Waterperry Opera Festival, now in its eighth year, goes from strength to strength, this year most evidently from its magnificent productions of Handel’s Semele and Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
To a modern audience, with #MeToo in the back of our minds, Mozart’s Don Giovanni is now an uncomfortable mix of comedy and misogyny – a tale of lust and the unbridled desires of a man who thinks he’s a god, and can do what he likes with any woman. But it is also set to some of Mozart’s most beautiful music.
Don Giovanni is played with a fine balance of menace and comedy by strong baritone Edmund Danon. He is, however, matched by Leporello, his comical servant, wonderful performed by Emyr Wyn Jones – a knowing party to the seductions, aiding and abetting his master where possible, but by the end another victim of Don Giovanni’s selfishness and greed in this polished and supremely assured production.
Both wronged women – Donna Anna, beautifully sung by Kira Kaplan, and Georgia Mae Ellis, equally good as Donna Elvira – only serve to emphasise the destructive nature of Don Giovani’s narcissism.
Cleverly staged in three railway carriages, set against the magnificent backdrop of Waterperry House, which always plays a dramatic part in the aesthetic of the production, the Waterperry Opera Festival Orchestra, conducted by Charlotte Politi provided an elegant, exquisite accompaniment. Don Giovanni continues to run tonight (Saturday August 16) and tomorrow (Sunday August 17). BOOK HERE
Handel’s Semele, an opera in all but name, is much less well-known, but the audience was thrilled by this story of passion between the Roman gods and high-born mortals.
Semele, daughter of the king of Thebes, played by the wonderful soprano Hilary Cronin, is set to marry a rather spineless prince.
Secretly obsessed by Jupiter, the gods ensure that they remain in charge as Semele inevitably comes to a tragic end, as jealous Juno (a strong performance by Sophie Goldrick), Iris (a charming and puckish Louise Fuller) and Jupiter, superbly sung by a powerful, seductive and charismatic Michael Lafferty. And yet despite the tragedy, Semele lives on through the child born from her union with Jupiter – Bacchus, the god of wine and pleasure.
Set and costume designer Jennifer Gregory captures all the mortal drama in monochrome, to contrast with the brilliant arthouse-punk gods, using smeared paint to convey lust and desire, brilliantly sensual.
The opera is sung in English and beautifully supported by Waterperry Opera’s Chamber Orchestra, expertly conducted by Bertie Baigent, co-founder of the WOF, in this strong, confident production. But if you missed Semele at Waterperry this time, it’s at Opera Holland Park on August 21-22.
There’s still so much more to enjoy in the final few days of Waterperry Opera Festival from The Diary of Anne Frank, a wealth of workshops and music for children and aspiring singers, to the Winnie-the-Pooh Songbook, all culminating in the fabulous Last Night at the Opera on Sunday, with all opera’s famous and favourite arias – what a way to celebrate our English summer!
Oh, and did we mention the wonderful Waterperry Gardens, free to stroll in before the 6.30pm start, and then picnic in during the dinner interval? Joyful! For more details go to https://www.waterperryoperafestival.co.uk
Sheila Bailey
