FUEL > The Clod Ensemble > The Silver Swan
Overview
Credits
Reviews and audience feedback
Future plans
Show History
The team
Silver Swan The Silver Swan is a visually exquisite, choreographed concert. The music, for seven unaccompanied female singers, is written by Paul Clark, one of Britain’s most exciting composers. It takes two simple 17th Century songs and weaves their melodies into a dense and beautifully haunting texture. This is a spine tingling and hugely uplifting piece of contemporary music.
Suzy Willson’s elegant production is neither an opera or a recital – it is a kind of animated concert adapted to suit the space in which it is performed. They are keen to present it in non-theatre spaces – churches, warehouses, or as a promenade piece - forging a unique relationship between the space, the performers and the music.
Commissioned in 1999 by BAC Opera with funds from ACE . Developed at ENO Studio.
Director Suzy Willson
Composer Paul Clark
Conductor James Keane
Singers Lindsay Bramley, Karen Foder, Rosemary Forbes Butler,
Ruth James, Natalie Raybould, Emily Sharp, Helen Withers.
Performers Sachi Kimura, Jason Thorpe/James Flynn, Melanie Wilson.
Original Cast Sarah Belcher, Zoe Bywater, Linda Kerr Scott, Dan Milne,
Sabina Netherclift, Jason Thorpe.
Previous singers Morag Boyle, Rosemary Forbes Butler, Roz McCutcheon,
Osnat Schmool, Emily Sharp, Lianne Marie Skriniar, Nicola Burnet Smith."A truly timeless experience" The Stage
"As well as being a feast for the senses, this performance provides a deeply emotional experience, which will stay with its audience long after they have left the powerful, fragile interior behind." Edinburgh Guide
"Paul Clark has an ear for the bizarre and the brilliant" The Observer
"The music is achingly divine." The Herald, Glasgow
"***** Fantastic!" Paul Oliver, Sheffield
"*****A lovely piece of human nature; pared down to its essentials. A lovely, balletic chorale piece" S Forsythe, London
The show is available for touring. For more information email info@fueltheatre.com
2005
August: St John's Church, Shoreditch, London as part of the Shoreditch Festival
August: McEwan Hall, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe2003
The Victoria and Albert Museum (Raphael Room) as part of British Architecture Week
The Royal Opera House, Linbury Studio in September 2003 (Festivals of Firsts)For details see biog page
