Orlando

Published Wednesday 28 February 2007 at 11:10 by Edward Bhesania

Handel’s supernatural-pastoral opera Orlando is based on the 16th-century poem Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto and neatly incorporates enlightenment ideals - the eponymous knight, recovered from jealousy-induced madness, finally accepts Angelica’s love for his rival Medoro - and psychological drama. So it’s apt that Francisco Negrin’s Royal Opera production, receiving its first revival, adds dancers to suggest Mars and Venus, appealing respectively to Orlando’s knightly honour and to his heart, as well as a mischievous Eros whose arrows also pierce the hearts of others. It’s a source of some frustration, though, that while the poetic movements of the open-breasted Venus and the scantily-clad Eros open up a genuine realm of expression, the cliched fighting movements of Mars sometimes descend to self-parody.

Anthony Baker’s designs mix painted pastoral scenes with modern symbolism but are short on atmosphere, impact or cohesion. Amazingly, the regular stage rotations manage not to tire, unlike the constant reappearances of Kyle Ketelsen’s Zoroastro, a constant observer of the action. Here more a man of learning than mystical sage, his considerable powers of influence become highly questionable.

If the production grates, the singers excel. Rosemary Joshua’s agile-voiced Angelica and Anna Bonitatibus’ eager Medoro convincingly engage in their forbidden love, while Bejun Mehta, though perhaps not fully projecting Orlando’s rage, is sensitive to his jealousy and confusion. The vocally rich and dramatically confident Kyle Ketelsen is as convincing as the director’s prosaic view of Zoroastro allows, but the highlight is Camilla Tilling’s bright-sounding, highly characterised Dorinda, creating a central role for the down-at-heel shepherdess. Combined with the period instrument Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the musical performance is first class.