Purcell The Fairy Queen, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, London

4.00

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
Arts & Ents blogs

DJ Fresh: I’ve never been so excited about making music

“I wouldn’t say I’m going for my third consecutive number one,” says Dan, “It’s dangerous to become ...

Brighton Fringe: The theatre of food

IF there are a lot of green-faced people limping around Brighton today, I think we know who to blame...

Tone Of Arc: It took forever to find my ‘Eureka!’ moment

Another artist that caught my attention in Miami this year was Tone Of Arc (AKA Derrick Boyd). Rathe...

Purcell’s “semi-opera” is a response – an elaborate and deliciously well-endowed one – to “an anonymous adaptation” of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – and with as much text as Jonathan Kent included here you might be forgiven for wondering quite when that response would materialise.

The opening scenes are played out at length here within an exquisite Restoration drawing room (designer Paul Brown), its walls lined with showcases of memorabilia, theatrical and otherwise. You can all but hear bewildered opera-goers wondering when the singing and dancing might commence? Patience.

The walls of said drawing room now recede to the night’s enchantments while black-sequined Titania (a rapacious Sally Dexter) leads out her “designer” fairies, winged, chic and darkly capricious. We will recognise them by their Nicole Farhi attire. But by the time the boiler-suited mechanicals arrive - a dubious chorus-line of yellow-page jobbers loudly rallied by Desmond Barrit’s splendid Bottom (with designs on all the parts) and Jack Chissick’s Snout (never without a handful of his business cards) - all bets are off as to the chaos and magic that will ensue. Splendid actors, singers, and dancers share disciplines and it’s open season for flying and special effects as Purcell’s tune-laden masques unfold, musing and elaborating on Shakespeare’s narrative.

William Christie’s buoyant direction of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment rejoices in Purcell’s joyous counterpoint with drums, tambourines, and nutty woodwinds alternating with rosiny strings to convey the abiding spirit of the dance. Kim Brandstrup’s choreography is both discreet and exquisite and the singing variously stylish.

But the show’s the thing and it’s not often you see a director and designer collude so seamlessly, so imaginatively, and so amusingly in their endeavours. In the wake of Puck’s misdirected chicanery “The Masque of Seduction” brings mounting naughtiness, the spring sprung to the strains of lovely Lucy Crowe reflecting on the exquisite pain of the lovelorn and Carolyn Sampson harvesting Purcell’s most gorgeous embellishments. Upon her summoning of “Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air”, a giant haystack spills out a Benny Hill-like wench insisting “No Kissing at All” before the whole scene goes arse over tit with a bevy of rambunctious bunnies behaving badly.

But there is pathos, too, as Carolyn Sampson attends the score’s most enduring gem, “The Plaint”, tellingly finding refuge at Theseus’ knee and in so doing softening his heart to allow the lovers their true partners. A truly magical moment.

Of course, the God of Marriage, Hymen – a harassed vicar with a Sainsbury’s bag (excellent Andrew Foster-Williams) – is sceptical. But even he comes round. And so should you. Call daily for returns.

edwardseckerson.biz

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years
Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Mayor condemned for saying that two-thirds of riders killed on the road were at fault in accidents
Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Unlikely community movie beats the stars to get prized Leicester Square premiere
Solved after 33 years? Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton

Solved after 33 years?

Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton
Like mamma used to make: Pizza Pilgrims is proving a word-of mouth sensation

Pizza Pilgrims: Like mamma used to make

A van dispensing purist pizzas is proving a word-of mouth sensation
The supper on its uppers: Why we need to learn to entertain lavishly for less

Supper on its uppers: Entertain lavishly for less

Dinner parties are buckling under the pressures of food snobbery and belt-tightening...
The 10 best summer cookbooks

The 10 best summer cookbooks

From Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain to The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard...
Gorgeous Georgian: Now we can enjoy the cuisine of Russia's fiery neighbour nearer home

Gorgeous Georgian cuisine

The food of Russia's fiery neighbour is among the world's most inventive and original
Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

Fury at Obama over filmmakers' access to Bin Laden kill team

White House denies putting politics before national security
Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

Novak Djokovic: Patriot's game

The world No 1 is fiercely proud to be from Serbia and to be improving his country's profile. And he knows that winning the French Open – and therefore holding all four Slams – will do his cause no harm at all
Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

Rugby league's great drugs cover-up

After Hull's Martin Gleeson failed a drug test last year it sparked an avalanche of lies, complacency and confusion which Robin Scott-Elliot reveals for the first time
Ian Bell: Forget good-looking shots, I want to be known as a tough operator

Ian Bell: View From the Middle

It was nice to play a pressure innings at Lord's on Monday and be recognised for it