Strauss collides with Fellini in Opera North’s co-production with Gothenberg Opera, as director Rodula Gaitanou relocates the action from 18th Century Vienna to a 1950’s Italian film studio, where another collision takes place as an opera company’s heart-breaking tragedy meets the light musical comedy of a commedia dell’arte troupe, and as the two become merged into one, the result is an absolute delight in both sound and vision.
Whilst the film shoot of Ariadne auf Naxos is performed in the original German, the Prologue has been translated from Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s original libretto by Christopher Cowell into a multilingual version that sees the opera Composer (Hanna Hipp) deal with the ensuing mayhem in English although reverting to German for personal reflection, whilst Prima Donna/Ariadne (Elizabeth Llewellyn) and Tenor/Bacchus (Ric Furman) do battle in Italian. But what you also get when you cross high and low arts is a love story that grows between the Composer and troupe-leader Zerbinetta (Jennifer France), neither of whom are completely capable of getting over their ‘coup de foudre’ as the story unfolds.
The challenge of this piece, and in particular with any added interpretation as we have here, is to keep the two parts connected but Gaitanou has thought this through well, with Zerbinetta’s troupe of travelling musicians (Dominic Sedgwick; John Savournin; Alex Banfield; Adrian Dwyer) providing great humour that is matched in part by Ariadne’s aquatic spirits (Daisy Brown; Laura Kelly-McInroy; Amy Freston), and all of which is held together throughout by some fantastic choreography from Victoria Newlyn.
Set and costume designer George Souglides has caught the mood and moment of the ‘play within a play’ perfectly as we are transported to a film set before being thrust into the film itself, with the many colours and costumes reflective of both the period and the action. With the customary production crew on stage as part of the play going all ‘lights-camera-action’, the audience became very much a fly on the wall as Simon Corder’s lighting design took hold all the way through to the fireworks finale.
Celebrated conductor Antony Hermus provides the added finesse with his relatively small orchestra impeccable in its timing and evocation of Strauss’ elegant moods and sensuous atmospheres, which in itself was embellished by the lovely singing throughout from the cast who, largely drawn from the company’s ensemble, bring the necessary chemistry to make this production such a success.
Llewellyn is to be much commended for having to lie upon an uncomfortably large rock for much of the second half whilst still delivering her lament in strong Wagnerian tones, matched by a sustained performance from Furman who returns courtesy of a decorated cherry picker to become her new love.
Hipp caught the character of the Composer perfectly, moving from driven obsessive to discovering the true meaning of love in the form of France whose performance epitomised that word and more tonight: her lively acting throughout was bettered only by the fine lyrical quality of her Grossmächtige Prinzessin which was packed with emotion and dynamic inflections, including an amazing trill which resulted in the only break of the evening for extended and well-deserved applause.
Ariadne auf Naxos is one of three productions touring this season for Opera North, further details at https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on
The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays with a wide creative offering, further details https://thelowry.com/whats-on/
Reviewer: Mark Davoren
Reviewed: 10th March 2023
North West End UK Rating: ★★★★★