Friday 14 June, 2013

Deborah Warner’s production of Britten’s Death in Venice was in many ways an obvious choice for the Britten centenary. Not only is it a remarkably fine and moving performance in its own right but the work encapsulates so many of the concerns which troubled Britten throughout his composing career.

The misty, dissolving settings by Tom Pye and the charged atmospheric lighting of Jean Kalman are an essential part of the production, the black screens and voids reminding us constantly of the presence of death even when the distant vista is stunningly luminous.

Within this dark world, John Graham-Hall’s Aschenbach is ever present, his tortured body gradually decaying as the opera unfolds. From the very first moments we know there is no hope for him, but we follow him to his inevitable end. That we do so easily and sympathetically is a tribute not only to the exceptional quality of his characterisation but also to Britten’s writing which never sentimentalises. Andrew Shore brings the stream of baritone vignettes to life without exaggeration, and there is a fine Apollo from Tim Mead.

The young male dancers are superb throughout, with Kim Brandstrup’s choreography flowing effortlessly out of the stage movement. If Sam Zaldivar’s Tadzio seems rather older than the score implies this in no way undermines the emotional turmoil for Aschenbach.

Edward Gardner handles the score with limpid charm, and it was a tribute to the balance of voices and orchestra that the performance was given without sur-titles and without any lack of impact for the text. While welcoming sur-titles in most cases it was a pleasure here to concentrate fully on the stage action rather than the necessary distancing effect which glancing at sur-titles involves.

John Graham Hall has come a long way since Albert Herring, and is surely now one of the finest interpreters of Britten alive today. BH