Page 120 - FINAL_Theatre of Sound Coverage Book

Walton’s The Bear is streamed by Opera Holland Park

The West London opera company reunited the cast and creative team of its 2019 production
of Susanna’s Secret in this filmed adaptation of Walton’s short three-hander, adapted from

Chekhov. All’s fair in love and war as Clare Presland as the indignant widow Yelena Popova

skirmishes with Richard Burkhard’s Smirnov — until, to her servant’s astonishment, the pair

realise another way to resolve their differences . . . Screened nightly from Nov 9-13, ‘pay what

you feel’; operahollandpark.com
Bluebeard’s Castle is thrillingly reimagined

★★★★☆

Gerald Finley’s Bluebeard is a loving if sometimes exasperated elderly suburban husband trying

to cope with a wife who has dementia — Susan Bullock’s Judith. The “locked rooms” are the

shared memories he tries to trigger in her frozen mind, and the “former wives” are Judith at
various stages of her life. It’s a clever concept, but it would have remained not much more than

that if it weren’t for the stunningly believable and deeply touching performances of Bullock and

Finley. Theatre of Sound’s Bluebeard continues to Nov 14

Richard Morrison

Read the full review
Mark-Anthony Turnage’s ode to a famous Arsenal victory is an
exhilarating triumph

★★★★★

The BBC Symphony Orchestra gave an exhilarating performance with the conductor Ryan

Bancroft, ensuring split-second coordination with every kick and crunching tackle. To say it was

ecstatically received would be an understatement. In a Barbican Hall packed with Gooners, the

cheers were frequently louder than on the old North Bank, Highbury. On BBC Sounds
Richard Morrison

Read the full review
The entrancing world premiere of Tom Coult’s Pleasure Garden

★★★★☆
Viewed as an orchestral tapestry, one wonder followed another, each inspired by garden spaces

created over the centuries in Japan, Florence and Salford. The work was partly commissioned to

mark the opening of RHS Garden Bridgewater Salford. Japan, however, seems to have excited

Coult the most, judging by the first movement’s dazzling raindrop polyphony from Kyoto and