The Visionary Production
Glyndebourne's first production of Monteverdi's
L'Orfeo, directed by William Kentridge, is a visually stunning and musically exhilarating performance that explores the power of music and art. The set, designed by Sabine Theunissen, is rooted in an artist's studio and features a mix of three-dimensional objects and cartoonishly 2D or purely symbolic elements.
The Visual Spectacle
The production is overwhelmed with visual elements, including animated charcoal drawings, annotated archive documents, and fragmentary phrases projected onto the back wall of the stage. The cumulative effect is overwhelming, particularly if you want to read the surtitles. Some may find the visual busyness frustrating, its symbolism gnomic.
The Musical Performance
Musically, there is a similarly hell-for-leather quality to the performance. Under conductor
Jonathan Cohen, the
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment turned up the bass with its substantial, deep-pile continuo section and provided sympathetic, characteristically stylish light and shade. The chorus provided a lusty, finely blended gaggle of nymphs, shepherds and spirits.
The Cast Highlights
As Orpheus himself,
Krystian Adam is a kind of straw-boatered colonial figure, vocally at his best as he pleads with Charon. Among the rest of the large cast, excellent diction and stylish ornamentation came as standard, with particularly charismatic turns from
Hugo Herman-Wilson and
Henna Mun.
Xenia Puskarz Thomas's Messenger is fearless and almost raw in her mezzo's arresting power. As Musica and Euridice,
Francesca Aspromonte is all laser-focused vocal beauty as well as a compelling dramatic presence.
The Future Outlook
The production runs at
Glyndebourne, Sussex until 25 July. This visually stunning and musically exhilarating performance is not to be missed.