Tama Matheson impressively incarnates Beethoven in a night that places music alongside the spoken phrase

Matheson’s set-up for the drama was the presence of two of Beethoven’s buddies, Franz Wegeler (performed by Robert Maskell) and Ferdinand Ries (performed by Suzy Kohane) who produced an early biography of the composer in 1838, ten years after his demise. All through the play, Maskell and Kohane used this set-up to behave as narrators, taking us by means of the story but additionally enjoying all kinds of additional characters, together with Maskell as each Beethoven’s father and his trainer, Haydn, Kohane as a sequence of love-interests, and at varied factors each Maskell and Kohane performed Beethoven’s sister-in-law, son of his nephew Carl (performed by Kohane). This was very successfully carried out, and enabled the narration to create varied set items for Matheson’s Beethoven.

There have been a formidable 37 music cues within the piece, primarily music by Beethoven however with some Mozart and Haydn. The music got here primarily from the piano sonatas, piano concertos, string quartets and symphonies, with the symphonic music in deft preparations for piano quintet by Jayson Gillham. The music had varied features, some was diegetic as we heard music that the characters had been enjoying or listening to, some was illustrative as we heard the piece that Matheson’s Beethoven was speaking about and a few was extra temper setting. Generally it was only a snippet, however often the main focus was on a extra prolonged excerpt enabling us to become familiar with the music.

The actors maybe by no means fairly solved the issue of what to do on stage while the music was enjoying, although Matheson’s Beethoven was wont to prowl across the stage in dramatic style. Often the musicians had been concerned within the efficiency too, which was one thing that I assumed might usefully have been developed. 

With out the presence of the music, the play would have been largely about Beethoven’s altering relationship to his deafness because the situation worsened. It’s, in any case, an important piece of drama although his troubled relationship along with his sister-in-law and nephew Carl acquired an necessary point out. However as we heard Beethoven’s music too, Matheson managed to efficiently exhibit how the development of his deafness modified the composer’s relationship to his music, resulting in the nice ultimate works.

Maybe we had been instructed somewhat too typically how a lot of a genius Beethoven was, moderately than being left to work that out for ourselves however Matheson’s resorting to panegyric was maybe comprehensible if he was utilizing up to date biographies as his sources. There was comedy too. The issues Beethoven had when conducting made efficient drama due to his ensuing anger, considering others had been laughing at him. One other second when a profoundly deaf Beethoven had a dialog with one other deaf man moderately overdid the joke, nonetheless.

Each  Maskell and Kohane offered excellent help, slipping out and in of roles in a approach that was very spectacular and really efficient. There was by no means a second once you felt that the narrative was confused, and Matheson as author largely stored the tempo going although there have been a few moments the place the manufacturing dwelled for somewhat too lengthy. 

However the centrepiece of the night was Matheson’s personal compelling efficiency as Beethoven, unlikeable and opinionated however Matheson someway made you could have sympathy with the person. Fortunately the manufacturing didn’t attempt to make an excessive amount of of the dichotomy between the person along with his unsavoury habits and the glory of the music.

The musicians had been an important a part of the night, turning from one piece to a different with out turning a hair. Pianist Jayson Gillham successfully gave us a potted model of the whole piano sonatas in thrilling style while Quartet Concrète had been no much less spectacular within the quartets, while all 5 did justice to the symphonic moments. The English Chamber Choir sang two numbers, Elegischer Gesang which is one thing of a rarity and a second from the final motion of Symphony No. 9.