The truth is that I’d had mixed feelings about going to
Mozart’s La finta giardiniera at
Glyndebourne. Early Mozart operas can be a somewhat tedious procession of recitativo alternating with aria, the latter usually of the ‘stand
and deliver’ variety.
What’s more, it was to be produced by a young director with
virtually no track record either on the opera stage or in the theatre, Frederic
Wake-Walker. Would it turn out to be another tiresome travesty, the goings-on
on stage apparently unrelated to the work and its universe?
Of course, in the event it was one of the most exciting
productions seen at the house in some 45 years of Glyndebourne visits. The
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Glyndebourne’s new musical
director Robin Ticciati, were, as expected, on top form, producing
scintillating sounds. And the seven who took the principal roles (Christiane
Karg, Rachel Frenkel, Joélle
Harvey, Nicole Heaston, Joel Prieto, Gyula Orendt and Wolfgang
Ablinger-Sperrhacke) were all outstanding, both as actors and singers. So far,
so good.
But it was the production itself that was an extraordinary
revelation. First, the director Wake-Walker and his designer (Antony McDonald) had actually
located the action (at least initially) in the Rococo period. Quite a shock in
itself. And the performers had clearly studied art of that time, at least
sufficiently to reproduce credible Rococo gesture (see above).
As time went by – I seemed to be holding my breath for long
periods – the production took on a wild, improvisatory life, one that clearly
took a bewitched audience on a theatrical ride that all seemed to spring from
character and situation – and from the music.
Who knew that nineteen year-old Mozart could be so
breath-taking?
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