Photo © Alberto Arzoz
The Royal Opera’s new season is underway with a rich and varied assortment of operas scheduled for the run-up to Christmas.
Currently on stage is Jonathan Miller’s version of Mozart’s comic opera Così fan tutte. Its Italian title is difficult to translate literally but loosely means ‘thus do all women’, meaning, by extension, that all women are easily led or seduced. But, even though this is a comedy, all does not end completely happily in a complex story of love, seduction and the perils of fiancé-swapping.
A revival of Jonathan Miller’s Don Pasquale runs concurrently with Così. This fast-paced comic gem is the 64th of 66 operas by Italian master Gaetano Donizetti, composer of the ever popular La Fille du régiment. Its characters recall the stock figures of commedia dell’arte - a young love-struck hero, a greedy old miser who marries a much younger woman, etc. Miller takes this device to its limits with his ingenious dolls-house staging.
The last production of September is something of an event in the opera world: Niobe, regina di Tebe. Composed in 1688 by Italian composer and diplomat Agostino Steffani, Niobe has not been heard in the UK before. This neglected Baroque masterpiece tells the story of a proud queen who boasts to the gods and is punished for her hubris by having all her children slain. It has music of astonishing potency and delicacy, including a performance by one of the world’s few male sopranos, Jacek Laszczkowski.
Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers), his first major opera, has two concert performances this season. It is most famous for the beautiful baritone duet ‘Au fond du temple saint’, which is now much performed as an excerpt (beloved of television adverts and popular radio alike). But there is much more to Bizet’s first opera than just this duet, it boasts many equally exquisite arias, duets and choruses.
Eleven performances of David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Verdi’s Rigoletto follow on from The Pearl Fishers. First performed in 1851, the opera was a triumph at its premiere and has remained one of the world’s most popular operas ever since. It Shakespearian breadth of drama sweeps us from the darkest corruption of the Duke’s court to the sweet innocence of a young girl, Gilda, seduced for the first time. Its famous aria ‘La donna è mobile’ is used three times with increasing dramatic force, until the final dreadful moments of Gilda’s death.
Charles Gounod’s richly lyrical version of Romeo and Juliet, Roméo et Juliette opens on 29 October. First performed in Paris in 1867, it draws its plot directly from Shakespeare’s popular play, remaining broadly faithful to its plot and poetry, while re-clothing the characters and their situations in the musical language of mid-19th-century French opera. Nicolas Joel’s handsome traditional production brings the essential drama of the famous love story alive.
Francesco Cilea’s 1902 opera Adriana Lecouvreur is beloved by many sopranos for its title role – the melodramatic French actress Adriana. It is not widely performed today, so it is a real pleasure to have a new production directed by David McVicar – one of the highlights of this exceptional season. Much of the action takes place within a theatre itself, and McVicar is recreating the world of 1720s Parisian theatre for his staging. Angela Gheorghiou is to star as the glamorous heroine who dies by sniffing poisoned violets.
A new production of Tannhäuser opens in December – a delight for all Wagner fans. It is to be directed by Wagner-specialist Tim Albery who promises a brand-new imagining of Wagner’s tale of the passionate musician Tannhäuser and his struggle between earthly and spiritual forces.
The last production of 2010 is Hänsel und Gretel, a Royal Opera House Christmas favourite. Engelbert Humperdinck, its German composer, described the work as a Märchenoper (fairytale opera) and it alternates the sinister and macabre with truly magical moments. All’s well that ends well, however; the wicked witch gets her comeuppance and paves the way for an eventual happy ending – perfect family festive viewing.