Buxton Festival 2006: Christoph Willibald
Gluck 'Armide' Sung in English. Soloists,
Northern Chamber Orchestra, Buxton Festival Chorus /Robert
King (conductor) Matcham Theatre, Buxton 08.07.2006 (RJF)
With this production Aidan Lang concludes
his tenure as Artistic Director of the Buxton Festival
and moves to the southern hemisphere as General Director
of NBR New Zealand Opera. He joined Buxton Festival in
2000 and under this stewardship audiences have trebled
to 35000 in 2005. Well, if an opera director cannot quite
go out with a bang then a fair bit of magic is more than
second best.
The story of Armide is based on one of the epic
literary creations of the Renaissance, Torquato Tasso’s
Gerusaleme liberata concerning Crusaders
against Saracens and the sorceress Armide. Many composers,
including Lully, Handel, Rossini and Haydn, as well as
Gluck set variations of the story. Rossini set it under
the title Armida for the newly re-equipped Teatro
San Carlo in Naples in November 1817. His libretto and
impresario called for a lavish staging including Armida’s
palace and enchanted garden. There were to be many comings
and disappearances as well as dances by nymphs, cherubs
and dragons. The lovers Armida and Rinaldo descend on
a cloud that becomes her chariot and, as she waves her
wand, turns into her castle! Gluck’s libretto made
no such lavish demands although there is call for an extensive
cast and spells and magical objects to protect from Armide’s
power. In fact Gluck used the same libretto as provided
for Lully by Quinault in 1686 with the addition of four
lines at the end of Act III.
Armide was the fifth of Gluck’s eight operas
composed for Paris between 1774 and 1789. It is very much
in Gluck’s ‘Reform’ period when he sought
to move opera on from both the Italian tradition dominated
by vocalism and the static nature of opera seria. He also
wished to incorporate French classicism and heroic tradition.
All recitatives are accompanied to provide a seemingly
seamless movement from arioso to aria and
then back to arioso. The musical structure makes
considerable demands on the violins matching those placed
on the designer for magic stage effects.
Jason Southgate’s set was basically simple. A raked
stage with a gashed division served as a river or widened
to permit Hatred's attendants to emerge from the depths.
The stage colouring changed to suit location whilst the
rear was largely taken up by a reflective metallic surface
into which a door facilitated Armide’s speedy entrance
and exits. With a curved cut out, this also provided a
visually stunning effect for the river nymphs in Act II.
The use of the metallic background in association with
a variety of coloured lighting effects gave a vivid realism
to the magical scenes although I was a little disturbed
by the use of repetitive white flashing lights in Act
IV. The costumes were in period except for that of Armide
who was resplendent in a purple gown. Her dress could
have been seen as a visually idiosyncratic but in the
context of similar coloured lighting did not seem so.
In summary, the staging, costumes and lighting were evocative,
effective and visually relevant and arresting.
At the pre-performance talk, the producer contended that
the staging was self explanatory of the plot which was
true to a large extent. What was less helpful in following
the sequences was the poor diction of some of the female
singers not least of Armide, sung by the Brazilian Rosanna
Lamosa, and her two confidantes, Sarah Redgwick and Emma
Gane. In the small and delightful refurbished Matcham
Theatre used by Buxton Festival I would have hoped for
greater clarity and due allowance in rehearsal for the
sopranos' problems with diction. Armide is a long
sing however, and Rosanna Lamosa coped well throughout.
Her voice, with a quick vibrato, is lean and flexible
and she acts with conviction, colouring the vocal line
to reflect Armide’s varying emotions. The matter
of diction was put into perspective by the arrival of
Roderick Earle as King of Hidraot. Every word was crystal
clear even if his tone was drier than of old. The same
comments could be made of Frances McCafferty as Hatred.
A firm favourite at Buxton she got one of the best ovations
of the evening. As Renaud the bewitched Crusader of the
story, the American Todd Wilander sang strongly with unforced
tone after a tentative start in this high-lying yet heroic
role. His is a typical North American tenor voice, rather
white of tone but flexible and clear with plenty of vocal
heft. His c.v. includes Mozart’s Tamino, Tito and
Belmonte as well as a dip into the romantic as Percy (Anna
Bolena) and Edgardo (Lucia). His acting is convincing
as is his vocal characterisation, although I suspect his
fach may be more towards Rossini than Gluck. Both
Ben Davies and Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks as the Crusaders
sent to rescue Renaud sang strongly and acted well as
did the Shepherdess of Julie Cooper.
With plenty of visual stimulation on stage and crisp conducting
from Robert King the fallacy of over long boring evenings
in operas of this period was put to the sword. With only
minor cuts in Act II and about twelve minutes of music
in Act V, the performance lasted just short of two and
a half hours but seemed far less. This production and
performance is a significant success for Buxton and Aidan
Lang and his design, costume and lighting team. Supporters
of opera from this period will hope that this production
will encourage others to follow Buxton's example particularly
in the U.K. In the meantime Aidan Lang can journey to
other climes with a resounding success under his belt.
We wish him well; he will be a difficult act to follow.
Robert J Farr
