OPERA REVIEW: Masque Of Might - The Lowry Theatre, Salford.

Purcell only wrote one opera, but he did write a lot of other music for theatre, church and state occasions. Using a compilation of pieces from different sources, director Sir David Pountney has assembled an “eco-entertainment” with a masque format for Opera North. This performance of “Masque Of Might” was at the Lowry, Salford.

This project was a labour of love for Pountney. A diehard Purcell fan, he did not have the chance to assemble such disparate material until the Covid lockdowns. He wanted some themes to hang them together on, and it appears his own personal and political passions were what were used. “Masque Of Might” is the result.

And this is why companies like Opera North, and all its colleagues, need to put as much effort into finding the Purcells of the present as reviving the Purcells of the past. I agree Putin and Ukraine should be put on the operatic stage – so commission a new opera. I agree the climate crisis, and the driving factors behind it such as capitalism and apathy, should be sung about – so commission a new opera. I agree a piece about fluffy little animals and sad trees with a single cartoon villain would make a lovely Opera-In-Education project – so commission a new opera.

But when we are living in times like these, and passions are running so strong on these issues, Purcell’s tinkling harpsichords and trilling counter-tenors from four hundred years ago do not cut it. Frankly, he was not looking ahead to our time; he was not composing about our time; and he is the wrong composer for the job. Where are the ones that are?

Having said that:-

“Masque Of Might” is an opportunity to hear in one place a range of Purcell’s music written for different media. If you keep your eyes closed and treat it as a concert, it is the equivalent of a Baroque variety show, but it is an exceptionally high-calibre one. The Opera North chorus were especially worth hearing in the ensemble work, and soared in the pieces designed as sacred music.

Soprano Anna Dennis sang all the female solos as a variety of characters and styles, from the heartbroken lament “The Plaint” from “The Fairy Queen” to a lively comic performance as the Witch of Endor.

Bass Callum Thorpe gave a grounded performance as the villainous dictator Diktat. Countertenors James Laing and James Hall were the clowns and sycophants, but they also had some wonderfully florid passages to sing, and Purcell can do musical ornamentation like no other.

Bass-baritone Andri Bjorn Robertsson was a variety of characters, the chief one being a climate change activist who gets killed. At the beginning though, he was dressed in a Sun King-style costume,  the video screen behind him was displaying all the planets moving in space, and he was singing “Ye Twice Ten Hundred Deities” from “The Indian Queen.” It was wonderful. It was the closest moment to an actual masque in the whole production.

Tenor Xavier Hetherington and bass baritone Matthew Brook had a variety of small supporting roles and put in good cameo performances. There was group movement work for all the singers, expanded out with six professional dancers.

Conductor Harry Bicket brought out the variety, the shimmer, the soulfulness and the exquisite harmonies of Purcell’s oeuvre.

Reviewer - Thalia Terpsichore
on - 16.11.23