Gruesome stories

The Telegraph reviews the new production of Lucia di Lammermoor by the English National Opera at the Coliseum.

Anna Christy and Barry Banks are aptly framed by David Alden's absorbing production, which updates the gruesome story to the era of the Brontë novels. (Rupert Christiansen)

As we remarked on a previous post, the connection between Lucia di Lammermoor and the Brontës is always easily bridged through their much-admired - particularly by Emily - Sir Walter Scott, who penned The Bride of Lammermoor, the work upon which Donizetti based this opera when he wrote it in 1835.

Another musical connection to the Brontës, although of an altogether different sort, is that of P.J. Harvey's latest album White Chalk. According to the Australian Courier Mail,

She immediately ripped in to To Bring You My Love, and thoughts of Austen and the Brontes were set to one side for a while. (Noel Mengel)

A while ago we made it clear that we thought the Brontë connection was quite random, but the Austen connection sounds totally crazy now.

And great news! The Belgian version of Jane Eyre. The Musical, which was on stage nearly a year ago recently carried home an award for the 'Event of the year 2007' in Belgium, according to Waaskrant (Google translation here). Congratulations to the team. And according to Nieuws.nl it looks like the Dutch will have their own version of this musical by November 2009.

We thought with Valentine's Day on our back we wouldn't see this kind of thing for a while, but The Star recommends several romance films.

These are just five of my favourite romance movies, but the (film) food of love is plentiful in its variety. Try out older stuff like Gone with the Wind and Wuthering Heights or explore the unconventional with Brokeback Mountain, there’s quite a lot to learn about romance and it’s also best to do it in the safe (two hours maximum) confines of a DVD. (Jason Lim)

If things go well, soon Wuthering Heights won't necessarily go into the 'older stuff' category, even though we think the film in the writer's mind is Wuthering Heights 1939, not Wuthering Heights 1992.

The Columbus Dispatch picks the film version of Wuthering Heights, but the reason behind is completely different:

By satisfying, I don't mean happy. Film history is packed with cherished titles that end unhappily for the characters but satisfyingly for the viewer. The lovers part, or the hero dies, or injustice prevails. Off the top of my head: Wuthering Heights, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, Vertigo, West Side Story, The Godfather and its sequel, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Annie Hall and even the biggest box-office hit, Titanic. (Frank Gabrenya)

Commercial Appeal has an article on violinist Joshua Bell, and he's oddly compared to Heathcliff.

In his performance, there is no hint of Heathcliff, nothing of the daredevil or tightly-wound dynamo. (Christopher Blank)

A couple of blogs with a couple of posts each and both in turn related to Emily and Charlotte. Plaisir du livre writes in French a brief biography of Charlotte and Emily while El escondrijo de una escritora novel posts in Spanish about Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heighs 1992.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, Opera, Wuthering Heights