THE JULIET LETTERS / Performed by Patrick Riguelle and the Rubio String Quartet
The Studio, Opera House, April 12
....As the Rubio String Quartet's Marc Sonnaert (viola) pointed out, the influence of Shostakovich on The Juliet Letters is clear. It's there in the urgent violins and the sometimes disturbing cello underpinning several of the pieces. But also present are the influences of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, (particularly in the vituperative Swine), French cabaret from the '40s and '50s and even, in one song, British music hall. .... Later, in their arrangements of Costello's Veronica and the traditional tune Wayfaring Stranger that closed the encore, the ensemble displayed a fine romantic hand that was quite unexpected. More surprising perhaps was Belgian pop singer Patrick Riguelle, who comfortably handled the tricky and occasionally demanding vocals "reading" the various letters. .... His voice is remarkably like Costello's in tone and range, even hitting problems with the same notes that trouble Costello at the climax of Taking My Life in Your Hands. Although he didn't always sufficiently differentiate the character styles in the first act, Riguelle displayed a perfectly pitched haunting quality in the suicide note of Dear Sweet Filthy World and found the core of the folk song in The Birds Will Still Be Singing. (full article)
(Submitted by John Foyle)
1:59:56 PM 
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