{"id":2390,"date":"2015-07-04T08:15:01","date_gmt":"2015-07-04T07:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=2390"},"modified":"2015-07-04T08:15:01","modified_gmt":"2015-07-04T07:15:01","slug":"garsington-opera-death-in-venice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=2390","title":{"rendered":"Garsington Opera; Death in Venice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wormsley, 1 July 2015<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Death<\/a><\/p>\n

The vast drifting, billowing white curtains of Kevin Knight\u2019s setting create the perfect environment for Paul Curran\u2019s insightful and sensitive re-appraisal of Britten\u2019s final masterpiece. More than any recent production I can recall we are constantly made aware of Aschenbach\u2019s isolation. Though he is surrounded by the life of La Serenissima<\/i> it passes in an instant from sharp reality to hazy memory. There are many telling moments \u2013 the crowd reading the cholera notices, Tadzio walking past oblivious because distanced by the change of light through the curtain, hotel guests so close yet outside Aschenbach\u2019s world. More than anything else this puts the whole focus of the work firmly on Paul Nilon\u2019s Aschenbach and he brings us a man of intense humanity and passion, attempting to make sense of his creative life but always on the brink of collapse, just as life in Venice is itself about to go down under the tide of cholera. His voice has weight and a fragile authority which reflects the changes of mood with ease and the many moments of pain and exquisite beauty. It is the heart of the work but he is fortunate to be surrounded by so fine a company for the myriad of smaller parts.<\/p>\n

Because the work is conceived within a dreamlike world, the dancing seems to make a bigger impact. There is no sense of dream sequences, more a case of Aschenbach moving in and out of memory. As a consequence it is easier for us to take all the dancers seriously as a normal part of Aschenbach\u2019s world rather than an addition to it. In this Celestin Boutin is particularly successful as Tazio. He presents us with a very real young man \u2013 at least in his late teens \u2013 who is as open to a heterosexual interest in the Governess as he is to larking about with his friends. The very normality of his Tadzio makes Aschenbach\u2019s infatuation all the more striking.<\/p>\n

The other key performer is William Dazeley\u2019s shape-shifting Traveller, ever present to undermine Aschenbach\u2019s flights of fancy. His changes of costume and personality are subtle enough to confuse and accurate enough to combine all of them into the antagonist that Aschenbach finds so difficult to confront.<\/p>\n

\"Death<\/a><\/p>\n

The large cast of characters are drawn from strength and while many are necessarily rapidly pencilled stereotypes, the production manages to keep them convincingly naturalistic. As ever the Garsington Chorus provide fine voices and real presence.<\/p>\n

Holding the whole evening together is Steuart Bedford\u2019s masterly control of the glorious nuances of Britten\u2019s orchestral writing. He conducted the first performance in 1973 at a time when the composer was too ill to conduct himself. It was the only work to have been mounted without the direct involvement of the composer himself and in many ways has a closer association with Steuart Bedford than any other. Garsington Opera are privileged to have his experienced hand on the tiller for a production which, yet again, speaks of the growth of this company as far more than a summer opera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wormsley, 1 July 2015 The vast drifting, billowing white curtains of Kevin Knight\u2019s setting create the perfect environment for Paul Curran\u2019s insightful and sensitive re-appraisal of Britten\u2019s final masterpiece. More than any recent production I can recall we are constantly … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2393,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390\/revisions\/2393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}