Abbas Kiarostami’s production of the Mozart/Da Ponte comedy was first seen at the Aix-en-Provence festival last summer. Apparently frustrated by the slowness of his UK visa application, the award-winning Iranian film director didn’t make it to London to rehearse this ENO version - instead his associate director, Elaine Tyler-Hall, who worked on the show in Aix, took charge.
This unfortunate background should not colour views of the version at the Coliseum, but there is no disguising that the result is disappointing. Abbas’ designer Malika Chauveau’s vision of the piece is conventional and even old-fashioned, with the exception of some filmed projections setting visual backgrounds to the main action. Her classical-style set is handsome enough, but the films draw too much attention to themselves. The opening cafe scene, curiously, places a background with contemporary customers behind 18th century principals. There’s a pleasing panorama of a Mediterranean coastline, although the moving waves and clouds prove distracting. So too does the filmed orchestra playing more or less in synch with ENO’s orchestra in the final scene. None of this adds very much, and whoever has directed the principals misses innumerable tricks.
The individual performances cannot save the show. Susan Gritton is a technically secure Fiordiligi, well matched by Fiona Murphy’s Dorabella. But neither Thomas Glenn’s Ferrando nor Liam Bonner’s Guglielmo justify their import. Sophie Bevan’s Despina and Steven Page’s Alfonso both pass muster, but Stefan Klingele’s conducting is tepid and superficial.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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