Antony Hermus, conductor; Orchestra of Opera North; Alice Coote, Orfeo; Fflur Wyn, Euridice; Daisy Brown, Amor.
Manchester was in a state of some chaos when I arrived at Piccadilly station. – the tram service wasn’t working in the central zone, and there were huge traffic jams. It took a while to work out what to do and in the end I hogged a taxi and arrived at the Lowrywith 5 minutes to spare – not an ideal preparation for sitting in the opera house for two hours.
The audience was on the thin side – another question mark therefore being put to the idea of ENO moving to Manchester – but they were enthusiastic -rightly so – about the performance.
This was described as a concert performance but it was much more than that, though no director was credited – only the function of ‘concert placing’, whatever that is, by Sophie Gilpin being mentioned in the programme. There was a starry backdrop at the beginning and end, and a dark one for hell. There were a few stage props – a harp for instance – and a platform for Eurydice to appear on when she is first introduced to Orpheus. The full length of the Lowry stage was used for movement by the contemporarily-dressed chorus, Amor and Eurydice. Orfeo had a cloak, with a drawing on the outside of a distressed woman, and trousers/boots, so was made to look a little distinct. The reactions.pf Orpheus and Eurydice to each other were as they would have been in a ‘normal’ staging. The only part of the opera which missed out in this approach was the dance of the blessed spirits and any other parts of the work which can be choreographed – eg the appearance of the Furies, which I remember being very well done by Wayne Macgregor in the 2019 ENO production.
Any staging of this work fundamentally stands or falls on the person playing Orfeo who’s singing for at least half the work. I was much more taken both by the work and by Alice Coote in this performance than I was by her singing and the general impact of the work in the ENO production, where perhaps everything was a bit overshadowed by the dancing and the imagery it provided. Alice Coote was marvellous in the ON staging, every element of the phrasing of the arias and recitatives thought through, subtlety varied and true to the words and music. She conveyed Orpheus’ anger and passion manifestly, while there was some lovely soft singing from her in Che faro senza Eurydice and Che puro ciel . To be frank, I listened afterwards when I got back home– as I have the early 1950’s Glyndebourne recording – to Kathleen Ferrier singing this role, and although the beauty and ‘personality’ of her voice is overwhelming in some ways, Alice Coote’s singing is far more intelligent, varied and thoughtful (though it is difficult to be objective. I have known Ferrier’s singing of ‘Che Faro’ for almost 60 years – when I got my first record player from my parents aged 12, at their instruction I bought my parents an EP of the aria, and something by Handel as a Christmas present – I’m not sure they’d ever heard her, but they were clearly aware of her voice, her tragic story and this piece of music). Fflur Wyn was perfectly acceptable but not memorable as Eurydice – her voice seemed a bit small for the house and, from where I was sitting in the middle of the stalls, didn’t really carry over the orchestra. I thought the orchestral playing was of the highest standard – full of bite, energy and precision – a really characterful piece of playing and conducting.
I was more taken by some of the other arias in the opera this time, beyond the famous two I have already mentioned. It seems remarkable that this work was first performed only 34 years or so after Handel’s Alcina, seen last week – it’s much more expressive, much less tied to the stand-and-deliver aria format, much less obviously full of display pieces, but instead a work where the artists’ first job is to communicate the dramatic truths which their characters are expressing and feeling.
John's musical journey 