Page 541 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

Members of the children’s chorus in Migrations. Photograph: Chris Fuller

Yes, it was episodic, some aspects of the stories lost in the melange, others heavy-
handed or conversely too slim. But the spirit of communal enterprise, formidably well-
rehearsed, carried the day. In Loren Elstein’s designs, the stage managed to
accommodate the many strands without confusion. With multiple teams for each show,
it is impossible to do justice to all. Some singers appeared in more than one story: Tom
Randle, Brittany Olivia Logan and Aubrey Allicock stood out. Natasha Agarwal, soprano
and award-winning dancer, mesmerised as an Indian doctor. Trained by chorus master
David Doidge, the joint forces of WNO Chorus, Renewal Choir (a gospel-based choir
from Bristol) and an enchanting children’s choir shone, all having learned their words
to perfection. Since Homo erectus, migration has been an unavoidable aspect of the
human condition. We still do not understood it in all its complexity. WNO has made a
joyous attempt.

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In its final weekend, the 2022 Aldeburgh festival pulled off its own multi-coup with
four concerts and 20 premieres in honour of Oliver Knussen (1952-2018), composer,
conductor, mentor, who would have been 70 last month. (Names from international
musical life of the past half century illuminated the programmes, from Elliott Carter,
Hans Werner Henze and Alexander Goehr to Julian Anderson, George Benjamin,
Charlotte Bray, Tansy Davies and Colin Matthews.) Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Song for
Big Owl – one of several pieces for solo cello, all heroically played by Anssi Karttunen –
was a lament for his close friend. In contrasting mood, Augusta Read Thomas’s Riddle
caught Knussen’s free-spirited wit. So, too, did Zoë Martlew’s O-lude, a mini-drama
featuring his trademark can of Diet Coke, baton and taped recording of his voice in a
rehearsal with another composer recently departed, Harrison Birtwistle. (For this feast
of tiny chamber works, Karttunen was joined by top colleagues: soprano Claire Booth,
violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen, pianists Christopher Glynn and Huw Watkins, and
Rosalind Ventris, viola.