Cultural Notes - London Symphony Orchestra; Indiana Jones 5
LSO/Rattle with Messiaen & Jolas; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Jolas & Messiaen; London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle/Donahue/Millar
A couple of weeks ago, I was delighted to be present for Sir Simon Rattle’s last Barbican concerts as Music Director of the LSO. On the programme was a new piece by eminent Franco-American composer Betsy Jolas, an amuse-bouche to the monumental Turangalîla-Symphonie from her former teacher Olivier Messiaen.
There was much performance art in the piece - rather Ligeti-esque, if not quite so mad - and it was nice to see the players fully committed to it. Included in this were lots of visual greetings - including Rattle welcoming soprano soloist Faustine de Monès into the hall about half-way through the piece. That in itself was a rather beautiful mirroring of Jolas’ acknowledgment that this was to be her last orchestral piece, and so bidding farewell to that medium. It’s made me want to listen to more of her work, which is the highest compliment I can pay, really.
If you don’t know Turangalila, I’ll tell you now that it’s bonkers - sometimes terrifyingly so. It calls for a huge orchestra, including around 10 percussionists, with ondes Martenot (a sort of deluxe Theremin) and piano soloists. The piece lasts for around 90 minutes and pivots between terror, excitement, sensuality, and sheer joy. It’s not an easy piece to play, by any stretch, and there was the odd moment when the orchestra faltered. Largely though, the playing was stupendous, and a fitting send-off for Rattle.
For those of you who missed it, it’s been beautifully captured by Stagecast and is available on Marquee TV; the 2nd movement is available for free on YouTube.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Last week, I went to watch this fifth instalment in the Indiana Jones franchise. After the anomaly in the franchise that was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I went with some trepidation. Not that the 4th film in the franchise was all bad - the nuclear test scene is thrilling, and one of those film scenes that’s etched into my childhood cinema-going experience. But the appearance of aliens in what had largely been a series exploring religious relics and mysticism always seemed a bit perturbing.
In a sense, we have a similar problem here. We have a relic in the form of Archimedes’ dial, but the appearance of time travel in the Indianaverse seems, like aliens, a bit like cheating. Not just that, but the film misses the signature Spielberg/Lucas touches. I’m just not sure that James Manigold’s Marvel-style direction lends itself to the series, and the story itself seems incredibly half-baked, with the resolution coming too soon and yet feeling as though it took too long to get there.
There were some commendable elements though. The ending - withheld so as to avoid spoiling it - was a beautiful throwback to the first film (even if I feel slightly soppy for acknowledging that). In Helena, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, we have a gutsy female character that isn’t merely a side-piece love interest. I could see myself being at least interested in going back to the cinema to see her character further explored.
But what really holds the film together - and keeps it connected to the original set of films (aside from Harrison Ford) - is the music. I couldn’t help feeling a little emotional as I left the theatre in the knowledge that I had mostly likely heard the last ever John Williams score for a feature film, whatever he says about going on for another 50 years. Even with decades-old leitmotifs, much of this music was new and so full of energy that you could forget it had come from the hand of a nonagenarian. Just listen to Helena’s Theme, written for the new Waller-Bridge character, and you can see that Williams has still got that magic touch.
At home
I cannot recommend enough this gorgeous disc of English string music from John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London. Wilson’s premise for an orchestra is that it should be filled with soloistic playing, and boy do we get that here. If you haven’t time for the whole thing, listen to Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro. You can hear every individual player really going for it, and it makes for a thrilling sound.
We know of Sarah Lancashire’s brilliance through her performance in Happy Valley. A less noted performance in Julia is well worth a watch; it follows the story of Julia Child, one of the original TV chefs who was credited with making French cooking accessible to American audiences. The show is engaging, funny and beautifully filmed - if you like food, it’s worth a watch for that alone.