I had done a search on the forum for James Macmillan and found that old Grumpy Room message of Mary's 

Mary, did you see this opera? Reason I ask is that it opens this weekend in Cardiff and I thought THAT would be the premiere? Is Liverpool later in the tour?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2167792,00.html#article_continue

I've not heard much of Macmillan's orchestral music and being Scottish and similar age I'm intrigued what this opera will be like. Are there any clips of his other opera works on-line?

John W

There's an article in the Times' art supplement today, it's set in a post-civil war country where order has collapsed and there's a chance to heal the wounds..... so could be heavy going.

The only other MacMillan opera (Ines de Castro) was broadcast on R3: dubbed CDs of the radio performance are available (at a price);

http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/db/CART/product_details.php?product_id=4783

I'm a bit ambivalent about his music, feeling (much as I do with Turnage and Adès) that the initial promise is by now perhaps diluted and that there's a tendency for much of the individual sound world which marked him out at the start of his career to become a cliché, rather than a thumb-print; don't get me wrong, there's some of his music that really works for me, but I no longer become automatically excited at the prospect of every new work.

I think I know by now where your musical tastes lie, John, and I'm far from convinced that you'll find J M's musical language very appealing: I'd love to be proved wrong. His librettist is his long-term collaborator the poet Michael Symmons Roberts: I don't know how much experience of the stage he has but I am aware that a fair proportion of the operas written in Britain over the last thirty years or so start off at a disadvantage because they aren't really stageworthy, and hope that this will not be the case this time. There's something fairly ironic about an avowedly contemporary composer setting opera in a very traditional way, which from what I've seen of the sets and libretto for Ines was almost certainly the case: modern drama has moved as far forward in its way as modern music; surely anyone creating a Music Theatre piece now should be exploiting newer techniques? (Although I wasn't able to see it, it's obvious that Stuart MacRae's recent piece was of a much more radical nature, for example, and Birtwistle's time at the National Theatre means that he is much more conversant with the stage and its possibilities than most of his contemporaries, although in fairness to him, even his first opera, Punch and Judy, written before his NT days really belongs on the stage.

"The whole opera is on Radio Three on October 13th" is what it says on the blog, Stuart.  It sounds accessible enough from the few bits we heard.  I'm looking forward to hearing it.

The reviews so far seem a bit on the cynical side. The general view seems to be that it's a good evening in the theatre, but doesn't have much originality or depth.

Anybody seen this or seeing it tonight?

I'm off to the London performance this evening, which I believe is the final one of the tour ()

I know it's a bit short notice, but if anybody is going and fancies saying hello, I'm sitting in the second circle and will almost certainly be in the Harlequin (down the side street to the left of the main entrance as you face the theatre) with friends afterwards.  I've got brown hair and glasses and am wearing a light purple top.

Wish I could be there, Ruth. There's already a thread on this so I've bumped it - might be an idea to re-post on that one, where we've already had a little discussion...

I saw it at Southampton, Ruth. The thread at the other place veered off-topic to anti-Catholic posturing, but ff and I tried to steer it back... http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbradio3/F7497567?thread=4607552&skip=120&show=20#p54854244