THEY do say never look a gift horse in the mouth, but just because the tickets were free should not preclude passing comment on the BBC SSO’s performance of Birtwistle’s opera The Last Supper in the City Halls on Saturday (review, Herald Arts, January 14). This semi-staged production confirmed there is little inherent action in the plot, so comprehension of what was going on was largely down to hearing the text. Sadly, I could not make out any of the words sung by the chorus (or were there none), nor did I fare much better with the declamations by the 14 members of the cast.
I am sure the composer had something very important to tell us but after a solid two-hour concentrated listen I was none the wiser as to what that message was. If ever there were a case to be made for supertitles, this was it.
Harry Magee,
0/1 11 Laurel Place, Glasgow.
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