[ssba]
Dido & Aeneas and Bluebeard’s Castle
Review by David C. Nichols
LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Through November 15
RECOMMENDED :
It’s hard to imagine a more theatrically idiosyncratic or versatile double bill than Henry Purcell’s 17th century English baroque landmark and Béla Bartók’s nightmarish 20th century Hungarian tone poem.
Although purists may well be aghast, adventurous audiences should check out director Barrie Kosky’s contrasting takes on these wildly different operas. Under the expert baton of conductor Steven Sloane, each piece carries considerable musical heft, despite some significant postmodern quirks.
Dido is the lighter in tone and sound, its 22-piece period orchestra playing with dry clarity and airy grace. That also describes the refulgent chorus (overseen by Grant Gershon with typical skill), first seen across the apron on an enormous bench, designed by Katrin Lea Tag (also responsible for the droll, era-spanning costumes), thereafter clustering into tableaux and/or bookending into the pit.
Chief focus, though, is mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy, whose plangent, pink-panier-clad Dido exhibits an enchanting investment that recalls the emerging Frederica von Stade. As Aeneas, Liam Bonner’s charisma is entirely appropriate, even with the occasional spread to his lyric baritone.
Soprano Kateryna Kasper shines as handmaiden Belinda, especially when intently delivering her air from the front of the pit. This typifies Kosky’s most successful notions, with the final exit of singers and instrumentalists as Dido expires alone onstage memorable, even if her white slip and sporadic sobs faintly suggest death by orgasm.
Far more dubious is the handling of the bearded Sorceress (John Holiday) and her fellow witches (G. Thomas Allen and Darryl Taylor). While their countertenors pipe impressively, between the gender-skewed aspects and bumptuous capering, their appearances veer perilously near John Waters territory.
Bluebeard, on the other hand, hovers somewhere between Grotowski and a fever dream. On a stage devoid of all scenery save for a large, steadily rotating luminescent oval, with Joachim Klein’s stark lighting and three doppelgangers dripping water, glitter and foliage from their dark suits, the visuals almost look like choreographed mannequins in a microwave.
What keeps the minimalist approach from imploding is the spectacular playing of the 88-piece expanded orchestra (the brass and strings especially soaring) and the absolute commitment of both principals in this mordant two-hander.
Robert Hayward gives Bluebeard a sonority and intensity that could serve either Wagner’s Wotan or Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. And as fearful-amorous Judith, the remarkable Claudia Mahnke is resonant, credible and affecting — imagine Christa Ludwig morphed with Cherry Jones, and you get the idea.
Again, it’s not a program for those who resist deconstructed approaches. Fans of edgy meta-theatrics and superior dramatic musicianship, however, will likely be transported.
L.A. Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave. Dwntwn.; Thurs., Nov. 6; Sun., Nov. 9; Wed., Nov. 12; and Sat., Nov. 15. (213) 972-8001, www.laopera.org
