Berlioz The Trojans at Carthage
English National Opera, Coliseum,
London, 16 May 2003
"Very little of Hugh MacDonald's English translation was audible. The answer is not surtitles but for someone to make sure the cast sings words." (Andrew Clements Saturday May 10, 2003 The Guardian) That quote persuades me to write a short note on The Trojans
at Carthage, its newest visual representation of this great
Berlozian tribute to ancient Greek classical myth having failed
to impress me in ENO's 'contemporary' rendition.
So, I write to tell you that having been disappointed with inaudible words of The Capture of Troy from mid-circle, I am delighted to note that from stalls O3&4 (the back corner) the clarity of word projection was exemplary. Indeed, the whole sound was well balanced and the musical aspects of the performance generally admirable. I enjoyed the singing of Susan Parry, John Dazsak, Anna Burford & Clive Bayley, and in smaller parts Christopher Saunders as Hylas and Toby Stafford-Allen & Graeme Danby providing much needed light relief as the Shakespearean sentries. The orchestra did well for Paul Daniel and it was good to have a full chorus which this work demands. But I have little to add to what has been written about the fussy staging and the contemporary down-market costuming, which left me nostalgic for the original UK Kubelik production at ROH, with a proper cave (not a little trap door centre stage) and magnificent regal hounds to attend upon a Dido who looked like a queen; I've forgotten who were the singers - but the huge lizards on the walls are no substitute for those fine dogs! I found it diminished visually in the current staging and costuming, as in the colour coding (red and blue gloves) on the Arthaus DVD from Salzburg. So for this opera I am a traditionalist (by no means so for many others), preferring to rely upon my imagination and to listen under Sir Colin Davis's guidance (LSO Live CD and coming performance at The Proms 25 August). My link below is to the home page of The Opera Critic, an invaluable resource to which I have contributed as a London representative prior to the launch of Musical Pointers. In the reviews of this production collected there, the best attempt to elucidate Richard Jones' production positively is Edward Seckerson's sympathetic exploration for The Independent; my own reactions accord with those of Martin Anderson for Seen&Heard. ENO Photos: Clive Barda ENO's Les Troyens à Carthage in The Opera Critic From stalls O3&4 the
clarity was exemplary 18 May 2003 Musical Pointers
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