Queues for the loos
lengthened with the announcement in the third week of the Proms that 72-year-old
Sir John Eliot Gardiner had decided to perform Monteverdi’s five act opera
without an interval. (Tip: use the Circle level). This was as much a talking
point as the gossip at the first performance in 1607 that even the dialogue was
to be sung. This was how the ancient Greeks did it, apparently, and the
Renaissance was all about reviving Classical antiquity. The recitative, as it
was called, rose and fell with the emotions of the characters. Under Gardiner, the hours passed
without longueurs. Orfeo was sung by Krystian Adams whose light tenor
brightened and darkened expressively though once or twice his desperation at
Eurydice’s loss caused the focus of his pitch to fall rather too low. His
sylph-like Eurydice was Mariana Flores who sang with a seductive glint and
prevaricated deliciously as she moved across the stage with featherlight grace. She had her dancing
equal in Francesca Aspromonte’s Music who shook with mating ritual appeal and
sang with glistening tone and hall-filling volume, not least when as the
Messenger she announced herself from the back of the arena and, accompanied by a theorbist, solemnly glided through the parting prommers as she delivered her tragic news.
Fearing a reaction to lengthy recitative, Monteverdi made extensive
provision for the dance element with dozens of ritornello interludes. Sir
John’s musicians revelled in the rhythms in their two groups led by long-necked
lutes (theorbos) and keyboards with violins and recorders for colour. The brass
including cornetts was separate, marching on in ritual for their familiar
fanfares with ‘natural’ tuning providing authentic dissonance. The youthful
chorus sang with well-honed collegiate voices, gyrated more or less in time, clapped percussion entries and involved themselves with the drama at every point, posing as
so many Rodin Thinkers with Orfeo’s gloomy mood. For all his heavenly
musicianship, Orfeo could not prevent despair although perhaps the subliminal
message is that music is at its most beautiful when depicting tragedy.
