Hackney Round Chapel
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| Images: Robert Workman |
Alcina – Meinir Wyn Roberts
Bradamante – Hanna PoulsomMelisso – Richard Walshe
Morgana – Lorena Paz Nieto
Oronte – William Blake
Ruggiero – Emma Stannard
Olivia Fuchs (director)
Yannis Thavoris (designs)Jake Wiltshire (lighting)
Victoria Newlyn (choreography)
Chorus (chorus master: Ben Glassberg)
Royal Academy Sinfonia
Iain Ledingham (conductor)
I can say without any
hesitation, still less exaggeration, that this is the best staging and
performance of a Handel opera I have seen. Olivia Fuchs’s production takes us
to AMNESIA, an S&M club with mind-altering substances – and activities –
ready to hand, to foot, and indeed to any other part of the body so inclined or
so compelled. Indeed, I do not think I have ever seen quite so much onstage
crotch-grabbing, whether auto-erotically, or with partners. The sorcery of
Alcina’s enchanted island lends itself readily to such a relocation. In the
twinkling of an eye, or the snorting of a line, the transformation of
pleasure-seeking fashion-victims into drugged captives perhaps speaks more clearly
to us than would a spell that turned heroes into beasts, rocks, trees, or
streams. (We still have the libretto, in any case.) I said ‘more clearly’, but
perhaps I should have said more deeply, for the underlying evil of the one,
especially when assisted by the instruments of sexual domination, is more
apparent than it might be in a merely ‘picturesque’ version. Yannis Favoris’s
stunning designs and Jake Wiltshire’s lighting – the headrush moment of
transformation a memorable flash of inspiration – prove especially provocative,
given the location: Hackney’s Round Chapel. It cannot have been quite what
nonconformist founding fathers had in mind for their place of worship (at least
not openly). All is true to the adventurous spirit of the Baroque, never ground
down in futile attempts to recreate its alleged letter.
Not that the Konzept becomes too over-bearing; the
human relationships, such as they are, become more prominent as the opera
progresses. If anything, that is the problem for me: not with the production,
but with the opera itself, or rather with my old bugbear of Handelian opera seria. There is some of Handel’s
very finest music here, but the requirements of the genre, even when so much of
the music is first rate, do tend to tedium, and militate against my ever
especially caring about any of the characters. It is certainly not that opera seria must be like that, nor is it
that Handel must be like that; in the latter case, one has only to turn to his
great oratorios. Perhaps the opera might have been more generously – or ungenerously,
according to one’s standpoint – cut. The role of Oberto, created for the boy
treble, William Savage, was eliminated completely, but during the second and
third acts, the succession of recitative and aria becomes a little wearisome. (Here,
the opera was given with a single interval.) How welcome a trio was when it
finally came. However, in a production designed as a showcase for splendidly
talented young singers, one can understand why not, looking kindly upon the
work’s undeniable longueurs.
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| Morgana (Lorna Paz Nieto) |
Singers are, of course, often
especially drawn to Handel; one can readily understand why. Clean lines, a
consummate professional’s understanding of the voice and of vocal types, ample
opportunities for display, with sometimes hair-raising coloratura: those
qualities and more were all on offer from an exceptional cast. Ebb and flow
between the characters, dramatic as well as musical, was well conveyed, Lorena
Paz Nieto’s Morgana quite rightly shone most brightly in the first act,
seductive in her cruelty. Emma Stannard and Hanna Poulsom traced the transformations
of Ruggiero and Bradamante with considerable emotional depth. William Blake’s Oronte
likewise very much came into his own as his character did too; he makes a
highly credible doorman too. Richard Walshe made the most of his role as the
tutor, Melisso; his bass as sharply focused as it was dark of tone. If, earlier
on, Meinir Wyn Roberts’s intonation was not quite what one might ideally have
hoped for in the title role, that should not be exaggerated; her performance
grew in stature as the evening progressed, both emotionally and technically.
There was, moreover, something of a Sutherland-like edge to her tone, which certainly helped mark out the role and its performance history. Members of the chorus, whether individually or corporately, impressed greatly
throughout.
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| Alcina (Meinir Wyn Roberts) |
The orchestra, too, was on
excellent form, certainly the finest I have heard in a Handel opera staging.
Warm, stylish, never precious, it was conducted with deep understanding,
lightly worn, of Handel’s protean demands by Iain Ledingham. Tempi were varied,
without exception well chosen, and with a fine appreciation of how individual
numbers might contribute to a greater whole. The contribution of the solo
cellist to his obbligato aria was simply outstanding; I could have listened to
him all night. A rollicking pair of horns truly invigorated proceedings, very
much as recorders would soothe them. Three cheers, then, once again to a Royal
Academy Opera performance of the highest order.
