English National Opera

4th December 2007

The sets were big; the costumes were grand, and the production was sold out. It also contained some of the best singing of the season. However, I’d expected the best singing to come from a different quarter entirely. Like from the singers in the leading roles.

Zandra Rhodes’ designs were very beautiful and very ingenious. If you went to this opera with ear plugs, you would probably have a great time just watching everything. And I say that as someone who has always struggled to appreciate an art gallery. Maybe the elephant was a bit over the top, and something more like the one in The Lion King would have been more successful, but you have to admire the way they take it apart and put it together – not that an elephant should really be treated thus – and all with the minimum of fuss. All the elaborate sets found their way onto the stage and off again very easily.

But the singing – some of the singing was a bit of a problem. John Hudson sounded like he shouldn’t have been attempting the role of Radames. Although I have never particularly admired his voice, I have never left one of his performances without hearing a comment on his great vocal beauty. Until now. He was most likely indisposed, and almost certainly trying his best, but sometimes it’s better for the audience and better for your leading tenor’s voice to let the understudy go on instead. Hudson seemed mostly completely disengaged from the action, but that could be more to do with his indisposition than his acting skills.

I don’t know who was Hudson’s understudy, but it could have been Andrew Rees, a former ENO Young Singer who sang the tiny role of the Messenger, and produced some of the most beautiful singing of the evening. His voice would probably have made an impression in any production; as it was, he was one of the three vocal stars. I hope the ENO casts him in a leading role soon. Another former Young Singer, Sarah-Jane Davies, also made a very good impression as the Priestess. It’s a tiny role, and she sang from offstage, so she couldn’t help but be much quieter than is the norm in Verdi operas – but Davies and the Chorus all sounded gorgeous.

The roles of the Pharaoh of Egypt and the Chief Priest Ramfis were sung by two distinguished basses, Gwynne Howell and Brindley Sherratt. Both are regulars with the ENO, and both are capable of singing a lot better than they did at this performance. But maybe everyone had a throat infection. Possibly including the understudies.

Jane Dutton did at least succeed in doing what no other Amneris has: she was less likeable than the Aida. In fact she was a total bitch, and it is very much to Dutton’s credit that I did feel some sympathy for Amneris towards the end, although the effect was slightly marred by the fact that the presence of a large eye seemed to suggest that she was not in Egypt but in the Big Brother house. Another problem for Dutton was that her costume hampered any action that involved actually moving - and, while the harshness of her tone was probably related more to her efforts to sound evil than any lack of vocal beauty – some of her high notes were really lovely – it did get a bit wearing considering she had so much to sing. However, other than one or two moments that were decidedly over the top, her acting really was very good.

Aida was sung by Claire Rutter, another excellent actress. Like Dutton’s, her voice only ever became truly beautiful in the higher reaches, but it was really good to see an Aida with a bit of personality. Rutter looked very small, insecure and unhappy beside the regal Amneris, and, for once, I really liked Aida. While it wasn’t always easy to see why she loved Radames, there was no doubt that she did – and Rutter’s loving and sweet performance was somehow so believable, it was very easy to get caught up in her emotions and think that Radames actually was rather cute after all.

However, it was Iain Paterson, as Aida’s father, Amonasro, who stole the show, and, rightly, got the biggest cheers, despite having a comparatively small role. Paterson was at a disadvantage from the start: his voice was smaller than most of those in leading roles, and he had been given a somewhat ridiculous costume. But, with such a lovely voice and such an impressive and endearing command of the character, none of that mattered. Paterson (whom Barry thinks is another former Young Singer) is just an amazing performer. Amonasro could be little more than a plot device who accidentally hastens Aida and Radames’ tragic story to its conclusion. Here, he becomes a fourth leading character torn between his love for his daughter, and his love for the country of which he was the King. A great performance from one of Scotland’s finest singers.

So why am I giving it four stars? It wasn’t a great performance, and nice decorations shouldn’t really be enough to make it a great opera. But I enjoyed it, and that should probably be an opera house’s main aim. It’s probably better to put on a bad production that everyone loves than a great production that no-one likes. Opera houses are there to entertain people – and, with Aida, despite some fairly big problems with their leading singers, they succeeded.

Cunning Little Vixen

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk