Alan Gottlieb (Chris Brannick) has spent forty years on the back row of the second violins, but changes are afoot that threaten everything that gives meaning to his life.
Refreshingly original, told with sincerity and performed with skill
The opening line augurs a good story: “Once upon a time there was a boy who loved music.” What follows is no fairy tale, but a selective biography of a man with unfulfilled childhood dreams. As he mimes playing the violin that has been his lifelong companion we learn that his ambition was to rise through the ranks and play in the grandest and most famous of international orchestras.
His consolation comes with immersion in the world of J.S Bach and in particular the great B Minor Mass, a work he never tires of playing, not least because with Bach even the second violins achieve prominence, a status not afforded by other composers. Mentally, Gottlieb revels in the apotheosis of the man whose coming into the world for him assumes Messianic proportions. Playing Bach’s Mass is a transcendental experience in which he yearns for the Rapture when he will be at one with his musical saviour for eternity.
Meanwhile there are more mundane matters to deal with. Karen Kirkup who introduced the story takes on a series of roles with a fine array of mannerisms and voices. The HR department is engaged in a Excellence in Action assessment of the orchestra which Alan is convinced favours all the youngsters and is not wrong in thinking that it will bring about his demise. He is also on the wrong side of the new conductor for whom he has nothing but contempt. Thus he descends into a downward spiral of depression
His mental health perhaps merits further development and the adulation of Bach at times seems laboured but the play is refreshingly original, told with sincerity and performed with skill.
