Opera reviews: Tristan And Isolde and La Boheme
WITH the world-famous sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor designing the sets, English National Opera’s bold new staging of Tristan And Isolde may also be viewed as an art installation.
A separate work of art is central to each of the opera’s three acts. The first sculpture is a gilded three-segmented spire that brings to mind the sail of the ship bearing Princess Isolde from Ireland to confirm a peace treaty by marriage with King Mark of Cornwall.
The diplomatic deal is wrecked by the magic love potion that Isolde and Tristan drink while on board ship. Daniel Kramer, in his first production as English National Opera’s Artistic Director, seems to suggest that the stress of being forced into marriage with the King whom Tristan serves, causes Heidi Melton’s Isolde to self-harm by gashing her arms.
I don’t, however, understand why Kramer portrays the servants, Isolde’s maid Brangane (Karen Cargill) and Tristan’s Kurwenal (Craig Colclough), as mincing 18th century bewigged fops. The baroque artifice seems an irritating directorial indulgence.
Fortunately, things improve in the second act. Kapoor’s dissected sphere floating above stage changes mesmerisingly with Paul Anderson’s imaginative lighting.
The craggy surface of the sphere becomes a hiding place where Tristan and Isolde conduct their clandestine love affair. As Isolde ignores Brangane’s warnings of a trap about to be sprung, Wagner’s music soars to ecstatic heights. In a dramatic coup, the sphere spins round to reveal its other side as Matthew Rose’s impressive King Mark, led by the traitorous Melot (Stephen Rooke), surprises the lovers.
Frieder Weiss’s flowing crimson video in Act 3 suggests the wound Tristan sustains from Melot and prepares us for Isolde’s “Liebestod” (Love-Death) aria over his body. Here, Heidi Melton was under strain on the first night. Stuart Skelton’s passionately sung Tristan, however, never falters throughout the five-hour evening. From first to last he sustains a clarion tenor of thrilling strength and purity.
The 48-year old Australian is undoubtedly one of the finest heroic tenors around today.
Edward Gardner, returning to conduct the English National Opera’s orchestra, draws a beautifully nuanced performance from the musicians, forceful in climactic moments and heart-stopping in reflective passages.
The boy meets girl storyline of Puccini’s La Boheme is infinitely adaptable to time and place. Stephen Barlow’s staging at Opera Holland Park marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death by transporting the Bohemians from 1820s Paris to Elizabethan London. The unashamedly theatrical setting is a nod to the original Globe Theatre.
It works surprisingly well after the initial shock of seeing the students in doublets and hose. David Woloszko’s Landlord Benoit resembles Falstaff in a fat suit, and Elin Pritchard’s Musetta’s finery would outdo the first Queen Elizabeth. Anna Patalong’s Mimi reminds us of the serious side of La Boheme in a lusciously sung performance that still draws a tear.
Shaun Dixon as Rodolfo is a stalwart and sympathetic partner for Mimi. His fellow students – Andrew Finden’s artist Marcello, bass John Savournin’s philosopher Colline and Frederick Long’s lutenist Schaunard – complement each other well.
Musetta’s waltz, delivered by Pritchard from the tavern’s table top, is every bit the showstopper Puccini intended. Good work too from the City of London Sinfonia under conductor Matthew Waldren and the massed OHP Chorus.
VERDICT: 4/5
Wagner’s Tristan And Isolde English National Opera The Coliseum, London WC2 (Tickets: 020 7845 9300/eno.org; £12-£125)
Puccini’s La Boheme Opera Holland Park London W8 (Tickets: 0300 999 1000/operahollandpark.com; £45-£70)
