Ariadne auf Naxos. Theatre Royal, Nottingham. 17 March 2023. 4****. William Ruff
Nottingham
Opera North/Gothenburg Opera (Ariadne auf Naxos)
Theatre Royal Nottingham
March 17 2023
4****
Review: William Ruff
@ReviewsGate
Strauss’s Ariadne may be bonkers but it’s beautiful too
Opera audiences are well-used to familiar stories being wrenched into different contexts and settings. Carmen set in the American wild west; Verdi’s nuns turned into machine-gun-toting freedom fighters; Pagliacci set backstage in a costume store: that sort of thing. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. Opera North’s co-production with Gothenburg Opera of Ricard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos flies the action from the world of 18th century Viennese aristocracy and lands it in a 1950s Rome film studio. And it works…or at least it works as well as this fairly barmy opera can.
The original story’s ‘richest man in Europe’ puts on an entertainment for his guests and, as things are running late, he dictates that both of the pieces (tragic opera/knockabout musical comedy) he has scheduled must be performed…at the same time. Yes, that means both tragic and slapstick on stage together. In Opera North’s/Gothenburg’s version the top man is turned into a film mogul…but the premise remains the same.
Strauss and his creative chums must have sat down and chuckled at what must have seemed at the same an hilarious idea: a sort of operatic ‘play that goes wrong’. The new setting certainly has its plus points. The set designers have done a great job filling the Prologue with period film equipment and the set teems with preening actors and temperamental creatives. It all looks authentically impressive with lots of scope for satire about the seriousness with which everyone goes about creating something essentially ephemeral.
After the interval we get the filming of this rather odd concoction: the serious opera of Ariadne, abandoned on her desert island, longing for the arrival of the god Hermes, the messenger of death. Plus, of course, the arrival of the comedy troupe whose unlikely and incongruous entry is probably their funniest moment. They intrude and they comment but your sense of humour would have to be more generous than mine to find them more than fleetingly amusing.
There are good things to enjoy, however. There are several juicy operatic roles on offer. Strauss clearly took delight in portraying the haughty prima donna and Elizabeth Llewellyn seizes the vocal and physical opportunities with power and gusto. David Butt Philip (Bacchus in the Nottingham performance) manages to be both pompous and impressive at the same time. And then there’s Jennifer France as Zerbinetta, the comedian: her lengthy coloratura aria is a real show-stopper, her voice hopping from trill to trill and soaring into the vocal stratosphere. It’s a large-cast production which, as so often with Opera North, is brought to life by sharply etched performances: minor roles as well as the main ones. Wigmaker, dancing master, make-up artist, electrician, painter, various sponsors: these (and many more) make their impact as memorably as those of composer, music master, major-domo and others.
This is a very strong show visually with sets, costumes, lighting all doing their best to make the impossible seem credible. Amongst the loudest cheers at the curtain call were those for conductor Antony Hermus and Opera North’s superb orchestra.
Cast & creative
The Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North
Hanna Hipp
COMPOSER
Elizabeth Llewellyn
PRIMA DONNA/ARIADNE
Ric Furman
TENOR/BACCHUS (EXC 17 MAR AND 24 MAR)
David Butt Philip
TENOR/BACCHUS (17 MAR AND 24 MAR)
Jennifer France
ZERBINETTA
Daniel Norman
DANCING MASTER
Dean Robinson
MUSIC MASTER
John Savournin
TRUFFALDINO/MAJOR-DOMO
Dominic Sedgwick
HARLEQUIN
Alex Banfield
SCARAMUCCIO
Adrian Dwyer
BRIGHELLA
Jeremy Peaker
WIG-MAKER
Frazer Scott
LACKEY
Daisy Brown
NAIAD
Laura Kelly-McInroy
DRYAD
Amy Freston
ECHO
Antony Hermus
CONDUCTOR
Rodula Gaitanou
DIRECTOR
George Souglides
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER
Simon Corder
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Victoria Newlyn
CHOREOGRAPHER