Build, build ,build

Suddenly, the site is a forest of aluminium. I've christened the site Ali Pally.
Someone else has dubbed the over stage truss as the Wembley Arch. No doubt everything else will garner a new name as the season progresses. The build is in full swing now but life on site is tough with tons of equipment dotted about the place. In future years this will all be a much smoother process; structures will be set in their rightful place this year and the template simply followed in future builds. So getting the mezzanine and seating absolutely spot on for heights and distances took a while. The mezzanine will be a nice place to enjoy a drink that is for sure. You can see pictures of the build by clicking the link to the right. The photos do not actually give a proper idea of the scale of things to be frank. I stood at the back of the seating terrace (with four more rows still to go on!) and I got vertigo. Actually, it is very pleasing to note that the new theatre appears to be maintaining a sense of intimacy which was a major concern of everyone at the start of the project. The other very big worry was the acoustic performance of the canopy. I am pleased to report that if anything, the acoustic sounds better - the many peaks appear to be doing their job of deflecting sound downwards in a focused way. It will be fascinating to hear a cast and chorus on stage for the first time. The lighting rig is up too and the stage is built.

Now it will all be about finishings, plants and decorative elements to really finish it all off. Not to mention floors and cover for around the site. An intense two or three weeks beckons.

Bloody hell it's big!

The usual exclamation when people see the new canopy for the first time! And it is up. Which is nice. Pictures are HERE

Lift off

T Minus not-very-long. And on Tuesday the canopy will be lifted into first position from where it will be slowly tensioned at a rate the new fabric can cope with. Underneath will be all a-buzz with more construction; first the mezzanine, then the seating and millions of other things that need doing. I can't wait...Errm...

So the podcasts got done. Three in a day and terrifically enjoyable it was too. The Leader of the council, Cllr Cockell was first and spoke very eloquently about his philosophy towards the public arts and why The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is so supportive of OHP. We even learned he had sung Leporello in a school production years ago (a school doing Don Giovanni?!). It was then the turn of Jim Naughtie of Radio 4's 'Today' programme and presenter of opera and music on BBC TV. I had to keep pushing from my mind the thought that this man spends most of his time behind a microphone interviewing the great and good of world politics. I needn't have worried though; Jim possesses a great passion for opera and makes a great commentator on the subject. We just set him off and he filled the time with some lovely anecdote and interest. The best tribute I can pay to his craft is that he made James and I sound interesting too. Brian Sewell was the final visitor to the studio. I remain convinced that Brian is a treasure of British life and culture. The conversation traversed, of course, his love of opera, but art (naturally), cricket, dogs, the blitz, Hitler, angioplasty and countless other topics. All were delivered with that great, measured thought and humour. And only Brian could say "We owe Hitler a great debt' and get everyone listening nodding in agreement! (You'll have to listen to it to understand the context which is not as controversial as it may sound!)

You can hear the Naughtie and Sewell podcasts here
They will soon be up on the official OHP website but this is my site and they are also available on iTunes.

The rain hasn't stopped falling for several days but no phone call from the site to say things have been held up or diverted. That could just be because they can't bear the thought of a rant and rave but I am hopeful it is just because everything is fine.

Tuesday is the annual 'Prelude', a lovely evening we have held for several years at Leighton House Museum. About 130 Friends come for an evening of music delivered by singers appearing in the forthcoming season. They get to mix with all of us too and it is a nice curtain raiser which brings in some much needed funds to the Friends' coffers. I always enjoy it and I suspect this year, the patrons in attendance will have many more opinions and questions than is usual.

Countdown

Cables and wires everywhere on site right now. All the steelwork is up and waiting for the fabric to be attached. The picture above gives an idea of what it's like - a giant "Cat's Cradle' really which I imagine will make more sense when attached to the fabric (or perhaps not). I spent some of Saturday wandering around the site sketching and marking places that will need remedial aesthetic attention. The Holland Park gardeners will be busy and I expect more terracotta than you'll find in a Florentine garden to litter the site by 5th June.

This week is podcast week. Or more specifically, Wednesday is podcast recording day and the rest of it will be spent editing and dropping in music so we can have them up on the website within a week or so. Three guests will feature this year, kicking off with the leader of K&C council - which will be a bit unusual but I'd expect him to have something interesting to say about publicly funded arts. After him, Jim Naughtie of Radio 4's Today programme will come in to summarise and chat about the forthcoming season. This is a man who has interviewed Presidents and Prime Ministers for years so the idea of James and I sitting around in a studio with him is a challenging one! The last of the three is the art critic Brian Sewell, whose love of opera he has often shared through articles in our programme magazine.

So much needs to be done on site from this point forward it is hard to imagine how we will fit it all in. But we will. Lots of contractors are gearing up to do their bit and it is amazing what can be achieved in a day when everybody puts their mind to it. Carpenters, diggers, engineers, gardeners, sign makers et al will all bring their skills to bear on creating what we hope will be one of the most spectacular performing spaces in the country.

Good 'eavens!

The photo at the head of this entry shows the over stage truss and gives something of a clue as to the scale of this new canopy (thanks to Brendan for going up in the cherry picker and taking the shot). Over this will be spread the stage tensile fabric and the large main canopy will be attached at the front. On the ground, at the base of the upright leg, you can see the elaborate steel contraption that creates a firm foundation without the need for huge concrete blocks on such a delicate site. Great care has been taken with this aspect of the canopy design and installation. Where concrete is inappropriate, special steel has been designed or, in some cases, thin 'helical' screws have been inserted into the ground so as not to have concrete disturbing tree roots, foundations etc. In some cases, such are the enormous forces of the canopy, these screws extend 15 metres into the ground. One of the engineers explained how this device creates a sort of funnel shaped plug ahead of it etc etc. He lost me halfway through the explanation. "Will it hold the bloody thing in?" I asked. "Yes", came the reply - the only explanation I was after really.

The first reaction of anybody seeing the over-stage truss tends to be "Bloody hell". Considering the canopy itself will extend higher still, it does suggest the scale of the new structure. It really will be a magnificent space.

James's weekends are now filled with trepidation - unexpected phone calls and emails are never far away and rarely bring good news. He had one such on Saturday bringing unfortunate tidings about one particular singer. Not insurmountable but a brisk reminder of what the next few months may have in store for him. Frankly, he can deal with anything (very little will ever compare to the abyss into which he stared after the first night of Queen of Spades last year) but I suspect he could do without the grief.

Clarinda continues to breeze her way through mounting challenges. In fact, I hesitate to call them challenges for fear I might insult her. She has assembled a small army of interns, the combined musical and academic qualifications of which would mount a serious challenge to any educational institution in the land. If they all brought in their instruments we could start an orchestra.

We had something of a customer relations nightmare when we invited Friends to attend the free test night on 30th May. The tickets had gone within about an hour of being made available and those with a less efficient postal service we left out in the cold. We somewhat misjudged the desire of Friends to be there on what we THOUGHT we had made clear would be at best a rough rehearsal and at worst, intentional chaos. We did not think any would be that keen to attend! A lesson learned and lots of apologies to disappointed Friends. You live and learn. One rather irate Friend called me directly to complain. I muttered something about being surprised by the demand and that really, she wouldn't be missing much. "You are just saying that to make me feel better", she said. "No, I'm not, really" I stuttered.
"Why not?" came the probably apposite response. You live and learn indeed.