La Belle Et La Bete, The Philip Glass Ensemble, Recital Hall, Melbourne Festival Friday October 7th 2016
"La Belle Et La Bete" with music by Philip Glass and played by The Philip Glass Ensemble accompanied the Jean Cocteau film of the same name. The film's English title is "Beauty and the Beast". "La Belle Et La Bete" was presented as an Australian exclusive at the Recital Hall, Melbourne Festival Friday October 7th 2016.
For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights. Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases. I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.
As a first the show began one minute after 7.00pm which is a record for the Melbourne Festival. Mind you the number of late comers was disturbing and some chose to be seated in vacant seats closer to the stage, rather than disturb so many people already settled.
The usual announcement was made prior to the show: "Now is a good time to reach and turn off your phone"etc... The gentlemen, next to us pretended to turn off his phone. About half an hour into the film, this rude and ignorant man, (who sat next to us in E8) then had the audacity to check messages. Then he tried to take photos. I leaned across my partner and signalled to turn it off as it hit my peripheral vision and was distracting me from reading the surtitles. How rude are you mate! My partner told me after the show that "MR E8" really spoiled the experience of the film and Philip Glass's music. It is a shame that the announcements are not forceful enough and that the ushers do not throw them out.
I have seen the film before and this opera version by Philip Glass takes the film to a new level. His music creates so many wonderful atmospheres and transports us into the forest, the castle and other locations.
The singing by the four superb singers was rich in tone and emotion. It was so beautiful to watch the singers watch the screen at times and their occasional head movement was respectful of their screen character.
The orchestra played this complex score with incredible concentration and respect for this masterful opera. The score was played magnificently.
The costumes for the male singers looked a bit shabby with a jacket that did not match his trousers.
There are not enough men's toilets. Heaven forbid the women usually have to endure lines. The queue for the men's after the show was embarrassingly long. We went next door to MTC as did a few other patrons.
Overall I gave this performance and total experience an 8.5/10.
The usual announcement was made prior to the show: "Now is a good time to reach and turn off your phone"etc... The gentlemen, next to us pretended to turn off his phone. About half an hour into the film, this rude and ignorant man, (who sat next to us in E8) then had the audacity to check messages. Then he tried to take photos. I leaned across my partner and signalled to turn it off as it hit my peripheral vision and was distracting me from reading the surtitles. How rude are you mate! My partner told me after the show that "MR E8" really spoiled the experience of the film and Philip Glass's music. It is a shame that the announcements are not forceful enough and that the ushers do not throw them out.
I have seen the film before and this opera version by Philip Glass takes the film to a new level. His music creates so many wonderful atmospheres and transports us into the forest, the castle and other locations.
The singing by the four superb singers was rich in tone and emotion. It was so beautiful to watch the singers watch the screen at times and their occasional head movement was respectful of their screen character.
The orchestra played this complex score with incredible concentration and respect for this masterful opera. The score was played magnificently.
The costumes for the male singers looked a bit shabby with a jacket that did not match his trousers.
There are not enough men's toilets. Heaven forbid the women usually have to endure lines. The queue for the men's after the show was embarrassingly long. We went next door to MTC as did a few other patrons.
Overall I gave this performance and total experience an 8.5/10.
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