Celebration for John Calder 2014Various
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A weekend in celebration of John Calder may at first seem an unusual item to find in OperaScotland listings. The publisher is probably best known for his association with Samuel Beckett and other writers such as Burroughs and Trocchi. Politically he attracted attention for his libertarian stance in the 1960s against censorship; and, before the Book Festival became such an accepted adjunct of the Edinburgh International Festival, devising and co-creating an International Writers' Conference and Drama Conference.
You may therefore be unaware of his extensive involvement with the performing arts, particularly in Scotland. Calder, who started and ran the Ledlanet Nights festival in Kinross-shire in the 1960s and early 1970s, has also published many books on music, particularly opera. Amongst the many operatic highlights at Ledlanet we can single out Martin y Soler's Una Cosa Rara (1967); Handel's Partenope (1964), Agrippina (1965) and Alcina (1969); and Mozart's Clemenza di Tito (1970).
This contribution has not been as widely recognised in this country as it should have been, but now this is being belatedly corrected with events being held at the Traverse Theatre - highly appropriate since John was one of the founders. John is now in his late eighties and in indifferent health. On occasion, he has been known to remark "I won't be around much longer", so this celebration is timely indeed.
The first event on Friday evening 18 April, is a performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire by the Hebrides Ensemble with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Allison Bell. An introduction will be given by John Lawson Graham, who sang many times at Ledlanet and later had a distinguished career with Scottish Opera. The performance at Ledlanet in 1966, though not quite the first in Scotland, was the first to be staged and the first to be given in English - Calder has always been an advocate for performance in language the audience can understand.
The Saturday events start at 3pm with John in conversation with Alan Taylor, when opera will be among the list of topics to be discussed.
At 5.30pm John and well-known actor Derek Watson read extracts from some of the work John has published.
Finally the great Beckett specialist Barry McGovern pays homage to Beckett in his inimitable fashion. For lovers of Beckett, fans of McGovern or admirers of Calder, this will an unforgettabe end to a remarkable event.
Finally, join John and friends for a party in the Traverse Theatre bar from 9.15, with free entrance and a glass of bubby or wine on presentation of a ticket for any of the performances.
Read our interview with him here.
