Lulu, opera review: A tremendous company achievement

The challenge of both watching and performing Lulu is exhilirating, writes Barry Millington
Tour de force: Brenda Rae lets us see her character Lulu as a flesh-and-blood woman
Catherine Ashmore
Barry Millington17 November 2016

A huge challenge for performers and audiences alike, Berg’s Lulu, for all that it ends in degradation and death, can be an exhilarating experience. William Kentridge’s staging has been seen already in Amsterdam and New York, but now with Mark Wigglesworth on the podium affords ENO a triumph both musically and dramatically.

Kentridge’s own heavily inked drawings potently capture the Weimar period of the work’s creation – the personalities, the art world, the media – as well as the dislocated reality of the society girl whose seductive wiles lead to exploitation and finally murder by Jack the Ripper. The drawn-on breasts and genitals, reminding one of Picasso or of Picabia’s La Nuit Espagnole, may amuse but also signal Lulu’s objectification.

An alter ego, the excellent Joanna Dudley dressed as a Louise Brooks flapper with bobbed haircut, reacts to each twist of the plot, adding a layer to a psychodrama already in danger of overload. The set designs of Sabine Theunissen, the lighting of Urs Schönebaum and video designs of Catherine Meyburgh further evoke the dark underbelly of a sordid world.

Brenda Rae in the title role is less of a rapacious flirt than conventionally played, but this is also her strength, enabling us to see the character as a flesh-and-blood woman; her singing of the part is a tour de force. Also outstanding are James Morris and Nicky Spence as Dr Schön and Alwa, Willard White as a dignified Schigolch, and Sarah Connolly who for once tugs at the heartstrings as the Countess Geschwitz.

Arts picks of the week: 14th - 20th November

1/7

In one or two cases the acting leaves something to be desired, but overall the multiply cast roles are impressively taken and with Wigglesworth spearheading a cogent and wonderfully lyrical performance by the orchestra, this is a tremendous company achievement.

Ends Nov 19, London Coliseum; eno.org

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