L'amore dei tre Re

by Italo Montemezzi

seen at Holland Park on 28 July 2015

This production of the opera, composed in 1913, was first seen at Holland Park in 2007. The revival features Natalya Romaniw as Fiora, Joel Montero as Avito, Simon Thorpe as Manfredo, Mikhail Svetlov as Archibaldo and Aled Hall as Flaminio, and is directed by Martin Lloyd-Evans, designed by Jamie Vartin and conducted by Peter Robinson.

The orchestration is lush and dramatic, the plot rather over-heated with heady proclamations of mystical love (between Fiora and her erstwhile suitor Avito, and also from her husband Manfredo, though this is not reciprocated) and unwavering suspicion and vengeance (on the part of Archibaldo, Manfredo's blind and suspicious father). 

Lakmé

by Léo Delibes

seen at Holland Park on 15 July 2015

This is a new production directed by Aylin Bozok and conducted by Matthew Waldren, with Fflur Wyn as Lakmé, Robert Murray as Gérald, David Soar as Nilakantha, Nicholas Lester as Frédéric and Katie Bray as Mallika.

The opera reflects the late nineteenth (and early twentieth) century European fascination with 'the East'. Notionally set in India where British supremacy is causing unrest amongst the Hindu population, it uses this background only to lavish attention on yet another mysterious and ostensibly unavailable woman (Lakmé) and on her response to love offered by someone supposedly inappropriate. In generic terms this is rather like the situation between Turandot and Calaf, except that this time it is Lakmé's father Nilakantha (a Brahmin priest) who channels all the anger, and the opera ends with Lakmé's self-sacrifice, a rather more tragic example of love triumphant. 

Musically the piece has virtually no Oriental flavour. Unlike Puccini, who was interested in giving hints of Chinese music to 'Turandot' and of Japanese to 'Madama Butterfly', Delibes is satisfied to produce wonderful but entirely 'western' music. Fflur Wyn sang the difficult part of Lakmé beautifully; the Flower Duet with Katie Bray as her servant Mallika shimmered, while the technically demanding Bell Song seemed almost effortless. She was ably supported by Robert Murray as Gérald the bewildered lover and by David Soar as her commanding and vengeful father.

Carmen

by Georges Bizet

seen by live streaming from the Coliseum on 1 July 2015

This is a revival of ENO's 2012 production which was directed by Calixto Bieito with sets designed by Alfons Flores. The revival is directed by Joan Anton Rechi and features Justina Gringyte as Carmen, Eric Cutler as Don José, Leigh Melrose as Escamillo and Eleanor Dennis as Micaëla. The conductor is Richard Armstrong.

The setting is modern and the opening emphasises a military presence on the verge of outright oppression. The soldiers are bored, the officers probably corrupt or bullying (there is a hapless near-naked soldier running to the point of exhaustion as some sort of punishment), the heat adding to a sense of torpor and danger. Naturally the sultry Carmen thrives in this atmosphere and for the impressionable Don José she is just a disaster waiting to happen. The rather gauche Micaëla can be no serious competition; indeed José's sentimental attachment to his mother is an awkward barrier to the development of anything between him and her emissary.