Death in Venice - ENO, 24 May 2007
Standing in the centre of the above pic is the real star of tonight's production, lighting designer Jean Kalman. With sparsely furnished sets, conjuring up the magic of La Serenissima largely fell to him. Ripples of light traversing the entire stage like reflections in a pool were a recurring effect. Sulphurous yellow fog, a bold orange sunrise, threatening shadows came and went. Without his brilliant effects there would have been nothing much to look at except a bunch of chairs. Speaking of which - I hadn't registered in the dress rehearsal how cleverly the seating was used. Poor frail-looking Ian Bostridge was on stage for pretty much the whole opera. But he regularly plonked himself down in the conveniently-placed chair which found its way into most scenes, helping himself to the artfully worked-in drink, and even a couple of cigs.
Bostridge's performance was the highlight, as it had to be. His singing was absolutely faultless. As the repressed, frustrated Aschenbach struggling to escape his creative block, his portrayal was perfectly pitched, and free of the physical mannerisms which can dog his work. His moustache was a masterly touch - it made it easier to believe we were looking at someone other than Bostridge, even if it failed to make him look older as I believe was intended. It was partly the strength of his performance which made Peter Coleman-Wright's Traveller fade a little further into the background than maybe he should have, though he was a great deal livelier than he had been at the dress rehearsal, and camped up the more comic characters deliciously. Iestyn Davies was the other great singer, a lush, sweet countertenor in the Robin Blaze mould.
Edward Gardner's (below) official conducting debut couldn't have gone better. The gamelan-esque percussion in particular was terrific, and the energy levels never seemed to drop. I was sitting right behind him at the front (and STILL only managed to get cr@p fuzzy photos, o my trembling hands). His light economical style wasn't hugely exciting to watch, but then only about five people outside the pit could see that, so it was hardly the point.
Fashion notes - defying the summery temperatures, director Deborah Warner wore a long black asymmetric dress and jacket with knee boots. Fiona Shaw looked more seasonal in a grey cotton jersey gathered waist dress with flat strappy sandals. Saffron Burrows was massively glamorous in a dark green sleeveless gathered grecian-type dress, again with the flat strappy sandals. Leader of the opposition Tony Pappano was accessorised with the lovely Mrs Tony and said hello to everyone. The best dressed though was a random femme d'un certain age in a Gucci butterfly print silk dress with matching scarf, shoes and headband.
The cast for a change actually looked better than the audience, in their elegant monochrome edwardian style clothes:
Recent Comments