Picture A Day Like This

Picture A Day Like This by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp

Linbury - 6.10.2023

Seven scenes, seven songs. The grieving Woman meets The Lovers, The Artisan, The Composer. Each of the idealised people turn out to be flawed, self-aggrandising, self-harming, even. The Woman arrives at her form of truth and reconciliation.

Reminiscent of operas that work with the ritual of journey, and the unlocking of doors. Bluebeard's Castle. The Rake's Progress. The Mask of Orpheus, even. The idea of the voice as capable of the impossible, recovery of the loved one from the dead, speaks to the classic operatic concept as explored by Michal Grover-Friedlander. The mysterious energy of the voice. Its link to and exotic separation from the body. The irony of the bathetic everyday, coupled to the timelessly ululating operatic voice. 'The absolute heart of opera: the human voice, a phenomenon of mystery and majesty' (George Benjamin).

Really beautiful and elegant, impassioned writing. The link between music and text is extremely impressive. The orchestration is light and yet etches deep in the memory.

I liked the use of video projection too - a veil drawn across the stage to create a foreground, dream-like, magical sea-like garden, echoed also in the back projection.