Ainadamar, Osvaldo Golijov, WNO, Birmingham Hippodrome, 07 November, 2023.

5*****: David Gray and Paul Gray.

A challenging work in some ways but very accessible in others, Golijov’s Ainadamar feels like a bit of a hybrid. Somewhere between an opera and a cantata, or possibly one of those staged versions of a Bach Passion or a Handel Oratorio which opera companies occasionally do.

Told in flashback by the protagonist, Margarita Xirgu, the work is comprised of a series of detached tableaux-like scenes. The effect could be static, but Golijov’s rich, eclectic, fully unified score develops an emotional momentum which is vivified and maintained by a cast totally committed to the narrative.

A clever staging uses simple elements to frame and reinforce the power of the drama. A curtain of descending strands encircles the main acting area. It obscures the action to create a dream-like feel, or is drawn aside to reveal the action, creating an impression of theatricality but also something slightly voyeuristic. Trestle staging blocks form tables, a fractured landscape, a cruciform executioner’s scaffold, &- a catwalk for a fabulously be-frocked flamenco dancer.

Dance - and particularly flamenco - is integral to the production. Hats-off to the women of the WNO chorus for managing their part in it so well and with such focus. Opera choruses do not always carry-off this kind of thing well. Choreography is used to telling effect and fully integrated into what is, in effect, a piece of total theatre that draws together and exploits all its elements in a unified fashion. Sounds: clapping, stamping, a gun shot, the thwack of flamenco fans , are passed between the stage, the pit and the electronic soundtrack to create a seamless and unified sonic world. All terrifically exciting.

As Xirgu, Jaquelina Livieri is magnificent. It’s a mountain of a part, vocally and dramatically. She is a commanding presence. Her grief is beautifully articulated, and she manages perfectly to capture the character’s ambiguity. She played the part of Lorca’s heroin – the revolutionary icon, Mariana Pineda – with utter conviction and great beauty of vocal line.

As Lorca, Hanna Hipp is equally impressive. Again, there is an ambiguity to this character. On the face of it, a trousers role, yet the composer takes the character’s voice deep into the chest and high into the head. There is an androgyny inherent in the writing. This is reinforced by the cut of Lorca’s costumes. For example, the jackets are too short for the fashion of the time - creating a sexless silhouette. Lorca is an every-person; a sacrificial figure whose murder, alongside a teacher and a bull fighter, is the death of an idea and of Spain itself.

A profoundly thought provoking and moving piece of complete music-drama-dance, the meaning of which is beautifully accentuated and highlighted, as well as being visually striking, well-acted and superbly well-sung. Bravi WNO!

Cast

Margarita Xirgu – Jaquelina Livieri

Frederico Garcia Lorca – Hanna Hipp

Nuria - Julieth Lozano Rolong

Ruiz Alonso – Alfredo Tejeda

Jose Tripaldi – Jasey Hall

Torero – Gareth Dafydd Morris

Maestro – Alun Rhys-Jenkins

Nina 1 - Beth Mabin

Nina 2 – Beca Davies

Creatives

Music by Osvaldo Golijov

Libretto by David Henry Hwang

Director – Deborah Colker

Conductor – Matthew Kofi Waldren

Designer – Jon Bausor