Opera North, 24/02/2023

Strauss : Ariadne auf Naxos

Orchestra of Opera North

Antony Hermus

This production was originally staged by Gothenburg Opera in 2018.  Rodula Gaitanou has chosen to set the Prologue in Italy in the 1950s, and instead of a grand mansion, it's on a Cinecittà soundstage, where the patron is an all-powerful film producer.  The hinted implication is that it's Federico Fellini, who was, after a fashion, the 'master' of Cinecittà for many years.  The interesting thing is that the Opera has that bittersweet blend of comedy and drama that one often finds in his films, while the make-up of the commedia dell'arte troupe is distinctly reminiscent of the clowns, and Gelsomina, in La Strada.  The Prologue is busy with staff bustling around, and in the Opera, there are cameras on either side, while the Composer and the Music Master stand to the left, observing, following the music and the singing.  

On the whole, the idea works well enough.  There's plenty of humour in it, and during the Opera most of the players drop in and out of (Opera-)character as the camera's focus moves on to someone else.  At the very end, we actually get to see the famous fireworks mentioned in the Prologue, and in the last bars, instead of Ariadne and Bacchus sailing off into the sunset, the lights come up, the actors congratulate each other, and it's Zerbinetta and the Composer who go off hand in hand.  The Opera is sung in German, but the Prologue is sung in a mixture of English, German and Italian, which is a good reflection of the international environment of the film studio.  The only problem there is that the logic of the language use is not quite cohesive.  While it makes perfect sense that the Composer should sing in German to himself and to the Music Master, but in English to the wig-maker or the electrician (Lackey).  However, why does everyone revert to the German after the Major-domo's second announcement?  

Laura Kelly-McInroy as Dresser, Elizabeth Llewellyn as Prima Donna, Dean Robinson as Music Master, Jennifer France as Zerbinetta, Adrian Dwyer as Brighella, Alex Banfield as Scarmuccio, Simon Grange as Truffaldino (double) and Daniel Norman as Dancing Master © Richard H Smith

Hanna Hipp's Composer was convincingly earnest, with a soaring upper range, but the middle of the voice a little lightweight for my liking, which ruffled the flow of her musical lines, though she did also show a lovely pianissimo in some phrases.  It was nice to see her throughout the Opera too, though, and responding to Zerbinetta's attraction, being held back by the cameraman from straying into shot.  Everyone else in the Prologue was clear and well-drawn.  In the Opera, the nymphs were disappointing, but I think they were, all three of them, rather desperately distracted by the constant (and I do mean constant) wiggling they were obliged to do.  It looked ridiculous, it seemed pointless, and I think it undermined their performances.

Jennifer France, effortlessly coquettish, (and seen in the same role for Scottish Opera five years ago) delivered a particularly affecting "Ein Augenblick", actually slightly more effective than the more famous "Grossmächtige Prinzessin".  She had a lot to do in this aria, torn between Arlecchino and the Composer and comically frustrated by having to choose, and it rendered the aria a little bitty at times.  Also, the very top is a bit tighter than it was, but the applause at the end was nevertheless well-deserved.  Ric Furman's Bacchus was another voice that was a little tight at the top, on the other hand, it was not strained in anyway, and the long held notes were impressive.  

However, the star of the show was undoubtedly Elizabeth Llewellyn, her rich, creamy voice comfortably covering the full range of the role, from the gleaming highs to the sonorous lows.  The transition from mourning to radiance was beautifully managed, it's something that can seem a bit abstruse, and the conversation between Ariadne and Bacchus a dialogue of the deaf, but she made it flow smoothly.  Add to that an appropriately glamorous presence, and you had as fine as Ariadne as could be wished for.  Finally Antony Hermus led the Opera North orchestra in a deft and detailed reading of one of Strauss's most inspired scores.

[Next : 12th March]