus” (David Lang, quoted in the programme).
Now, I don’t hang out in churches much, so I can’t tell how close it was to the original. What I can say is that it was highly unusual – unlike anything I’ve heard before – and I shall certainly have to listen to it again. I’m sure there must be recordings of it, so if you can’t catch the show as it tours the country, I’d definitely recommend having a listen.
For the singers: http://www.ifagiolini.com/
For the puppetry: http://www.sadlucy.com/