London has a wealth of excellent opera and the audience is lapping it up — even in obscure places. I went to a brilliant adaptation of The Barber of Seville in a pub theatre, and a stark, sublime production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo in a former railway repair shed, all within a week.

Singing great, piano reduction excellent, production sharp, translation witty — what more can you want? We were really up close and personal, and the singer/actors gave it their all. The moment of revelation when Almaviva is unmasked and Rosina realizes she’s hooked a Count — WOW! Her expression said it all — she loved him before, but now she really loves him! Enormous fun.
And then the Royal Opera House/Roundhouse, live-streamed on 21st January. The Roundhouse for opera? Why not? It’s a massive circular building, topped by a broad, conical roof supported by 24 columns and cast iron girders, built in the 1840s to function as a railway repair shed. Inside, it’s stark, and atmospheric. It became a performing arts venue in the 1970s and has had an extraordinary career. I think this is the first foray into opera and, boy did it work brilliantly, due to the imagination and verve of the entire production team and the participants. In terms of audience, it brought in the usual opera audience but additionally many people really new to opera – perhaps because of the venue but also because of the engagement of a number of young people. There was a balcony for the great and good to watch proceedings (perhaps they were the Duke and Duchess of Mantua, where the piece had its first performance?); from there, at one point, they came down as dei ex machina (Pluto and Persephone); but otherwise, the set was formed by young dancers from East London Dance who became, most effectively, the rolling River Styx, the gates to the underworld, the silent chorus – what a coup. We are getting used to minimal sets, and in this venue, it certainly works.
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Mary Bevan as Euridice and Gyula Orendt as Orfeo Photograph: Stephen Cummiskey © ROH |
But such exciting things happening around the UK capital for opera. It sure is a lively art form!
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