Beethoven's Fidelio at Opera Holland Park

Yvonne Howard as Leonore

Opera Holland Park welcomes the return of its 2003 production of Beethoven’s Fidelio. I have been lucky enough to see both the 2003 production and the current revival.

Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera has become an important part of the modern operatic repertoire. Beethoven struggled to write the work, particularly the overture. The overture that features today is intensely dramatic and is, I believe, appropriate for the opera, although this is often debated. It is one of my favourite parts of the opera.

I often attend operas with non-opera goers and find it interesting to observe their reactions to different aspects of the performance. Often their opinions are the most valid. For example, Puccini is my opera weakness, and I find it very difficult to be critical about a production of Tosca, when I find the music so overpowering.

Fidelio at Opera Holland Park this summer has done well and seems to be popular among audiences. I definitely find it more convincing than the 2003 production. The conductor Paul Robinson is always a joy to see. I was conducted by him when I was younger and found him to easy to work with and very musical. Yvonne Howard as Leonore is terrifically boisterous, mastering the often tricky vocal part and acting convincingly with the rest of the cast. I love the layout of the stage in this Fidelio. Olivia Fuchs, who directs this production, poignantly places the prisoners in cells centre stage. It is exciting to watch as the cells unfold and the prisoners sheepishly crawl out.

Fidelio is a simple love story that will always be relevant, Opera Holland Park do justice to the drama and to Beethoven’s stunning score.

Book tickets for Opera Holland Park here.

100 Club and Jetson

The venues on and around Oxford street are difficult to find at the best of times. However there's no problem with the 100 Club, whose address is conveniently 100 Oxford Street.

The exterior of the club isn’t particularly appealing, a small dingy red shop front. What goes on inside is a lot more exciting. The open interior provides an ideal space for bands to showcase their talent. And with artists such as The Rolling Stones and The Sex Pistols having graced this stage, it's no wonder it has become one of the most celebrated live music venues in Europe.

I went to hear Funk-Folk band Jetson for the second time, having previously seen them on Brick Lane. It was another great set from the boys, playing a larger venue that suited their big sound and personality. See my full review on the Visit London Blog.

Looking ahead, the 100 Club has some great bands lined up for the summer. Next week Jivin Miss Daisy takes the stage with her dynamic young swing band and later in the month the Latin collective Grupo Fantasma will be playing.

Check out other events on at the 100 Club here, it’s a fun venue with a rich history.

Hot on the Highstreet Week 7

A wild bikini from Urban Outfitters

It’s holiday time once again. If you’re anything like me (ie: a girl), you’ll want a new bikini every summer to show off around the pool.

From past experience I have found that often my most treasured bikinis are the cheapest from Primark or Topshop. The problem with these though is that everyone tends to have them, and there is nothing worse than turning up by the pool in the same swimwear as someone else.

This week’s Hot on the Highstreet goes to Urban Outfitter’s Leopard Zip Front Bandeau bikini. A print particularly used by designers Dolce and Gabbana. I like to stand out from the crowd and Urban Outfitter’s bold two-piece helps me do just that. The shape is sturdy, allowing you to jump in and out of the sea without any embarrassing accidents. The vintage style and pattern is sure to flatter most body shapes. My favourite thing about this bikini is the versatility, with a removable halter neck strap it can be worn in two ways.

Urban Outfitters can be pricey, so I was glad to find this little bikini will only set you back £28.

Buy here.

J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge

Every year, at the beginning of July hundreds of brave people take part in the J.P Morgan Corporate Challenge. This 5.6 kilometre running course has grown from a single event in 1977 to an international series in six countries.

On Tuesday 6 July I was one of the 13,000 participants running the race in London’s sunny Battersea Park. I was participating with my company for Great Ormand Street Hospital, a worthy cause.

I have to admit, ever since agreeing to take part I was dreading this run. I enjoy exercise (mostly contact sport), but find running very challenging, and haven’t really ever got into it. To make matters worse, I realised, the day before, that I didn’t own any trainers. Oh dear. After eventually digging out some (barely) suitable footwear, and choosing an appropriate outfit, I was ready to go.

The run itself was pretty hellish, but there were moments I enjoyed. Battersea Park is quite a picturesque location to run in, or visit, particularly along the river. The first four kilometres were bearable, it was the final stretch that really got me. And seeing a man passed out on a stretcher didn’t fill me with confidence. As I met up with my colleagues at the end I was filled with overwhelming pride that I had managed such a personal feat. A well deserved visit to the pub finished off the evening perfectly.

http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/gallery.php?spgmGal=London&spgmPic=2&spgmFilters=&city_id=10#pic

STOMP - the drumming sensation

I have never seen anything quite like STOMP. The production combines percussion, movement and visual comedy. It was created in 1991 and nearly 20 years later STOMP still attracts a full theatre every night.

STOMP has been performed all over the world is currently showing at London’s Ambassadors Theatre. This theatre is smaller than most of Covent Garden’s Theatreland venues, but suits this show. The smaller space encourages the sound to resonate.

For the performers this is a show of epic proportion. With no interval they are onstage, almost constantly for the whole 100 minutes. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, apart from lots of noise! It turned out to be the most perfected noise I have ever heard. The eight cast members are spectacular, with unfaltering confidence and energy that indicates they know the show inside out.

STOMP doesn’t really have a narrative, instead it is made up of short sketches that revolve around the instruments they are using for that ‘number’. They don’t have standard drums, instead the characters use found objects - brooms, bins, pipes and anything else they can get their hands on!

This show is a real celebration of music and dance, and all inclusive. I guarantee by the end you will want to get up on stage and join in.

More information here: http://www.stomplondon.com/

The Arts Theatre Club in Soho

The Arts Theatre Club is based in the centre of glittering Soho. This bar is in the style of a 1920s Prohibition Club.

The Club was recently redecorated by award winning designer Lee Broom.The decor is fun and stylish, but also comfortable with large velvet sofas to spread out on. You enter through a little door and follow steps downstairs where you reach a luxuriously dark red room. A functioning piano stands in one corner. The atmosphere is easy-going, and yet when drinking in The Arts Theatre Club you feel like you are brushing shoulders with an elite group of artists.

The club was started up by a group of actors as a meeting place after finishing on stage. A vibe which is still very much intact with a very interesting eclectic crowd.

I drank the delicious Arts Theatre Club cocktail – fruity with a little kick of spice, delicious and very moreish.

With so many fabulous places to drink in Soho it can be impossible to decide. I recommend The Arts Theatre Club, especially if you can manage to go on a night when one of their suitably retro DJs is performing.

http://www.theartstheatreclub.com/

Bob Dylan and others at Hop Farm Festival

Hops are a crop commonly used in the making of beer. They have been grown in Kent since the 16^th Century. In the Victorian era hop picking was a day out for Londoners, away from the noise and pollution of the city. Every September when the plants were ready to pick, workers from London would come to pick the crop. Hop Farm in Kent now holds an annual music festival, Hop Farm Festival. Although this event is not in London I felt the history of ‘hopping’ meant it qualified.

I had the best day at Hop Farm, truly memorable. After a short train journey from Charing Cross I arrived at Paddock Wood station to join the crowds of excited music lovers. The little, usually quiet, Kent village was transformed into a magical musical Mecca. This year the legendary Bob Dylan was headlining, my idol and a musician I admire more than any other.

The weather was gloriously hot, and I began to feel like I was at Newport Folk Festival back in 1965 when Dylan famously ‘went electric’. The Festival, which spanned over Friday and Saturday boasted some impressive acts. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Friday show so missed out on Blondie and Van Morrison. Saturday had the real crowd-pleasers though, with the likes of Laura Marling, Seasick Steve and the very now Mumford & Sons who evoked such energy from the crowd, jumping, dancing and singing almost throughout there 40 minute set. The musicians at Hop Farm illustrate a new young group of folk artists, talented and incredibly passionate, but humble with it. Ben from Mumford summed it up as he spoke to the audience of 50,000 – ‘I don’t know what we have done to deserve this... playing alongside the best festival line up of the summer'.

Performer of the day would have to go to Seasick Steve who put his heart and soul into his show. For each song he picked up a new instrument, sometimes strumming vigorously on a plank of wood with strings or a makeshift guitar. Steve and his dedicated drummer commanded complete attention from the audience. I also enjoyed the preacher-like speech between songs, as he spoke frankly, but comically about his past.

At lunchtime our little group sat in a sunny corner to munch on our vast picnic, which included freshly picked strawberries, raspberries and cherries. Absolutely delicious. After lunch a friend and I started our quest to make it to the front of the crowd by the time Dylan arrived on stage. After seven hours on my feet, I watched, with tears in my eyes, the man I have listened to obsessively my whole life. It was an hour I will never ever forget. It’s true Dylan isn’t such a singer anymore, but his band made up for it, all clad in matching outfits. It reminded me of a story my granddad once told me of a memorable night at one of Dylan’s birthday parties in the 60s; he was unable to recognise Dylan because everyone at the party appeared to be dressed up as him.

Although Hop Farm has only been around for three years it is surely one of the best festivals out there both musically, and ethically (it refuses to have sponsors, branding or VIPs). This is a festival of music lovers for music lovers, and I’m counting down the days until next year.

More info here.

The Barbican Young Orchestra

The Barbican Centre may not look very exciting on the outside but inside it showcases some spectacular talent. This year launches the new Creative Learning Division which hopes to provide opportunities in all the arts for children, focusing particularly on areas of East London.

On Sunday 4 July I attended the Barbican Young Orchestra concert. An ensemble that my ridiculously talented 12 year sister is part of. This group, led and created by the prolific conductor, Sir Colin Davis has just completed its third annual concert. I have watched each of the three concerts, this was the best yet. The orchestra was made up of over a hundred young musicians ranging from 8-17 years. They were clearly all overcome with excitement as they walked up to their places on stage, and who wouldn’t be at the Barbican. My strongest memory of this venue is singing the glorious St Matthew Passion with my childhood choir here. Every year, at Easter time I would stand on this stage lapping up the buzz of the great hall. The auditorium was light as we sat waiting to sing, and I vividly remember counting all the audience members who were wearing red as I sat patiently.

The atmosphere last weekend was much less serious. The focus was on the children and their enjoyment of the music. Sir Colin’s choices for the programme were carefully thought through. The concert began with Mozart’s Adagio in E for strings, which featured a very competent solo from the seventeen year old Savitri Grier. Tchaikovsky’s dances from Eugene Onegin followed, these were my personal favourites of the night. Fast and furious at times but still full of character, the children certainly enjoyed the luscious melodies, and were impressively accurate with even the fastest of phrases. The concert concluded with the popular Finlandia, a dramatic Sibelius tone poem that seemed to move both audience and performers.

Sadly Sir Colin Davis was unable to conduct on the night, but Andrew Gourlay stepped in and did a sterling job. The whole evening was thoroughly enjoyable, and the performers were so professional I forgot I was watching children.

More information here.

Talking of Yves: England & Co

N.H. Stubbing: Spring Ceremonial, 1959

'Talking of Yves' is another thought-provoking exhibition from England & Co. The show examines the life and work of artist Yves Klein and the social and artistic web in which he moved, examining all the influences that surrounded him. A variety of work is on display from artists Yyonne Hagen, Tina Keane, Susan Hiller, Iris Clert, N.H. Stubbing, Ralph Rumney and Yves Klein.

The pinnacle of the exhibition for me was Tina Keane’s touching film of an interview with art critic Yvonne Hagen, in which she remembers her relationship with Yves Klein. Other intriguing works are those of artist N.H. Stubbing, who was the husband of Hagen. His paintings convey an insistent rhythm; he uses his hand to print repetitively across the canvas.

The space at England & Co is limited and yet never overcrowded; what they show is always perfectly selected and presented. The work has more purpose than just looking pretty, it is also there to teach us about the artist that created it and the world in which he or she worked.

Exhibition continues until 21 July.

http://www.englandgallery.com/

Hot on the Highstreet Week 6

Topshop Clogs

Clogs are the “it shoe” of the season. After Chanel surprised the fashion world with these sturdy shoes a few catwalks ago the whole of the London fashion crowd have gone mad for them.

I have to admit this is a sore topic for me - I fell in love with the red suede Chanel clogs, very highly sought after. I was desperate to have them, and even considered getting a loan to purchase the £800 ish shoes. Reality eventually hit and I began my search for the best highstreet alternative.

It hasn't been easy. After encounters in Dune, Kurt Geiger and several other shoe shops I award Topshop the prize. Their sage sling black clogs are practical and stylish, and comfortable thanks to the effective buckle strap round the back of your heel. I picked them in black (sophisticated and versatile) although a similar pair are available in brown.

At £70 these clogs come in at less than 10 percent of the Chanel equivalent. And okay, maybe they're not quite as pretty but just think of all the other items of clothing you could buy with the £730 you save (that was my reasoning anyway).

The ultimate fashion forward item this season, are you brave enough to wear them?

Chanel Clogs

Visit Topshop website here.