Blow • Purcell

Blow: Venus and Adonis; Purcell: Dido and Aeneas

Ida Ränzlöv, Bernt Ola Volungholen, et al; Confidencen Opera & Music Festival Orchestra/olof Boman; dir. William Relton (Solna, 2021)

Opus Arte DVD: OA1361D;

Blu-ray: OABD7308D 97 mins

This is the first operatic production filmed at Confidencen, Sweden’s oldest theatre. Built in 1753 for royals and their guests in the park at Ulriksdal Palace, it has a warm, buzzy acoustic and an intimate interior optimal for this music, and for this project’s alluring performances, sumptuous costumes and clever set designs.

All the principals are strong, but mezzo-soprano Ida Ränzlöv stands out. Technically flawless, texturally lush and dramatically compelling, Ränzlöv unleashes the roiling passions of her two title characters. Each opera is about its heroine: Venus, taking her cue from her son Cupid, indulges her power over her lover Adonis, thereby causing his death; Dido, in response to losing her lover Aeneas to his sorcerymanipulated destiny to found Rome, kills herself. Ränzlöv, with her vocal and visual beauty, draws us into shifting emotional states that build subtly to each opera’s blazing finale. Countertenor Rupert Enticknap, as both an impishly willful Cupid and a menacingly camp Sorceress, is Ränzlöv’s bold and vocally powerful foil. As Adonis and Aeneas, tenor Bernt Ola Volungholen matches Ränzlöv’s fine vocalism and hot intensity, though not her nuance. Olof Boman’s conducting, and the band’s zest, brilliantly deliver Blow’s and Purcell’s masterstrokes.

There are problems: limp staging in lieu of choreographed dances, plodding montage and unhappy camera placement causing a string player’s bow to twice obtrude into the framed foreground. Yet the performance’s venue and artistry, and the rarity of Blow’s ingenious mini-opera – commercially available in only one other filmed version – make this DVD valuable. Berta Joncus

PERFORMANCE

PICTURE & SOUND