Cavalli La Calisto La Nuova Musica, Wigmore Hall

At the Wigmore Hall, London an outstanding Cavalli La Calisto, with La Nuova Musica,  La Nuova Musica enliven their work with the same adventurous spirit that one imagines would have motivated 17th century Venetian audiences.  Historically informed performance isn't merely a matter of avoiding vibrato, but of understanding the spirit  of the times. Venice in 1651 was an exciting place, the go-ahead centre of the Mediterranean world.  Opera itself was a "new" art, still evolving, and Venetian audiences were very sophisticated.  La Nuova Musica's La Calisto was vibrant with energetic verve a tightly-focussed performance, where the filigree intricacies could shine.  

La Calisto is mythological allegory, but the characters are defined with dramatic flair.  Calisto (Lucy Crowe) is a beautiful nymph, a handmaiden of Diana, (Jurgita Adamontyé) whose acolytes are sworn to virginity.  Giove, (George Humphreys)  tries to seduce her to no avail, until he disguises himself as Diana.  Calisto, having tasted lust, can't understand why the "real" Diana despises sex.  Everyone else is trying to seduce Diana, with no luck. Although the reason might be obvious to us now, I don't think we can rule out the possibility that the ancient Greeks didn't know, given their tolerance for same sex relationships.  Chances are, the point wasn't lost either on 17th century Venetians. . Like Cavalli's other operas, (Please read my piece Crazier than Jason, Cavalli's Elena)  gender bending and illicit love gave audiences a naughty frisson. Calisto talks about "Diana's kisses" to an older woman, played by a man  Endymione (Tim Mead) a counter tenor. manages to seduce the asexual Diana  For this, she's maligned for being fickle !  Giove as the fake Diana, learns from Endymione that Diana isn't as pure as he thought. Giove as Diana tries to seduce Calisto again but his wife Giunone (Rachel Kelly) won't have any fooling around and turns Calisto into a bear.

La Nuova Musica, conducted by David Bates, had perhaps the finest specialist cast in this country,  thus,wisely concentrated focus on the performance, not the staging. Thus we could enjoy detail, like the way different voices came together at the end of a line, hovering together before falling silent. We could also focus on the variety of musical invention, sometimes sublime and at other times, deliberately grotesque  I love the dance sequences. You could luxuriate in the sheer beauty of the singing and playing, delighting in details like the flourish of a harpsichord, seemingly wayward but very much integrated into the ensemble : the joker in the pack, perhaps, for La Calisto is funny: serious ideas tackled with irreverent wit. Listen here on BBC Radio 3 for approx 30 days.
Please also see my piece oin La Nuova Musicas's Cesti Orontea at the Wigmore Hall

Cavalli operas seem to need high standards. Although La Calisto is almost mainstream these days, I don't think anything but the idiomatic best does them justice.  There is a wonderful DVD  with René Jacobs  and Concerto Vocale, recorded at La Monnaie in March 1996. . Staging was by Herbert Wernicke, demonized by anti-moderns, but it's brilliant. The stage is small and claustrophobic, like the enclosed world of the gods. But the characters look out on stars, and rise up into the rafters borne aloft by pulleys.  Stars and spangles all over the costumes too : the image of "night" illuminated by wonder. 

English Baroque Opera, St John's Smith Square

English Baroque opera at St John's , Smith Square, ready for booking now.  The English baroque style is unique, more "classical" than exuberant; southern forms, yet connected to contemporary theatrical values.  St John's, Smith Square, is a gem of British baroque architecture, an ideal place in which to enjoy English baroque music.

Bampton Classical Opera starts the new season with "Diviner Comedies" on 13/9, pairing Thomas Arne's The Judgement of Paris,  "a  witty account of a celestial beauty contest"  with "the supremely lyrical  Gluck Philemon and Baucis, continuing  Bampton's, enterprising exploration of Gluck's lesser-known operas. Paul Wingfield will conduct CHROMA

Henry Purcell Dido and Aeneas on 29/9 with the celebrated La Nuova Musica, led by David Peter Bates. Major headliners - Dame Ann Murray will sing Dido and George Humphreys will sing Aneas.  Again, a very good cast. What's more, with typical adventurous La Nuova Musica flair,  this performance will be illustrated with dancers, choreographed by Zack Winokur. This should be one of the highlights of the season - book early !

Thomas Linley's Lyric Ode: on the Fairies, Aerial Beings and Witches of Shakespeare  features in Bampton Classical Opera's second concert on 15/11. A glorious piece,, vividly dramatic.  It's being paired with excerpts from Georg Benda's Singspeil Romeo and Juliet,which Bampton Opera did in 2007.  Gilly French conducts the Bampton Classical Players and  a cast that includes Rosemary Coad, Caroline Kennedy, Thomas Herford and James Harrison.

Another highlight! The Early Opera Company, conducted by Christian Curnyn, makes a welcome return to St John's on 18/11 with Handel's Serse HWV40 , this time with Anna Stéphany, Rupert Enticknap, Callum Thorpe and Claire Booth, among others.

Lots more, too. La Nuova Musica is doing Bach Mozart and Haydn in December.  And don't forget the famous SJSS Christmas season, which sells out fast because it's so much fun. For more details visit the SJSS . website HERE>

Cesti Orontea La Nuova Musica Wigmore Hall

Hottest ticket in town! The Wigmore Hall was packed for La Nuova Musica, presenting Antonio Cesti's Orontea. Cesti (1623-1669) was a fascinating character.. He became a monk aged only 14, but discovered the allure of wilder things, becoming involved with a group of artists known as the Accademia dei Percosi (The Academy of the Stricken) led by the charismatic painter and poet Salvator Rosa.  "Stricken by the theatre and its popular,  bawdy delights", as Rick Jones writes in his informative programme notes, Cesti turned to opera, then a new art form.

Cesti then came under the patronage of the Medicis in Florence and took avidly to the lifestyle, breaking his vows of chastity and poverty. In 1651, he was kicked out of the Franciscan order for leading a "dishonorable and irregular life", and moved to Innsbruck where he served the Archduke of Austria.  It was here that Orontea was written, between 1654 and 1657, to a libretto by Giacinto Cicognini, a friend from Percosi days. Eventually, Cesti returned to Rome hoping to be released from his vows, but was pointedly humiliated by being put to work in the papal offices. He managed to get back to Florence, where Orontea became so popular that it was staged in 20 cities in 20 years. It was then lost for over 300 years until copies were discovered in Cambridge and Bologna.  René Jacobs made the benchmark recording some 10 years ago, so La Nuova Musica and conductor David Bates have a lot to measure up to. But how wonderfully they suceeded!

La Nuova Musica  have a reputation fore imaginative flair. This performance was vigorous, energetic, and above all fun, true to the composer and the audacious spirit of his time. The impact was magnified at with its warm, close acoustic. Orontea requires a fairly large orchestra - two harpsichords, two theorbos, one with a longer shaft than the other, two violins, a violone, a viola da gamba, two  baroque guitars plus an impressive set of woodwinds, large and small, one with an unusual curved chamber that creates sounds as strange as it looked.  This instrumentation allowed a wide range of sounds, some strikingly exotic, mingled together. Themes change and switch, keeping you on your toes, so to speak. Even by the standards of the baroque, the plot is convoluted.  The central figure is Alidoro (Jonathan Mc Govern) a charming opportunist, whose fortunes rise and fall and rise again. Everyone adores him anyway. Cesti himself sang the part in performance, so perhaps there's an element of self satire, as if Cesti is cocking a snook at the very idea of order.  Orontea, the Queen of Egypt (Anna Stéphany), sings of freedom, then falls hopelessly in love with the mysterious stranger Alidoro. Her adviser, Creonte (Timothy Dickinson), tries to set things straight. Instead, though, we enjoy a  barrage of crazy sub plots, fights, drunken orgies, cross-dressing skits and earthy humour. Immediately I thought of Cavalli and Giasone in particular. Sure enough, Cesti knew Cavalli and sang in Cavalli's operas. There's no room in the baroque for timid. Perhaps there's also a throwback to the medieval idea of Lords of Misrule.

Early audiences were given printed copies of the text, complete with candle attachments.  At the Wigmore Hall, we were helped by surtitles projected on the wall above the stage, in a free translation with rhyming couplets which apparently catches the irreverent spirit of the original.  From where I was sitting, I couldn't read a thing but that proved not to be such a bad idea, for the opera makes perfect sense when you stop worrying about literal meaning, and focus instead on the madcap delirium that soon becomes oddly engaging. Vocal performances were vivid, which helped a lot. In addition to the three principals above, Mary Bevan sang Silandra, Michal Czerniawski sang Corindo, Anat Edri sang Giacinta, Christopher Turner sang Tibrino and Edward Grint sang Gelone, the amiable drunk.

 

Fragrant Handel Acis and Galatea La Nuova Musica

Handel Acis and Galatea  with La Nuova Musica and David Peter Bates. St John's Smith Square is the finest period performing space for baroque music in London, but, since it was built as a church it doesn't have space for anything but the most minimal staging.  But La Nuova Musica confronred the problem with a solution worthy of the  audacious spirit of the baroque. Enhanced by fragrance, this Acis  and Galatea highlighted the fundamental sensuality of the drama by stimulating our sense of smell   Invisible staging, no less!
 
"In Handel's time, scents abounded", said Sarah McCartney, who created the fragrance choreography, for choreography it was indeed, extending the impact of the music.  This Acis and Galatea confronted the sanitized conformity of our  modern world and brought us closer to the creative soul of the period.  Scents cannot be seen, but operate subliminally, affecting perception.

 In a serenata, or pastoral masque like this, mood and imagination are paramount. Presumably the invisible scents contributed to the performers  In a amall performasnce space like St John's Smith Square, every note, every facial expression registers.  It can be intimidating. Happiness pervades this work, even when, for a moment,  that happiness is disrupted, so getting the mood right makes a difference.  The singers seemed relaxed, prompted perhaps by the invisible support of fragrance so the elaborate lines and recaps flowed with freedom and grace.

Ed Lyon sang Acis, Even by the standards we're used to hearing from him, this was a delicious performance. He was singing with evident relish, his ornate lines shaped with panache, his delivery natural and direct. His face is full of character.  Makeup and costume would almost have got in the way, for this Acis felt like a real person.  The duet "Happy We!" positively glowed.  After that, high point, Polyphemus (Christopher Purves)  dominates proceedings, but Lyon's Acis fights back. The trio "The flocks shall leave the mountain" was enunciated with the sharp thrusts of battle. When Acis died, Lyon's voice  descended into haunting diminuendo - very moving.

Nonetheless, Christopher Purves did come near stealing the show.  He, too, has a voice that exudes personality, so his Polyphemus, though a fanciful villain, was witty, even lovable. "I rage, I melt, I burn,",Purves sang, his chest puffed up in mock swagger.  Billows of scent heralded his "O ruddier than the cherry.". Because the smells were subtle rather than oppressive, one paid attention when they emanated an intriguing mix of sulphur, earth and water mint.  In a staged performance, we might encounter smoke and such effects. Here, we visualized  using our imaginations.

Galatea was sung by Augusta Hebbert, substituting at short notice for Katherine Manley. Hebbert has been singing with La Nuova Musica for several years, so she fitted in seamlessly.  By the end of the evening, when Galatea is bereft and the masque revolves around her, Hebbert showed her mettle: a very lovely "Heart the seat of soft delight" ,her voice reflecting the characteristic swaying  between crescendo and diminuendo that gives Acis and Galatea such charm.  This rhythm lends itself to dance. Rupert Charlesworth sang Damon and Nicholas Scott sang Coridon.

When the Royal Opera House did Acis and Galatea with Christopher Hogwood some years ago, the singers were shadowed by dancers. No such resources at St John's Smith Square, but La Nuova Musica played with such vivacity that one could dream dance. Neither did the absence of a formal chorus make much difference.  Singers and orchestra interacted so well that the music communicated with freshness and conviction.  At St John's Smith Square, you're so close to the musicians that you feel part of the proceedings.  Particularly good playing from the leader of the violins and from the oboist whose part feels even bigger in what appears to have  been somewhat reduced instrumentation.  The oboe leads, but is supported by recorder, also doubling piuccolo to create the image of a shepherd's pipe.

La Nuova Musica did  Conti L'issipile at the Wigmore Hall last year. Read the review here in in Opera Today.  They are also doing a recital at the Wigmore Hall with Bejun Mehta later this month and Cesti Orontea on 14/12 at the Wigmore Hall. Next year, they return to St John's Smith Square in the spring.