Edinburgh International Festival

From humble but ambitious roots back in post-war 1947 the Edinburgh International Festival has grown to be the 3rd largest event in the world – only beaten in size by the World Cup and The Olympics. It is undoubtedly the biggest arts festival on the planet. World premières at the festival have featured an impressive array of stars including Luciano Pavarotti, Rudolf Nureyev, Maria Callas, Richard Burton, Daniel Day Lewis and Willem Dafoe. During the course of the festival, Edinburgh’s population doubles in size and the whole city takes on the feel of a three-week-long street party, to which everyone is invited.

In a move away from its usual ‘European centre of gravity’ Edinburgh International Festival 2010 explores the contemporary cultures of North, Central and South America and Australasia. With an outstanding programme of performances, many world and European premières, and a representative cast of artists ranging from the USA to Ecuador, Bolivia to Brazil and Samoa to New Zealand and Australia beguiling tales of the ‘New World’ unfold. Sitting alongside some of Europe’s finest performers from Spain, Holland, Russia, the UK and Germany, festival director, Jonathan Mills promises a programme that will bring “intriguing and complex continents separated by vast oceans to converge in Edinburgh”. We take a look at some of this year’s highlights.

Music

The festival will open with the oratorio ‘El Niño’ by American award-winning composer, John Adams. The acclaimed work tells the ancient story of the nativity from the perspective of a mother. Past reviews of the performance simply herald the work as “a major masterpiece”.

‘Rhapsodies in Red, White and Blue’ is a collection of 20th century North American classics, influenced and inspired by major events and upheavals such as civil war and prohibition. The full original jazz band version of Gershwin’s classic ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ promises to be a highlight.

Jazz is well represented in 2010 with The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, led by Tommy Smith, performing an evening of music from the great icons of jazz; Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. John Etheridge and his Sweet Chorus pay their musical dues to jazz legends, guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli, both of whom Etheridge has had the honour of performing with.

Other highlights include Venezuela’s celebrated Simon Bolivar String Quartet, the South American Vespers and the Kronos Quartet. The festival will close with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and an evening of American film music in fitting cinematic style with a spectacular firework display illuminating the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

Theatre

The world première of political writer Alistair Beaton’s ‘Caledonia’ tells the tale of Scotland’s failed attempt at colonising Darien in Panama in 1698. Performed by the National Theatre of Scotland the tale is described as “an ancient story for modern times”.

New York is well represented in 2010’s programme; in another world première, acclaimed New York ensemble, Elevator Repair Service present ‘The Sun Also Rises’ based on Ernest Hemingway’s first novel. The Wooster Group present Tennessee William’s ‘Vieux Carré. Lee Breuer and Bob Telson’s ‘The Gospel at Colonus’ is a modern day interpretation of the classic ‘Oedipus at Colonus’ by Sophocles with the wonderful Blind Boys of Alabama collectively portraying Oedipus.

Innovative Chilean ensemble Teatro Cinema will be staging two shows; ‘The Man Who Fed Butterflies’ and ‘Sin Sangre’ (Without Blood) based on the novella of the same name by Alessandro Baricco. Both productions combine the group’s trademark use of stage action and widescreen cinematic projection.

Opera

Opéra de Lyon and dancers from the hip-hop and contemporary Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu and Théâtre National de Chaillot present a “life enhancing, high octane” production of George and Ira Gershwin’s classic ‘Porgy and Bess’. In a European première, Opera Australia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform ’Bliss’ based on the novel by Peter Carey. ‘Montezuma’ tells the story of the Aztec empire, the Spanish Conquistadors and the clash that ensued. The opera is directed by young Mexican director, Claudio Valdés Kuri, and is performed by a cast of artists from both the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ worlds, representing the battle as the two worlds collided. Complimenting the theme of the Spanish Conquistadors, ‘The Indian Queen’ by Henry and Daniel Purcell is set in the royal courts of Peru and Mexico before the arrival of the Conquistadors; the production is another successful collaboration between conductor Harry Christophers and The Sixteen.

Dance

In a world première Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company present ‘Quimeras (Chimeras)’ – telling the stories of migrants and refugees from poorer countries to Spain, a country whose people once travelled abroad for a better life. Virtuoso guitarist Paco Peña appears at the festival with his full company.

Flamboyant Grupo Corpo of Brazil bring a touch of Rio’s Carnival to Edinburgh with ‘Parabelo’ and an eccentric tale of Rio’s two rival main football teams in ‘Onqotô.’ Samoan choreographer Lemi Ponifasio and his company MAU (named after the Samoan independence movement and meaning revolution) presents two productions; Tempest: Without a Body described as ‘part dance, part theatre, part ceremony’ was inspired by Shakespeare’s play and draws on Polynesian ritual to explore themes of freedom and liberty and paradise and hell. Set on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean ‘Birds with Skymirrors’ deals with the heavyweight issues of race, consumerism and the environment.

In a UK debut, San Francisco’s Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet present two performances, ‘Dust and Light’ delicately set to baroque and choral music and ‘Rasa’ complete with mesmerising Indian tabla music. Dancers are accompanied onstage by Grammy Award- winning tabla player Zakir Hussain and ethereal singer and violinist Kala Ramnath.

Edinburgh International Festival runs from 13th August-5th September 2010