English National Opera

24th June

That the ENO’s production of Ariodante was something of a disappointment is, perhaps, not so much a testament to the poor quality of the production (in fact, it was rather good) than to the high standard of so much of this season. A season usually has high points and low points, with extensive middle altitudes that are still at least worth the price of one’s ticket. The ENO, this year, has been on mostly high ground: The Magic Flute, The Carmelites, Xerxes, Billy Budd, Orfeo, Nixon in China and even The Mikado and Madam Butterfly, both far from my personal favourites, have been exceptional. It is possible that Ariodante was only disappointing by their standards.

However, some of the problem could be due to the work itself. I do not consider Handel’s opera to be, on the whole, lacking in drama, but Ariodante does seem surprisingly slow and lacking in activity. It is not as though the ENO are incapable of putting on a good production of a Handel opera. On the contrary: their Xerxes, Semele and Julius Caesar have been exceptional; if their Jephtha was less so, this is likely to be because it was not intended for the stage, and it is probably extremely difficult, if not impossible, to create a staged production which is visually satisfactory.

Ariodante, too, seemed to suffer as a visual piece. While some of Ian MacNeil’s designs are quite captivating, and the window at the back of the stage, in which other scenes can take place, was not ineffective, there just didn’t seem to be enough for the singers to do. And this is not a group of singers that usually has problems in that regard.

The title role was taken by Alice Coote, a mezzo of whom I have found it difficult to form a strong opinion simply because she so often cancels her engagements. Her radio broadcasts, which have included Cherubino at the Met and the Composer Ariadne auf Naxos at WNO, have been somewhat underwhelming, but radio broadcasts are not always a good guide on which to base an asssessment of a singer’s performance. However, Ariodante finally offered an opportunity to hear Miss Coote at her best, and that best is impressive. Nothing in this technically challenging role appeared to faze her, and her masculine body language was so effective that I spent the first act under the impression she was a counter tenor. If she did not give much sense of Ariodante’s personality, it is entirely possible that this is a fault in the opera, rather than in Miss Coote’s performance, although personality is not something that ever came through strongly on her radio broadcasts either.

The leading female role of Ginevra was sung by Rebecca Evans. As Hairy McMungo pointed out in his (p)review, Miss Evans seems to have changed from a very good singer of light, secondary soprano roles into a leading lyric soprano whose performances are magnificent in every sense. After a slightly shrill start, her voice was warm and beautiful. However, Ginevra does seem also to be sadly lacking in character. She was full of emotions, all admirably portayed, but there seemed to be nothing in her personality which a good performer can bring her to life as they can when portraying Rodelinda, Alcina or Cleopatra.

Sarah Tynan sang as sweetly as ever as Dalinda, but was unable to bring the same charm to this role as she has brought to many other roles, including Atalanta Xerxes and Iphis Jephtha. Patricia Bardon, in the trouser role of Lurcano, produced even more of a countertenorial tone than Alice Coote. As far as her singing was concerned, it was an excellent performance, but the director would be well advised to refrain from asking his characters to give false evil laughs. Miss Bardon could have been a lot worse in this regard, but this is Handel, not a cartoon programme.

Unusually, for Handel, this opera has two tenor roles: Lurcanio, who was smoothly sung by Paul Nilon, and Odoardo, sung by the very promising Nicholas Watts. However, it was the bass Peter Rose, in the role of the King of Scotland, who took the honours in all respects. He was hardly on the stage, but his powerful presence lingered long in the memory. His voice was not only warm and attractive, but every word was comprehensible. Let us see more of this great bass.

Barry Tone

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk