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Sarah Pope from the WNO Chorus and Lawrence Zazzo as Orlando. Pictures: Bill Cooper Orlando
Welsh National Opera
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** IN Welsh
National Opera’s
Madness season,
Orlando, Handel’s early eighteenth century opera is the second of the
trilogy, flanked by I
puritani and
Sweeney Todd. In true WNO style, the company take a somewhat
slow story and turn it into a tale of epic emotion. Thanks to the
innovative and dramatic staging by Yannis Thavoris, a World War Two
setting makes for a great creative concept and gives a new insight to
each character. The story is of a man, Orlando, whose love for
Angelica is unrequited. When Orlando hears of her plan to run away with
new lover Medoro, in his madness, he plans to take revenge. Handel’s score is easy to follow and enjoyable
for the most part. The slick orchestra is led by conductor Andrew
Griffiths, who in his mastery has the power to manipulate the audience’s
mind by sudden changes of atmosphere and emotion in the music, just as
the story demands. The language itself does not hold much to the
imagination, sung in Italian, we are witness to flowery and melodramatic
language mostly describing Greek and Roman gods. This however was only a
fault of Handel himself, and not the company’s. Each performer, given
the limited tools they had with dialogue, did well to convey the very
human reactions to loss and love in the most charming of ways. The story set in a hospital in the midst of World
War Two. It was an excellent backdrop for the story to be conveyed. The
revolving stage is central to the fast paced atmosphere, allowing us to
see inside the dark brown hospital and inside the reception. At the
start of the play, love struck Orlando is hooked to electro wires and is
being examined by doctor Zoroastro who is played by the talented Daniel
Grice. A chorus of nurses are also present. They do not sing, but blend
in well to help convey the story. Orlando is played by the powerful and beautiful
tenor Lawrence Zazzo. In his debut role with WNO, he takes command of
the stage and the central role with a natural ease. In the first act, he
is a love struck young man, full of life and energy. Deciding that love
is greater than going to war, Orlando pursues his lover, Angelica, who
is played by the wonderful and equally moving Rebecca Evans. We also meet the shining and bright eyed soprano
Dorinda, played by Fflur Wyn. Dorinda is a tragic character whose love
for Medoro, sung by the excellent Robin Blaze, is also unrequited.
Throughout the production, Wyn brings a magnificent spark to the woeful
character and with a superb mastery for characterisation and song, she
creates a role that is nothing short of wonderful.
Out of three acts, the second was most dramatic.
In this we see Orlando’s madness and desire to kill. With the mixture of
dramatic music and sheer emotion, the backdrop of the revolving stage is
projected with images of war. It is an interesting addition and a visual
reflection of what is happening inside Orlando’s mind through the loss
of love. A particularly striking moment was when Orlando
sets fire to the hospital. The powerful effects on stage create an
impressive climactic effect. Staying true to the context of the time, Orlando
is cured by Zoroastro using electro shock therapy. The sequence on stage
is tastefully recreated and the pain shown by Zazzo is excruciatingly
hard to watch. The end, unfortunately, was rather questionable.
Again this was no fault of the company, as staging and delivery was
second to none. In the last sequences, Orlando is cured of all madness
and gives Angelica and Medoro his blessing. It was Handel’s sudden
change of tone and miraculous recovery of Orlando that did not sit well
and skewed the integrity of the mostly dramatic story. Perhaps it is the time and era of Handel’s work
that did not translate well today. The show itself was slick with a
clever concept, supported with a cast and orchestra of sublime talent.
It is entertaining, although with a somewhat confusing ending. Elizabeth Halpin
18-11-15
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