PRIZEGIVING: Sir Charles Mackerras (third from right) presents the Angels. Graham Murray, (left) accepted Shirin Neshet's award, while (second left) is Dr Eva Sedlakova of the Czech Phil
ONE unique Edinburgh International Festival event was the keystone of the final week of Herald Angel awards at Edinburgh Festival Theatre on Saturday. The Festival-fostered collaboration between choreographer Jiri Kylian's NDT company and the music-of-Janacek powerhouse that is the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras brought together some of the finest talents in their respective fields with a performance of Sinfonietta at Edinburgh Playhouse. Saturday's event united them again when Sir Charles, one of our first Archangel winners, in 1996, for singular contribution to the Edinburgh Festival, presented the awards.
The first of these, the final Archangel of 2000, was given to Kylian. The choreographer has previously been awarded Herald Angels in both 1996 and 1997 for contributions to the EIF by different companies from Nederlands Dans Theater. Last week all three were in Edinburgh as part of Kylian's farewell season with the company. Their programmes have been packed with highlights, including the performances at the Playhouse with the Czech Phil, and the huge millennial carnival that was Arcimboldo 2000 at the Festival Theatre, which unites all three companies.
Not only did the Archangel recognise Kylian's work in Edinburgh over a number of years, it also allowed his wife Sabine, an NDT 3 dancer and collector of things angelic, to add our ''Gabriel'' to her collection.
Sir Charles also presented an Angel to Dr Eva Sedlakova, manager of the Czech Philharmonic, for its part in the project. As well as playing for the dancers, the band also performed, with Sir Charles at the helm, the same pieces at the Usher Hall. Both conductor and musicians present emphasised the contrast in discipline and interpretation. Another astonishing performance of the the Festival's final week came from Angela Winkler as Hamlet in the Deutsches Shauspielhaus of Hamburg production at the Royal Lyceum. Director Peter Zadek's cast features some of Germany's finest actors, but her characterisation of the Prince as an awkward, torn, but mischievous teenager is mesmerising every second she is on stage. As our theatre critic Robert Thomson observed, it is acting of such skill it transcends the more obvious switch of gender.
The sole visual arts award of this year's Angels was collected by Graeme Murray, director of the Fruitmarket, for the gallery's video installations by Iranian Shirin Neshat. Making interesting parallels with a thread of the film festival programme from that country, Neshat's work movingly juxtaposes images of men and women, East and West, to make inescapable points about her own journey. The two pieces are showing until September 23.
The final Angel went to a five-piece brass ensemble who have probably been seen by more people in Edinburgh than any other group. In a city full of buskers, Baroque Brass of St Petersburg have been attracting crowds everywhere. With a regular daytime pitch on Princes Street and appearances outside concert and theatre venues at night, their first visit to Edinburgh has impressed even the musicians of the mighty Cleveland Orchestra, who stopped to listen on their way to an Usher Hall concert. All five are musicians from the opera and ballet orchestra of the St Petersburg conservatoire and their playing is of the highest standard. The Herald was happy to add its recognition to the rewards that the citizenry and tourists of Edinburgh have pitched in to their open trumpet case.
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