Imo and Ben (Imo a Ben, 2013)

Přidal: Přemek |

Červenec 8, 2013

Mark Ravenhill. Rozhlasová hra. Použitá hudba Benjamin Britten. Účinkují Joseph Houston (klavír) a Emma Tring (soprán) a New London Children’s Choir. Režie Jeremy Mortimer.

Osoby a obsazení: Benjamin Britten (Paul Ready), Imogen Holst (Amanda Root), lord Harewood (Charles Edwards).

Nastudovalo BBC v roce 2013. Premiéra 30. 6. 2013 (BBC Radio 3, 20:30 h.; 90 min.).

Pozn.: Benjamin Britten’s ‚Gloriana’, commissioned for the Queen’s Coronation Gala in 1953, was, according to Lord Harewood ‚one of the greatest disasters of operatic history’. This play tells how Imogen Holst moved to be near Britten in Aldeburgh to support him as he worked on the score in the months leading up to the premiere.

Mark Ravenhill’s new play, based on Voltaire’s Candide, opens at the RSC in August. Other current projects include a libretto for the Norwegian National Opera and ITV sitcom Vicious, starring Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi.

Lit.: anonym: Imo and Ben by Mark Ravenhill. In web Radio Drama Reviews Online, červenec 2013 (recenze). – Cit.: Set in the early 1950s, Imo and Ben told the story of the opera Gloriana: commissioned to celebrate the Coronation, it was judged by Lord Harewood (Charles Edwards) to be „one of the greatest disasters in operatic history.“ The process of creating it involved Imogen Holst (Amanda Root) having to contend with Benjamin Britten’s (Paul Ready’s) violent changes of mood, as he tried to complete what proved to be an extremely difficult project.

Jeremy Mortimer’s production offered a penetrating insight into the difficulties caused by the collaboration of two extraordinarily creative talents. Sometimes the writing proved anachronistic – on at least two occasions Holst referred to the Gloriana project being „sorted,“ an idiom which did not enter daily English usage until the early Seventies (according to the OED). On the other hand it seemed appropriate that she should choose this kind of term, as her principal role consisted of trying to massage Britten’s fragile ego. The more he worked on the project, the less convinced he became of its ultimate success. Maybe this was due to its sheer scope, or maybe Britten was somewhat overawed by the fact that its premiere would be attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and other pillars of the Establishment. The play did not provide any hard-and-fast explanations; instead, it showed how Holst tried her best to make sure that Britten stayed with the project. Sometimes this proved very difficult – even when Gloriana had been completed, Britten was quite stunningly rude to her. In the end, however, her persistence paid off; despite the lukewarm reception, Gloriana achieved the recognition it deserved, and Holst managed to improve her own reputation in the musical world.

Imo and Ben was a virtual two-hander, save for the occasional interventions by Harewood, acting as a representative of the Establishment. Both Root and Ready proved utterly convincing in their roles: while the relationship between the two characters was a tempestuous one, it was clear they could not function without one another.