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Handel's Xerxes is a witty divertissement

07/03/2011

PUBLICATION: The Opera Critic
REVIEWED BY: Michael Sinclair
WHERE: Civic Theatre, THE EDGE, Wednesday 2 March 2011

It was with Nicholas Hytner's landmark production of Xerxes for English National Opera in 1985 that the Handel revival began. The eccentricities of that staging led to a complete reappraisal of how baroque opera could be performed for a modern audience, and over the last 25 years the full canon of Handel's operatic output has been explored around the world. But as often happens it has taken rather longer for the Handel revival to reach New Zealand with this production being the first to be fully staged professionally in this country.

Roger Hodgman's staging for The NBR New Zealand Opera (a co-production with Victorian Opera) takes a more traditional approach than many of its predecessors. John Verryt's sets are simple in design - a series of arches surround the stage painted in bucolic fashion with puffy clouds and a distant pastoral scene. Clearly the idea is to provide a relatively neutral backdrop for the richly detailed costumes created by renowned NZ fashion designer, Trelise Cooper, and the vivid and often garish lighting by Matt Scott. Both fill the stage with colour and exuberance suggesting more than a whiff of Bollywood at times.

Xerxes is a strange combination of comedy, irony and dark humour where everyone seems to be falling in love with the wrong person. The plot may seem limp to a modern audience, but if given a light, witty touch, as is the case here, it can absorb an audience over the course of the evening despite the many absurdities.

Xerxes himself is a rather odd character - you can tell that straight away as he sings the famous largo to a plain tree. Effete and somewhat quirky, it requires an accomplished actor to ensure that he is not simply a laughing stock. While Tobias Cole doesn't seem to fully inhabit the role, his singing makes up for any shortfall in this respect, with his interpretation growing in stature as the evening progresses. He is ably partnered by William Purefoy playing his brother Arsamene, the other countertenor role of the evening, singing with ardour and agility particularly in his lament, "Quella che tutta fe."

On the ladies' side Tiffany Speight is a regal Romilda, while Amy Wilkinson is a feisty Atalanta pouting her way around the stage to great effect. Both are enamoured of Arsamene, and while they refrain from having a cat fight over him, there is plenty of vocal fireworks to maintain their rivalry. Kristin Darragh is effective and believable as Xerxes' deserted fiancée Amastre.

Rounding out the cast, Stephen Bennett brings a great deal of comic flair to the servant Elviro and Martin Snell is an imposing Ariodate. Their rich bass voices come as welcome relief after the higher voices of the other singers.

Specialist baroque orchestra Lautten Compagney with their conductor Wolfgang Katschner bring authenticity to the performance, playing with energy and conviction. Both the orchestra and the singers might have benefited from a brighter acoustic than the Civic Theatre can offer, but full marks to The NBR New Zealand Opera for lavishing care on the musical side of this Xerxes. Time will tell whether it leads to a Handel renaissance in New Zealand.