opera
FIFTY years ago Glyndebourne was at the forefront of the revived interest in the 17th-century composer Francesco Cavalli, staging acclaimed productions of his early operas L’Ormindo and La Calisto. Now they open the Sussex summer season with the British premiere of this 1658 rarity.
Why, you ask, has the work languished for so long? Simple. It’s dreary — nearly three hours of plangent arias and recitatives that may caress the ears of Baroque buffs but will bore the sackbuts off those in search of stronger meat.
But — and it is a very big but — the staging is stunning and the singing and playing are superlative. It’s a bit like flashily dressing an operatic corpse, but done with enormous imagination and panache.
The story — like most of the Venetian operas of the time — is based on myth. It’s a tale of thwarted love and divided loyalties.
Hipermestra defies her father King Danao’s orders to murder her newly-wed husband and thus sets in motion a vengeful regional conflict. Director Graham transplants the action from the ancient world to today’s war-torn Middle East and, with the help of designer Stuart Nunn’s amazing sets, evokes a contemporary nightmare. Nine virtuoso players from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (conducted from the keyboard by William Christie) are dressed in Arab robes and inhabit the lower stage, sometimes taking part in the action. Occasionally, the singers step down to join them. It is an extraordinary theatrical event and there is not a weak link in a cast led by Emoke Barath (left) in the tortured title role and counter-tenor Raffaele Pe as her anguished husband, Linceo. Mark Wilde offers a few treasured moments of light relief as the cross-dressing bearded nurse, Berenice. Whether it’s worth all their efforts is another matter.