Its been a while since my last blog - and while that's mostly because I haven't been to the opera since then, I also think I had an adverse reaction to the last new production I saw there (La Donna del Lago) which really made me quite depressed about the new productions being presented at Covent Garden.
So it was with a slight sense of apprehension that I made the journey to see Benajamin Britten's Gloriana - because if you're going to see a new production at ROH then why not ensure that you don't really know the music or the composer that well into the bargain - what could possibly go wrong?
As it turns out, very little.
Richard Jones' concept (such as it was) was to stage the whole opera as thought it were a performance set in a 1950's village hall in the presence of the young Queen Elizabeth II - a silent figure who bookended the performance. Various silent extras lurked around the periphery of the performance area playing directors, prompts, conductors and even a St John's Ambulance lady, which brought back memories. And yet all of this superfluous business never once intruded onto the real action taken place on stage. Granted you could also say 'then why bother?' But somehow it worked - at least for the main part. A rosy glow of double nostalgia permeated the whole colourful production - nostalgia for the relatively simple times of the 1950's and perhaps also a nostalgia for the times when England and her monarch were a force to be reckoned with?
So what, I hear you ask, makes this so much better than the concept of Donna del Lago, which was also surrounded by nostalgia - if a somewhat different one? I have no idea to be honest. Why does one directorial idea work and another does not? If pressed I would say that the Gloriana concept just fitted - it seemed entirely natural that we be watching this through the prism of the 1950's when the opera was composed and presented as a tribute to our current monarch. In contrast the Donna concept seemed forced and unnatural - at odds with the action taking place and more importantly with the music and libretto.
I suppose my only slight reservation regarding the 1950's framing device, is that it does impose another layer of artificiality over the action. We already know that these are singers merely playing their part, but now they are also (presumably) singers in the 1950's playing a part! However I will say that the cast were all fully committed and there was never a sense of not taking the Elizabethan drama seriously nor any 'am-dram' acting.
As to the music I must admit to being surprised and completely won over by Britten. Albert Herring has been my only other Britten experience and while I liked it, I didn't completely love it. This music was so beautiful and varied that by the end of the evening I was vowing never to neglect Britten again! A result surely and one of the (many) reasons I go to the opera.
The singing was good and the English text crisply delivered in most cases. Stand out performances for me were Tony Spence's lyrical Earl of Essex and Patricia Bardon's Countess of Essex. She displayed a fine rich mezzo which I'll definitely be looking out for in other productions. Susan Bullock as the Queen was more problematic for me. She is a committed artist for sure but she has a shrill edge to her voice in the upper register which on occasion made me wince. But she played the part with gusto and was wonderfully touching in the final scene.
All of the cast and the conductor Paul Daniels were quite rightly cheered to the rafters at curtain call and I can heartily recommend this opera to novice and experienced opera-goers alike. There are currently bargains to be had via various sources but I suspect once word gets out the seats will be snapped up. Failing that, ROH are broadcasting the opera live on Monday 24th June - details of where it is showing here ROH Gloriana at the Cinema
My real test of a good night at the opera is the question "Would I go and see it again?" The answer in this instance is emphatically yes.
