<<  -- 5 --  Robert Hugill    A MYTHIC STORY

This was a long evening, well over three hours in the theatre, and there were moments when Adams's endless arpeggios began to pall, but then there would be another astonishing musical moment and you would be gripped again.

Paul Daniel and the orchestra gave a fine performance, despite my reservations about the balance. The theatre was full and I did wonder whether a way out of ENO's crisis would be to bring over more American opera. Such pieces as Dead Men Walking, may not be quite in the class of Nixon in China but they are certainly a better route to take than more repeats of American musicals.

My final thoughts on leaving the theatre were that I would like to hear the word au naturel without vocal amplification, and in a production that would make more of a match with the abstract nature of the music.