Gypsy Bible (Opera North)

Writer Alasdair Middleton does not romanticise the subject but uses elements from fairy tales and the tarot to describe the instrument’s origins in blood, guts and squandered souls. True to the folk music genre Middleton includes murder ballads and tales of doomed lovers but his ornate turn of phrase occasionally gets a bit much.
 

Director Catherine Alexander struggles to develop a coherent storyline from the fragmented stories. Setting the scene in a violin workshop instead of, say, an inn where folk tales are usually told, gives the opportunity to describe the methods used to produce violins but lacks atmosphere.  The movement of characters in the background add little to the scene and at times become a distraction.
 

Composer and musical director Joe Townsend is completely at home with folk music and leads the four-piece band through jigs, reels, and polkas. A lively encore makes you wonder if a simple concert might have been preferable to a rather stilted performance piece.
 

– Dave Cunningham