Once upon a time, a few decades ago, people seemed to have grown weary of opera’s traditional extravagant costumes and lavish sets. For opera directors, modernisation became a trendier choice, such as Katie Mitchell’s recent revival of Theodora at the Opera House, Ivo Van Hove’s Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera, and ENO’s own classic The Magic Flute by Simon McBurney.
But this time, this approach seems far less successful in ENO’s latest production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride. Directed by Lyndsey Turner, it is difficult to discern Turner’s overall directorial agenda. In short, this production feels little more than a semi-staged concert on a narrow, framed traverse, leaving much of the Coliseum’s stage depth wasted. With an ensemble of more than twenty confined to such a restricted space, the larger scenes are rather cluttered and chaotic. Even when only a handful are onstage, the blocking remains cramped and underthought. During some of Oreste’s and Iphigenie’s arias, Turner has their memories acted out through staged flashbacks, which again feels unnecessary and cheesy. When it comes to the priestesses holding candles in the sacrifice scene, the whole night just fades into nothing more than a simple candlelight concert.
With all the men in suits and women in crimson dresses reminding you of The Handmaid’s Tale, there seems to be equally little imagination in Soutra Gilmour’s costume design. Throughout the evening, only Tim Mitchell’s nuanced lighting design brings some variations to this otherwise barren production.
As Iphigénie, Christine Rice does a plausible job and gives a touching performance of “Quel moment!”. Jacques Imbrailo’s rich, sophisticated voice captures Oreste’s agonising inner turmoil, while Nick Pritchard’s sweet, refined tenor conveys Pylade’s unyielding love and loyalty to his friend. The two deliver an excellent performance of the duet “Et tu prétends encore que tu m’aimes?”, followed by Pylade’s “Ah! mon ami, j’implore ta pitié”, together marking the production’s emotional climax. Conducted by David Bates, the ENO Orchestra also showcases an abundance of exquisite delicacy.
The artists’ well-deserved praise cannot be separated from Gluck’s adaptation and Guillard’s libretto, with its greater emphasis on subtle emotional suffering. However, quite divergent from Euripides, its dramatic structure is not flawless, which actually requires more from a modern director to have a clearer, more thoughtful directorial agenda to bring their inner conflicts on to the stage through their own interpretation. Unfortunately, Turner’s static staging does little, leaving the characters forced to do things because the libretto tells them to do so, without discernible inner drives.
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