Michael Keegan-Dolan certainly brings a fresh approach to Handel’s Julius Caesar in his new production. If it does not quite come off, the difficulties could be easily remedied and the strong points as easily built upon.

Musically, under the precise direction of Christian Curnyn in the pit, the evening is a delight. Lawrence Zazzo is a somewhat sleazy Caesar, on the make and violent from the word go. That he sings so beautifully often seems at odds with his character. As he opposite number, Cleopatra, Anna Christy not only provides starry coloratura but keeps the characterisation well within bounds; no indication here of a sex-kitten. If anything she finds depths in the role others have not, with her aria at the end of Act Two particularly moving.

The emotional heart of the evening lies with Patricia Bardon’s Cornelia, who provided the most convincing rounded human being and touches our hearts with her loss. Her grief is fully characterised through the music, her changes of passion all of a piece. Changing her son Sesto into a daughter did no real harm to either narrative or music, especially when sung in such a forthright manner by Daniela Mack.

Tim Mead’s Ptolemy was that rare encounter, a dastardly counter-tenor, who clearly enjoyed being evil, though with such a heavenly voice he constantly seemed to get away with it.

Michael Keegan-Dolan uses dancers to underpin the arias. There are times when this is very successful, particularly in Sesto’s Act Two arias. The opening recalled Peter Sellar’s Glyndebourne Theodora with the choral movements, but these were not carried through as rigidly. This I found at times to be confusing. Why are some arias danced and others not?

There are other moments which are simply confusing. Are they Pompey’s ashes on the table or not? Given that – as much else besides – they were brought in in a bucket it was difficult to tell, and while Cornelia grieves over them, the dancers ignore them and kick them off the table. Quite what the significance of the dead crocodile and giraffe were I have no idea, nor of the careful placement of ostrich eggs.

But essentially these are small irritations in an evening that had a virility and style which eventually won me over. BH

I have followed the Darbar Festival for some time thanks to the broadcasts on Sky Arts 2 but this was the first time I had been able to attend any live performances. While it is difficult for those of us raised within the western classical tradition to follow the nuances, the sense of joy, excitement and exceptional professionalism is overwhelming. The Festival had run from Thursday 27 September and I caught up with it on Sunday, with a sarod and tabla recital from Pratyush Banerjee and Sanju Sahai. They opened with Raga Patdeep. Against a gentle drone the first notes from the sarod seemed to creep out of a warm haze, the slow vibrato at the end of a note leaving it to disappear back into the silence of the drone. Gentle intakes of breath from the audience around me as the raga continued made me realise that I was obviously missing the subtleties, even though I was mesmerised by the beauty of the line being spun before me and the delicacy of the musical invention. Sometimes a brief melodic invention would flower, only to be as gently subsumed into the continuing melos.

The structure of the raga becomes easier to follow once the tabla enters with its more extrovert approach to rhythm. The interplay between strings and drum provides ever more emotional excitement , mixing stunning technical finesse with the joy of creativity.

As the raga came to an end I was amazed to note it had lasted over an hour and a quarter. It felt like little more than a few minutes.

Pratyush Banerjee announced that the second piece in their performance, Raga Sindhura, was less popular than the opening work. It felt darker toned, with a plaintive quality, retaining its introspection even with the entry of the tabla.

One the radical differences from any western concert was the realisation that the performers are able to continue playing even while retuning their instruments, as happened quite frequently. There is no fuss here; they simply let the drone and possibly their fellow players continue while they adjust their own tuning, even if that means hitting the tabla pegs quite noisily!

In the evening we heard Thevarajah Pirashanna on mridangam, Bangalore Prakash on ghatam, Aravindhan Baheerathan on flute, and Kandiah Sithamparanathan on morsing. They opened with a piece which is used to draw the statue of a deity back into the temple. It was light, fresh and dancelike throughout, with an exquisite flute solo at the opening. This was followed by a composed piece in sixteen beats for flute solo, which, if anything, was even more ravishing that the first. Krishna played the flute, and hearing this stunning performance one can understand why the instrument was associated with the deity. It was like hearing a lark in paradise. As a total contrast the section that followed was given over to an elaborate set of variations for percussion, led by Thevarajah Pirashanna on the double headed drum, the mridangam, which impressed with the subtlety of rhythms produced.  Anyone who has heard Stomp will realise that any object in the right hands can produce music and Bangalore Prakash’s playing of the ghatam – a large unglazed pot – was a case in point. The ability to change dynamics and tone within such a limited object were remarkable. The word morsing may be unknown in the west but surprisingly the instrument is not for it was soon clear this is a Jaw’s Harp. Kandiah Sithamparanathan played the morsing as a virtuoso instrument, changing the pitch and tone as well as providing intricate rhythmic variations. All three ended the session passing invented lines to each other for elaboration, copying or embellishment. It was a joyous way to bring the piece to an end.

Their concert concluded with a Tamil hymn in seven beats which allowed all the players to be involved in an exhilarating dance. These young players are based in London and deserve to be snapped up with enthusiasm.

All of the concerts have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and will later be shown in Sky Arts 2. The Festival now has a new website www.darbar.org from which downloads are available. It is hoped that Festival DVDs will soon also be available. We do hope so! BH