Bear Notes: Partenope on the Radio

Another chance to hear Theater an der Wien's production of Partenope - apparently it was on the radio last weekend which I foolishly missed. Anyway I have been given a reprieve and I can get to hear it online at Radio 4 in the Netherlands at 7 p.m tomorrow - March 7th. The cast is dazzling with Christine Schäfer as Partenope, the great countertenor David Daniels as Arsace, Kurt Streit as Emilio and Patricia Bardon reprising her role of Rosmira. What is more it is conducted by Christophe Rousset - more joy for the baroque lover. Theater An der Wien have released this promotion video to give us all a taste of the production. Enjoy!

Bear At The Opera: Riders To The Sea

Leigh Melrose, Kate Valentine, Patricia Bardon, Edward Gardner, Susan Gritton, Claire Booth

"It's a play about nothing happening. It's a play about women waiting. It's a little jewel, in that it's very short, it's about 45 minutes long. It's half the length of a Greek tragedy but it really has the essence of a Greek tragedy in it."
Fiona Shaw (from the ENO podcast)

Having always loved Vaughan Williams I was thrilled to discover this opera; however short. With the extra bonus of the great actress Fiona Shaw directing, and the mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon in the leading role of the mother, Maurya. It seems an odd play that the intensely English composer chose this tale by the Irish playwright J.M Synge about life and death on the barren Aran Islands.. but it strangely works. The opera's short length - about 50 minutes - might at first glance appear a problem but Fiona Shaw's decision to couple the opera with the Sibelius tone poem 'Luonnotar' which in itself lasts about 10 minutes was a stroke of genius. It sets Riders up in the context of the mythical world of the sea, land and heavens telling of Luonnotar, an air spirit, and the creation of the heavens, moon and stars..... Shaw only discovered later that Williams greatly admired Sibelius and indeed dedicated his fifth symphony to him; a fortuitous choice indeed.

The soprano Susan Gritton sung the Sibelius piece exquisitely, perched high-up in a suspended boat above the stage. This was a wild, electric piece to start with and set the tone for the upcoming opera.... The set and video projections by the artist Dorothy Cross and and designer Tom Pye complimented the two works and added another dimension. Behind the Sibelius work a video projection of an underwater scene of a woman swimming wih jellyfish formed a mesmerizing backdrop. Indeed you can find an excerpt on the Frith Street Gallery website - click on the video Jellyfish Lake.

In fact this production had the most intelligent and interesting sets I have seen so far in London... none of the traditional sets that you normally get at Covent Garden... this had some thought put into it. The backdrop to Riders was a rocky coastline... a trace of a house etched into the stone - apparently based on the real life rock formation in Ireland, Poll na bPéist or the Wormhole... a perfectly symmetrical rectangle cut into the coastline. Find a picture and an excellent article on Fiona Shaw and Riders in the Guardian. Boats hang above the stage and a single suspended figure of a man hangs in mid air. In the background a video of a man slowly falling into the sea like one of those Bill Viola video projections... this is telling the tale with the set.

And what of Riders... this tale of women waiting... a story of loss... well this has been the only live performance of an opera to make me cry and truly that was down to the wonderful Williams score and the emotional keening of Patricia Bardon as Maurya.... she sings 'My heart is broken as from this day' having a premonition of her son's death.... and you are bowled away by her grief. The rest of the cast was a restless mass of grief (perhaps too restless) with Kate Valentine as Cathleen putting a particularly competent performance. There are such lines in this opera that plough into your heart... it is evocative and insanely sad. In the score there are no big arias but only floating, repeating motifs; haunting and vibrant. Indeed it reminds me Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.

Leigh Melrose, Kate Valentine, Patricia Bardon

Truly a great opera; short, intense and beautifully tragic. Fiona Shaw describes it as a little jewel - well it is even more primal than that - it is a little pearl perfectly formed in the depths of the ocean; polished and rugged, smooth and pungent.

Riders To The Sea - Nov 28th 2008

Sibelius: Luonnotar

Soprano Susan Gritton

Vaughan Williams: Riders To The Sea

Maurya Patricia Bardon
Bartley Leigh Melrose
Cathleen Kate Valentine
Nora Claire Booth
A woman Madeleine Shaw

Conductor Edward Gardner
Director Fiona Shaw

Designers Dorothy Cross/Tom Pye


Notes

Fiona Shaw writes brilliantly on the opera and it's inception in the Guardian....

Bear At The Opera: Partenope

From l to r: Iestyn Davies, Patricia Bardon, Rosemary Joshua, Christine Rice, John Mark Ainsley, James Gower

I was strangely won over by Christopher Alden's production of Partenope by Handel. His concept of updating the action to the 1920s Parisian art world did seem to work even with the talk of war.... it was an intelligent, and sophisticated re-working of the opera. Even the fact that it was in English (a radical translation by Amanda Holden) did not detract from this charming comic opera - I might just change my opinion of operas in translation on the basis of this production.

The story of political upheaval in ancient Naples with a Queen who rules by toying with her subjects and risking the invasion of her city lends itself to salon world of Paris with it's Man Ray and Nancy Cunard figures and it's surreal and mercurial elements. The action can be easily transposed to this heady world with only a slight eschewing of the story.

Throughout the opera one is constantly reminded of photographs by Man Ray or Lee Miller, the surrealists like Andre Breton and Dali and that heady salon world. Indeed each scene was like a tableau of that world; at the start of the opera Emilio enters and takes a photograph of the audience - obviously our Man Ray character or a scene where our protagonists are playing cards with gas masks á la Lee Miller. I loved these little knowing touches, these nods to the surrealist life.

The story reads like some complex relationship puzzle. Partenope presides over her court/salon. She loves Arsace. Armindo loves Partenope in secret. Arsace's former love, Rosmira , arrives disguised as a man, Eurimene. Arsace recognises Rosmira but agrees to keep secret her identity. Armindo confides in Eurimene about his love for Partenope and Eurimene hatches a plan to make Arsace suffer, driven by her love, hate and rage at her abandonment. Emilio's marriage proposal to Partenope is rejected and he threatens war. Emilio's forces attack and he himself is captured by Arsace though Eurimene takes the credit. When Emilio refutes this claim Eurimene challenges Arsace to a dual. Armindo declares his love to Partenope but she still loves Arsace. Eurimene is forced to let 'his' true identity known when Arsace challenges Eurimene to dual bare-chested (made all the more interesting in the fact that is Christine Rice who plays Arsace that makes this challange). Arsace and Rosmira reunite and Partenope takes Armindo. Phew!

Rosemary Joshua's Partenope struck a Nancy Cunard note.... bangles and all.. wonderfully played. Perhaps a little weak at the start but by the second act her quality soprano rang true.

Rosemary Joshua, Christine Rice, John Mark Ainsley, James Gower

Patricia Bardon's Rosmira/Eurimene was wilfully playful, confused and enraged... she is determined to make Arsace suffer and keep him guessing... alternating between her love and rage. Outstanding performance and a joy to watch.

Patricia Bardon

Hats off for another great performance by the counter-tenor Iestyn Davies; the character of Armindo is so tense and unsure of himself - a real neurotic. Davies played it to great comic effect and I loved the aria where he talks about his love for Partenope - 'I'm her spaniel and her slave' (just shows that the translation can work remarkable well). Perhaps not such a strong vocal performance as his Otho in L'incoronazione Di Poppea but entertaining nonetheless.

Iestyn Davies

John Mark Ainsley's Emilio truly was the cornerstone for the production. I got the impression that the director tried to have JMA on stage as much as possible cutting a very believable Man Ray character. Each time this tenor sung I longed for more... pity Emilio did not have more arias to sing. I was deeply impressed and long to see JMA in other productions....

John Mark Ainsley

But truly the night belonged to Christine Rice playing Arsace. Each aria was keenly sung with her strong and sweet mezzo voice. True, she was gifted with some great arias that perhaps some of the other parts lacked but with each aria I was just bowled away by her beautiful quality of tone.

Christine Rice

Partenope - 18th October

Emilio John Mark Ainsley
Partenope Rosemary Joshua
Arsace Christine Rice
Armindo Iestyn Davies
Rosmira/Eurimene Patricia Bardon
Ormonte James Gower

Conductor Christian Curnyn
Director Christopher Alden