London Coliseum, 8 November 2019

There will many of us who can still remember the Sadlers Wells Orpheus with Eric Shilling as Jupiter. It is not just an old man’s memory to say it still lives on in its froth and vitality – the very facets this new ENO staging seems to lack. Only Alex Otterburn’s wonderfully effusive Pluto comes anywhere near the enthusiasm and level of communication the work needs if it is to succeed. This is not to say it is poorly sung. Much of the musical side is fine with Mary Bevan a beautiful Eurydice and Alan Oke splendid in the small but essential role of John Styx. But Emma Rice’s staging tries too hard and seems to consistently miss the mark.  The vast 1930s swimming pool set in the first half inhibits movement, reducing singers to constantly climbing up and down stairs, while the chorus mooch about in a straight line across the front. Any sense of character development or relationship is only primitively sketched in. The newly adapted text is often quite witty, particularly in the hands of Alex Otterburn, but the approach fails to hang together to create of pleasing whole.

Stalwarts of the quality of Willard White, Anne-Marie Owens and Judith Howarth are wasted when they are given so little to do, or what they do do seems inappropriate. Unusually, Sian Edwards conducting seemed often on the pedestrian side where it could have been uplifting. It was not simply the tempi, which were fine, but a lack of dynamism.

Now midway through the Orpheus cycle we have had one dubious and one disappointment. Let us hope the Birtwhistle and Glass can make up for it.

Glyndebourne Tour: Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury

Last month my granddaughter, aged 8, saw this production at Glyndebourne. It was her first opera but she was well prepared because the company had done some outreach work in her Brighton primary school (Hurrah!). She was thrilled with the production and having now seen it I can see why. It is huge fun and immaculately well staged and sung.

The oblique frontage to Adina’s house provided by Les Brotherston’s set leaves plenty of room to accommodate the large and fine chorus which Donizetti’s score makes more use of than earlier composers such as Mozart.

Nardus Williams is terrific as the attractive but hard-to-get Adina wanted in marriage by two men, one of whom is a cad (Matthew Durkan – good) and the other is clearly the one she should have (Sehoon Moon of whom more anon). Her top notes soar, her emotional control is excellent and her duets are delightful.

Moon (tenor) is boyish and very appealing dramatically. And his last famous aria, over harp and clarinet, just before Adina finally sees sense is the showstopper it should be. All in all his is a very memorable performance.

Also outstanding is Misha Kiria as the Dr Dulcamara – all those fabulous bass patter songs unfurled at high speed with clarity and insouciant panache. He looks comical too because he dwarfs everyone else.

Much of this performance reminded me of a comment made by Michael Berkeley in his recent Private Passions with psychotherapist, Philippa Perry on Radio 3. He explained to her that traditionally, before the mid nineteenth century, almost every emotion in opera was expressed in a vibrant 3/4 rhythm, (oom-pa-pa). This show is almost a case study to prove his point which is partly why it swings along so cheerfully.

I was delighted to see lots of very engaged school parties at the matinee I attended. Ironically what, I suspect, most of them will remember most is the performance by mime artist, Maxine Nourissat as Dr Dulcamara’s assistant, Puck to the other man’s Oberon. It’s a non-singing part but he commands the stage for every second he’s on it whether he’s dancing, prancing, twitching, gesturing, “talking” with his very expressive hands or twirling an umbrella in the colours of the Italian flag.

Susan Elkin

CBSO, Birmingham Symphony Hall, 7 November 2019

Since it first opened I have always though the Symphony Hall the finest acoustic in the country for large scale choral works and so it proved once again for a magnificent performance of Elijah this week. Kazuki Yamada brings a dramatic realism to his interpretation, combined with the subtlest of musical nuances, so that the combination is thrilling. There is clarity throughout – many orchestral passages sparkle with the lucidity of the writing – while the constant ebb and flow of the musical line heightens the intensity of the experience.

Yamada is not afraid of the extrovert impact of the score, with the Baal choruses and Be not afraid as heart on sleeve as one could wish, while the gentle uplift of Lift thine eyes is floated effortlessly into the open spaces of the hall.

The CBSO chorus were on fine form, with incisive accuracy and a real sense of enthusiasm, combined with immediate response to their conductor’s wishes. The CBSO itself lives up to its international reputation and it is always worth coming to Birmingham to hear them on their home turf.

They were also blessed on this occasion with outstanding soloists. Matthew Brook proved to be surely the finest exponent of Elijah at present available. Not only does he sing the part with exemplary beauty but he brings a dramatic dynamism to it which is utterly convincing. Where there is a move to stage oratorios today, a performance of this quality makes any extra staging quite unnecessary. Karen Cargill was certainly his match, bringing beauty of line to O rest in the Lord while giving us one of the nastiest Jezebel’s I can recall! The change in tonality and rasp was particularly impressive. If the other two soloists don’t have quite the same scope Robert Murray showed the lyricism he can bring to If with all your heart and Keri Fuge was a moving widow.

Elijah can too easily be dismissed as an old war-horse trotted out to fill a choral gap. Done like this one can only thrill at the experience – and we still have Gerontius to come!