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Purcell,  Dido and Aeneas:  New London Consort with Philip Pickett (Conductor) and Soloists, Town Hall,  Birmingham 18.4.2009 (GR)


Part of the 250^th anniversary celebrations of Purcell’s birth, this Birmingham International Concert Season billing for Dido and Aeneas promised ‘a fully-staged performance’ and ‘a stunning reconstruction of the 1700 Lincoln’s Inn Theatre revival’. Well, a bare stage (with the orchestra squashed onto one side) and an occasional prop (an olive branch for Peace and an axe for Mars) do not even a semi-staged performance make. A fan of director Jonathan Miller, I’m not exactly sure what his input was either - certainly not stunning. The THSH What’s On also designated a responsibility for movement and choreography. Movement, what movement? I haven’t seen such a static opera interpretation for some time. On occasions, the inactivity was embarrassing and emphasised by little lack of lighting contrast. And with Nahum Tate’s original libretto peppered with dances, the opportunity for some visible rhythmic diversion beckoned, but was in the final event completely ignored. What happened between conception and realisation? Did the production become  another victim of the credit crunch?

The history of Purcell’s first opera is somewhat vague and it remains regrettably incomplete. Author of a 1995 book on Purcell, musicologist Peter Holman had reconstructed the 1700 version and it was this edition that was on offer at the Town Hall. The proceedings opened with a Prologue, always in Purcell’s original plan according to the programme, and Mark Rowlinson delivered the court composer’s spoken allegorical verse as lucidly as the Olde Englishe words would allow. Two lines of it spelt out my own response  - I forgot the business of the Day, linked with what I had come to hear - Purcell’s Musick, noble, grave and gay. The music to this Prologue was certainly circa late 17^th century but it surely  wasn’t Purcell, it was John Eccles, music director of the Lincoln’s Inn Theatre during that period. Whilst Philip Salmon as Mars and Dana Marbach as Peace provided sufficient argument with their contrasting voices, I wasn’t sure why the chorus united in their conclusion It’s decreed that Wars should cease. If only it were that simple. A ‘Grand Dance’ closed the Prologue, but the music was too modest to be grand and the two godly trains left the stage as if they were a cortège. An insipid 25 min opener!

On to the real Purcell and the Queen of Carthage’s palace for the dialogue between Julia Gooding as Dido and Dana Marbach (her second role) as Belinda. I found nothing imperial about Gooding and Marbach was underpowered (even with only a cello to accompany her) and it was left to Michael George as Aeneas to inject some clarity and life into the proceedings. Hearing Aeneas sung by a baritone did seem strange at first, but George seemed to inspire the choir to their best contribution so far – eight voices in triumphal harmony for To the Hills and the Vales. There were some good points also in The Cave scene that followed – the effective cackling of the witches, some realistic thunder, the echo chorus, the Horrid Musick and the gradual lowering of the hall lights to extinction, symptomatic of the sinking of the Furies.

The ritornello that began Part II (half way through the usual Act II) was pleasant enough but further frustration was induced by some more aimless stage wanderings, hardly indicative of a bloodthirsty game hunt. Even when Aeneas entered clutching his spear there was little to get excited about. But Christopher Robson was excellent as The Spirit and delivered Jove’s command sonorously from his high vantage point in the choir stalls. Aeneas’ inner turmoil was put across well by George at this point in Jove’s command shall be Obey’d. To be sure of his destiny he sought reassurance from his men, Philip Salmon and Andrew King; their exchange was one of the better additions from Eccles, whose music merged well into the drama. As the full complement of witches returned in their black hoodies, a prominent feature in the accompaniment of the New London Consort was the serpent playing of Philip Humphries. Although they numbered only sixteen, the orchestral Dances were fulsome and the most positive contribution to the performance, notwithstanding the lack of visuals. Other individuals of the outstanding period group I would single out, were Alix Verzier on cello and David Robiou on harpsichord, both for their sensitive vocal backings. The teamwork by all members of NLC was a credit to Philip Pickett, the Early Music expert and the group’s founder.

Two more props were employed in The Ships scene – a tankard for the tipsy sailor (Andrew King again, whose joint Liederabend production was a memorable Birmingham Conservatoire tribute to Purcell earlier this year) and a rope for the others to pull on, but it was all too little, too late. The scene reminded me of a tug-of-war team and may have been prophetic of the struggles Aeneas was to face in his quest for a new Troy. Destruction’s our Delight, the bright but brief chorus from the witches heralded their own dance music and featured another memorable bass line from Humphries and his serpent. In The Palace Dido and Belinda feared the worst, though when Aeneas confirmed the news of his departure I expected something more than the  Catherine Tate-like, ‘Am I bovvered?’ reaction from Dido. And as Aeneas left stage right, his walk seemed to take an eternity  and the poignancy of the moment failed to grab me. Gooding played the wounded soul better than her other moods and her Lament was okay hardly stirred Trouble in thy (or my) Breast.

The evening reminded me of a similar production by the Pickett/Miller partnership of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Town Hall a few years ago. I’m afraid that was equally uninspiring. My  response might have been improved by a straight concert performance, without the distractions that a poor production can create. I repeat my question, what did the staging add to Purcell’s celebrated music? Which brings me back, rather, to Catherine Tate.

Geoff Read


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