A few Bob anecdotes
Scene: a crowded cafe in Newcastle.
Bob looks around the room, waits for me to take a sip of coffee, then says at the top of his voice : “SO CHRIS, IS YOUR BROTHER GAY LIKE YOU?”…
Bob Tear – “sublime and celestial greatness”
A neighbour of ours died last week and his widow asked me to sing something at his memorial next Friday. It’s always very hard to choose something for these occasions and I suggested Britten’s arrangement of “The Salley Gardens”. It’s short, it’s beautiful and it’s ripe with poignancy. The last time I sang it was just over two years ago in the dining hall of King’s College Cambridge, my old alma mater, at a dinner to raise money from fellow Kingsmen. It was a great evening. Philip Ledger accompanied me and amongst the diners were Stephen Cleobury (the College Organist), David Willcocks, and Bob Tear with his wife Hilary. …
Dubious stunt
I’ve not held much truck with the way ENO has taken its marketing in the last few years. It strikes me as a combination of X-Factor-esque, panting hyperbole and glossy mag vapidity. And now the Netherlands Opera, faced with plummeting subscriptions, subsidy cuts and a desperate need for box office revenue, has decided to market one performance of Billy Budd as a “Gay Date Night”. …
Pre-premiere ejaculation
What is it about first nights? Does anyone enjoy them? And in that I include audience members.
Let’s get the audience out of the way first. It’s not such a problem here in Amsterdam but certainly in many continental houses first night audiences are largely comprised of great swathes of punters who have no interest in opera other than seeing it as an opportunity for showing off their newest wife/man/frock/earrings/handbag etc etc. And that’s just the men. You can smell their indifference across the footlights. Try playing comedy to that lot. It’s about as much fun as pinning medals on a Rottweiler. …