The Mikado, English National Opera, ENO, London Coliseum, December 2012

The Mikado himself in this fantasia of English eccentricity was gloriously played by Richard Angas, with Robert Murray excellent as Nanki-Poo, and Richard Suart giving a brilliant performance of Ko-Ko in his 25^thanniversary of the role. This vintage production continues to sparkle with bounce and fizz, and is so extraordinarily up to date that Ko-Ko’s little list of Society offenders not only includes the latest scandals, but even mentions George Osborne’s autumn statement, which he only gave on the day of this performance.

The Mikado, all images ENO/ Sarah Lee

Clearly one should keep going to further nights of The Mikado to catch all the clever innuendos that Richard Suart puts into his role as Ko-Ko. I loved the allusion to the Leveson Inquiry, “I’ve put him on my list, in case I’m on his list”; the bit about corporate tax dodgers; and “the Speaker’s wife who’s such a berk and believes in Trial by Twitter”. Bravo! Satire is alive and well at the London Coliseum.

Pooh Bah, Ko-Ko, Pish-Tush

Add to this the glorious choreography and tap dancing, the super performance of Yvonne Howard as Katisha, with the lovely Mary Bevan as Yum-Yum, along with Fiona Canfield and Rachael Lloyd as the other two of the Three Little Maids from School, and you have a performance to charm the eye and delight the ear.

Three Little Maids from School

This Jonathan Miller production with designs by the late Stefanos Lazaridis, whose work was recently seen at Covent Garden in the Ring cycle, shows a white-on-white hotel complete with palms and piano. It’s huge fun, and the costumes by Sue Blane give a great sense of stylised Englishness masquerading as something from the Far East. Well conducted by David Parry with its sense of spontaneity revived by Elaine Tyler-Hall, this has a freshness belying the age of the production.

Yvonne Howard as Katisha

Yvonne Howard sang beautifully in her solo before Ko-Ko enters to propose to her in Act II, and when Richard Angas as the Mikado says, “Till after lunch then — bon appétit!”, I had to laugh out loud. The main characters bring perfection to their performances, spicing the wit of the words by body language and presentation, yet it all appears entirely natural and unrehearsed. This glorious piece of Gilbert and Sullivan is worth revisiting for the clever innuendos alone, even if you have seen it many times before.

Performances continue until January 31 — for details click here.

Don Giovanni, English National Opera, ENO at the London Coliseum, November 2010

In an interesting and informative essay in the programme, Richard Wigmore discusses this Mozart opera, and writes, “Don Giovanni revolves around the tensions of class, sex and aristocratic abuse of power”. I agree, but this production takes a different tack. The Don appears more as a bumbling academic, and the supper to which the Commendatore is invited at the end is a picnic of bread rolls served from a couple of small plastic shopping bags. Giovanni and Leporello have no table and chair, but sit on the stage and bread rolls are thrown.

Leporello and the Don, all photos by Donald Cooper

During the overture men in strange masks prowl the stage while a circular and dramatically lit metal contraption is lowered from above, and an electric storm rages in the background. But despite the electricity this Don lacked magnetism. Iain Paterson, whom I recall singing a sympathetic and powerful Amonasro in the  ENO’s  Aida two years ago, and a strong Mr. Redburn in Glyndebourne’s Billy Budd this past summer, sang with warmth and strength, but lacked the cutting edge for the Don. And while his stage actions showed suitable nastiness, he gave the appearance of being too nice a guy to release his amoral testosterone-inspired aggression on the world. As the Don’s long-suffering servant Leporello, Brindley Sherratt sang very strongly and gave a fine depth to the evening, just as he did as Sparafucile in Rigoletto last year, and as the monk Pimen in Boris Godunov the year before. He also gave an excellent comic sense to the role, and while he is equally at home singing the murdered Commendatore — which he did at Glyndebourne this year — that small but important role went to Matthew Best who sang it superbly.

The Don with Zerlina

As the pretty Zerlina, whose wedding to Masetto attracts the Don’s amorously intrusive attentions, Sarah Tynan did a wonderful job. This is the same singer who was so good as Adina in The Elixir of Love earlier this year, and Ilia in Idomeneo this summer. She is a delight to watch, and I loved the Irish brogue of John Molloy as Masetto. The role of Donna Elvira, an ex-lover who won’t let Giovanni go, was to have been sung by Rebecca Evans, but she was suffering a bad throat, so Sarah Redgwick stepped in and made a fine substitute. As Donna Anna, whose rape by the Don starts during the overture, Katherine Broderick sang strongly but with a vibrato edge that I did not care for, and it affected her diction. Robert Murray sang her fiancé Don Ottavio, a rather thankless role that was not helped by his costume as the only man on stage wearing a business suit.

The Don meets his nemesis, the Commendatore

This production by Rufus Norris with sets by Ian MacNeil had some nice aspects — I liked the dripping water on the murdered Commendatore as he lies slumped in a drinking trough, I liked the Don’s wooing of Zerlina, and I thought the projected images that Leporello produces when he recounts his master’s conquests, warning Donna Elvira what a cad he is, were a clever innovation — but the plethora of good ideas was all a bit too much for me. The director, Rufus Norris is new to the opera world, though well-known as a theatre producer, and I think the ENO is reaching out to theatre-goers who are relatively unfamiliar with opera. This staging may appeal to younger audiences, though not so much perhaps to those familiar with other Don Giovanni productions.

In the orchestra pit, Kirill Karabits gave an enjoyable and well-nuanced performance of Mozart’s music. Singing in English demands good diction, and the singers did so well here that the surtitles became superfluous.

Further performances are scheduled for November 6, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 27, 29, and December 1, 3 — for more details click here.

Idomeneo, English National Opera, ENO at the London Coliseum, June 2010

Imagine a father accidentally committed to sacrificing his son — think Abraham and Isaac — and you have the essential element of this opera, which Mozart wrote when he was 24. It was completed and first performed in Munich, where he enjoyed a peaceful few months, and he later considered it to be one of his best works. The essence of the story is that Idomeneo, returning to Crete from the Trojan War, promises Poseidon that if spared from shipwreck he will sacrifice the first person he sees upon reaching home, and is met on landing by his son Idamante. This young man loves the Trojan princess Ilia, and has released her and the Trojan prisoners. She loves him in return, but so does Elektra, who is living at the palace in exile.

Robert Murray as Idamante and Sarah Tynan as Ilia

Idamante lamenting by the sea shore

The music is wonderfully expressive of the conflicting emotions, and was superbly conducted by Edward Gardner with powerful singing from the chorus. Paul Nilon sang strongly as Idomeneo, doing well with his important Act II aria Fuor del mar when he laments being saved from the sea only to have a raging sea in his heart. Idamante was a tenor role in this production, well sung by Robert Murray, whom I last saw nearly two years ago as a powerful simpleton in Boris Godunov. In the original version of 1781, Idamante was a castrato role, but Mozart gave a tenor alternative five years later in Vienna when it was being performed by amateurs. The opera starts with a long aria for Ilia, wonderfully sung by Sarah Tynan, whom I saw a few months ago as Adina in The Elixir of Love. She had a charming stage presence, her diction was superb, and she portrayed this Pamina-like role with great delicacy. Then as the vengeful Elektra, desperate to defeat her rival and win her prince, Emma Bell’s strong voice and presence showed sneering arrogance turning to anger, and in the end of course she becomes quite unhinged, waving a gun around and shooting herself off-stage.

Emma Bell as Elektra starts to go crazy

The use of guns made sense since this production by Katie Mitchell is in a modern context, and indeed the costumes by Vicki Mortimer are absolutely up to date, the men wearing suits, with Elektra in a black dress, and Ilia looking delightful in stylish light coloured dresses. I liked the clean, plain sets by Vicki Mortimer and Alex Eales, and loved the images of the sea, sometimes raging most fearsomely. I particularly liked the preparation for the proposed exile of Idamante in Act II, where he and others waited at the departure gate while Elekra sat comfortably in the VIP lounge, delighted to be off with her beloved, and away from her rival. When the terrible storm rages everyone floods into the lounge, creating a tight space for the chorus to sing fearfully about this new terror. My only complaint about the production was that there were too many irrelevant comings and goings across the stage while various duets and soliloquies were going on. I know this is a rather static opera, but the busy activity had the smell of contrivance. Indeed, Sarah Tynan held the stage well in her long first aria, and needed less distraction. But the emotion came through very well, and ENO’s first new production of Idomeneo since 1962 must be counted a great success.

Performances continue until July 9^th — for more details click here.