Michael Tanner

Northern lights | 28 January 2016

In their new production, however, Opera North showed the advantage of not being able to afford temperamental stars or lavish scenery

Opera North continues to be the most reliable, inspiring, resourceful and enterprising opera company in the United Kingdom, and all that without taking account of its extremely limited budget. From April through July it will be presenting its remarkable interpretation of Wagner’s Ring cycle in various cities, including London, so it may not be surprising that before that it is mounting much more modest fare — as indeed everything else is.

Giordano’s Andrea Chénier (1896) seems to be undergoing something of a revival, and this new production in Leeds is the first time it has ever been performed in the north of England. It is normally mounted to satisfy the vanity of a star tenor, with a star soprano taking it relatively easy and giving her all to ‘La mamma morta’. Opera North’s account, directed by Annabel Arden, takes, as usual, a much more all-round approach, once again showing the advantage of not being able to afford temperamental stars. It shows, too, the value of having to make do with the skimpiest scenery, in this case a basic set of nothing at all, surrounded at the stage perimeter by hanging cords. Props, where absolutely necessary, are moved on and off. To begin with I wondered whether for once its minimalism had gone too far, but the singers, dressed in more or less period costumes, soon created a suitable atmosphere, and I had no worries from then on.

The three principal roles are all excellently taken, to the point where ranking them would be unfair. Even so, since the baritone in triangular operas almost always gets least attention, I must mention first the always impressive Robert Hayward as Gérard, the almost-villain who alone in this opera develops in an interesting way.

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