Julietta; Hallé Orchestra – review

Coliseum, London; Bridgewater Hall, ManchesterLoss of memory, the subject of Martinu's 1938 opera Julietta, ranks as one of art's most ancient and nightmarish preoccupations. From the Epic of Gilgamesh, which the Czech composer later set to music, to Dante, Chaucer, Langland, Shakespeare, Strindberg, Borges and countless others, writers have been drawn to that arctic frontier where dream and reality meet. "Is not the past all shadow?" asked Lord Byron, adding with chilly concision: "A slumbering...

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