The audience for the ROH’s recent production of Lulu<\/i> were warned that they would hear these towards the end of the first scene of Act II (though if you don’t already know that this work contains gunfire, you probably also won’t know how long the scene is). What the audience wasn’t officially warned about was that the production dispensed almost totally with a set: costumes were monochrome and apart from a solitary chair, the props comprised a few flowers and weapons, and the portrait (always a bit of a problem) was represented by a beam of light.<\/p>\n
This approach divided critics very sharply. The audience at the performance I attended seemed happier; overhearing the comments in the intervals, I detected some Bergnot<\/i>, but not people asking ‘Where’s the set?’ It’s not the most eccentric staging of the opera that I’ve seen (that was in Hannover a few years ago). Generally speaking I was in favour of this approach as I would rather have less than more distraction from the stage; and there really was plenty of colour – but it came from the orchestra pit. <\/p>\n
However, there were times when the lack of props did obscure the action: for example when Lulu delivers her object lesson in how to deal with a commitment-phobe by getting Dr Schön to write a letter breaking off his engagement. And because so much was sung with singers facing directly forward into the stalls, you felt a bit short-changed if you were round the side of the circle, as I was. (Memo to ROH: you need to fix the display of umlauts on the back-of-seat surtitles).<\/p>\n
I don’t have much to add what reviewers have said the performances, which coped well with the constraints described above. I would like to single out one minor piece of luxury casting: Philip Langridge, who made the Marquis unbearably creepy. <\/p>\n
The production was reviewed all over the place, and I’ll select just a few here, from the Guardian<\/i><\/a>, Telegraph<\/i><\/a> and Independent on Sunday<\/i><\/a>. But discussion spilled outside the usual boundaries: the Spectator<\/i> printed two reviews, one for<\/a> and one against<\/a>, and Guardian readers<\/a> contributed their opinions.<\/p>\n The performance I attended will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 next Saturday evening. (The bloodcurdling scream and weapons-grade dissonance in the trailer are not typical of the opera as a whole!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The audience for the ROH’s recent production of Lulu were warned that they would hear these towards the end of the first scene of Act II (though if you don’t already know that this work contains gunfire, you probably also … Continue reading