Hope ends with death. This thought colors every bar of Benjamin Britten death in venice (1973) is about an aging writer, Gustav von Aschenbach, who harbors impossible desires for a beautiful boy to whom he has never spoken. Fantasies multiply like insects in his soul. As Venice succumbs to the cholera epidemic, he dreams that he and the child are the only survivors. Still pining, still searching for his lost youth, with his hair dyed and his cheeks rouged, Aschenbach dies. (Given the title of the study, I will risk spoilers.)
With its 17 rapidly changing scenes, large cast and virtuoso orchestra, the opera, whose plot is also famous from Visconti’s 1971 film, poses difficulties in theatre. A lot was riding on Welsh National Opera’s first production of the work, directed by Olivia Fuchs, in collaboration with Leo Hussain’s NoFit State circus company based in Cardiff. Collectively and individually they achieved victory. It provides an example at a time of crisis and scrutiny for British opera.
What must it have taken for patient Britten to complete such intense work?
With world-class musical standards and staging of bold imagination, every problem was solved. The wise casting of Mark Le Brocq as Aschenbach alone could have kept the show going. This versatile and reliable English tenor has taken on so many roles of all scales and genres over the years that his talents may have been underestimated. She is vocally confident throughout (she is rarely offstage), moving with courageous silence and nuance, emphasizing her character’s inner conflict and fragility.
Britten (1913-76) was confronting his own mortality; His heart condition was beyond treatment. death in venice fires, troubles, deceptions. At times, it feels off-putting for its pain of depicting innocent human stupidity. Britten, whose repressed fascination with teenage boys is well known, poured his all into this latest opera, the libretto of Myfanwy Piper, based on Thomas Mann’s novella. What must it have taken for patient Britten to complete such intense work? He wanted this to be the best thing he’d ever done; and in an uneasy and disturbing way. In his program note, Fuchs quotes Britten’s associate Peter Pears, for whom Aschenbach was written: “Ben is writing a demonic opera and it’s killing him.”
Musically, the score surpasses the extraordinary genius of the composer, demonstrating his mastery of new forms and colors. Rambling with twinkling harp, sombre, agile bassoon and solo piano, this sparkling, percussive Balinese visitor finds particularly distinct expression in the use of the gamelan. Hussain brings together all the musical elements with speed and meticulousness both on and off stage.
An excellent cast, replete with lively cameos, is led by Britten-appointed baritone Roderick Williams, who enjoys shape-shifting between a variety of roles, from sleazy dandy to Charon-like gondolier, guiding Aschenbach through Styx-like inky colours. lagoon Countertenor Alexander Chance shined visually and vocally as the golden Voice of Apollo.
Fuchs’ coup is to replace the usual dancers with NoFit State’s acrobats for the boy Tadzio and his family. His breathtaking, tumbling routines, no matter how intriguing, never stray far from Britten’s music. Belgian artist Antony César, who resembles the adult version of Björn Andrésen, who became famous with Visconti’s film, is an ideal Tadzio. Nicola Turner keeps her handsome designs simple: a black box containing sensuous monochrome images of Venice (video by Sam Sharples) and lighting by Robbie Butler. The Edwardian feel of the original is preserved, with Tadzio’s sailor suit and his family’s whites and umbrellas. The show will be on tour until mid-May. If I can reach out again, I will.
Bells, particularly the unearthly bells of St Mark, are a central musical motif in the score. death in venice. In a louder, more urgent mode, they also exist in the world of sound. Colossal, by Sarah Angliss, libretto by Ross Sutherland. First seen at Aldeburgh last year, this partly spoken short work had its London premiere at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury theatre, directed by Sarah Fahie. Its subjects are John Hunter, the 18th-century Scottish surgeon-collector, and Charles Byrne, the “Irish Giant” who rose to unusual fame by reaching a whopping height of 7 feet 7 inches.
Knowing that Byrne’s life would be short, Hunter insidiously seized his body for his otherwise admirable scientific purposes. Karim Sulayman in the lead role and Jonathan Gunthorpe as Hunter lead the cast of six people. Angliss’s score, expertly conducted by Ben Smith and dominated by viola da gamba, recorder, Theremin and electronics, provides a fascinating, if undramatic, meditation on the complex morality of this story.
Pianist Angela Hewitt stepped away from her usual high-profile international platform to perform Fidelio Orchestra – A symphony orchestra at St Andrew’s church in Holborn, created to help musicians start their careers, but also with a sprinkling of non-professional musicians. After a moving account of JS Bach’s Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052, which he conducted from the piano, Hewitt played Brahms’ early, powerful Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op 15, conducted by the orchestra’s founder, Raffaello Morales.
Relating to: ‘We’re all excited’: Behind the scenes of Welsh National Opera’s Death in Venice – in pictures
Hearing a piece of repertoire like this in more intimate circumstances brought new rewards, but the emphasis was on the Fidelio Orchestra’s purpose: to give future musicians the chance to play with the world’s leading artists at public events. They do. With tickets costing just £15 or £30, this is an initiative worth our support. Next concert: Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, 15 June, LSO at St Luke’s.
Star ratings (out of five)
death in venice ★★★★★
Colossal ★★★
Angela Hewitt ★★★★
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death in venice Tours to Southampton (20 March), Oxford (26 March), Bristol (27 April) and Birmingham (11 May)