Iphigenie en Tauride

Published Tuesday 11 September 2007 at 10:55 by George Hall

The Royal Opera season begins with Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s 1779 masterpiece, a work not seen at Covent Garden since 1973. It’s a hard piece to bring off.

Above all, the declamation of the text needs passion and intensity, and without any French singers in the cast that is a tall order.

In the vital title role, Susan Graham is all too cool as the tormented daughter of Agamemnon who comes close to sacrificing her long-lost brother, Oreste, until his identity is revealed at the last minute. More vocal colour and variety are needed than she can supply.

More of these qualities are to be found in Simon Keenlyside’s performance as her brother and Paul Groves’ interpretation of his friend Pylade. Their scenes come through with some impact.

As the barbaric King Thoas, Clive Bayley presents a one-dimensional villain and his tone is rough.

But what really scuppers the evening is Carsen’s production, to monochrome designs by Tobias Hoheisel. Having the chorus sing behind the scenes diminishes their impact, while the endless black of both sets and costumes adds a spurious seriousness to proceedings missing in the staging itself. A show this long needs more some variety.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment plays efficiently, but Ivor Bolton’s conducting lacks vigour. This piece is supposed to be one of the great achievements of eighteenth-century opera, but it doesn’t register as anything like that on this occasion.