Britten’s Church Parable Curlew River is a ‘once heard, never forgotten’ work, exploring the themes of community, suffering and redemption through the unforgettable figure of the Madwoman and the loss of her child. This production is by multimedia director and video artist Netia Jones. It features an outstanding British cast led by Ian Bostridge as the Madwoman, alongside Gwynne Howell, Neal Davies and Peter Coleman-Wright, with Britten Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia Voices.
Curlew River Echo: Curlew River Echo is a reverberation of the performance: an audio-visual installation playing in the atmospheric environment of this ancient church, inviting people to experience an echo of the opera in a mysterious, evanescent and thought-provoking way.
Britten was inspired by the austere and ritualized drama of Japanese Noh theatre, and the work is a strange and haunting encounter between a Japanese aesthetic and a medieval mystery play set in the context of East Suffolk, the whole shot through with mysterious, exotic music of exquisite refinement. Netia Jones’s beautifully abstract minimalist staging and haunting projections will distil the work to its essential elements: the aesthetic is the Japanese one of contrast: black and white; sound and silence; darkness and light; grief and enlightenment.
Curlew River: 14-16 November, 20:00.
Curlew River ECHO: 15-16 November, 11:00-16:45.
St. Giles’ Cripplegate, Fore Street, Barbican, London. EC2Y 8DA
For more information, and to book online, visit: http://bit.ly/17UTkU9
Tickets for Curlew River: £40. Curlew River ECHO: Free.
For more information about ‘Barbican Britten’, please visit: http://bit.ly/184gLkw
This event is part of the ‘Barbican Britten’ series, 6-24 November, celebrating Britten’s centenary through concerts, films and talks.