Royal Opera
April 2009
Acis and Galatea was performed as the second in a double bill with Dido and Aeneas. Dido has been brilliantly reviewed by Barry, so do go along and read his comments. I’m afraid I pretty much agree with his views that the operas do not make a completely successful pairing – it would have been nice if this review offered an alternative opinion – but, as Barry says, it’s always great to see a staged performance of these works.
The ENO will perform Dido and Aeneas as part of their 2009-10 season. They have paired it with Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring, which seems like quite a contrast, so it will be very interesting to see that. I heard The Rite of Spring on a Met broadcast several years ago in a triple bill with two Stravinsky operas, Le rossignol and Oedipus Rex. Oedipus Rex was performed last, and I felt it was actually the better-sung of the two operas (the excellent Robert Gambill sang the title role), but I was suffering from Stravinsky overload by then. The ballet plus one opera, or the two operas without the ballet would have worked a lot better. But one Stravinsky ballet plus Dido and Aeneas? I really don’t know what to think of that, but I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Getting back to Acis and Galetea, it’s a lovely work, a mostly happy piece with a sad end, but to me there’s something quite gentle about it - even the murdering monster Polyphemus isn’t that terrifying. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Christopher Hogwood, played beautifully – you know when music just has that Handelian ‘feel’? - and I thought the dance element worked a lot better than in Dido and Aeneas. It suited the style of the music, and the dancers had a part to play in the action: all the characters in the opera were played both by a singer and a dancer. Mara Galeazzi and Rupert Pennefather danced the title roles touchingly, and I had no trouble believing they were the same characters as those played by the singers.
Danielle de Niese is a young singer of great promise, and she does have a great affinity for Handel. She is also very beautiful, as every reviewer seems to mention – before they get onto the subject of whether she can sing or not. Her voice is beautiful too. But it is quite a light voice, and her voice often sounded quite pushed in her attempts fill the auditorium at the Royal Opera House, and even then she was rather underpowered. As Barry said, the Linbury Studio would have been better suited to the intimacy of both operas, and would have served de Niese’s talents better too. It would also have helped if she hadn’t been asked to wear that silly blonde wig. But her playful Galatea was charmingly acted, and when she danced at the end, not all the Primi Divi realised it was de Niese dancing and not Galeazzi.
Acis was sung by Charles Workman, who has been criticised by many, but I thought his smooth, light tenor was ideal for the role and he also looked very handsome. Matthew Rose, a former Young Artist, did well as Polyphemus – he was convincing as the violent, unattractive monster (not that Rose himself is unattractive), but it was easy to feel some sympathy for him. He sang with an extra darkness and richness to his voice that suited the character well, although it didn’t really sound like a conventional early music voice. But it was great to see him returning to the ROH in such an important role. Current Young Artist Ji-Min Park, who also appeared as the Sailor in Dido and Aeneas, also sang very well as Coridon, although again he’s better-suited to heavier repertoire.
Paul Agnew didn’t give the role of Damon a great deal of character, but, as it common in many of Handel’s smallest roles, he didn’t have much to work with. But the many critics who agreed with Hairy that the Scottish tenor produced the most beautiful and typically Handelian singing of the evening definitely had a point.
Cunning Little Vixen
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