Oxford has been blessed by some outstanding opera in recent weeks. WNO came to the New Theatre with two very striking productions and now English Touring Opera return to the city with a bold programme of Puccini and Stravinsky.
The Rake's Progress is Stravinsky as his playful yet profound best. Taking the classical form as perfected by Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, Stravinsky and his collaborators WH Auden and Chester Kallman created contemporary morality tale using the forces of the classical ensemble in a very modern and witty way.
As a score, it is a dazzling opportunity for both singers and orchestra alike. Conductor Jack Sheen delivers an outstanding performance. Always alert to the nuances of the orchestration and consistently supportive of the singers, it is music making of the highest order. Special praise must go to the wind section who were a constant delight.
There is not a weak link in the vocal lineup. Nazan Filter steals the show with her crystal clear soprano. Her No Word from Tom at the end of the first act was world class. She has a very bright future ahead of her.
Frederick Jones (Tom) and Jerome Knox (Shadow) navigate their challenging music with admirable ease. Jones has a bright, clean tenor sound that suits this repertoire very well. Knox has a lighter bass sound than many who take on this role but it works perfectly with his youthful and suave interpretation.
The choral singing was impressive throughout. The diction, so often a secondary concern with some opera companies, was precise, clear and engaging. Other companies may produce a bigger sound, but few can deliver this level of clarity.
As impressive as the musical side of the production is, the same cannot be said of the stagecraft.
The production is buzzing and fizzing with ideas. The issue is there are too many of them and when the visuals start distracting from the central performances then we have an issue.
There was a period during the 80s and 90s when it was very fashionable for opera productions to feature lots of chairs being brought on and off by chorus members. It was always hard to fathom this artistic choice at the time and ever harder to understand why any modern director would return to such a dated trope now.
Taking one or two elements away from each scene would have reduced the visual clutter and allowed greater clarity to the storytelling.
Thankfully the performances do shine though and that is where the emotional impact of the production needs to be.
Let us hope that ETO return to the Playhouse for future seasons and continue to challenge us with interesting repertoire choices. In a world where opera is undervalued, we need to show innovative companies like this as much support as possible.