Thank you to [you know who you are] for this account of Jeremy at the 2011 Tuscan Sun Festival:
(Photos at the bottom of the post…)
“The evening was a mix of theater, music and ballet and told the story of the 9 year long relationship between Chopin and female writer George Sand. Though I really like Chopin’s music and they played the pieces pretty well, I just wished there were less music and more Jeremy.
As for his acting: he was breathtaking… I was very curious whether he could do a convincing Chopin. Not only because he had to play a young man (half of his age), but because of Chopin’s character, who was a fragile, angelic man, ill all the time, sophisticated and sensitive in a sort of feminine way (while Sand was the more dominant, stronger party in the relationship). And yes, he did it… He transformed completely, especially in the second half of the play, when he becomes more and more ill and lonely and finally brakes up with Sand. You just wanted to take him to your arms carefully and protect him – just like George Sand must have felt about Chopin.
I’m not sure if I have ever seen him being so painfully beautiful like this evening. His hair was something like in Appaloosa, curly at the back, and his skinny, fragile figure was emphasized with long, narrow-fitted clothes. And his face… it was truly expressive, lost, and dreamy (do you remember the last scene of M Butterfly? I could compare his between-genders presence to that). Every bit of him was alive, his playing was so subtle, sensitive and expressive!
As for the set, they had two armchairs and a table at each side of the stage, Sinead on the right, Jeremy on the left. At the back, in the middle the piano. Simon Trpceski played the pieces, while Jeremy sort of pretended to play them either sitting on a chair with his back to the audience or standing at the side of the piano.
There was an ovation at the end of course, they got flowers, and Jeremy threw his to the audience with a cheeky smile before he disappeared behind the curtains. Outside of the theater the crowd waited for them. The musicians came, then the dancers came, God knows who else came, but not them. I waited at least an hour but they must have left through a stage door or something, which was a bit disappointing. Both Max and Sam were there with girlfriends. I saw them briefly, they walked away on foot. Now they are at the charity dinner.”
jeremyirons.net 
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