Trailer is here:
I really did not know this opera at all and so to see it properly for the first time in such a gripping performance was very fortunate for me. Ambiguity is the key word when talking about this work (or the original James story) and this production rightly took this as its key - particularly as used by Miles and others about him and his actions and reputation.
There was, essentially one (interior) set with a large canopied bed centre stage - the Governesses - and an angled larger-than-life garret roof-shaped window to let in some (very little) light. This one setting concentrated the action superbly and made the actual locations specified in the libretto irrelevant - the set proved the ideal setting for all events and encounters. This is quite a radical decision for any producer and is not to be taken likely but here it worked - and it was all the more effective in that the one setting was not an abstract one but a very specific location.
The bed, of course, was a wholly appropriate object to have centre stage as it is the source of sleep and refreshment (of which there is increasingly little as the work progresses) dreams, (and their unreal yet often wholly convincing nature - when vividly dreaming don’t we believe the experiences are actually happening?) and sexual activity.
Shadows were very effectively used in the production, not least with the children playing and casting swooping shadows that grew and diminished as they ran in front of the lights - another reminder of how the unreal can seem real and what we see we can often be uncertain about - what was that shape on the wall? Is it a person or is it a ghost? The misleading ambiguity of shadows…
In Act 1 the differing characters of Mrs Grose and the Governess were very clearly intially established by the difference of their vocal lines - the Governess long and lyrical, dreamy with perhaps underlying passion which certainly came out as the story unfolded and particularly as she became more driven and consumed by the events she is witnessing, perhaps veering into obsession by the end. Mrs Grose’s rapid chatting depicted in her vocal line with its quick repeated notes and a certain breathless quality contrasted strikingly with this as well as drawing attention to her nervousness and her emphasis on the here and now rather than indulging in questioning and speculation like the Governess.
It did strike me that, when Mrs Grose was talking about Quint and Miss Jessel whether there was an element of jealousy involved on her part - that Quint as he ‘loved beauty’ was not interested in her but rather the ‘younger woman’ Miss J. Seduction, along with ambiguity previously mentioned, is of course another central theme - the Governess, in a way I think, has been seduced by her mysterious employer, Quint seduces everyone and everybody and the Governess is seduced by the children from the moment of her meeting them. This was most remarkably and disturbingly shown at the end of the first Act where Miles gave the Governess a lingering kiss on the lips and then, wearing only pyjama bottoms, climbed into her bed, partially pulled back the covers and smiled seductively/innocently at her. The performance by the young actor/singer in this part was quite remarkable - and the demands that Brotten makes on his young performers!. His sweet voice made Tom, Tom the Piper’s son more than usually chillingly weird.
It was the final scene of Act 1 though., where the psychodrama really took off. It was a stunningly powerful scene with Quint’s snakelike melismas seducing everyone within earshot - and having the |Governess sleeping on her bed throughout this scene was a master touch - not because it made one think ‘is it all a dream/in her mind’ - I think this view of the story is somewhat unsatisfactory - but because it reminded us that she is the central and in Act Two she is talking of her ‘kingdom’! Like Quint and Jessel, she is wildly possessive and like any ideologue, utterly convinced of the rightness of her actions.
In this Act one radical departure from the text was that Miles, instead of playing the harmonically twisted Mozart-like piano music as a distraction to allow Flora to go to Miss Jessel, he was dancing (moving might be a better word) to the music - and moving in a very weird and strange way - jerky, with an improvisational quality. The movements were both frantic and edgy - and uncomfortable and they matched the music very well - and was he dancing to the sounds that only he could hear…?
The scene by the ‘lake’ was created by Flora on the Governess’s bed and she used a puppet figure to represent Miss J with whom she interacted ending with (another) sensual kiss to the doll.
In the final scene Miles I felt was very clearly shown as being in control - he stood leaning against a wall with both hand in his pockets and a knowing smile on his face - a very adult pose by someone who is utterly not a child any more - and who the Governess greatly infantalises in the way she treats and speaks to him. yes, Miles is bad - however that ambiguous word (in this work’s context) is defined. And the ambiguity was superbly kept up to the closing moments as Miles’s final cry ‘‘You devil’ is cried out as he faces both Quint and the Governess. To whom are those final two words addressed? And we end with the hollow and chilling Malo, Malo theme.
So a superb production that did what not a lot of opera productions can do - getting one thinking deeply (I hope) about the characters and their situations - and all these ideas coming from a combination of the music they are given and the staging interpretation that we see. Superb.
Cast:
Prologue / Peter Quint Nicholas Watts
Governess Sarah Tynan
Miss Jessel Eleanor Dennis
Mrs Grose Heather Shipp
Flora Jennifer Clark
Miles Tim Gasiorek
Conductor: Leo McFall