Rory Macdonald, conductor; Orpha Phelan director
I am going to two operas I’ve never seen live before this week- indeed I’ve heard none of their music before, either…
Owen Wingrave of course was conceived as a TV opera, broadcast in 1971, Indifferently received and not very much staged since the 70s, though there have been two or three UK productions over the past 30 years, I wondered whether this RNCM production would be a revelation or confirm the seemingly general view that the work is not quite top-drawer Britten.
I had several thoughts in hearing and seeing the work for the first time. It has some memorable musical moments – Owen’s passionate praise of peace in the second half, and the haunting, melancholy Wingrave family ballad. The libretto by Myfanwy Piper is very fine, and I was gripped almost till the end by the story. Although the story is about pacificism (in the context of a military family) it is hard not to read it also as a metaphor for a young man coming out as gay, to the horror of his family – Sir Phillip even says at one point that Owen needs to be ‘straightened out’ – a direct quote from Henry James. Britten was apparently interested in using twelve tone serial techniques for this opera and it seemed to me (whether or not as a consequence) that musically the work lacked the richness, the variety and the power of its successor. Death in Venice. This performance was in a reduced orchestration, and I wondered also whether the original orchestration might have helped here in giving a richer more complex sound.. I also felt that the ending (Owen’s death in the haunted room) comes too quickly and with too little build up. Finally, I felt that at times there was too much spoken dialogue where singing would have given more emotional resonance. But I’m glad I went and would love to see it in a fully professional production. It’s a powerful piece. it stays in the mind and I was never bored.
The set was naturalistic, showing the inside of an old rambling house, with the lighting producing many shadows – see photo below . Instead of the portraits of the Wingrave ancestors looking down, there were ghostly figures of soldiers (actors) from different 19th century wars, hovering, circling the living members of the family. Their movements provided on stage images to accompany the various orchestral interludes, with a particularly striking effect in the opening, where the soldiers emerged via a ladder from the trenches of ‘the pit’. In the first half Owen’s aunt and grandfather were given spectacular entrances via a raised platform and a dazzling spotlight. The cast members moved and reacted well – all looked natural, not hesitant.
There were two casts and I am afraid I have no idea which cast was ‘on’ the evening I went. The cast was excellent. The standouts were the four ladies, particularly Mrs Coyle and the aunt, who had excellent diction and a good stage presence. The men sometimes seemed a little more unconfident on stage but I thought Owen grew in credibility throughout the evening so that one felt more and more sympathy for his position. There was excellent (and a Pears-look/sound-alike) singing from Sir Philip. After a wobbly start the orchestra played well. As is always the case with the RNCM operas the audience was wonderfully responsive and there was much whooping afterwards, rightly so in this case
John's musical journey 