Spectacular Fireworks Finale

Festival 08 came to a tumultuous climax on Sunday when then Scottish Chamber Orchestra performed a rousing concert of gypsy inspired dance tunes by Dvorak and Brahms accompanied by the spectacular fireworks display across the Edinburgh skyline. The Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert was enjoyed by over a quarter of a million people across the city and entries are coming in thick and fast for our "Share Your Photos" competition. We'll be posting the best pictures on the official Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert website next week.

Here's a sneak peak of a picture of the famous waterfall over the side of the castle rock courtesy of George Pomery. If you have any Fireworks pictures you'd like to share then please email them by Wednesday 10 September.

What the Papers Say Today

Only two days to go till the end of the Festival 08 however the press coverage is still as extensive as ever with many new reviews in today's papers.

The announcement of the fireworks starter for the The Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert featured in quite a few of the papers today including The Edinburgh Evening News and The Herald. Competition winner, Morgan Bevis, was also featured on STV.

There is a large feature in The Herald about the Herald Angels, the last batch of which were awarded this morning. Recipients from the EIF programme included Valery Gergiev, the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Ivan Fischer, Matthew Bourne and Vera Alexander who received the Little Devil award. Vera - a long time usher at The Queen's Hall - has already featured in the papers quite a bit recently for rebutting a thief's attempts to steal the takings from the venue's cloakroom.

The Scotsman features a story about a protest that happened at The Queen's Hall yesterday during a performance by the Jerusalem Quartet. The story reports that the protest was ‘countered by a standing ovation'.

There is also some coverage in the Edinburgh Evening News of a cash injection into the King's Theatre which is to be used for a revamp of the venue.

I Went To The House But Did Not Enter
‘The Hilliards bring it off immaculately; as with the whole show, there's not a detail misplaced'. The Guardian****
‘A beautifully presented experience to be savoured'. Edinburgh Evening News****
‘Will seep into the memory for some time to come' The Scotsman*****

Deca Dance 2008
‘This is a show to relish, more than once if at all possible'. Edinburgh Evening News****
‘Deca Dance served as a wonderful introduction to Batsheva's talents.' The Scotsman****

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Ivan Fischer
‘We have a terrific new violin virtuoso among us in the form of József Lendvay Jr...enthralling improvisation...powerhouse performance.' The Guardian*****

Wolpe!
‘A fascinating and vital pointer to festival futures that's to relish.' The Herald****

Jerusalem Quartet
‘This was playing of high expressiveness'
The Herald****
‘This was a brilliant performance by the quartet under trying circumstances, which was rewarded with rapturous applause.' The Scotsman*****

The Whirling Dervishes of Turkey
‘A fascinating performance...solemn yet joyful, it resonated with a compelling calm.' The Herald

Herald Angels - Vera's Victory

It was the last morning of breakfast and bubbles today as the final batch of Herald Angels were dished out at The Festival Theatre. Once again the EIF featured heavily with Valery Gergiev, the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Ivan Fischer, and Matthew Bourne all being honoured with Angels. The Little Cherub award went to Kyna Bowers whose family were delighted when her name was announced. (Kyna is pictured with her award)

However it was the recipient of the Little Devil Award who really stole the show. Vera Alexander, veteran usher at the Queen's Hall, flirted with fame recently when she fought off a criminal who was trying to steal the cloakroom takings. As he stuffed the notes up his top Vera was reportedly grabbing them back. She refused to give an inch and in the end the would be thief ran off with nothing. She had the audience in stitches when she was called up to receive her award saying: 'it's an ugly wee thing isn't it'.

Read the story by the Daily Record here.

New Vid - I Went To The House But Did Not Enter

Hear an interview with EIF Director Jonathan Mills about this production by Heiner Goebbels with music from the Hilliard Ensemble.

Getting Fired Up For The Fireworks

Sunday night's firestarter was revealed today at Edinburgh Castle as pint sized Morgan Bevis, aged nine, from Livingston. The youngster won a competition on Radio Forth to set off the huge display by doing her best impression of the fireworks. As she got acquainted with the all-important button she also met the creative brains behind the fireworks Wilf Scott and Keith Webb. There was a host of media there to witness the event including the BBC and STV so Morgan will no doubt enjoy being a mini celebrity for the next few days. To hear an interview with Morgan (with fireworks impression) and Keith Webb from Pyrovision click here.


The Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert takes place on Sunday 31 August from Edinburgh Castle with music provided by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

New Ruhe Video Clip

We have an new video to offer you from one of our most critically acclaimed shows Ruhe. With music from Collegium Vocale Gent, the show also features two stunning performances from Dirk Roofthooft and Carly Wijs who play post war volunteers from the SS discussing their past lives.

Festival Award Winners Announced!

The winner of this year's EIF Award is theatre company Belt Up (Nothing to See/Hear), a bright young theatre company from York who caught the attention of the judges after a lengthy run of hugely popular shows. Members of the company received the award this morning from Festival Director Jonathan Mills (pictured below).

The group had a heavy schedule for their fringe appearances with two shows a day, sometimes three, for 20 consecutive days as well as a month of rehearsals before their first show but their hard work paid off as the company developed a cult following during the fringe. Audience members who enjoyed the shows signed up for text alerts and were notified of 'secret' free shows. These proved so popular that regular audiences of 100 began turning up and friendships were spawned between dedicated fans. As a result the group became one of the hits of the fringe and drew the attention of the Festival Award judges.

The group have now been given £5,000 to develop a new project which will be seen at one of the Behind the Scenes workshops in 2009. Jonathan met with the company yesterday and discussions got underway as to how the Festival can work with the company to develop ideas. The award is provided by Ewan Brown, a long term supporter of Edinburgh International Festival and Vice Chair of the Festival Board. Jonathan Mills was responsible for selecting the award winner after a series of recommendations were made by panel members who were charged with scouring the fringe. The panel members were Roy Cross, Director of the British Council Scotland, critic Neil Cooper, Cindy Sughrue, Chief Executive of Scottish Ballet, Tony Reekie, Director of Imaginate, David Levin, Theatre Director and Sally Hobson, Head of Programme Development at EIF.

Queen's Hall Series

This series is proving to be a beacon for those in search of world class quality music amid the plethora of shows that a typical Edinburgh festival season offers. Consistently good reviews and all round admiration for the well picked programme have firmly secured this series as a winner. Yesterday saw violinist Rüdiger Lotter and his early music ensemble Lyriarte joined by Irvine Arditti. To hear what the audience had to say after the performance click here.
Soloists from the Budapest Festival Orchestra played today to a packed audience and tomorrow sees mezzo soprano Katarina Karnéus perform with Johan Ullen on piano.
Other highlights still to come from the Queen's Hall Series include The Jerusalem Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio.
To listen to the top picks of the Queen's Hall Series from some of the UK's most well known arts critics click here.

They Like!

It may be the last week of the Festival (awwww) but the reviews are still pouring in. Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray and Król Roger have proved to be hits amongst the critics as two more fours stars reviews and one five star were published today. Król Roger was awarded four stars in The Herald with Michael Tumelty calling it a 'musical masterpiece'.
He writes: 'The performance, conducted by Gergiev at his molten best, is pulsatingly atmospheric and erotic...A phenomenal piece, played to the hilt by this great company.'

Dorian Gray also received five stars from The Metro and four stars from The Independent.
In The Metro it says: 'Performed by an outstanding cast...The only question is how can Bourne possibly top this.'
Zoe Anderson of The Independent writes: 'In a brilliantly creepy moment, Dorian takes his double's hand, resigned and almost tender...Although Bourne is a deft storyteller...his gift is for showing character through movement...The cast are terrific.'
For tickets to Dorian Gray click here.
For tickets to Król Roger click here.

Check out the video below for a just released preview of Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray.

Guardian Gongs

As great as it is to acknowledge and humbly bow for the big prestigious Festival awards, it's the obscure and often zany ones that sometimes offer a little comic relief...so here are some of the Guardian's gongs as chosen by Brian Logan.

The Hercule Poirot Award
The dance hit of this year's Featival came from Rosas 'with an awe-inspiring programme by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, set to the music of Steve Reich'.

The What The Papers Say Award
EIF productions hit the headlines for a variety of reasons during Festival 08. Some of the most notable stories were the sad death of Mahmoud Darwish, whose epic poem - penned after a near death experience - was staged just four days after his death. It also mentions the State Ballet of Georgia: 'Then, as Russian bombs fell on Georgia, prima ballerina Nina Ananiashvili hit town with Giselle but found herself talking about war, not art'. The 'extraordinary Anchiskhati Choir of Tbilisi' were also praised.

The Leonard Cohen Award
TR Warszawa's production of the dark Sarah Kane play and National Theatre of Scotland's 365 were mentioned in this category. 'Sarah Kane's never-knowingly-cheerful suicide poem, 4.48 Psychosis joined in as did the National Theatre of Scotland's 365, about the unhappy plight of children in care'.

The Noah's Ark Award
'Recipient: The Scottish weather. We Scots spend our lives rebutting the accusation that our country is anything other than a sun-kissed paradise. And then it goes and rains - an awful, awful lot.'

To read the full article click here.

New Vid - Class Enemy

For those unlucky people who missed East West Theatre Company's brilliant production of Class Enemy here is a new video for your viewing pleasure.

Guest Blogger - Keith Bruce from The Herald

Every Saturday morning during the Festival, The Herald newspaper presents its Angel awards at The Festival Theatre, with the support of the Bank of Scotland. This coming Saturday its usual line up of Angels, Archangel (for sustained contribution to the festivals over the years), and Little Devil (for demonstrating commitment to the principle that the show must go on) will be joined by a fourth award, the Wee Cherub. Only one Wee Cherub winner will be chosen, the writer of the best review published as part of The Herald's Young Critics scheme.
Each year, after the Festival programme is announced, Herald critics visit a number of Edinburgh schools to talk to pupils about writing reviews. The students then attend a festival performance and submit reviews to a proper deadline, with the best one from each show appearing in The Herald alongside those of the professional writers. This year four young people - Eleanor Morton from Royal High, Scott Clair of Holyrood High, Kyna Bowers of Boroughmuir High, and Joanna Ramasawmy of Broughton High - have had their work published during the Festival. On Saturday, one will become the Herald's first Wee Cherub.

To read Joanna Ramasawmy's review of The Budapest Festival Orchestra click here.
To read Kyna Bowers' review of Mortal Engine click here.
To read Scott Clair's review of 4.48 Psychosis click here.
To read Eleanor Morton's review of The Tell-Tale Heart click here.

Fireworks Tix Frenzy

The last batch of tickets for the Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert went on sale at 10am on Sunday morning. The first ticket hungry punters arrived at 4am (!) to ensure they got their tickets. By the time Hub tickets had opened more than 300 people were waiting in line.

This may not be surprising to those who have seen the show before as it involves more than 100,000 fireworks, four tonnes of explosives and hundreds of firing sequences including the now famous fireworks waterfall. Last year more than a quarter of a million people watched the spectacular show which is the largest event of its kind in Europe. The Festival 08 finale takes place on Sunday 31 August and there are a mere handful of tickets left for a lucky few who still want a spot in Princes Street Gardens. To buy tickets phone The Hub on 0131 473 2000.

Acclaimed firebrand Romanian conductor Nicolae Moldoveanu leads the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in an exuberant programme of music for Hungarian Dances by Brahms and Slavonic Dances by Dvořák. Forth 1 and 2 will be broadcasting the Concert live on the night, enabling members of the public to tune in and experience the full atmosphere of the event from wherever they choose to view it. The Concert will be streamed live on stv’s website, www.stv.tv/fireworks, and broadcast on stv later in the evening at 10.20 pm. The programme will be hosted by one of stv’s most well-known faces, Scotland Today presenter Louise White.

Gonnae No Dae That!

There were a few unimpressed ladies at the opening night of 365 who were left rather confused by an unexplained order from two members of the public. They were told to wait outside the ladies toilets despite there being plenty of free cubicles. Patiently they waited to see what the reason for their inconvenience was. And waited. Then an unmistaskable cheeky grin belonging to a well known Scottish (male) comedian appeared. 'Apologies Ladies' he bellowed and then the trio (the two members of the public must have been minders!) left leaving the ladies scratching their heads in bemusement.

On a serious note, the play was received very well by the critics being awarded four stars by The Scotsman and The Herald. See post below for a more detailed analysis of the critics’ response. Festival Insider was there to speak to audience members after the opening night finished. To listen to what they had to say click here.

A Few Good Angels

EIF were awarded a few good angels and a Little Devil today at today's prestigious Herald Angel Awards. On behalf of the absent Hungarian violinist Roby Lakatos, our Christopher donned an extravagant moustache (not disimilar to the virtuosic Lakatos') and accepted his Angel. On behalf of Rosas dance company (of choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker) fellow dance company Bal Moderne accepted an Angel for the company's Steve Reich Evening production. Rosas also took home a Little Devil for the 'show going on' in spite of sprinklers going off in the theatre on opening night. The third Angel went to film installation Looking for Tazieh - for their intense audio visual experience about a Persian Shi'ite passion play. The crowd were also treated to a live bluegrass showdown from Fringe newcomers Ed and the Shortbus, who hail from Richmond, Virginia. For more on today's Herald Angels, click here.