Festivals in Britain 1975

Holidays at home with the arts

Rodney Mines

As the poor dear middle classes get poorer and poorer, those long hot summers in Languedoc farmhouses and baking beaches on the Med will have to be left to ci-devant Lord Stansgate's rich new masters, and Britain's festival promoters may find that the problems they face in the way of inflation and foreign exchange fluctuation are off-set by an unholy rush to spend holidays at home. A year or two back the choice between mysterious Eleusis and string quarters in Cheltenham might have been a clear one, but now ... and as always, the range of generally improving entertainment on offer is bewildering, from such specialised junkets as the St Albans International Organ Festival (June 22-28) or Ilkley's literary week, to Edinburgh, whose programme this year confirms it as the world's leading festival, and one in stark contrast to such European binges as those at Salzburg or Munich, since it is conceivable that even we deflated Britons can still afford to attend it: so varied are the content and asking prices of Festival, Fringe or film programme that even the most indignant could still manage a full and profitable week in the Athens of the North.

I am not sure that anyone would choose to spend too long in Edinburgh with a large family of children, for it seems designed for adolescents of sixteen and upwards; paterfamiliae would do well to check on what festivals offer for tinies. Harrogate, this year celebrating its tenth birthday with a commissioned piece of the King's Singers by Carl Davis, has always made a point of catering for the young, and wisely too. If the smalls have been sated with a day of Punch and Judy, parents feel less guilty about locking the little brutes in their hotel room and shooting out in frenzied search of a little Mozart or, as one might say, Haydn seek.

Anniversaries, so often the egg that binds the programme-planning hamburger, are thin on the ground this year (but just wait until 1985). Tippett's 70th is fulsomely marked in Bath and Cheltenham, though only Harrogate seems to have taken note of Johann Strauss's 150th. Jane Austen is 200 (Aldeburgh and Portsmouth) and the enigmatic Coleridge-Taylor 100 (Aldeburgh only). European Architectural Heritage Year is the spur for a series of concerts on Brighton's extraordinary Victorian churches and for a celebration of the Yorkshire country house; Bath needs no such excuse for exploiting its riches — if there are any left — and a guided tour of some of the notable private Georgian houses sounds something not to be missed.

Expense-sharing is apparent only in the number of orchestras and ensembles common to many centres, so much so that the fact that there are two separate Montiverdi Vespers (Gardiner and Norrington) doing the rounds seems almost cavalier. Specially mounted opera is obviously a thing of the past, though Aldeburgh has its own Death in Venice and has borrowed Gordon Crosse's new opera. Brighton has netted two new Welsh National productions, and it is good to see Phoenix Opera resolutely staying alive in Perth with the double bill they will later take to Europe.

People know what they like and recommendations are otiose But Edinburgh, in a class of its own, is somehow essential; Bath, Cambridge and Cheltenham are such ideal holiday centres that they would be worth a visit even if their were no note of music; Harrogate sounds a good bet for families. The advance publicity from Portsmouth has a truly festive air about it, and the energetic young director, Gavin Henderson, is as lively a chap as I have ever shared a nine-hour train journey with. I just wish I could remember getting off the train.

Aldeburih, June 6-23. Opera is represented by Death in Venice and Gordon Crosses new Potter Thompson, The Gabrieli quartet gives the first performance of Britten's 1931 quartet in D, and the Beaux Arts Trio will play Ravel, Haydn and Schubert. A Schubert recital, too, from Clifford Curzon, Spanish songs with Victoria de los Angeles, and the Schutz Choir will

perform the Monteverdi Vespers. A season of Shakespeare films runs from Olivier's Hamlet to the Russian Lear.

Bath, May 23-June 3. Sir William Glock's first festival, opening with the Bach B Minor Mass with the English Chamber Orchestra under Charles Mackerras. 70th birthday Tippett is duly represented with A Child of our Time (Colin Davis and the BBC Symphony) and the second quartet. New works from lain Hamilton (A clarinet quintet) and Peter Maxwell Davies (for his Fires of London). Monteverdi; Vespers in Wells Cathedral, directed by John Eliot Gardiner, and concerts by Brendel, I Musici and the King's Singers. As always at Bath, intriguing fringe activities: walking tours of Georgian and Victorian Bath, four garden outings by coach, and a VE-Day dance graced with the presence of Vera Lynn.

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Proms, July 1-19. Every evening save Sundays and Mondays, with family proms for younger listeners on Fridays, all in the magnificent Town Hall. Conductors include Louis Fremaux and Maurice Handford.

Brigend, September 6-27. Recitals by Kyung Wha Chung with Andre Tchaikovsky, Stuart Burrows, and Kenny Ball. Concerts by the BBC Welsh Orchestra. Folk dancing and singing, and what promises to be the biggest and best model railway exhibition ever.

Brighton, May 6-18. The Welsh National Opera in Manon Lescaut and Offenbach's Grand Duchess, and the Actors' Company in Tartuffe, both at the Theatre Royal. Something of a coup in capturing the legendary Philadelphia Orchestra and Ormandy for their first UK visit outside London. The theme of the Festival is the Grand Tour, celebrated in concerts, lectures and entertainments, one of them by the Prospect company. The annual art gallery exhibition is, appropriately enough for Brighton, devoted to the Gothick.

Cambridge, July 12-27. Hot air balloons, fireworks, a Pilgrim Fathers rout, Karate and soft-ball to open with, followed by the Cambridge Philharmonic Society's performance of Elgar's The Apostles to calm every one down in the evening. This well-planned and unpretentious fortnight proceeds with chamber and choral music in such unbeatable settings as the Fitzwilliam, the Guildhall and various college chapels. Two concerts by the ECO, and various contributions from Jack Brymer, George Melly, Robert Tear and Antony Hopkins.

Cheltenham, July 4-17. The Allegri Quartet gives six morning concerts devoted to Beethoven. Music of Tippett and Liszt is strongly represented, and there is a new work by Stephen Oliver. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Sir Charles Groves, the Melos Ensemble, and two concerts by the St Martin's Academy. John Williams in recital, and taking four Master Classes. Cheltenham is a lively place as well.

Chichester, May I4-September 20. Opens with Cyrano de Bergerac in a new translation by Christopher Fry, with Keith Michell in the title-role and directed by Jose Ferrer. Followed by An Enemy of the People, with Donald Sinden, a new play by Andrew Sachs entitled Made in Heaven, and finally Peter Dews's production of Othello with Topol as the Moor and Michell as lago.

Edinburgh, August 24-September 13. Saturation bombing: no other words will do. World premiere of Robin Orr's New opera, Hermiston, commissioned and performed by Scottish Opera. Daniel Barenboim conducts Figaro with a star cast. The Deutsche Oper, Berlin, brings Lulu with Catherine Gayer, and Salome with Ursula SchroederFeinen (her UK debut). To counteract the ravages of these scarlet women, there is a musical based on The Pilgrim's Progress by Carl Davis presented by Prospect. Luca Ronconi, he who brought you Orlando Furioso, mounts an Aristophanes extravaganza. The unique Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre, and the Royal Ballet with Seymour and Nureyev. Orchestras include the Scottish National, New York Philharmonic under Boulez, London Philharmonic under Giulini (Beethoven 9) and Rostropovitch, Israel Philharmonic under Mehta, London Symphony under Previn and Abbado, and French National under Bernstein. Soloists are Janet Baker, Kyung Wha Chung, Vishnevskaya, and Berganza. Solo recitals by Arrau, Brendel, Ypes, and Perlman. Tokyo Quartet, English Chamber Orchestra, you name it. The 150th anniversary of the death of James VI and I is celebrated in an exhibition, and doubtless in the festival club as well.

Fishguard, July 26-August 2. New works by Daniel Jones, Jeffrey Lewis, and Trevor Roberts. Artists include James Blades, Meredith Davies, the Gabrieli Quartet, Eiddwen Harrhy, with the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra and the Academy of the BBC.

Glyndebourne, May 22-August 6. A pretty adventurous programme. New productions of The Cunning Little Vixen by Jonathan Miller, and The Rake's Progress by John Cox, the latter in decor by David Hockney. Revivals of Eugene Onegin, with Richard Stilwell in the title-role, and of last year's Evening Standard Award-winning Intermezzo. Two good casts in a new production of Cosi fan tutte in the Luzzati sets. All of this is hard to resist, despite soaring prices — which at least mean that one might be able to get in.

Harrogate, August 7-20. Two concerts by the Scottish National Orchestra under Gibson with soloists Michael Roll and Janos Starker, and two by the St Martin's Academy with Gerard Souzay (Bach) and Brendel (Mozart). King's Singers, Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Melos Ensemble; and

Roger Norrington's Schutz Choir performing the Montverdi Vespers in Ripon Cathedral. Young Musicians' recitals, and an imaginative fringe: flower festival, children's events, a musical and operatic film programme, and visits and exhibitions around the Yorkshire Country House to mark European Architectural Heritage Year. A really well-planned festival.

Haslemere, July 18-26. The oldest established permanent floating Early Music Festival presided over by the Dolmetsch family and featuring any number of composers that you, I and probably Sir George Grove have never heard of.

Hexham, September 13-20. Based on the Abbey, with concerts by the Ilkley, May 24-31. The leading literary festival with over 50 events crammed in to a week. Three themes: Ted Hughes, with two new commissioned sequences, personal appearances and an exhibition of Mss; Herbert Read, with an exhibition of his fabled personal collection; and literature and politics, with a new play on the Luddites by John McKendrick, and Conor Cruise O'Brien's King Herod Explains. A symposium manned by John Braine, Henry Livings, Auberon Waugh and James Cameron should be the mop-a explosive event of the festival year.

International Festival of Youth Orchestras, August 4-17. In Aberdeen and London. Representatives for Luxembourg and Taiwan, and most points in between, whichever way you go. Seminars by Antony Hopkins, Fireworks, and the whole caboodle reaching a climax in the Albert Hall with Kyung Wha Chung and Claudio Abbado.

King's Lynn, July 25-August 2. The 25th Festival, and the Melos Ensemble, also celebrating 25 years of activity, will be there with a new Oboe Quartet by Richard Rodney Bennett, commissioned for the occasion. The New Philharmonia (Poulenc Organ Concerto with Gillian Weir), BBC Northern Symphony (Haydn's Nelson Mass) and Menuhin Festival Orchestras will participate, and there will be solo appearances by Janet Baker (songs) and Peggy Ashcroft (words). Exhibitions of Whistler etchings and Batik by Thetis Blacker. Llandaff, June 9-17, Honegger's King David and Verdi's Four Sacred Pieces in the cathedral, and recitals by Claudio Arrau, Peter Frankl and Victoria de los Angeles, and a visit from the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

Ludlow, June 27-July 13. Twelfth Night in the castle, directed by Philip Grout and starring Rupert Davies, Gayle Hunnicutt and Bernard Bresslaw. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Aeolian Quartet in the Parish Church. Wandsworth Boys' Choir perform Purcell's Fairy Queen and Haydn's Theresienmesse. Country House concert at Aldenham Park by the Trio d'Este. And a disco in the Town Hall as well.

Nottingham, June 14-29. Orchestras include the Halle with a Russian programme, the New Philharmonia with a Viennese evening, the Royal Liverpool, Royal Philharmonic and Munich Chamber Orchestras; also the Alberni and Lindsay Quartets. Cleo Laine and John Dankworth have an evening to themselves, and Emlyn Williams, will present his Dickens recital. There is a Wedgwood exhibition at the Castle, of china, I believe, rather than lost causes. .

Perth, May 15-25. Phoenix Opera (hurry, hurry while stocks last) in a double bill of Dido and Aeneas and Frederick Lampe's Pyramus and Thisbe. Menuhin and his Festival band, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Miriam Fried, and the BBC Scottish in a Pernod Prom. The Gabrieli Quartet will be there, and there are performances by Scottish Ballet and Purves Puppets.

Pitlochry, April 26-October 4. The season opened with a revival of The Game of Speculation by Slingsby Lawrence, a pseudonymous close friend of George Eliot. To come are Frederick Lonsdale's classic On Approval; Alan Ayckbourn's near classic How the Other Half Loves; The Other Dear Charmer, a romantic comedy about Burns; and The Master Builder.

Portsmouth, May 31-June 14. "A fortnight of gaiety," the Portsmouth Festival Herald's banner headline promises us with, in the middle a "tavern razzle of hornpipes, sailors, press gangs and trollopes (sic) called Up Pompey". Perhaps they mean Up the Pallisers, but either way the mind doth indeed boggle. Weightier fare includes the Utah Symphony Or

chestra, Claudio Arrau, Alan Hacker, the Bournemouth Sinfontetta. Frank Muir will introduce a concert, and John Pudney preside over a Brunel evening. There is also a Pffringe. The whole enterprise sounds distinctly promising.

Scottish National Orchestra Proms, June 10-14 (Edinburgh) and June 21-July 5 (Glasgow). The excursion to Edinburgh's Usher Hall is a first. Conductors include Gibson, Christopher Seaman, Roderick Brydon, George Hurst and Bryden Thomson, and soloists John Lill, Yehudi Menuh in, Michael Roll, Moura Lympany, and Barry Tuckwell. Massed choirs join for the Berlioz Te Deum.

Stroud, October 4-19. International Poetry and International Composers' competitions are regular features. Dame Edith Evans will give a poetry reading, and there are concerts by the King's Singers, the Academy of the BBC and the Band of the Royal Marines.

Tilford Bach, May 21-24, and June 30-July 6 in London. Vivaldi, Handel and Telemann as well as Johann Sebastian himself. The high point is the B Minor Mass, in Tilford, on May 24, and at St. George's Hanover Square on June 30. There is a complete performance of Handel's Theodora, to be broadcast by the BBC.

Worcester, August 23-29. The 248th meeting of the Three Choirs. Gerontius and the Missa Solemnis, naturally, and the first UK performance of Frank Martin's Requiem, plus a new orchestral work by Richard Rodney Bennett entitled Spells. Soloists include Katherine Pring, Jane Manning, Janet Price and Ian Partridge, and there will be a late-night entertainment by Marion Montgomery and Richard Rodney Bennett.