Intermezzo

Purcell a la francaise

Purcell's King Arthur - Hervé Niquet / Le Concert Spirituel - Barbican, 6 May 2009

I am not as a rule too fond of Purcell's operas, but how can you resist one that features a character with the X-Men-esque name of Cold Genius?

Thanks partly to a well thought-out semi-staging (a distillation of a full staging the ensemble have performed elsewhere), this presentation was considerably less po-faced and reverential than some. The Cold Genius and Cold Chorus wrapped themselves up in woolly hats and scarves - as did the conductor - to be thawed out by the warmth of Cupid's love and Purcell's startlingly avant garde chromatic programme music. And the final act's peasant chorus and harvest celebration was delivered in convincing Zummerzet accents - even by the (French) chorus.

With its copious spoken dialogue relegated to a brief summary in the programme on the eminently sensible grounds that people come to a concert to hear music, it was concise and snappy too. The evening just sped along.

What the Frenchies of Hervé Niquet's period ensemble Le Concert Spirituel lacked in finesse, they made up for in spirit and enthusiasm. Even more impressive than the instrumentalists were the chorus, whose English pronunciation was crisp and faultless. Niquet himself doesn't so much conduct as mime the action like a bonkers Marcel Marceau, carrying all along with him.

The multi-parted soloists Susan Gritton, Anders Dahlin, James Gilchrist, Andrew Foster-Williams and Deborah York were all more than capable - though like the band their enthusiasm left a few rough edges in its wake. Gilchrist and Foster-Williams made their mark with strong characterisations in the comic roles of Comus and Cold Genius. These ultimately had more impact than the limpid charms of the supposed soprano show-stopper, Fairest isle - a reflection of Niquet's mischievous flair for making this 300 year old music speak to a modern audience.

 

 

Dido and Aeneas and Acis and Galatea and Wayne ----- now UPDATED with photos

Dido and Aeneas / Acis and Galatea - Royal Opera House, 31 March 2009

It was uncharacteristically brave of the Royal Opera House to unleash a choreographer (Wayne McGregor) and the forces of the Royal Ballet on a pair of operas, but it turned out to be a surprisingly successful experiment.

Perhaps not so brave, actually - his Dido and Aeneas had already aired at La Scala. It was the less bold of the two, conventionally staged against a minimal, monumental set, with precisely-drilled dancers doing little more than filling in the gaps between the singing. That it never really got up any steam dramatically is a problem lying partly with Purcell's now fragmentary score, much of which has been lost over the centuries. But the dancing, which could have been used to paste the scraps together, instead seemed to emphasise the disjunctions.

But there was some fine singing, especially from Sarah Connolly as the tragic Queen Dido and Lucy Crowe as her spirited maid Belinda. Iestyn Davies made an impressive Covent Garden debut too, singing sweetly from above through the hole in the roof. Eri Nakamura and Pumeza Matshikiza made a striking pair of conjoined-twin witches - a coup de théâtre that unfortunatly served mostly to emphasise the dry formalism of all around it.

The way Christopher Hogwood and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment fleshed out the score emphasised the sheer originality in Purcell's writing.

Tunes were more to the fore in Acis and Galatea - which includes some of his best ones, like Love in her eyes sits playing, Love sounds th’alarm and the charmingly silly Happy we!

The simple pastoral nymph-meets-shepherd tale was garnished with stuffed sheep and tangled branches, and some all-too-rustic singing as well. The title roles grated under the foghorn tenor of Charles Workman and Danielle de Niese's unwieldy vibrato. Matthew Rose as Polyphemus and Paul Agnew as Damon coped with Handel's demands far more gracefully.

But why couldn't the ROH use British singers for the principal roles too?  - it's not as if they're thin on the ground. Kate Royal not only sings ten times better than de Niese, she's an accomplished dancer too - and the list of great English tenors, starting with John Mark Ainsley and Mark Padmore, just goes on and on.

Perhaps it was just as well that the dance element was more prominent in this half of the evening. Each singing role, including the chorus, had a dancing double, a soul perhaps, expressing the feeling behind the words. Dancing Acis and Galatea (Ed Watson and Lauren Cuthbertson) entwined in sinuous and utterly entrancing pas-de-deux. Behind the lumbering Polypheme was his exquisitely graceful alter-ego Eric Underwood. The dancers' nudey body stockings - part alien, part newborn - emphasised both their vulnerability and their other-worldliness.

It was all too easy to forget this was an opera and concentrate on the movement - more fluid and literally expressive than McGregor's other work, but stamped with his trademark quirky articulations. It was certainly more compelling than the curiously static singers and their fugly costumes (drag-queen Heidi for de Niese, shaggy tramp for Workman). De Niese did at least redeem herself in a beautifully-executed closing dance with Ed Watson, an emphatic reminder that this production is at heart a dance piece with singing tacked on.

 

~~~~~~~~~Click below for lots more photos~~~~~~~~~

Lucy Crowe wins Barbican Baroqueathon

Les Musiciens du Louvre / Minkowski - Barbican, 18 January 2009

Marc Minkowski brought his Musiciens du Louvre to the Barbican on Sunday night  to celebrate St Cecilia, patron saint of music and itchy underwear, in the form of choral works by three 2009 anniversarians. Handel set Dryden's Ode for St Cecilia's Day and Purcell a knockoff by Nicholas Brady. Haydn squeezes in on a technicality; his Missa Cellensis acquired the name Missa Sanctae Caeciliae some time after composition.

The Olympian scale endurance event sprawled over nearly four hours of Sunday evening - something the Barbican omitted to mention in advance, or even in the programme as they usually do. For baroque opera regulars, it was a breeze, but not everyone lasted the course. Purcell alone was enough to empty a few seats, and the press pack were amongst the late casualties who skipped the extended encore.

I'm generally not that keen on Purcell, but Hail Bright Cecilia shows him at his most inventive, with the 'warbling lute' , the 'am'rous flute' and all the other instruments descriptively scored. Minkowski's band played vibrantly - he's no historical authoritarian.

There was some immaculate solo singing, particularly from tenor Anders Dahlin - a true haute-contre - and the peaches and cream soprano of Lucy Crowe, fairy-like in a glittering duck egg blue mermaid gown. A couple of the soloists, countertenor David Bates and bass-baritone Neil Baker, were drawn from the choir, and their excellent performances were indicative of the high choral standard overall. The only complaint is that what seemed a deliberate attempt not to over-enunciate consonants made porridge of some of the text.

A haunting solo cello introduction set the tone for some fearless and spirited Handel. As with Purcell, the text inspires some vivid writing. Richard Croft relished the military insistence of the double, double, double beat in The trumpet's loud clangour. Lucy Crowe held the whole house in pindrop silence with the poised and plangent The soft complaining flute.

There was only time for the Kyrie and Gloria of Haydn's mass on the programme, though no doubt Minkowski would happily have given us the whole lot. Written just seven years after Handel's death, it seems a lifetime apart in its assured classicism, and Minkowski subtly but decisively switched gears to highlight this. There was not a hint of fatigue from him or from any of the performers.

Interrupting the applause to offer 'the best' of the remaining parts, he launched into a twenty minute chunk of the Credo. The stately and thinly-scored Et incarnatus est for tenor solo turned out to be Richard Croft's finest moment of the night.

The concert was recorded for broadcast on Radio 3 on 21 January - though with only 2 1/4 hours scheduled something will have to give.

**UPDATE** - the Haydn will be broadcast separately on Radio 3 Sat 24th Jan, at 7.45pm (thx Graeme at the BBC for that information).

And Lucy Crowe has a solo recital at Wigmore Hall on 22 February.

Kate Royal - too hot to Handel

Prom 52: OAE/Freiburg Baroque Orchestra - Royal Albert Hall, 23 August 2007

Quite how this concert managed to sell out when a few days ago one of the greatest operas ever written could barely half-fill the hall is a mystery. Can baroque really be that popular now?

Perhaps some other people, like me, were mostly interested in hearing Ian Bostridge and Kate Royal, even though their appearance was really more of a swift marketing boost for Bostridge's latest recording than a major part of the programme. There was certainly a noticeable exodus from the arena at the interval, following their all too brief 10 minute share of the two and a half hour marathon.

Singers aside, the selling point of this concert was the bringing together of two of the great period orchestras, the Freiburg Baroque and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, albeit in trimmed-down versions of each.

The opening number, Handel's Concerto a due cori, requires two instrumental ensembles. It was a smart bit of programming that demonstrated the subtle differences of timbre between the two bands, most noticeable in the wind and brass. The OAE's Rachel Podger (photo above) directed this from her violin with a permagrin and a hair-tossing vigour that was reflected in a muscular performance from the ensemble.

They followed up with a suite of nine Purcell numbers selected and arranged by Catherine Mackintosh of the OAE, and again directed by Rachel Podger. Although this kicked off with much the same brio as the Handel, the ensemble noticeably deflated about halfway through. They autopiloted for an interminable ten minutes until a comically raw closing jig jolted things back into life.

As the wholesomely glamorous Kate Royal strode on in a ruched silver satin off the shoulder gown, like Kate Middleton doing Rita Hayworth, the teenage girl behind me sighed --oh my god I want to BE her. She did look fabulous. And she delivered Handel's brief Eternal source of light divine with a silvery radiance and great charm. She does breathe like a horse, but nobody's perfect, eh?

Ian Bostridge followed with an impeccable Love Sounds th'alarm, sparkling and vital, every tricky note perfect.  Kate Royal sat glowering into her score as he sang - rehearsing faces for her next number rather than commenting on his performance as it transpired.

Royal and Bostridge then paired for As Steals the Morn and Happy We, the former exquisitely sensitive, the quaint humour of the latter so excruciatingly misjudged I couldn't even look at them as they sang. Despite this little slip, I could have readily listened to them for a lot longer. It was disappointing that their appearance was so brief.

I didn't stay for the rest of the concert - some Telemann, Handel's ubiquitous Royal Fireworks music - though listening to the recorded broadcast, it sounds as if it was no great loss.

Coming up this autumn - Opera in London

Plenty going on of course at the Royal Opera House this autumn, and here's what's happening elsewhere in London.

English National Opera kick off their season at the end of September with a new Carmen. They follow with a revival of Nicholas Hytner's charming Magic Flute, Kate Royal and Lucy Crowe in a new production of Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, a Zandra Rhodes-designed Aida from Houston Grand Opera and a David McVicar Turn of the Screw.

Sadler's Wells once again play host to a few one-offs and touring productions. Sarah Tynan features in a pair of one-act operas by Elisabeth Maconchy on 13 to 17 November. She's back on 26 November for the London premiere of a new James McMillan opera for WNO, The Sacrifice, inspired by ancient Welsh folktales. Glyndebourne on tour visit Sadler's Wells in December with Albert Herring, Macbeth (recently prommed too) and L'Elisir d'Amore.

English Touring Opera hit Hackney Empire on 12 October with Handel's Teseo followed by Country Matters, an English-language version of Haydn's L'Infidelta Delusa on 13 October. They're back on 25 October with Bridgetower, a new jazz opera by Julian Joseph. ETO may not have the star names or the big budgets, but they still manage to conjure up some high quality productions at very reasonable prices, so these will definitely be on my list.

Some musical muppetry for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where Purcell's Dido and Aeneas "is expanded and reinvigorated by Director Tim Carroll, who weaves Marlowe's play of the same events into the opera, while the action is illuminated by a cast of magical marionettes". Two performances, on 13 and 14 October (note ETO fixture clash).

And the OAE are back for a rare concert performance of Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri in the Royal Festival Hall on 7 December. "Not an opera" according to Schumann, who titled it a 'poem' and described it as "not for the chapel, but rather for cheerful folk." Cheerful folk joining the OAE include Simon Rattle and a solid cast of Bernarda Fink, Sally Matthews, Kate Royal and Mark Padmore.

Again the OAE have a schedule overlap, this time with the Barbican's Billy Budd on 7 and 9 December, featuring Nathan Gunn as Billy and Ian Bostridge. In sharp contrast to the Royal Festival Hall's increasingly greedy ticket prices, this is a great bargain, with the top price just £30 and loads of balcony seats at £6 and £12.

The Barbican also hosts Les Arts Florissants on 24 October with Landi's Il Sant'Alessio, featuring Philippe Jaroussky in the title role.

Back at the Royal Festival Hall, the LPO have secured the services of the radiant Patrizia Ciofi for a concert performance of Bellini's rarely-heard La Straniera on 3 November .

And the LPO present another concert performance on 21 November, this time the UK premiere of Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane. Tickets are already getting thin for this. For the Korngold-ignorant (raises hand) there's a free talk beforehand by Jessica Duchen.

Fab (ish) Four celebrate OAE's 21st in historically informed style

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment 21st Birthday Concert - Royal Festival Hall, 30 June 2007

Purcell Suite from Welcome to all the Pleasures & Now does the glorious day appear
Rameau Suite from Dardanus
Mozart Concerto in E flat for 2 pianos, K.365
Haydn Symphony No.63
Weber Der Freischütz - Act II Finale (The Wolf's Glen)
Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks

It's not often you get four top conductors in one night, but the 21st birthday concert of the OAE merited something special. The fab four in question were Mark Elder, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Charles Mackerras and Sir Roger Norrington, and their magical mystery tour was broad reaching enough to show many facets of the orchestra's capabilities.

But even the fabbest of fours has a Ringo, and tonight it was Sir Roger Norrington, who took the first section. Although the orchestra and particularly the chorus bounced through the Purcell, directed by Richard Egarr from the harpsichord, well enough, it was marred by some below-par solo singing. Only counter tenor Robin Blaze really did it any credit. John Mark Ainsley and David Wilson-Johnson were barely audible, and Ainsley simply didn't hit all the notes right. The Rameau suite which followed was sluggish and uninspired, Rameau's sparkle and wit completely buried.

In between the Purcell and Rameau a video birthday message from Sir Simon Rattle was aired on a big screen above the stage. Unfortunately it was so brightly lit as to be nearly invisible (unlike the left hand side of the auditorium, which remained in total darkness all night despite audience complaints).  Further videos later on were similarly whited out. Surely the RFH has had long enough to sort out its technical problems by now?

After Norrington had taken his leave, Mozart's Here's One I Knocked Off In My Sleep was directed from the keyboards (tonight, fortepianos) by Richard Egarr and Robert Levin. This was another problematical item, and not only because of the less than inspired writing (with all the wonderful Mozart there is to choose from, why pick something this dull?). The fortepianos duly demonstrated why they were dinosaured out by the pianoforte, their close, muffled sound completely inadequate to fill an auditorium this size. Egarr and Levin tossed their hair and flung their arms, smirking and winking across the keyboards as if there was no audience apart from each other, to the expense of a very noticeable error from Levin. Their flippancy underlined their (understandable) lack of regard for the material - so again, why not choose something else to play? There's a place for self indulgence, but it's not in front of a paying audience. No wonder Sir Roger Norrington, sitting a few rows in front of me for this one, carried on talking to his companion over the opening bars, something I now plan to do next time I catch one of his concerts.

I really thought the whole evening was going to be a waste of time, and then Vladimir Jurowski bounded onto the stage like a frisky puppy and dug straight into the Haydn. The atmosphere and the orchestra were totally and immediately transformed. Though really this is far from Haydn's finest moment, Jurowski invested it with so much colour, vigour and drama that for a moment it seemed like the greatest thing ever written. I hereby pledge my soul to his LPO - he is simply the most exciting conductor in London right now.

Jurowski was a hard act to follow, but Mark Elder nearly topped him with a splendidly performed extract from Der Freischütz. Singers Clive Bayley and Philip Langridge gave an ingenious semi-staged performance, where the lights were dimmed and the orchestra became a forest for them to pick their way through. Weber's brilliant and imaginative orchestration came thrillingly to life, all its bizarre corners and lush drama stunningly displayed. A performance so inspiring it made me want to rush out and listen to the whole opera from start to finish.

It was left to Sir Charles Mackerras to end the evening with Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. Delivered in appropriately celebratory style, its bang-crash-wallop wound things up on a high note.