War Requiem

by Benjamin Britten; poems by Wilfred Owen

seen at the Coliseum on 22 November 2018

Martyn Brabbins conducts Emma Bell (soprano), David Butt Philip (tenor) and Roderick Williams (bass) with the ENO chorus (supplemented by the Finchley Children's Music Group and the international ensemble featuring in ENO's concurrent production of Porgy and Bess) and the ENO orchestra in a staged performance of Britten's War Requiem directed by Daniel Kramer and designed by Wolfgang Tillmans, as a contribution to the centenary commemoration of the Armistice which concluded the First World War.

Musically this was a fine performance, with clear singing from soloists and choruses, and strong orchestral playing. However, it rode roughshod over Britten's careful deployment of the vocal forces, since the children's chorus was not always separated from the rest, and the soloists were often moving around. Of course the physical space - an opera stage and orchestra pit - was entirely different from the cathedral setting for which the piece was commissioned (the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962), so it is hardly surprising that the aural dynamics had to be adjusted.

Lucia di Lammermore

by Gaetano Donizetti

seen at the Coliseum on 30 October 2018

Stuart Stratford conducts Sarah Tynan as Lucia, Lester Lynch as Enrico Ashton , Eleazer Rodriguez as Edgardo, Michael Colvin as Lord Arturo Bucklow, Clive Bayley as Raimondo Bidebent, Sarah Pring as Alisa and Elgan Llŷr Thomas as Normanno in Donizetti's adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermore, directed by David Alden and designed by Charles Edwards. It was first seen at ENO in 2008; this is therefore a revival.

The novel is set in the 17th or the 18th century (depending on the edition consulted) but this production has opted for 19th century dress (frock suits and wide crinolines) more suggestive of the composition date of the opera (1835). It's an effective move, as the costumes are almost entirely in black, white or shades of grey, while the set is likewise monotone, depicting a grandiose but dilapidated country house, with horrifying patches of black damp on the plaster. The only signs of colour are a couple of children's toys, and the lurid bloodstains on Lucia's dress after she has murdered her husband Lord Arturo (himself dressed in brilliant and foppish white for the marriage ceremony). Only Edgardo's muted green and blue tartan kilt and brown leather jacket distinguishes him from all the other soberly dressed males. Lucia herself is at first in grey, but wears a white wedding dress and then a bloodstained white nightdress.