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The National
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Post-war Scotland play brought to life at Edinburgh Fringe
Former Herald and Scotsman journalist Kenneth Roy's The Invisible Spirit is often described as a searing yet witty dramatisation of Scotland's people, places and politics in the wake of the Second World War. Spanning from 1945 to 1975, The Invisible Spirit captures the complexities of a nation struggling to grasp a sense of its own identity while highlighting the social and economic desperation Scotland faced through the failings of its ruling class. Stories of poverty, diseases, scandals and serial killers are told through the eyes of three actors in the backdrop of shipyards and tenement slums as The Invisible Spirit makes its first-ever appearance on stage. READ MORE: Bold plans to save Scottish BBC studios from 'fading into history' unveiled Starring Chris Alexander, Fergus John McCann and Elaine Stirrat, and directed by Katie Jackson, Roy's beloved biography of Scotland will come to life for festival audiences at theSpace throughout August. It's a story of desperation, as Elieen Reid, daughter of the Scottish trade unionist Jimmy Reid, said, left her with tears in her eyes, but also one of community and hope. Roy's 'mischievous' storytelling managed to conjure laugh-out-loud moments throughout from the veteran actor Bill Paterson through his unsparing critique of the political and judicial class. The long-time friend of Roy's, Alan McIntyre, made his producing debut with The Invisible Spirit, as he said he believed it had been a real shame the author never got the play produced despite writing an adaptation for the theater before his death in 2018. 'It's been a great sort of experience watching it come to fruition,' McIntyre said. He added that 'it was just great to see something that had only ever lived on a piece of paper coming to life with great actors and great staging. 'It just feels as if we have done him justice by putting it on.' McIntyre, who is the international board chair of the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow, said one of the biggest challenges with the play was cutting the script by around 30 minutes so that it would fit the Fringe's time constraint of one-hour shows. 'I had this experience of trying to edit it down and feeling as if Kenneth was standing behind me saying, 'Don't touch that. That's really important. You can get rid of that',' McIntyre joked. Kenneth Roy He explained that he tried to edit the story so that it maintained the core themes of Roy's story. One of the main themes of The Invisible Spirit is the idea that Scotland thinks of itself as a socially democratic country, but the reality is that the establishment protects itself and that working-class people are 'screwed over' on a regular basis by the establishment, which tries to protect itself. The story is told through three narrators: The Daily Record, The Bulletin, and The Scotswoman, not a newspaper, but representing women's voices, as they walk the viewer from VE Day in George Square to the 1970s oil boom, weaving through the Gorbals, the Clydeside yards, and down the pits. One of the most potent scenes is Jimmy Reid's legendary rectorial address, Alienation, best known as the rat race speech, which he delivered at Glasgow University in October 1971, during his attempt to save jobs at the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. His daughter, who attended one of the opening nights, said the play is a 'tour de force' as it seamlessly depicted numerous historical moments during the 30-year period - including her father's speech. 'The way they highlighted dad's Alienation address was very powerful,' Elieen said. 'The speech transcended politics, especially party politics, and people, young people going to the play and learning something of their own history here in Scotland, is really important.' (Image: Maritime Museum) Elieen added: 'Kenneth was a brilliant chronicler with his dry wit and sort of melancholic humanity that pervaded his work. 'Looking back on the Alienation speech, it injected a kind of pathos for me. I was a bit weepy at the end.' Elieen praised the play's ability to embody Roy's writing as she said it paid homage to his lament of Scotland's lost industry incredibly well. Best known for his wide range of roles, including House of the Dragon and Fleabag, Paterson got to know Roy and said the words 'just came running off the page' when he first saw the book's adaptation. Paterson said Roy's witty, wise, and mischievous charm oozes through his writing and that despite the bleak backdrop, the story of The Invisible Spirit still manages to draw laughter through his piercing observations. 'You giggle at it, you laugh out loud,' he said. The veteran actor said that despite Roy's story being set decades ago, it highlights to audiences that today's politics have moved on much since the Second World War. Tickets can be found here, and The Invisible Spirit runs from August/11, 13-16/ 18-23.
Times
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The reign of Tommy Smith as the king of jazz is over — what now?
Tommy Smith is no longer the leader of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. But the saxophonist is still very much its face. Last week the musician stepped down as the band's artistic director after he was dismissed from Scotland's premier music and drama university, the Royal Conservatoire, over allegations he had a relationship with a student. Yet Smith's picture remains plastered all over the website of the publicly funded orchestra he founded 30 years ago. Its youth wing is even named after the musician. For decades, insiders say, the former teenage prodigy has been the king of Scottish jazz. His reign is now over. Some lament the loss of a genuine talent. Others last week were celebrating what they see as an opportunity for musicians to come out from under his shadow.
Daily Record
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Cathkin High pupil Rose hit the high notes as she won national competition
She won the Solo Performer of the Year category at the Scottish Young Musicians awards in Glasgow's Royal Conservatoire. A highly-gifted Cathkin High pupil certainly hit the high notes when she flew the flag for South Lanarkshire at a prestigious national event. Rose Murray was the finalist for the region in the Solo Performer of the Year category at the Scottish Young Musicians awards in Glasgow's Royal Conservatoire. This year there were 33 finalists, one representing every local authority in Scotland and one from the independent schools. And Rose won her award for performances of Song to the Seals by Granville Bantock and Taylor The Latte Boy by Zina Goldrich. As well as her award, to support her musical journey, Rose also gets to spend a day with Scottish Opera where she will meet with the production team and the cast of outstanding singers of their autumn production La Boheme. And she will also secure tickets to one of the performances. Scottish Young Musicians Solo Performer of the Year is Scotland's leading music festival for soloists and ensembles. Young musicians can compete to win big prizes, perform live on a national stage and push their skills like never before. Elaine Duffy, the council's instrumental music co-ordinator, said: 'We are delighted that Rose has been recognised at this most prestigious event. 'It is a real testament to her hard work and dedication over the years, supported by her singing teacher Sandra Hawkins.' Her performing career to date includes the council's annual Instrumental Music Service showcase in Hamilton Town House and soloist at the annual Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations. Rose has also performed with the South Lanarkshire Orchestral Society (SLOT) Senior Concert Band and has been invited to sing with Stewarton Winds Concert Band.
The Guardian
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
David Watkin obituary
In 2013 David Watkin, who has died aged 60 from complications caused by the autoimmune disease schleroderma, recorded the six Suites for solo cello by JS Bach. The following year his illness compelled him to step back from a distinguished performing career to become head of strings, and later professor of chamber music, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. When the CD set of the Suites was released in 2015, it proved to be an instant success, winning awards from Gramophone – which this year rated it as one of the 50 greatest Bach recordings – and BBC Music Magazine. His rhythmically alive, tonally beautiful and scholarly playing was realised by using a baroque bow by John Waterhouse and two historic cellos, one by Francesco Rugeri from around 1670 for the first five Suites, and a five-stringed instrument by the Amati brothers, Antonio and Girolamo, for the Sixth Suite. As well as teaching, he continued to conduct such ensembles as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, Swedish Baroque Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Born in Crowthorne, Berkshire, David came from a musical family. His parents, Christine (nee Horney) and Ken Watkin, were violin teachers, and his elder brother, Simon, gravitated to the viola. When the family were living in Beckenham, Kent, he began taking cello lessons with a local teacher, eventually enabling the family to play quartets by Haydn and Mozart. When David was nine, the Watkin family moved again, to Pembrokeshire, where his mentors were Bridget Jenkins and the recitalist Sharon McKinley. He became the star cellist of the West Glamorgan Youth Orchestra, and went on to be a member of the National Youth Orchestra, and its principal cellist for two years. At 15 he won a scholarship to Wells Cathedral school, where he studied the cello with Margaret Moncrieff and Amaryllis Fleming. There he encountered historically informed recordings directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Frans Brüggen, and a friend's father made him a baroque cello. Vocal lessons from the tenor Kenneth Bowen led to his seriously considering a career as a singer. His gap year was spent as a lay clerk, singing in the choir at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he went on to take a music degree (1984-87). He continued cello studies with William Pleeth and played in the Cambridge Baroque Camerata. As a full-time performer he led the cello sections of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, English Baroque Soloists, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Philharmonia Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Other ensembles he conducted included the Malta Philharmonic and Manchester Consort, and he had a stint as assistant conductor at Glyndebourne. While working with John Eliot Gardiner in the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, he and three colleagues – Peter Hanson, Lucy Howard and Gustav Clarkson – felt they should adapt the orchestra's authentic styles for Romantic music to quartet playing. Thus in 1993 the Eroica Quartet was born. Watkin adopted a transitional approach with this ensemble, playing with an endpin: until the mid-19th century cellists had held the instrument unsupported between their legs. The quartet's recordings of Beethoven, Mendelssohn (the quartets and the original version of the Octet), Schumann, Debussy and Ravel brought fresh perspectives to listeners. Characteristic of their approach for the Mendelssohn quartets was studying the bowings and fingerings adopted by Ferdinand David, the first performer of the composer's Violin Concerto, for his own ensemble, and the selective application of vibrato for expressive effect. Tours took them to France and the US, and they gave Beethoven cycles in the UK and abroad. With various colleagues, Watkin recorded concertos and sonatas by Vivaldi and sonatas by Boccherini. He and the fortepianist Howard Moody recorded three sonatas by Beethoven (1996), and to the book Performing Beethoven (2011) he contributed an essay on those works. In an article in the journal Early Music (1996) Watkin pointed to how Corelli allowed for the possibility of violin sonatas being accompanied by a string bass without a keyboard, by filling out the chords indicated by the numbers of the figured bass, and extended the principle to recitative passages in opera. As a teacher he aimed to lead students to think for themselves. An extract from a masterclass on Bach given at Kings Place, London, in 2017 can be seen on YouTube. In choosing Watkins' Bach recordings for its 50 best, Gramophone commented on the 'warm, expansive, generous and friendly' character of the playing, and many found the same qualities in him as a colleague. In 2002 Watkin married Sara Burton, and they had two sons, Noah and Sandy. They separated, and he is survived by his partner, Lisi Stockton, his sons, his parents and Simon. David Watkin, cellist, conductor, musicologist and teacher, born 8 May 1965; died 13 May 2025
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Jazz star Tommy Smith sacked from Conservatoire role
Leading Scottish jazz musician Tommy Smith has been dismissed from his senior role at the Royal Conservatoire of follows reports in the Mail on Sunday that the 58-year-old saxophonist had started a relationship with a studentSmith had held the Head of Jazz position at the prestigious Glasgow music school for the last 16 Conservatoire confirmed that he had been dismissed "following a disciplinary investigation and hearing". A spokesperson added: "RCS has robust policies in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff."Smith has had a prolific and successful music career and in 2009 was appointed as the inaugural head of the first-ever full-time jazz course at the has been approached for comment. Who is Tommy Smith? Tommy Smith has been a star of the jazz world since his was born and brought up in the Wester Hailes housing scheme in Edinburgh and began playing while a pupil at the local secondary. He recorded his first album - Giant Strides - when he was just won a scholarship to study in the United States and was signed to the Blue Note jazz label at went on to found the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and has worked with many jazz greats including Johnny Dankworth, Cleo Laine and Miles Davis.A noted composer and arranger as well as a performer, Tommy Smith was awarded the OBE in 2019 and holds honorary doctorates from Heriot Watt University and the University of Edinburgh.
