I went to Welsh National Opera’s production of Beatrice and Benedict at the Bristol Hippodrome. This was a sumptuous production, with lavish sets and costumes, and beautifully lit as the evening turned to moonlight in the first act. But if what you’re impressed by at the end of the evening is the lighting, hasn’t something gone wrong?
There weren’t problems with the singing – the usual crop of WNO regulars did a good job – and I fear that the root of it was really in the work itself. It pains me as a Berlioz enthusiast to say this, but at the end of the day this opera really feels a bit more like extended incidental music to a cut-down version of Shakespeare’s play. Ah yes, Shakespeare. This performance was in English, and while some of the Bard’s lines were retained, this showed up that the rest of the back-translation into English didn’t really match up. At least with Berlioz’ French libretto, it’s all equally distant from the original.
I had the feeling that the production had been tailored to appeal to a particular audience, with its extravagants sets, mannered acting (everyone froze during Hero’s big aria in Act 1) and Donald Maxwell’s buffo Somarone. Now I am not someone who feels it is an offence against political correctness if those attending an artistic event do not precisely match the make-up of the local adult population in all respects; but I think this was the oldest opera audience I’ve ever been a part of, and I saw only one black person in it. Shouldn’t WNO be trying to reach a wider cross-section of Bristol?
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