Festival diary: Curlew river

I won't claim to have understood all of this, but it was very impressive. The singers - Toby Spence as the madwoman, William Dazeley as the ferryman, Neal Davies as the traveller and Tim Mirfin as the abbot - were all in excellent voice, Mirfin's range and tone making him a standout. That said, Spence had the added difficulty of performing what was originally a Peter Pears role, a difficulty he overcame beautifully.

The instrumentalists, who included Catrin Finch (the Prince of Wales' harpist), Adrian Spillett (the first percussionist to win the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, in 1998), Adam Walker (the woodwind finalist in the same contest, last year) and the organist Thomas Trotter, gelled superbly as an ensemble.

As for the production, it did a very good job of reflecting the score's Japanese and Christian influences. The cross carried in by the abbot doubled as the ferryman's pole and was finally adopted by the child, transformed into a representation of a forgiving Christ at the close. The platform (it's difficult to call it a stage) unfolded section by section, giving greater depth to the action in every sense. All in all, very effective.

Curlew river is on at 8pm at the Royal Lyceum Theatre (30B Grindlay St) until Friday 19th August. Phone the EIF box office (0131 473 2000) for details.

(17th August 2005)

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