OLYMPIA, i.e. Act 1,"Tales of Hoffmann" Imperial College O. S. 21 April 1978, Great Hall, I. C. Lunchtime Concert.

I was pleasantly surprised by this effort, (which had had a disastrous penultimate rehearsal. I had feared that it might have been approached in the style of an Offenbach operetta, whereas I always feel that Hoffmann is more on the lines of a Meyerbeer opera and needs taking with grandeur, or it could sound very twee. I should of course have known Michael Withers better than that, and as the first strains of the Spalanzani theme rang out, I knew that all was well. Michael conducted the large orchestra with power and expansiveness, there were one or two rocky moments, but the Waltz (both visually and musically) was the only real disaster. Delith Brook was stunning as Olympia. As Hoffmann, Terence Codd coped well with a long part, though he had trouble with some very high passages, and got lost at one point in his first aria. I think he was really too young to be singing a role like that. John Barratt made much of Coppelius - dramatically this is just his type of part - though I suspect he is not musically ready yet for the Spectacle Aria (which must be a real swine) - I'd like to hear him do it three or four or years hence. Bethan Howells was good but a bit colourless as Nicklaus. Tim Johnson was as good a Spallanzani as one could hope to hear. Bernard Tagg made Cochenille into a delightful character study. Ian Gledhill's production did about as well as one could with the impossible task of staging a production on the steeply-stepped choir of the Great Hall. MICHAEL WALTERS

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