The QSO and John Bell collaborated to produce a memorable fusion of music and theatre.
“John Bell is quintessentially a hero”, said Umberto Clerici, Conductor of the QSO (Pictured below). To Clerici’s ears, Bell’s voice sounded like that of Caruso or Pavarotti. The audience agreed, enthralled by the sounds of John’s voice working with and over the musical pieces.
Photo (c) Limelight-arts.com.au
More composers have written pieces inspired by “The Tempest” than by any other of Shakespeare’s plays. The QSO selected “Tempest” pieces by Arthur Honegger, Jean Sibelius, Henry Purcell, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to accompany John Bell’s reading of “The Tempest”.
For those unfamiliar with the play, “The Tempest” has everything: Italian families, magic, islands, spirits, monsters, revenge, forgiveness, and storms.
Honegger’s “Prelude to The Tempest” was written in the 1920s. The QSO reenacted the raging storm that shipwrecked Alonso, Antonio, and other nobles on Prospero’s islands, placing them under his control and setting the scene for the play. It reflected the chaos and political upheaval of the time. And of our time. Although the decision to stage “The Tempest” was made over two years ago, and the election coincided with the performance, not the other way around.
The QSO wove suites from Sibelius’ “Incidental Music to “The Tempest” through Bell’s reading. Prospero begins the play lording it over his small island domain. When the brother who ousted him from the Dukedom of Milan washes up on his island, Prospero sees the opportunity for revenge.
The music accompanies Prospero’s attempts to command his slave and to bring the spirit Ariel to do his bidding. He wakes his daughter Miranda, who had been kind to Caliban.
Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture rounds out the evening. It is the music that brings Ferdinand to Prospero, with the help of Ariel’s magic. The flutes and French horns excelled. The strings gave substance to the spirits, and, with a great crescendo, the percussion came in over the top, stirring our appreciation of the magic on the island and the great events happening there.
Prospero forgives his family and presents Miranda to Ferdinand. Tchaikovsky’s music tells us of the love story and of hope for the future.
John Bell returned to the stage to finish his narration. Prospero declared to his future son-in-law, “The revels are now ended, these our actors, as I foretold you, were all Spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.”
Bell finishes the performance declaring, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.”
The audience in the fully booked Concert Hall erupted. The appreciation was heartfelt. Clerici isolated the sections of the orchestra to enable the audience to show its appreciation for their contribution to the magic of the evening. And it did.
It was a collaboration with a story for our times. The QSO continues to inspire.
Kerry McGovern
