Opera Holland Park, July 2017

This concise, passionate piece comes with echoes of both Chekhov and Ibsen – somewhere between The Seagull and A Doll’s House. Based on a mid-nineteenth century Russian play and inspired by Janacek’s late flowering love for a much younger woman, it is written with mature, if not always subtle, musical skill – that fortissimo timpani roll at the moment of sexual ecstasy for instance –  and, in this production, conductor Sian Edwards ensures that every nuance is brought out.

As always at Opera Holland Park the playing area is so wide that it’s almost transverse theatre except that the audience is all on one side. Designer Yannis Thavoris has used it pragmatically, with a pseudo river, complete with the ubiquitous reeds, winding across the space and a semi circular mini stage to represent indoors in various forms – I won’t dwell on the fact that in its first incarnation the latter reminded me of a trampoline guard. It was effective thereafter.

Kat’a (Julia Sporsen) is a married woman with an unexciting husband (Nicky Spence) and an appalling mother-in-law (Anne Mason). In her husband’s absence she falls in love with Boris (Peter Hoare) and of course – this is opera – it can’t end happily.

Sporsen and Hoare work pleasingly together and each brings out the raw longing, regret, guilt and all the rest of it with some impressive solo singing and duet work. The symbolic flying movement as they lift all four of their arms to create a sense of togetherness (with a nod at the old slang implications of “flying”) underpins the singing rather cleverly too. Amongst the supporting roles Paul Curievici as Kudrjas stands out as does Clare Presland’s Varvara.

The chorus is a strange beast in this production though. The score gives them very little singing but, since they have to be in the building, director Oliver Fuchs uses them a lot in other ways to provide a sense of bustling crowd scenes, people walking by the river or observing the action. The trouble is that there are 32 of them and the lay out of OHP’s stage means that it takes a long time to get that number of people on and into position for what are often very short scenes – the whole laborious concept is far too fussy. Full marks, thought, for their beautiful, elegant Downton Abbey-esque costumes – in brown, terracotta, amber, burgundy and orange; like warm old bricks.

Kat’a Kabanova doesn’t  seem to get as many outings these days as Cunning Little Vixen or Jenufa and that’s a pity because it’s an interesting piece worth exploring. Well done Opera Holland Park for the usual imaginative programming.

Garsington Opera at Wormsley, 11 July 2017

When John Cox’ production of Figaro was first seen at the old Garsington House I reported then that it was the finest I had ever seen and this revival entirely endorses my original opinion. Every move, every entry is entirely justified and logical. Every passed note, every aside, is true to the narrative and in character. When this is wedded to Douglas Boyd’s enthusiastic and limpid conducting, and a sense of flow which carries all before it, it cannot fail.

Thankfully the singers are more than up to the challenge of the production. Joshua Bloom is a rough-diamond Figaro, vocally assertive, and it is easy to see him moving smoothly into a position as a leader of the revolutionary movements which underpin the story. His aprite un po quegli occhi is positively vicious and it is only the strength of Jennifer France’s Susanna that can match him to take on the nobility.

Duncan Rock is a dangerously smooth Count, the voice forthright and powerful, and the personality untrustworthy. He may be forgiven twice but we doubt it will be the end of his libertine ways. Kirsten MacKinnon is a young countess with hints of the younger self we know from the Barber of Seville. This works well and allows that she is naïve, even if she is learning all too quickly how to cope with Almaviva.

Janis Kelly is a superb Marcellina, alive to the nuances of the role and a fine foil to Stephen Richardson’s relaxed Bartolo. The third act recognition/reconciliation scene was magnificent and we see the forces of the bourgeoisie coming together against the wiles of the aristocracy.

There were no weaknesses across the rest of the cast and Marta Fontanals-Simmons proved to be the most convincing Cherubino I can recall.

The settings by Robert Perdziola transfer well to the new venue and there is a lovely conceit for the final act. In the old house this had used the terrace itself, with an entrance from the house stage right and the steps down into the garden on the left. This was reconstructed for Wormsley, with the familiar triple arches at the back and the garden pillars to one side. A lovely tough which worked well both sides of the foot-lights.

The chorus was as enthusiastic as it always is at Garsington, and the orchestra – particularly the fine continuo section – was at its best, despite one of the wettest evenings this summer.

Given the downpour when I visited for Pelleas and now again for Figaro there are concerns that I bring the rain with me! Hopefully the community opera at the end of the season will prove them wrong.

Royal Festival Hall, 1 July 2017

In recent years we have encountered many stagings of oratorio – the Bach Passions, Handel’s Messiah, Verdi’s Requiem – but this was the first time I can recall a presentation of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. I say presentation advisedly as this was not a staged event so much as an ambient creation to heighten our involvement and understanding. In this it was remarkably successful. Rather than trying to create an alternative narrative or simply aping the text, Lucy Carter gave us a (literally) moving light scape which reflected the moods and places of the text without ever becoming too literal.

The photo describes the setting far more easily than I can, with the lines of strips of pin-point lights positioned high above us in sets of triangles. If this was a Trinitarian reflection it was very successful!

Together with a slight haze of smoke theses created an every shifting environment which moved us effortlessly from the solid realities of the earth to the heavenly realm without ever forcing the mind to accept the unacceptable.  If the changes sometime seemed too fast, look, next time you are in a cathedral, at the speed with which the light coming through the top windows changes the internal ambience of the building – it is remarkably rapid!

It reminded me of the directions Wagner gives for the transitions in Parsifal, where one scene simply becomes another without any apparent change taking place. I’d love to see Lucy Carter working on Wagner!

ENO understandably brought us operatic voices which were entirely appropriate for Simone Young’s approach to the score. Gwyn Hughes Jones is a muscular, and very obviously Welsh, Gerontius, who gave us many insightful moments. With a strong will I sever was just that, and there was a real heroism about In thine own agony.  Most telling was the radiant joy of Take me away – no pain here but exultation in salvation realised. A wonderful moment.

Patricia Bardon gave us a genuinely contralto Angel with the rich fullness Elgar certainly intended and a warmth for the Angel’s farewell which has become ever rarer today. Matthew Rose was in exemplary voice as the Priest and Angel of the Agony. After his King Marke it would be good to hear him in Parsifal soon.

The combined choruses of ENO and the BBC singers made a strong impact if limited in numbers. Elgar is writing for much larger choral forces and there were times when one could have wished for a larger body of sound, particularly in Praise to the Holiest. However the clarity of the text for most of the evening impressed.

The orchestra was dramatically alive throughout and Simon Young brought an emotional intensity to her reading of the score which some traditional forces lack or turn into sentimentality.

ENO is evolving in its approach to its repertoire. This was a most promising development which we hope will continue.