Talk:Ghost Patrol (opera)

Critical reaction

Could I get some help getting a consensus view out of the following reviews?

• FT: "...the orchestra finally gets something seriously dramatic to play....Welsh’s harrowing story, summed up in the line “Only the dead have seen the end of war”, lays bare the lasting trauma of military action, which MacRae drapes in a score as sophisticated as it is soulful – beauty and pain indivisible"
• DT: "Ghost Patrol seems slack and prolix in comparison: it’s a piece of arresting musical gestures and punchy ideas which haven’t been smoothly stitched together, and the interesting dramatic situation .... never builds any operatic momentum."
• ES: "Ghost Patrol struggles, perhaps because Louise Welsh’s libretto tries to say too much. ... MacRae works his orchestra work hard but, despite the cast’s best efforts, the sung lines feel over-determined:"
• Stage: "Slightly overlong, but wracking up the intensity, Stuart MacRae and Louise Welsh’s Ghost Patrol ... there is a sense of foreboding"
• Observer: "In Ghost Patrol MacRae uses the same palette and an equally sparse and punchy libretto, but opts for close-knit musical argument and a constantly simmering orchestral style, using electronics, pre-recorded chorus and inventive aural effects: violins in eerie, double-stopped harmonics, the double bass creating percussive menace by bouncing the wood of his bow. You can hear Birtwistle's influence in the high woodwind laments, but more as homage than imitation"
• BTG: "Musically Stuart McRae mixes recorded sound with a percussion driven score to reach a climax reminiscent of a war zone....This piece is an exciting mix of stunning voices, interesting new sound worlds and a gripping idea of the ghost ex-soldiers. McRae at times mixes in touches of corrupted folk, wailing strings and an intensely percussive score. However, whereas The Locked Room ensured each minute was truly necessary, this opera could be whittled down further"
• CS: "Stuart MacCrae and Louise Welsh’s Ghost Patrol proved a more-even creation, in which words, direction and score always worked together... MacCrae’s music sparkles like broken glass and bubbles like lava. As the tension mounted, clarinets screamed high in their registers. He matched Welsh’s claustrophobic fascination with the horrors of war, through militaristic effects from the percussion. Although more successful as an entity than In the Locked Room, Ghost Patrol poses more challenges to audiences. MacCrae’s music is far more ‘difficult’ than that of Watkins, often discordant and sometimes unpleasant, intentionally so. Sam’s night of terror, complete with taped voices and newsreel footage, was genuinely, deliciously terrifying."

The italics are mine. There seems agreement that its a bit long, and that the orchestration is interesting, but there isn't, as far as I can see, unity about the quality of the libretto and the overall dramatic effect. almost-instinct 12:52, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

You don't need to find a consensus in the reviews, or try to distil one. It's sufficient just to point out a variety of commentary, although it's better to use paraphrase + brief phrasal quotes instead of longish blocks of text like the one currently in the article. I'd leave out the fact that some (?) found it over-long. Not a terribly interesting observation, and frankly, if they think it's too long at 58 minutes, well, there's probably some other pertinent reason for that perception, i.e. the libretto wasn't taut enough, or else the music was so "samey" that 58 minutes seemed like an eternity. I'd also suggest limiting the reviews to those by opera critics in mainstream publications. Classical Source, for example, uses volunteer reviewers and is independently published. Britsh Theatre Guide is somewhat better. These are probably more appropriate in the External links" section. You've got reviews in the article from The Telegraph, Evening Standard, Financial Times, The Stage, The Observer. I think that's more than enough to concentrate on for a reception description. Voceditenore (talk) 13:43, 14 March 2013 (UTC) I haven't time right now, but I'll come back tonight or tomorrow, produce something following your suggestions and post it here first. My reason for quoting the Observer one is that at least it contains some factual description. I'll try to work that in aswell almost-instinct 14:24, 14 March 2013 (UTC)