Maya Thomas
This work should be performed in schools througout the world.... translated into Hindi and Swedish and American of course. Can help with Hindi and Swedish... and work to get it out to the likely interested schools in India and Sweden and the splendid childrens' choirs in Sweden.Well done, thank you, creativity at its best, heartening and touching.... enlightened and inspired.
James
What a superb concert! Truly remarkable subtle conducting by Mr Abell! Bravi Tutti!
Daniel M.
It was such a good experience being one of the lost children. I enjoyed all aspects of the two-week residential course. I was well prepared for everything, and Stuart Barr who helped prepare my solos was excellent. I went onto the stage feeling confident and looking forwards to it. I am glad to have done it. It has showed me the negative effect of climate change and I hope it will show others. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
Mindda
I also thoroughly enjoyed the concert (and was there) and couldn't agree more that it was a lost opportunity not to televise this. I very much enjoyed the music and singing - and the children were, indeed great! - but it was very much a visual experience also.It seems such a shame that so much work went into this and there is no permanent visual record of it. Congratulations to all involved!
G Morris - Herts
This work should be performed to an audience of schools teachers and youth leaders with the aim of of The Water Diviner's Tale being performed across the country. The message is clear - the kids of today can have a purpose and can make a difference
Brenda Lewis
We travelled down to London to watch our son David Lewis, one of the 40 strong Lost Children. What an absolutely amazing experience! The message was clear, singing was superb, music excellent and the atmosphere electric! What proud parents to see our 13 year old singing 2 solos confidently and with such enthusiasm. David enjoyed the experience of the choral academy, held over 2 weeks, has established many new friendships, and gained richly from his amazing experience!
L Moore
Praise to the 40 lost children. They must have worked their socks off to achieve so much in 2 short weeks. I wept buckets.
Abi Gostick
I sang as part of the Berkshire Youth Choir in the Youth Chorus and thought that the experience was amazing! The atmosphere in the Royal Albert Hall was spectacular, and the performers sang, played, and spoke wonderfully!The words by Owen Sheers are very desciptive and powerful. Also, Rachel Portman's score is very cleverly written, one example of this being the idea of the 'lyrical' tune used in the "Song of Natural Harmony" which is then repeated to make the music sound almost 'mechanical' in the "Song of Industry". Denni Sayers did a great job of directing, and David Charles Abell was the most fantastic conductor! Thank you to everyone for making the whole experience so enjoyable!
Eden S.
It was an awesome experience to be one of the 40 lost children and watching the production develop prior to the performance, has given me a greater insight and enthusiasm for music.
Alex Burnett
I sang as a member of the Hertfordshire County Youth Choir and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience! Not only was Rachel Portman's music absolutely fantastic but I really heard the message of the piece and how we need to change our ways in order to save the planet. Meeting Rachel Portman was a highlight of the experience as I have a great interest in film music! I will always remember the wonderful time I had being part of such an epic and very special occasion!
Sam Street
I think everything went according to plan. Being apart of the choir was an amazing experience.
Wayne, Dublin
It sounds like one of those awfully cringey "Educational" school education theatre shows in the school assembly. Very patronising for the children.
Iain Orr
Rachel Portman scored this for a film still to be shot, a secular epic drama of Paradise Lost and (we hope) Regained. She’d have fun with a remake of “The Ten Commandments”. Despite the seriousness of the theme (Nonso Anozie as narrator was a wonderfully commanding presence, sounding like God speaking through the clouds to Moses) there were changes of tempo and tone that gave the whole piece a honeycombed lightness. The children’s voices soared with touching determination to find their way back from the Dantean dark and stormy wood where their parents had left them. The bouncy “Say goodbye to “ song almost felt as if Planet Earth was offloading surplus species with cavalier abandon; certainly it conveyed a strong sense of things spinning out of control. My impressions are based on the live broadcast yesterday and then listening right through three more times today on the BBC Proms “Listen Again” link. I’d love to hear from those who were in the Royal Albert Hall about how strong the visual impact was of the choirs, chorus and The Water Diviner himself. Congratulations to the BBC Proms’ commissioning editors for building so well on last year’s surprise barnstorming success - Orlando Gough’s “We Turned on the Light”. For 2008, what about a purely orchestral take on climate change? Volcanic eruptions from the brass and drums, a Category 5+ hurricane from the strings (dying to silence as the eye crosses the Royal Albert Hall) and mass gurgling floods and drowning from the clarinets and oboes? What would the sound be like of drumming on the dome of the RAH?
Dotee
Brilliant concert - what a pity it was not better publicised and televised. Hope to see it repeated. The choirs sang beautifully and the production was amazing.
Tamsin
It was a great experience and it deffinately made me even more aware that we need to change the future!
B Marsh
I was prepared for another discordant 'premiere' but what a pleasant surprise - conventional orchestration but cleverly crafted, with every word audible from the youth choirs. Shame that we were deprived of the excitement and colour of a very special occasion.I do hope that this piece will be taken up soon by schools all over the country. More from Rachel Portman please!
Cathy Al-Ghabra
Sang as a friend of Berkshire Youth Choir in the Youth Chorus, fantastic experience!
King of London Town
Absolutely Amazing!
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Prom 57
There was untapped comic potential in the airhead weather-forecaster (Frances Bourne), but for the most part this was an earnest, flattening discourse delivered by the Diviner (Nonso Anozie) about the planet’s presumed predicament.
The best thing about it was the terrific chorus of children, but nothing really had the pungency to prick the conscience or make a memorable melodic or moral point.
