Royal Opera House: Linbury Studio

6th September 2006

There are a lot of operas around that have made me want to cover my ears. Sometimes it’s the music; sometimes it’s just the singer. But when an opera fills you with an almost overwhelming desire to cover your ears within the first few bars, the heart sinks.

After an excrutiating beginning, Stuart McRae's The Assassin Tree did become more bearable, but then, it could hardly have got worse. It might have been more enjoyable if a few more of Simon Armitage's words had been audible – something that is usually less of a problem in the Linbury than in other venues. At least it was only an hour long. When I first found out the length, I felt rather cheated to discover that I was paying more for this one-act opera than I do for an opera three or four times the length in the main house. But I wasvery relieved when it came to an end. Perhaps Hairy McMungo is right, and I just don’t have enough Scot in me to appreciate it.

The set was dominated by a large tree that looked like an electricity pylon with TV cameras hanging from it. (These were actually lights.) I liked it, actually. There was also a pool of water in which poor old Paul Whelan’s Priest had to paddle and kneel. Why do so many opera companies insist on putting water on the stage? It is dangerous, and dangerous sets are always distracting, which is not what directors want at all. It was, however, rather amusing watching the wet footprints forming on the stage as Whelan took his curtain call.

The story was about Diana, and the various men who loved her. Apparently, she always has to have one man who adores her, which seems perfectly reasonable, but if he doesn’t love her enough, she gets herself some other bloke, which also seems reasonable. The programme notes chose not to reveal the plot; as the diction didn’t reveal it either, I’m really not sure what happened. The really worrying thing is that I don’t much care.

The voices weren’t too bad, considering I didn’t like what they were singing. Whelan sang brilliantly, in a dark, rich baritone. Gillian Keith was in very fine voice as Diana, confident in both the vocal and physical sides of the role. The tenors, Colin Ainsworth (Youth) and Peter van Hulle (Slave) were acceptable, but didn’t really grab my attention.

I think I will pay Hairy to write a review of this. It seems only fair.

Cunning Little Vixen

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk