Director Neil Armfield approach to this opera that is tricky to present convincingly is to split the Prologue and the Opera into back stage and then on stage.
The theory works and the Prologue is particularly well crafted, amusing and effective. For the Prologue we are voyeurs into the egos and vagaries of the players. Then in the Opera we are the audience.
However, the set for the staged opera-in-an opera is an odd creation and relies totally on the strong acting from the ensemble in this revival of the 2004 production to hold it together.
We are continuously told we are in the home of an extremely demanding rich Viennese patron – so would we really have a shabby, ripped set?
Possibly the designer wanted to create a sand-blown desert island with ripped canvases. Rather, it looked like a derelict theatre while the starry lighting for the finale would have been better for the arrival of the Queen of the Night in WNO’s Magic Flute.
That aside the division between the two sections of the work and the distinction between the two genres with their classical and commedia costumes works well.
The cast is excellent with gorgeous singing and accomplished acting including the slapstick comedy that brought the show to life without descending into farce.
There are thrilling duets: Canadian soprano Gillian Keith sprightly and endearing as Zerbinetta and Sarah Connolly in the trouser role of the Composer matched by Irish soprano Orla Boylan’s Ariadne and powerful Brazilian tenor Ricardo Tamura as Bacchus. Each reminds us just how wonderful the dynamic excesses of Strauss can be and mark Keith, Boylan and Tamura’s WNO debuts.
In this revival Orla Boylan skilfully combines flair as a comedienne but also turns on the intensity for Ariadne's lament and equally rewarding is Sarah Connolly as the highly strung Composer with a captivating presence and at times translucent voice
Robert Poulton was a charmingly harried Music Master and Eric Roberts played up to the role of Major-Domo. The nymphs and commedia dell’arte troupe were neatly drawn and more than just supporting cast.
This oddly named Eternal Light season of German opera is of course linked with the appointment of Music Director Lothar Koenigs and here we have faultless pacing and a clear conversation between pit and stage.
|
