Sylvia Plath and the Britten Cello Suites, with Charlotte Rampling, Sam Wanamaker Theatre

For this unique evening of poetry and music by candlelight, works by Sylvia Plath and Benjamin Britten will illuminate one another.  The poems and compositions, characterized alike by searing intensity and reflection, will be brought to life by cellist Sonia Wielder Atherton and the iconic screen actress Charlotte Rampling OBE in the exquisite Sam Wanamaker playhouse.  
Written for Mstislav Rostropovich, Britten’s Cello Suites fit the instrument like a glove. Recalling the Bach Cello Suites – a staple of any cellist’s repertoire – in their poise and textural clarity, the apparent simplicity of the compositions is the key to their profound affect. Britten’s masterstroke is the harmonic dimension of the works, exploring a wide range of keys and characters. The Second Suite looks back to Henry Purcell, with vivacious rhythms and a ground bass finale, while the Third Suite is a nod to the artist who prompted Britten to write these works: this set of Russian folk songs culminates in the Russian Hymn for the Departed.
Best known for her confessional poetry, Sylvia Plath’s works express her own feelings of rage, grief, desire, fear and love with startling directness. Writing from the depths of depression, Plath’s imagery and diction is nightmarish. Yet playful rhythms and an ear for rhyme mean that, read aloud, the poems are unmistakably musical; fine companions for Britten's suites. Charlotte Rampling seems the perfect match for Plath’s poetry: her leonine ferocity, sharpened over six decades but bruised with melancholy, is the stuff of legend.