United Kingdom Britten, Gloriana: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of English National Opera / Martyn Brabbins (conductor). London Coliseum, 8.12.2022. (MB)
Production:
Director – Ruth Knight
Costumes – Sarah Bowern
Wigs, Hair, Make-up – Corinne Young
Lighting – Ian Jackson-French
Video – Barbora Šenoltová
Chorus director – Mark Biggins
Cast:
Queen Elizabeth I – Christine Rice
Robert Devereuz, Earl of Essex – Robert Murray
Frances, Countess of Essex – Paula Murrihy
Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy – Duncan Rock
Penelope, Lady Rich – Eleanor Dennis
Sir Robert Cecil – Charles Rice
Sir Walter Raleigh – David Soar
Henry Cuffe – Alex Otterburn
A Lady-in-Waiting – Alexandra Oomens
The Recorder of Norwich, A Ballad Singer – Willard White
A Housewife – Claire Barnett-Jones
The Spirit of the Masque – Innocent Masuku
Britten’s Gloriana is an odd work, each in itself and thought of as a ‘coronation opera’. It isn’t any Clemenza di Tito, idealising, instructing, and even gently warning a king, at the very least in Mozart’s model, that political beliefs should all the time have priority over these of his personal coronary heart. Or is it, even when not by intent? The first Queen Elizabeth, as introduced right here by Britten and William Plomer, after Lytton Strachey, doesn’t precisely prosper by indulging her favorite, the Earl of Essex. It just isn’t, nevertheless, obscure why many thought the presentation of an ageing monarch inappropriate as a technique to greet the brand new reign of Gloriana’s twentieth-century successor. In some ways, The Crown has nothing on this — save for superior dramaturgy. If the strangeness of Gloriana’s (verbal) archaisms will be defined, maybe even understood, the awkwardness of its first act specifically certainly would have merited revision, had alternative introduced itself. Plomer definitely did Britten no favours.
Similar issues could also be mentioned, although, of many operas. We have what we have now, and English National Opera did it proud, in simply the form of efficiency the corporate and its supporters alike wanted to listen to. Electrified by the second of the Arts Council’s newest disgraceful philistinism — scrapping its grant altogether and bundling it off to Manchester, with out a lot as a phrase of session with venues, present corporations, or native authorities — this felt like a real coming collectively, to bless a problematical work extra fully than could have been the case upon its first outing and, for my part, when revived at Covent Garden in 2013, sixty years after its premiere. Martyn Brabbins and the ENO Orchestra proved at the very least the equals of Paul Daniel and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. If something, I believe they could have been extra incisive, nonetheless extra dedicated. There was definitely a robust sense of grounding in Britten’s music; one may draw many a comparability with different of the composer’s dramatic music, relationship again previous Billy Budd and The Rape of Lucretia at the very least so far as Peter Grimes, but typically additionally peering into the long run. There just isn’t an enormous quantity that may be executed about a number of the duller passages, and a masque with out dancing just isn’t best, however there remained sufficient at the very least to intrigue. Ruth Knight’s path and the ‘concert staging’ on the whole have been clearly restricted in what they may obtain, but as a framework for one thing significantly greater than a live performance efficiency labored effectively: maybe one thing of a mannequin for additional revivals, ought to ENO fare higher than Essex in escaping the executioner’s axe.
There was a lot to take pleasure in and admire within the singing. In the title function, Christine Rice supplied imperious and internally conflicted as very a lot two sides to the identical Elizabethan coin. Robert Murray’s Essex appeared significantly at dwelling with the actual mix of verbal and musical line required right here, not least within the lute songs with which he would seduce his queen. Paula Murrihy proved an affecting Frances, likely partially a mirrored image of the extra attention-grabbing standpoint of her function, though it stays needed for an artist to know that chance — right here achieved in fascinating trend. Duncan Rock, a memorable Don Giovanni, introduced a wonderfully rutting Mountjoy; if the function fizzles out considerably, there may be little or no that may be executed about that. Eleanor Dennis’s Penelope complemented him and the opposite intriguers properly.
There was no weak hyperlink within the forged, and crucially a robust sense, even on this single efficiency, of an organization coming collectively as greater than the sum of its components. Two ENO Harewood Artists (Alexandra Oomens and Innocent Masuku) shone, a pleasant symmetry since Lord Harewood, the second Elizabeth’s cousin, based on some accounts cajoled her into accepting the dedication — and had her and Prince Philip attend a previous dinner-party run-through, at which the royal couple could not have been solely amused. So too did two former Harewood Artists: Alex Otterburn and the splendidly spirited Claire Barnett-Jones as a housewife within the penultimate scene. Will somebody with energy and affect take observe? Who is aware of? Someone definitely ought to — and quick, earlier than ENO’s loss of life warrant is executed.
Mark Berry