Welsh National Opera |
| Welsh National Opera- Jephtha , Wales Millennium Centre , March 4, 2006 |
Oratorio is not opera but this attempt by Katie Mitchell for the WNO to make Handel’s Jephtha into one succeeds remarkable well. The basic story certainly has a most operatic plot. “ The Israelites appoint Jephtha to lead their army against the Ammonites. Jephtha makes a vow that if he wins, he will sacrifice the first living creature that he encounters on his return. When Jephtha comes home from his victory, it is his only daughter, Iphis who greets him. Jephtha reveals his vow, and the whole community confronts with dread the prospect of Iphis’ sacrifice. An angel descends and releases Iphis from her sentence, but demands she should live out her life in chastity.” This updating of the biblical story to the 1940’s Israeli struggle makes this conflict even more poignant and brings home the great creative power of Handel and his librettist Thomas Morell to be able to use music and words so movingly. Mark Padmore as Jephtha, Susan Bickley as his wife, Fflur Wyn as Iphis, his daughter and Istyn Evans as Hamor, in love with Iphis all interpret the music with precision and act their roles with great commitment The early courtship duets between Wyn and Davies are made all the more delightful by his excellent counter-tenor voice, the clarity of her singing and the coquetteishness of the personality she creates. It is her acting as she submits herself to tragic ending that her father has prescribed that is one of the highlights of the evening. Mark Padmore’s angst expressed through compelling singing really penetrates. Clearly he does not win much sympathy for his wrong headed actions but we weep deeply for his wife Strogè. Susan Bickley uses her voice, her body and her compelling eyes to give us such a strong figure of a mother fighting against all odds to save her daughter. From her earliest recitative to her final quartet she fills the auditorium with her clear, sure singing. Chris Davey’s lighting and Vicki Mortimer’s low toned set with its besieged palace with its bullet marked walls frame the action very well and in the third act some of the grouping of the chorus and the interaction of the leading players make some almost overwhelming pictures of sumptuousness. The heavy 40’s autumn toned tweedy fashion adding to the depth of the scene. The chorus, as in any oratorio, provides a strong foundation and an excellent musical background against which the sad tale unfolds. Their acting too as servants, politicians, wives etc was exceptionally convincing. The orchestra under the baton of WNO Chorus Master Donald Nally responded with their usual great sensitivity, particularly in some of the more simpler moments in the music. It did take a while for all this excellence to fall into place. Despite fine singing from everyone it took a while before the words became clear, then they didn’t always remain so. It was only when the drama took over that this ceased to be a bit of a distraction. It was somewhat of an irony that to begin with this production, sung in English, was for a while more difficult to follow in detail than many foreign language operas, where often one is able to give up looking at the sur-titles. Initially the mimed words of conversation looked a bit self-conscious but one absorbed the convention as the production moved along. And move along it did. At over three hours long, the proceedings never dragged, the construction and direction of the piece ensuring that the pace quickened as the drama became more intense. The angel engagingly sung by Charlotte Ellett eventually resolves the situation, but hardly to anyone’s great satisfaction. I’m not too sure that dressing her like everyone else except for her wings, which fascinated the ladies around her was quite the most enchanting way to present her. But despite these niggling reservations one could not deny the blanket of beauty and aesthetic satisfaction that wrapped itself around us as we left the theatre. |
Reviewed by: Michael Kelligan |
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