TThe opening night of English National Opera’s Bluebeard’s Castle (advertised as a “concert quasi-performance,” but is much more than that) was a unique and surprising production, thanks in no small part to unusual circumstances. , it was completely unforgettable. What was surrounding it. Alison Cooke, who played Judith, left the performance later that day due to illness. In just two hours of rehearsals, Jennifer Johnston sang in costume, not from the side of the stage as you might expect, but as a largely stationary presence in Joe Hill-Gibbins’ work. Ta. On the other hand, the role is played wonderfully well by Crispin Lord, one of ENO’s staff directors, handsome yet androgynous in a white singlet and silk skirt, and Bluebeard’s final partner as a surprising In a development, she effectively became his husband instead of his wife. .
At once avoiding the perceived gender polarities that inform Bartók’s examination of marital disintegration, the end result is both startlingly erotic, especially in the context of Hill-Gibbins’ chillingly beautiful direction. At the same time, it is deeply disturbing.
Bluebeard, played by John Lelyea, and the actor who speaks the prologue (Leo Bill) are doppelgangers and alter egos at the same time, and Bill remains on stage throughout, playing Lelyea confronting her master across a vast expanse of land. He quietly offers Bluebeard what lies behind the castle’s invisible door. The dining table begins to collapse under sexual and emotional pressure. As knives become weapons and wine turns into blood, everyday objects take on terrifying resonance. Unlike some directors who leave gore to the audience’s imagination, Hill-Gibbins doesn’t hold back, and soon the stage is filled with gore. By the end, we come painfully face to face with the accumulated detritus of Bluebeard’s life, but it’s actually Judith, not him, who has blood on his hands.
A lot of it sounds scary. In her long-awaited ENO debut, Johnston carefully matches her vocal inflections to Lorde’s physical gestures, her tone beautiful enough to caress in moments of affection, manipulative or not, but Bluebeard’s She plays the outstanding Judith, who can go from honey to steel in an instant on demand. The keys become horribly persistent.
This will be Relyea’s second Bluebeard performance in London, following her memorable performance with Edward Gardner and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the South Bank in 2021. Here he is more restrained, only slightly sadder, and clearly aware almost from the beginning of the impending emotional catastrophe that he cannot prevent. After a modest start, conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya relentlessly builds up the tension, with the climax not the famous opening of the fifth door (albeit underwhelming) but Bluebeard’s capitulation to Judith’s demands. climaxes with the deafening cacophony that accompanies this. 7th key. The performance is superb, with the intense sounds of the brass, the rich, dark sounds of the strings, and the blood-slimy sound of the woodwinds.
