The Stage

The Minotaur

Published Thursday 17 April 2008 at 11:45 by George Hall

Myth has been the source of much of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s work. His new large-scale opera has as its centre the legendary figure of the Minotaur, half-man, half-bull, trapped in the Labyrinth in Crete and there the killer of innumerable sacrificial victims.

He’s a surprisingly sympathetic creation in David Harsent’s libretto and in John Tomlinson’s presentation of the semi-beast - victim as well as killer, only able to articulate his humanity in dreams.

Tomlinson’s wide-ranging performance is surrounded by others in Stephen Langridge’s disciplined production, to spare yet resonant designs by Alison Chitty. Christine Rice is the Minotaur’s half sister Ariadne, desperate to escape the island home she sees as her own prison. The visiting Theseus, Ariadne’s means of escape, is strongly presented by Johan Reuter.

But it’s above all in the scenes of ritual and violence that the staging hits hardest - the desperate Innocents, sent as tribute to Crete, butchered in the Labyrinth, and the terrifying Keres, the harpies who devour their dead bodies. Vocally and dramatically, Amanda Echalaz’s appearance as the leader of this grisly team is nothing short of sensational. Potent too the scene where Ariadne consults the oracle of the Snake Princess, sung by Andrew Watts, through the medium of Philip Langridge’s high priest.

The score’s splintered lyricism and thrusting textures are presented with detailed focus by the chorus and orchestra under Antonio Pappano, and leave an overwhelming impression.