Closing Time appears on youTube
In November 2023, I posted about a fascinating, touching project that grew out of the personal experiences of London-based writer and performer Karin de Novellis, who looked after her husband, a dementia-sufferer, until his death. During lockdown, Karin wrote a collection of poems, called Closing Time at the Kings Head , reflecting on everyday situations and some of the feelings she and her husband experienced while living with dementia. Australian composer Ross Fides transformed the poems into a staged song cycle for soprano, baritone, narrator and piano, which premiered in September 2023 at Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, New South Wales. According to the programme notes, the staged performance aims to show 'how, in spite of the challenges, a care-partnership can embrace understanding, compassion and love, making the journey easier and better for all concerned. Fiddes’ music inhabits the words in such a way that the listener cannot help but be drawn into this moving and powe...
