BUXTON FESTIVAL 2007
Jacques OFFENBACH (1819-80)
Bluebeard (Barbe-bleu) 1866
Buxton Opera Festival, Opera House, Buxton, Derbyshire
Saturday 7^th July 2007

The pre-production talk, by producer Annilese Miskimmon, gave little away about the amusement to unfold in this first performance. With a new German edition of band parts and a frothy up-to-date English translation by Kit Hesketh-Harvey, this fun and wacky opéra-bouffe turned out to be superb Offenbach as well as sublime entertainment. This is in some ways a production where ‘Sweeny Todd’ meets ‘Iolanthe’ Act I!

Offenbach wrote Barbe-Bleu in his middle period, encompassed by La Belle Hélène, Les Fées du Rhin (with melodies that eventually materialized in Hoffmann) and La Vie Parisienne. Consequently, the music here is at a zenith of creativity for this composer. The last serious revival of the work in this country was the Sadler’s Wells centenary production of May 18^th 1966. In his production notes, Andrew Lamb has uncovered a period of French fashion for the Bluebeard story in the 19^th Century. It comes then as no surprise to find Offenbach cashing in on its popularity. As with much Offenbach operetta, where substantial slices of dialogue punctuate the music, the company’s recruitment has to bear in mind a need for singers who are good actors if the witty buffoonery is to be successfully delivered.

The Buxton Festival couldn’t have done better than trot out performers with such an excellent stage presence: their acting ability was outstanding. Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts’ Bluebeard projects a strong personality yet is reasonably tame, though padding in Henry VIII fashion might have been effective. His singing is excellent, and he can’t be blamed if Offenbach chose a tenor for the rôle rather than a booming bass. His opposite, Imelda Drumm, as the scatty Boulotte, a pig farmer complete with hitched, manure-tinged skirt and Wellingtons (a bit modern), plays her character to the full, with powerful voice to match. Her confession that she is "more of a muck sweat" seems rurally in keeping. Mark le Brocq is effective as the insipid, weak-minded King who is brought to attention by his sharp and formidable Queen (Linda Ormiston). Between them, they give a reassuring regal propriety that enhances the humour of the slapstick capers they have to endure.

The industrious butler-henchman to Baron Bluebeard, Popolani (Geoffrey Doulton), concocts amusing action, especially in the dungeon scene where he fires a catheter in the rump of Boulotte to provide a pretense killing in front of Bluebeard, and then later ingeniously revives her with a crude Defibrillator. (Perhaps we should wince at the crudeness of clipping two leads to an electric lamp shade to provide a source of electrical power, but never mind.) Fleurette & Lysander (Charlotte Ellett & Hal Cazalet) play their opening Arcadian scene with idyllic sensitivity. The delightful cut-out lambs with pink bows added an amusing Marie Antoinette campness. Throughout, the chorus acted and sang superbly, with wide-eyed Héloïse and Eléonore particularly reacting to situations effectively.

Hesketh-Harvey’s adaptation is full of witty dialogue, mainly with clever lyrics, but sometimes with mundane lyrics, "My God, My God, I do feel odd". It milks the pantomime idiom where surrealist overtones become the norm. Comments about ‘brown nosing’ has a ring of familiarity where the King’s aide, Count Oscar (Jonathan Best) is found reading and commenting on news in ‘The Independent’ newspaper while the men’s chorus enter crawling one behind the other to exaggerate the Brown-nosing lyrics. This aptness to current news brought laughs from the audience, as did the later interactive business between an oversexed Boulotte and the King, after she has been brought back to life along with the five other wives Bluebeard had previously murdered.

There were many inspired touches that producer Annilese Miskimmon should be congratulated on. The character portrayals were vibrant, while her groupings of chorus (dare I call it choreography) were fresh, authentic and provided good tableaux effects. A chorus of funeral directors come to measure up Boulotte, with their white tape measures forming the outline of a coffin. A take off of ‘Merry Widow’ and Act 2 of ‘Mikado’ certainly worked; even her decision to maintain holding a property pitchfork throughout for Farmer Boulotte brought amusement when the King receives her. Only did I find the use of a freezer in the dungeon (penultimate scene) far-fetched to the extreme, but then if one is playing panto then perhaps one can get away with it. Her decision to have Bluebeard’s wives in the disguise of pastry cooks, instead of the gypsies used in earlier productions, was a good one and provided colour even if their period was too modern. Certainly for me the production was successful and fun to watch.

The music of Bluebeard is a delight from the sparkling overture onwards. Offenbach’s characteristic harmonies and rhythms are taken at a lively pace under Wyn Davies’ direction, apart from the Entr’acte to Scene 2 (Part 1) that seemed unusually pedantic, but maybe this is how the music is marked. To me, one of the highlights of the Festival is always the superb playing by the Northern Chamber Orchestra, which tonight was on supreme form.

The magnificent costumes were in the main appropriate, and enhanced the singer’s characterizations. A theme of blue for the coordinated attire of Bluebeard and his butler was in keeping while tailed Court officials were cleverly turned into Funeral directors by donning black ribboned Top Hats. The pastry cooks, however, looked too modern and jarred: are there not limits as to how far one can go to hold authenticity.

Simon Holdsworth’s fixed setting was daring in his use of a large wedding cake (with the action taking place on its iced surface) yet it fits the comedy of the piece and worked. For an interior scene, a roof was added by dropping in an extra tier to the cake, being separated from the icing dais by Ionic columns as spacers. Despite the simplicity of stage design there were subtleties to observe. Tree cut-outs were given a halo-edging to nicely throw them forward from the black curtains behind, while six pinches of icing, in white and pink, round the cake’s circumference depicted the previous wives of Bluebeard (perhaps I could guess a further subtlety in the differences of their colour). This interpretation was confirmed when in a later scene Boulotte is shown the graves of Bluebeard’s previous wives: they are mounds of the same style of icing pinches, but now they are coloured black. This excellent symbolism meets its target and does not have to be explained (unlike the use of different colours of sand in an earlier Buxton production). I never like the idea of acting in front of the main tabs for a forestage scene even though it happens in panto. By dropping a neutral cloth, and with the ability to light a rectangular area, this seems a more appropriate way of working.

The inclusion of free-standing columns, thrones and arches gave the opportunity to have a number of stage features to cross-light and John Bishop (Lighting designer) took every opportunity to use the Buxton rig to good effect. Gentle shifts of mood colour gave nuances of change as with the regal symbolism of golds and apricot for the Throne scene. Down lighting on the highly-reflective icing dais was sensibly held in check until the final Wedding scene when full brilliance matched the joyous mood of the occasion with a psychologically uplifting note.

This is Andrew Greenwood’s first season as Director at Buxton. Coupled with Glyn Foley’s strong management team I am confident that from this showing and the excellent Devereux of last night we can look forward to many more superb seasons ahead.

Raymond J Walker