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The Women in Black
Welsh National Opera *** LET’S face it;
we know historically that an offer of marriage from Henry VIII was not,
in hindsight, the best route to a long and happy life. If you were in
any doubt about that fact then the WNO will convince you with this
production of Anna Bolena as visually it has all the charm of a
Victorian funeral parlour. So with this the first of The Tudors operas, a
black curtain goes up on a black set where everyone’s favourite colour
is . . . you guessed it, black. Designer Madeline Boyd’s intention may
have been to reflect the mood of the `Black sins’ of Anne Boleyn and
then inject some isolated colour at poignant moments in the production. Those instances do indeed stand out like
fireworks in the gloom, but set against this dark subject and this
musically complex opera it’s not a comfortable experience and on every
level you have to work at it. Although the setting is a shadowy affair it does
enable lighting designer Matthew Haskins to carve out some highly
graphic silhouettes of this very accomplished cast both in the solo and
ensemble pieces. In addition is a large stage turntable which
added some movement to what is a very static production, but other than
that it was lacking in any other creative touches that supported the
plot. Thankfully then we had some impressive singing.
Whilst Donizetti's Anna Bolena follows a loose
outline of historical fact, the three hours are filled with some dubious
suggestions as to the motivations of those around her and their
individual emotional mood towards her final demise. Soprano Linda Richardson delivered an impassioned
performance as Anne and was fortunate to be afforded a glorious Red gown
wrap that was almost overbearing in intensity in the blackness as she
proudly heads off to lose her head in the closing moments. Katharine Goeldner mastered the mostly imagined
part of Jane Seymour who realising her relationship to the king has
effectively sealed Anne’s fate and falls into guilty sorrow for her
actions. King Henry is reduced to an arch villain sung by
Alastair Miles, who delivers his actions as a relentless succession of
conspiracies to be rid him of his wife. It was left to Robert McPherson as Lord Percy to
inject any light musical colour to the evening as his voice cut through
the gloom of the black rooms and dungeons like a beacon. Andrew Greenwood conducted with vigour and as the
score in parts is nothing more than single chordal punctuations around
vocal melodies, felt in total unison with his company. If you like your opera with heavy gothic
overtones then you won’t be disappointed and contrary to it being
autumn, black apparently is this season’s colour. Jeff Grant
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