{"id":7914,"date":"2016-10-28T13:03:48","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T12:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=7914"},"modified":"2017-09-19T10:18:38","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T09:18:38","slug":"opera-review-the-telegraph-on-jane-eyre-world-premiere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2016\/10\/28\/opera-review-the-telegraph-on-jane-eyre-world-premiere\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Review- The Telegraph on Jane Eyre World Premiere"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row article__breadcrumb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__content js-article\">\n<div class=\"js-article-inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"headline component \">\n<div class=\"component-content\">\n<h1 class=\"headline__heading\">Joubert&#8217;s Jane Eyre is hauntingly intimate \u2013 review<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"entity-property component entity-property-stars\">\n<div class=\"component-content\"><span class=\"entity-property-container\"><span class=\"entity-property-numeric-bar\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive lead-asset__image\" src=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/content\/dam\/opera\/2016\/10\/27\/jane-eyre_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg?imwidth=450\" sizes=\"100vw,(min-width: 480px) 450px,(min-width: 730px) 700px,(min-width: 1008px) 620px\" srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/opera\/2016\/10\/27\/jane-eyre_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg?imwidth=450 450w,\/content\/dam\/opera\/2016\/10\/27\/jane-eyre_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg?imwidth=900 900w,\/content\/dam\/opera\/2016\/10\/27\/jane-eyre_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg?imwidth=620 620w,\/content\/dam\/opera\/2016\/10\/27\/jane-eyre_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg?imwidth=1240 1240w,\/content\/dam\/opera\/2016\/10\/27\/jane-eyre_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg?imwidth=700 700w,\/content\/dam\/opera\/2016\/10\/27\/jane-eyre_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg?imwidth=1400 1400w\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"hero-area-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"leadAsset section\">\n<div class=\"lead-asset component\">\n<div class=\"component-content\">\n<figure class=\"lead-asset__figure\"><figcaption><span class=\"lead-asset-caption\">April Fredrick sang the title role in\u00a0John Joubert&#8217;s Jane Eyre<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"advert_tmg_nat_story_top\" class=\"js-advert advert is-loaded\" data-adtype=\"nat_story_top\" data-google-query-id=\"CJeKtKiKndYCFUSFGQodBt4Nbw\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/6582\/tmg.telegraph.culture\/culture.opera.whattosee_0__container__\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2017\/03\/28\/john-jouberts-jane-eyre-a-conductors-perspective\/jane-eyre-large_transj0fqixkxigbzvia4lraywaj7accejcfmft334dxz8wk\/#main\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7725\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7725\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/jane-eyre-large_transJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/jane-eyre-large_transJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk.jpg 720w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/jane-eyre-large_transJ0fqixkxigbZvIa4LrAYWaJ7acceJCFmFT334dxz8Wk-420x263.jpg 420w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<footer class=\"footer-author\">\n<div class=\"byline component \">\n<ul class=\"component-content\">\n<li class=\"byline__author\">\u00a0<span class=\"byline__author-name\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/authors\/john-allison\/\">John Allison<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"article-date component \"><span class=\"component-content\"><time class=\"article-date-published\" datetime=\"2016-10-27T13:43+0100\">27 OCTOBER 2016 \u2022 1:43PM<\/time><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<article data-insert-mobile-adslot=\"\">\n<div class=\"articleBodyText version-2 section\">\n<div class=\"article-body-text component version-2\">\n<div class=\"component-content\">\n<p><span class=\"m_first-letter\">C<\/span>hristmas\u00a0is coming, and choirs are getting ready to sing such perennially popular carols as Torches! and There is no rose. Their composer, John Joubert, is meanwhile anticipating his 90th birthday in the spring, and the occasion will be marked by the release (on Somm Recordings) of his\u00a0opera\u00a0Jane Eyre. Recorded live at this world premiere concert performance by the English Symphony Orchestra in Birmingham, it is proof again of Joubert\u2019s distinctive voice, and a reminder that there is much more to his\u00a0music\u00a0than those deservedly well-loved carols.<\/p>\n<p>Domiciled in Britain since 1946, the Cape Town-born Joubert has played a significant role in this country\u2019s musical life, yet the extent and originality of his output are sometimes overlooked. Composing in almost every genre, he has a work-list (currently nudging towards Op. 200) embracing chamber music, two symphonies, four concertos and eight operas, the latter reflecting his strong literary instincts and including adaptations of George Eliot\u2019s Silas Marner and Joseph Conrad\u2019s Under Western Eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Completed nearly 20 years ago, his Charlotte Bront\u00eb opera has undergone revision and tightening to emerge in the two-act form heard here. Kenneth Birkin\u2019s libretto distills the emotional essence of the novel \u2013 rather than its epic sweep and detail \u2013 taking a selective \u201cscenes from\u201d approach. It works hauntingly well, although amid a series of mostly intimate duets, the sudden ballooning of the cast in the wedding scene not only feels like something out of a different work but might prove an obstacle to opera houses looking to stage the piece.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2017\/09\/11\/opera-review-the-telegraph-on-jane-eyre-world-premiere\/jane-eyre-bows\/#main\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7915\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7915\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-744x558.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-744x558.jpeg 744w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-420x315.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-1200x900.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-1140x855.jpeg 1140w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-570x428.jpeg 570w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-380x285.jpeg 380w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Jane-Eyre-bows-285x214.jpeg 285w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articleBodyImage section\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"articleBodyText section\">\n<div class=\"article-body-text component \">\n<div class=\"component-content\">\n<p><span class=\"m_first-letter m_first-letter--flagged\">W<\/span>hile Joubert\u2019s well-chosen operatic models are to some extent evident, his musical language is individual and he sustains the long scenes imaginatively. There is nothing obviously \u201cEnglish\u201d about the atmosphere, although Joubert does sometimes suggest what a less chilly-hearted Britten might have sounded like. A natural opera composer, Joubert writes for a busy orchestra that drives the action along and illuminates it, without overwhelming the singers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"teads-inread sm-screen\"><\/div>\n<p>In the title role, April Fredrick sang with a lyrically gleaming soprano, soaring rapturously on Joubert\u2019s singer-friendly lines. David Stout supplied virile tone as Rochester, and Mark Milhofer was incisive as the repressed Revd St John Rivers. Kenneth Woods conducted a well-prepared performance that ought on disc to win new admirers for the operatic Joubert. British opera companies have all too shabbily ignored his work, but American houses \u2013 often receptive to big literary adaptations \u2013 might take note.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2016\/10\/28\/opera-review-the-telegraph-on-jane-eyre-world-premiere\/\" send=\"false\" layout=\"box_count\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"true\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joubert&#8217;s Jane Eyre is hauntingly intimate \u2013 review \u00a0 \u00a0 April Fredrick sang the title role in\u00a0John Joubert&#8217;s Jane Eyre &nbsp; \u00a0John Allison\u00a0 27 OCTOBER 2016 \u2022 1:43PM Christmas\u00a0is coming, and choirs are getting ready to sing such perennially popular carols as Torches! and There is no rose. Their composer, John Joubert, is meanwhile anticipating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-opion-life-as-a-performing-musician","category-newsandreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7914"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7919,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7914\/revisions\/7919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}