![]() ![]() Madeline is danced with frantic energy and and chaotic precision by Jamielyn Duggan. Anthony Reed’s dark bass voice and scheming demeanor as Doctor Primus provides a nice contrast. In Usher House, Jason Bridges astounds as Edgar Allan Poe, with a clear, bright sound and an almost haute-contre quality on the role’s highest notes. Debussy’s music ranges lower and sometimes left Mulligan sounding croaky or covered. His rich baritone voice is shown off most clearly by Getty’s music, which also offers him chances to exercise a relaxed, smooth upper extension. During those, the voices seem less primary and more like a part of the orchestral musical landscape, without ever getting lost in it.īrian Mulligan stands at the center of both pieces as the unfortunate Roderick Usher. Chute, in contrast, is texturally lush, but with long stretches of spoken recitation that stand out among the lyrical songs. This keeps the English text clear and shows off the beauty of the voices. Chords and sound effects boom between stints of pitched, ascending declamation. Usher House is orchestrally minimal, with most of the focus left on exposed vocal lines. The differences extend to the opera’s musical idioms. ![]() His sister Madeline, whom he “loves too much”, is buried alive without his knowledge by the jealous doctor. Roderick is oppressed by isolation and forebodings rather than a discrete magical influence. An interdict by Edward the Confessor hangs over the Ushers, and Madeline’s pure resistance to Primus’ temptations results in the completion of the interdict and the fall of the house. Primus manipulates Madeline (and, in one scene, Poe) like a puppet and schemes to re-establish the House with a focus on the mystical secrets of life and death. Getty’s piece takes a magical horror turn, with the noble Roderick and Madeline Usher and their honorable visitor Poe fighting the dark forces of Doctor Primus, possibly the resurrected founder of Usher House. Neither opera stays true to the Poe short story on which they are based. Both short operas are suspenseful and engaging. Yet these two American premières (Getty’s Usher House and Orledge’s completion of Debussy’s La Chute de la Maison Usher) are so distinct, dramatically and musically, that they never seem repetitive. ![]() Tickets for Usher's The UR Experience Tour will go on general sale at 9am on Friday 3rd October.It would seem like a dreadful idea to present the same story twice in quick succession, as San Francisco Opera’s The Fall of the House of Usher double bill promises to do. Norwegian duo Nico & Vince will support Usher during the tour. Birmingham National Indoor Arena - 24th March 2015.Manchester Phones 4u Arena - 23rd March 2015.Belfast Odyssey Arena - 21st March 2015.Newcastle Metro Radio Arena - 18th March 2015.Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena - 17th March 2015.Sheffield Motorpoint Arena - 15th March 2015.Nottingham Capital FM Arena - 14th March 2015.The venues and dates for the tour are as follows: Usher's The UR Experience Tour will be in support of his forthcoming eighth studio album UR. The American R&B singer will perform shows in Nottingham, Sheffield, Glasgow, Newcastle, Dublin, Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham and London during the tour. Usher has today announced a series of UK & Ireland arena shows for March 2015. Usher Announces March 2015 UK & Ireland Arena Tour
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