At the end of June the Amphitheatre at Berrybank welcomed The Swan for a sold-out inaugural concert, performing the Piazzolla/Vivaldi Eight Seasons. We return on the 22nd July with a concert celebrating the life of Gloucestershire-born writer Laurie Lee with actors Charlie Hamblett and Anton Lesser.
The Amphitheatre at Berrybank Park in Oddington offers a panoramic countryside view onto the ancient wold between Stow, Moreton and Chipping Norton.
On Friday 22 July, the orchestra brings to life a musical programme woven around the writing of Laurie Lee, from the lush Gloucestershire countryside Lee made famous in Cider with Rosie, to the dry landscapes of Spain, via the music of Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Britten, Albeniz, De Falla and Turina. The performance has been adapted by Deirdre Shields from Lee’s much-loved books, Cider with Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, and A Moment of War.
The Amphitheatre at Berrybank Park in Oddington offers a panoramic countryside view onto the ancient wold between Stow, Moreton and Chipping Norton.
On Friday 22 July, the orchestra brings to life a musical programme woven around the writing of Laurie Lee, from the lush Gloucestershire countryside Lee made famous in Cider with Rosie, to the dry landscapes of Spain, via the music of Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Britten, Albeniz, De Falla and Turina. The performance has been adapted by Deirdre Shields from Lee’s much-loved books, Cider with Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, and A Moment of War.
Laurie Lee was a talented musician and made a living as a young man playing his violin in a local band. When he set out for Spain, he took his violin, wrapped in a blanket, and supported himself by playing. Lee was intensely proud of Gloucestershire’s rich musical heritage, citing Holst, Vaughan Williams, Finzi and Ivor Gurney. In later life, Lee took his friend, the great classical guitarist Julian Bream, to one of his old haunts in Spain and delighted in recounting how the local flamenco musicians marvelled at ‘this Englishman’
who played like a dream.
Actor Anton Lesser (who played the role of Qyburn in the series Game of Thrones) and Charlie Hamblett (Killing Eve, Around the World in Eighty Days,
The Secret Agent) share the role of Laurie Lee as they join the Orchestra in ‘As I walked out one Midsummer Morning’.
David Le Page, Artistic Director of the Orchestra of the Swan, said:
“I have been tracking down Gloucestershire folk songs, and it is a fascinating process, moving from
English pastoral music to Spanish rhythms, as Lee’s story darkens with the coming of the Spanish Civil War. In many ways, it is a haunting, and very moving, echo of what is playing out now in Europe.”
As I walked out one midsummer morning takes place on Friday 22 July 2022 at the Amphitheatre, Berrybank Park. Tickets cost £30 or £15 for under 18. To purchase tickets head here
