I attended this at English National Opera on Monday and should have written my review within twenty four hours to make it meaningful,but sometimes life just gets in the way of blogging.
The reviews I had read had been extremely positive, with people on newsgroups urging readers to get there or regret it. One of the main reasons for it being so good was Anna Christy in the star role. Mark Stone was also praised. So it was with considerable disappointment that I learnt that both of them had cancelled due to Lurgy (Dreaded) which also affected me at its acutest between 1920 and 2215, although it has lingered ever since. Anna's replacement Lurelle Alefounder was also said to be not very well.
And therein lies the biggest problem of ENO's ridiculous policy of 'Opera in English'. David Stephenson gave an excellent performance as Enrico, but I'm afraid Lurelle Alefounder was not up to it. Reading her CV she has performed mainly in very small companies, which is an excellent apprenticeship for young singers. It is wrong to be over-critical, because she was a late stand-in, but I feel that she was singing a role of this size in this house about ten years too early. And I'm not even sure that it was the right role for her. Initially I was shocked at her wide and uneven wobble until it dawned on me it was an attempt to trill. And her top notes were shrieked. If ENO sang mainstream operas such as this in the original Italian it would be easy to fly in a more mature and experienced soprano from Germany or somewhere. Instead I have paid nearly a hundred pounds to hear a Leading Lady barely out of college. And I am obliged to write that she wasn't up to it, which seems unfair.
The reviews were generally in praise in production, although the newspapers gave the impression that it was all about incest and paedophilia. Or something, I'm a bit confused because I've been reading them in parallel to reviews of Salome at Covent Garden, which I go to on Thursday. I think that's paedophilia and necrophilia.
I also realised that I didn't know the opera as well as I thought I did. I have never seen it live. I have watched once a DVD starring the incomparable Joan Sutherland in the leading role (who had the great virtue that it didn't matter what language she sang it in,no one could ever distinguish the words!). And I have a CD set of the famous Cherry Strudel recording. Except that that I play it more often on my mp3 player, so I don't really have a clue in which order those wonderful numbers come in!
To start with I wasn't that impressed by the production. The opening scene seemed very static and dull, but as the evening progressed it really crept under my skin and I came away understanding why it had been so highly praised. I am at a loss to explain why without going into great detail which would be boring for you and as so much time has elapsed would be bound to be very inaccurate. Besides, there is plenty enough description elsewhere on the net. Suffice to say that I had never realised that Bel Canto could be so thought provoking and so complex - although people say that this is the opera where Donizetti foreshadows Verdi.
Barry Banks as Edgar was stand out. A beautiful voice and a commanding stage presence. Particularly impressive when he stormed through the window as an interloper at Lucia's Forced Marriage. I absolutely adore Tombe degl'avi miei, and he did not disappoint. The orchestra had been a bit hit-and-miss throughout, but they were splendid here. The other highlight was the glass harmonica, which I had never heard before; it was gorgeously ghostly and startling.
I don't think will go down as one of my opera highlights of 2008 and yet I wish I could attend another performance and hope that it will be revived again soon. I suspect that I missed out big time by not having the first choice soprano as Lucia.
Lots of pictures at ArenaPal
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