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Black Sabbath \u2013 The Ballet, ,\nBirmingham Royal Ballet, 2023
\nCredit: Johan Persson\/<\/p>\n
\u201cTo start and end in the place we all grew up in and forged our future in, against all odds, is the ideal way to finish. Not many bands can say that\u201d.<\/p>\n
The above quote is from Black Sabbath bass player Geezer Butler, whom I interviewed earlier this year ahead of the band\u2019s final show at Villa Park. Just weeks later, Ozzy\u2019s death despite ill health came as a shock to fans around the globe. <\/p>\n
I was fortunate enough to attend Ozzy and Sabbath\u2019s final show with my son, to witness history being created right before our eyes. Next month, there is a chance for Ozzy and Sabbath fans to attend Black Sabbath the Ballet in Edinburgh. While many rock and metal fans might be unsure about the idea of a Sabbath ballet, I spoke to Lead Composer, Project Music Supervisor and Conductor Christopher Austin, who has joined forces with Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, and his passion for the project was tangible to say the least. He won plaudits from fans for his work on a list of tracks that includes Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Ironman, War Pigs, Black Sabbath, Solitude, Orchid, and Laguna Sunrise.<\/p>\n
The latter track provided an opportunity to introduce Austin\u2019s orchestral arrangements to the legendary guitarist. \u201cI played it to Tony early on; he has been the most tremendous support to all of us, and he\u2019s been the \u2018yes sayer\u2019 if you see what I mean? When I put on the arrangement of Laguna Sunrise that I had been working on, he started playing along; that was an experience. I put some new chords on it and Tony said: \u201cI like what you\u2019ve done with that\u201d. He basically gave us permission to be ourselves and was happy and excited that his music would go on a new journey; that\u2019s the mark of the man\u2019s graciousness towards us while having confidence in his own legacy. He gave us his trust, and that was liberating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black Sabbath \u2013 The Ballet, ,
\nBirmingham Royal Ballet, 2023
\nCredit: Johan Persson\/<\/p>\n
What was essential about Sabbath was that it was a working class band from the industrial north. Growing up in Edinburgh, my uncle introduced me to the musicality of Sabbath at an early age, songs such as Orchid and Solitude, both featured in the Black Sabbath Ballet, draw upon the folk and melodic elements often overlooked. \u201cWhen you listen to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, that acoustic section was a real gift to us\u201d explains Christopher. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot that\u2019s raw and intense, but it\u2019s also very lyrical music.\u201d Pink Floyd\u2019s Roger Waters recently snubbed Ozzy\u2019s legacy in the media. It\u2019s typical of the snobbish attitude often directed at Sabbath and Ozzy, who broke out of the class system during the late 1960s to become one of the most influential and much loved bands of all time. Christopher Austin suggests that it was the band\u2019s working class background in Birmingham that drew Carlos Acosta to turning\u2019s band\u2019s music into a ballet. Acosta developed and commissioned the work as Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet. \u201cYes, there\u2019s a quote from Carlos where he said: \u2018I\u2019m working class-I am Black Sabbath\u2019. These were four working-class young men against the world. There\u2019s a sense of necessity; it needs to exist. These first four or five Sabbath albums have become part of our culture, and for me it\u2019s been the most amazing voyage of discovery, every kind of Sabbath song is compelling to listen to\u201d. Perhaps it was the fact that each member brought something essential? \u201cYes, Geezer\u2019s bass lines and lyrics, Tony\u2019s riffs, Bill Ward\u2019s swing, and the top line of Ozzy\u2019s melodic vocal\u201d.<\/p>\n
The recent death of Ozzy will undoubtedly compound the performance; it\u2019s unclear if Tony Iommi will perform on any of the current run, but he has appeared alongside the production\u2019s guitarist, Marc Hayward, at previous shows. \u201cTony appeared at the back of the stage, during Paranoid, behind Mark. I couldn\u2019t hear the orchestra because of the roar coming from behind me in the pit. Tony was the most gracious person to Mark when they were both on stage. He brought an ecstatic high and a stage presence while being an understated person, but the power is in the playing; he has a sound like no-one else. Marc has been a real gift to this production, he has such great charisma, but he\u2019s also so open, and the dancers were very aware of that right from his first audition\u201d.<\/p>\n
Undoubtedly, there will be a range of emotions for both the performers and the audience since the death of Ozzy just months ago. Unfortunately, the Sabbath frontman never got the opportunity to see the final production. \u201cOzzy wasn\u2019t able to see it as he had health issues for quite some time and wasn\u2019t able to fly. Sharon (Osbourne) saw it, and Geezer has seen it, but I don\u2019t think Bill Ward has yet. The whole band provide voiceovers, they tell the story of the band and it deals with Tony\u2019s industrial accident and Ozzy leaving the band as well as all the things they achieved together, it\u2019s been a complex relationship between them for sure but they really are a band of brothers, some of it is scurrilous, other parts are very moving; it gives a sense of what they have all been through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black Sabbath the Ballet 30 Oct \u2013 1 Nov Edinburgh Festival Theatre<\/p>\n
Tickets here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theedinburghreporter.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Black-Sabbath-The-Ballet-Carlos-Acosta-and-Sofia-LiA\u00b1ares-Photo-credit-Perou.-1-768x1024.jpg\")
Black Sabbath The Ballet Carlos Acosta and Sofia Li\u00f1ares Photo credit Perou. <\/p>\n