BEWARE WOMEN, till 21 August
BEWARE WOMEN: Claudio Monteverdi, Libretto Rinuccini, new translation by Christopher Cowell
Birmingham Opera Company
Runs: 45 minutes
Three performances, 19 21 August
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
Review: Rod Dungate, 20 August 2004
Complete, total magic
It's hard to describe the pure magic of this event. To be sitting on the side of Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, in the heart of the country's canal heartland, to be among our industrial heritage. To hear the Baroque Ensemble playing from, not just a narrowboat, but a Fellows, Moreton and Clayton boat a canal carrying company that goes back in various forms to the nineteenth century. To watch this little gem of an opera in which Venus and Cupid summon up Pluto who appears from the misty darkness on his own dark boat. The Styx lives and flows and shimmers in the icy blue lights at least for these 45 minutes.
Graham Vick (Birmingham Opera Company's Artistic Director) has staged this as part of the company's journey towards a large-scale production of ULYSSES COMES HOME in the Spring of 2005. Vick works with diverse communities within Birmingham to mount these productions and this production is well served by large companies of Young Men, Young Women, Down and Outs and Older Versions of Themselves.
Cupid is in a panic the women of Birmingham are resisting Love: with his mother Venus, he approaches the gates of Hell. If they can persuade Pluto to show the living what becomes of unloving creatures perhaps there will be hope . . .
Claire de Bono is a lively Cupid, her bright voice perfect to open the proceedings. Andee-Louise Hypolite makes a stunning entrance from a road bridge in red sequined evening gown and fur coat. Her voice is warm and carries beautifully over the water and beneath the curving arches, she has stunningly clear diction too. 'Open your murky caverns' she commands the darkness. Keel Watson's deep bass hovers in the air; he's an imposing Pluto in his mauve shiny suit, white Stetson and walking cane. Vick merges in his production cheeky wit and seriousness of intent perfectly.
The final image will stay with me for a long time. Pluto stands on his boat watching it move into hell, while the lost souls look longingly back towards the living; their voices disappearing into silence and darkness along the water road, 'Open, open your hearts . . .'
Venus: Andee-Louise Hypolite
Pluto: Keel Watson
Cupid: Claire de Bono
A Doomed Woman: Anna Dennis
Down and Outs: Sally Billingham, Doreth Beckford, Jason Bright, Jean Caswell, Denis Charlton, Barbara Copson, Loretta Dolphin, Sam Dolphin, Eileen Eveson, Judith Farrar, Gerald Flynn, Maureen Folarin, Rosemary Forrest, Ken Hill, Aubrey Longe, Clive Rickhards, Sheila Rooke, Margot Russell, Pat Taylor
Young Men: Craig Bush, Adisa Folarin, Shyro Lall, Malikha McDonald, Aaron McLean, Navneet Mohan, John Partridge, Qasim Shah
Young Women: Nahida Behum, Stacey Cox, Aminah Hesson, Tahira Kamil, Simone Shepherd, Marcia Sparkes, Tenisha White, Sophie Williams
Their Older Selves: Sarah Gordon, Savelia Karayianni, Katja Klemm, Elisabeth Moreton, Susan Nicholls, Stephanie Williams, Marrian Yates
Director: Graham Vick
Associate Directors: Ron Howell and Richard Willacy
Lighting Designer: Robert A Jones
Music Director: Robert Howarth
2004-08-22 13:36:51