The Old Girl was in heaven. She didn't particularly like Peter Grimes which we saw last week but Puccini's tunes were more to her liking. I must admit myself that I like this opera. It's lively and captivating even if the story is sombre. The most memorable tunes portray a love of life even when poor and hungry. The finale, as usual is powerful with the final strains of the music coming as a jolt. Excellent.
We last saw a performance of La Boheme in Auckland a couple of years ago. As usual the NZ Opera Company's sets were better. Simpler but more creative. This was done in a contemporary setting (the writer using a laptop instead of pen and paper). The Candian performance had gretaer depth of talent but I think the New Zealand one was better directed.
Last night we went to see Eric Burdon. Well, I was looking forward to a good performance but man, this was even better than expected. Burdon at 72 looked a bit like the Old Girl's elderly Scottish aunty as he shuffled about on stage but when he sang that powerful and surprising voice belted out the songs just like when he was a young man.
The set was fairly long and thankfully started on time with no support act. The band was excellent playing just loud enough to remind you that this was a rock/blues concert but not too loud to overpower the singing (as if) or to be uncomfortable.
The production was great with several of the songs seguing into each other which provided stylistic links.
We were impressed. We loved it.
House of the Rising Sun
3 comments:
Did he do House of the Rising Sun?
Yes. There was a great spanish guitar intro to it. He did a very good medium paced version - still the master.
Yeah, he was good alright.
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