I went to this ages ago - the end of May - and I don't understand why I haven't blogged it,because I really enjoyed it. In fact,it's pretty safe to say that everything I have seen at ENO in 2007 has been really really worthwhile, which is a helluva lot better than can be said for ROH, out of which I have walked twice this year. Oh well, win some lose some.
Perhaps the reason I didn't blog Death in Venice is because of my woeful ignorance. Of course I know the story, who doesn't? Not that I have read Thomas Mann, but I seen the film - the Visconti film, starring the incomparable Dirk Bogarde. Sadly, transmitted by the BBC at the wrong screen size, leading to a dreadful distortion of the haunting Mahler.
But about Benjamin Britten's opera I knew zilch. And I'm not going to even pretend to make an intelligent comment about it. I loved it. I thought there were committed performers in an absorbing opera with a brilliant production. There are lots of reviews all over the interwebthing, from people who know what they're talking about. So what I can I say - and, like eleven days later, how precise can I get?
Ian Bostridge was...interesting. I want to like him, and I do like him, but I can never feel passionately about him. His performance was musical and tortured, very convincing acting. A lot of people say he is, and appears, too young to play Aschenbach, and he certainly comes over much younger than Bogarde's portrayal. But I was happy to overlook that.
I suppose the style isn't everyone taste - it's not actually that popular even with people who are fond of Britten. It's not exactly a stop and sing pretty arias for the show-off-of-voice, which deters people. But you know, I liked it! Peter Coleman Wright was also excellent in the various baritone roles, and, surprisingly, I really liked the seagull counter-tenor Iestyn Davies who sang the Voice of Apollo, a role specifically written for counter-tenor. I wrote somewhere else - and now I forget where - that it was interesting that he soared above the light orchestra, which c-ts don't do in parts written for castrati /soapbox.
If I had to single out one reason why I like Britten it's the percussion. Despite the commendable singing performances and the stunning set, time and again it was the percussion that thrilled me. I keep saying I need to get more into Britten, but time and stuff conspire against me. However, I know that I have the rest of my life; like Handel, his operas are going to be performed more and more. So I shall learn by osmosis rather than study.
Some blogger somewhere - can't remember where, do please claim credit if it were you - singled out the lighting, and I can't argue. So atmospheric, of the Lido/beach, the hotel, and so on. I thought the sets were gorgeous, and I like the way the floor alternatively represented the canals of Venice and the highly polished floor of the hotel. I liked that the sets represented a concept of Venice rather than spelling.it.out.in.big.letters.with.perfect.reproductions.of.St.Marks.and.various. palazzos. And most of all I liked the movements, the way the characters interacted, and the choreography of the boys, who were beautiful to watch.
There's plenty to provoke the thoughts, in Britten's novel and in Visconti's film, and it's potentially a delicate and controversial subject. To put it crudely, Aschenbach is lusting after an adolescent, which makes it sound all murky. More correctly, he is looking at this beautiful child-man and appreciating the beauty, is falling in love, and yet, all the time, the beauty and vivacity, and innocence, of the child is a stark reminder of his own 'old age' (in his fifties...), ugliness, and impotence (as a writer, and, I suppose, sexually). Obviously not one for the Daily Mail/Classic FM Brigade, and it makes me feel uncomfortable - am I naive in thinking it's just some old man's fantasies, or is there something more sinister going on. I want to believe that the main theme is the contrast between youthful beauty and ageing deterioration, and not that it's a pederast's charter (although, let's be honest, no one would raise an eyebrow if the object of his desire was a girl of the same age - fair game in the public subconscious...)
It still has one more performance left, on Wednesday, and I hope that they revive it in the near future.
And, finally a big hello to Mandy. I had hoped to catch up with you in the interval, but I had to bolt to the street for my nicotine fix, then the lift on the way back took for ever up and down up and down. but it was nice to see you, and I hope you enjoyed it, too!
Oh, and the stick waver was Edward Gardner who has cunningly had some grey dye inserted into his hair to make him appear older than Tadzio.
