Alcina 2021 Reviews

★★★★ 
THE GUARDIAN
Fiona Maddocks
28 August 2021
Minimalist Handel with thrills to spare.

​The question for everyone mounting concerts and operas (or any public event) in the pandemic has been whether to wait for it all to be over or to find a solution until it is. As clarity recedes, action becomes the only way, easier for small venues than for an enormous juggernaut the size of the Proms. The Arcola theatre in Dalston, east London, has just opened a fine new outdoor performance space. A cross between big top and warehouse, it has been created by the stage designer Jon Bausor, whose work includes the London 2012 Paralympics opening ceremony, and who incidentally also trained as a musician. The acoustic proved warm and supportive for Handel’s Alcina, performed in a cut-down but thrilling version by Ensemble OrQuesta, directed by Marcio da Silva.

Once you had adjusted to the balance of powerful voices and a small instrumental ensemble – seven versatile players – Handel’s opera seria, written for London in 1735, held you in its grip. It’s the one about two sorceresses, a flying horse (OK, hippogriff), multiple lovers in multiple disguises, a bush that talks and – yes, I give up too. Let’s blame Ariosto, whose poem Orlando Furioso is the source. This production, simply staged, was set in an office where, indeed, odd things can happen.

More important, the work is packed with dazzling arias, many sung by Alcina, a role recently made famous by Joyce DiDonato and Cecilia Bartoli but here superbly sung (in the first of two casts) by Helen May, with Laura Fleur outstanding as the knight, Ruggiero. In a top quality cast, Poppy Shotts calls for special mention in the small role of Oberto, a boy who has lost his father, who, in the way of things, is now a lion. Handel apparently added the showstopping aria, for boy treble, at the last moment to highlight a newfound talent. If it worked then, it worked now too. Alcina is part of this year’s Grimeborn (running to 11 September). Catch anything in this singular festival if you can.

​★★★★ 
OPERA MAGAZINE
Yehuda Shapiro
August 27th, 2021
Office politics given a striking twist in this perceptive rethinking of Alcina

In a resourceful pandemic driven move, the Arcola has created Arcola Outside, a kind of semi-permanent big top. In its buzzy corner of Dalston the ambience at times felt closer to a traffic island than an enchanted island, but Ensemble OrQuesta’s Alcina generated sufficient intensity to compel attention.

The director and conductor Marcio da Silva transferred the opera’s power games, infatuations and manipulations to an office where Alcina was the boss. Wisely, he did not take the concept to literal extremes, leaving plenty of space for the stylization and symbolism that has typified his productions of Cavalli, Rameau and Monteverdi, and also (though the score was abridged, losing ‘Verdi prati’ along the way) for the subplots. Any character who had succumbed to Alcina’s mesmeric force was designated by white daubing to his or her face – a neck lanyard and security pass would perhaps have lacked poetry – and there was no expedient tweaking of the surtitles to make them fit the new context.

Leading the first of two casts was Helen May, a controlling but vulnerable Alcina who despairingly trashed her desk during ‘Ah! Mio cor’. Open, vibrant, and powerful, May’s is not a conventional ‘early music’ instrument, but she can fine it down to a whisper and her singing carries a strong dramatic charge. In Kathleen Nic Dhiarmada’s performance Morgana was also a force to be reckoned with, confident in her charms and brilliantly penetrating in her coloratura.

The mezzo-soprano roles were distinctively taken too: as Ruggiero, Laura Fleur spun a supple, contained line that could flash boldly in the lower register, while Maya Wheeler-Colwell as Bradamante combined a more yielding sound with more than enough spirit to counterbalance Alcina. Poppy Shotts brought a captivating vocal texture to Oberto’s aria, Kieran White’s Oronte was a model of clarity and elegance, and John Holland-Avery made a staunchly dynamic Melisso. There were no horn for Ruggiero’s thrusting ‘Sta nell’Ircana’, but the ensemble of seven players played a nimble and decisive role in weaving the web of Baroque office politics’   

★★★★
PLAYS TO SEE
Owen Davies
1st September 2021

As part of the splendid Grimeborn festival put on every summer by the Arcola, Marcio da Silva’s Ensemble Orquestra has brought us an intriguing and inventive version of Handel’s late opera about the enchantress Alcina. Originally devised in 1735 for the new theatre in Covent Garden, it was an opera that incorporated plenty of opportunities for crowd-pleasing dance interludes and for big scenic effects as Handel struggled to outshine a competing opera company that had “stolen” the lease to his old theatre in the Haymarket. It has a fantastical plot that seems to have little to say about the world today but in Da Silva’s version set in a modern tech-savvy company, there are some disturbing links to current social anxieties.

Bradamante, in disguise as Ricciardo, goes to Alcina’s “island” to rescue her lover Ruggiero from the manipulative and lascivious enchantress (CEO of the company). There Alcina and her equally wicked sister Morgana have lured many heroes and, after abusing them, have turned them into wild beasts – in this setting perhaps, poached them from other companies, exploited their knowledge and skills, then consigned them to dead-end jobs. The disguised newcomer excites the lust of Morgana who speedily “forgets” her lover Oronte, the company’s security chief. Bradamante, in order to set Ruggiero free, has to play along with the ‘management’ of the company. The opera then runs through a series of plots and misunderstandings until Bradamante finally restores Ruggiero to his right senses and together they vanquish Alcina and Morgana.

The Arcola has constructed an outdoor performance area in view of pandemic worries – it is a lopsided big top with a performance area in one corner. It is a worthy but not altogether successful venture – I found the extraneous noise of traffic, aircraft and passers-by very distracting. It also seemed very difficult at first for the performers to get volume and, in some cases, pitch quite right. The stage has little other than desks and computers for scenery but with striking lighting effects, this was perfectly adequate for this production. The costumes were business suits except for the wicked sisters who shone in colourful pantsuits.

As for Alcina, Helen May was commanding and alluring in equal measure with a big soprano voice that filled the tent. As Morgana, Kathleen Nic Dhiarmada was just as convincing as she gave vent to her feelings for Ricciardo. Ruggiero, a victim of Alcina’s magic, was sung by Laura Fleur. In her early scenes the need to portray the zombie-like state that the enchantress had reduced her to, left her performance rather too restrained but once freed from the spell she brought the character vividly to life, though I did wonder what difference a countertenor in the role (originally written for a castrato) would have made. Maya Wheeler-Colwell was a fine Bradamante, navigating the disguise, and her doubts about Ruggiero’s loyalty, with dramatic and musical panache. Special honourable mention though for tenor Kieran White and soprano Poppy Shotts who both shone in small roles – Shotts sang her last act aria “Barbara! Io ben lo so” with outstanding beauty of tone.

As ever Marcio da Silva and his band of expert baroque instrumentalists provide a realisation of Handel’s score which quickly convinces ears used to modern orchestral sounds that this nearly 300-year-old music is bang up to date. And da Silva’s programme notes – this time available only online – are once again better than anything that the Royal Opera offers. The references to “Me Too” and “The Devil Wears Prada” don’t quite convince me but there is no doubting the dramatic effectiveness of what we see on the Arcola stage.

​In the original staging in 1735, when Alcina’s magical powers are removed, her palace crumbles and sinks beneath the waves. One hopes that one-day Ensemble Orquestra has the chance to go for a spectacular staging of this sort. Until then we should applaud and appreciate both the outstanding creativity and the musical authenticity of Marcio da Silva’s invaluable company.

★★★★
NORTH WEST END
Gaurav Singh Nijjer
25th August 2021

Ensemble OrQuesta’s creative team admits in their production note that staging the opera in its original, 18th-century fantastical world might have felt dated and out of reach for contemporary audiences, which is why they decided to set their version of Handel’s opera in a modern-day office setting where Alcina is the boss and her magical powers are ‘the professional authority she exercises over her employees and the sexual domination she deploys over younger inexperienced co-workers”. Their production is inspired by the global #MeToo movement with a deliberate focus on female power figures, inviting the audience to see the story’s central conflict as larger issues of power and status that transcend gender, age and experience.

The ensemble of performers and musicians deliver a compelling performance that captures our attention all throughout, highlighting the pivotal relationships and subtle tensions that accentuate the story. Helen May’s portrayal of Alcina draws us in slowly, balancing the enchantress’ growing vulnerability and rage as she grapples with betrayal. Maya Wheeler-Colwell’s Bradamente is determined and resolute, standing her ground in the face of divine adversity. Laura Fleur’s Ruggiero is able to bring out his inner obsession (and subsequent fear) of Alcina’s power. In other strong performances by the on-stage ensemble, it’s Kathleen Nic Dhiarmada’s Morgana that stands out completely, highlighting the character’s innately playful, alluring charm that turns into fury and desperation once she discovers she’s been betrayed.

​Apart from directing the stage action, Director Marcio da Silva also leads a talented team of musicians that treat us to Handel’s moving melodies, setting the rhythm and mood for much of the dramatic action. The use of white paint as a visual representation of Alcina’s spell on her lovers offers a powerful scenographic element but doesn’t quite fit the modern-day office setting. The movements, costumes and set design are minimal, which allow us to focus our attention entirely on the vocal performances, but risks reducing the choice of adaptation to a purely theoretical exercise, as there is still room for a lot of physical action and moments between the lines to better visualize the power dynamics and abuse in modern-day toxic work environments.

To summarize, Ensemble OrQuesta’s Alcina is a rich exploration of Handel’s opera with strong music performances and an appreciable contemporary treatment, the latter allowing us to view the work from a more accessible lens and reminding us that the interplay of rage, power and desire continue to dominate the conversation in today’s workplaces.

★★★★
PLANET HUGILL
Robert Hugill
Strong impact: Handel's Alcina from Ensemble OrQuesta at Grimeborn

​
When first presented at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1735 the opera was quite a spectacle including dance sequences for Marie Sallé and her company. But this spectacle should not blind us to the fact that by setting a fantasy libretto, in some ways Handel freed himself from the constraints of opera seria plotting, so that Alcina and Morgana can be amoral and certainly not upright citizens, yet still the focus of our attention. That Handel had great sympathy with human foibles and emotions is what makes his operas so satisfying today, his ability to pull out deep emotions in his characters. So we have immense sympathy for Alcina and Morgana despite their behaviour; the plot, shorn of its Romance trappings, says a lot to us today.

To emphasise this Marcio da Silva set Alcina in a modern office, where Alcina (Helen May) is the reigning diva, using her 'magic' to dominate (mentally, physically and sexually) her staff. And as this is the 21st century, sexuality is fluid so that with all the cross dressing (both mezzo-soprano male roles were played by women as was the boy, Oberto) we were never entirely sure of gender or sexuality. The decision was of great practical sense in that the production needed only simple modern set and costumes. But all was not naturalistic, Da Silva used movement and make-up to heighten the drama, this was a very stylised office.

Admirably, Da Silva did not significantly adjust the text of the opera to suit his concept so there were moments of creative disjunction between libretto and action. But this is opera, where we must suspend disbelief, and the fact that Da Silva had drawn out strong musical performances from his cast meant that we were held by the magic, and another big plus was that he took the characters seriously and avoided any sense of Alcina simply being a gorgeously costumed romp.

Once you bought into the concept, Helen May (whom we caught as Climene in Ensemble OrQesta's recent performance of Cavalli's L'egisto, see my review) was a strong Alcina, often dominating the stage. But we never see Alcina do a major piece of magic, by the time she does so in Act Three her powers fail. And May ensured that we felt the range of human emotions behind the mask. Perhaps Alcina was not the most sympathetic of people, but we could certainly understand and empathise with her. May has a strong, vibrant voice which ensured a distinctive timbre to Alcina's music, yet with a nice facility in the passagework. Just occasionally, in the relatively small space of the theatre, an element of wildness crept into the tone, yet this also worked as we became aware of Alcina's life becoming out of control.

As her sister, Morgana, Kathleen Nic Dhiarmada sparkled and dazzled. Seductive and contrary, she was a delightful character and Nic Dhiarmada's performance of Morgana's Act One showpiece 'Tornami a vagheggiar' certainly knocked the socks of Laura Fleur's Ruggiero (and us too!). Morgana is one of those Handel characters who twist and turn, and the way she treated Kieran White's Oronte was appalling, yet with her final aria Nic Dhiarmada drew us in and made us sympathise. The result was a lovely, contrasting pair of performances for the two sisters.

As Alcina's love-interest, the spell-bound Ruggiero is a rather passive character. Laura Fleur (who was Ernestina in British Youth Opera's recent performance of Rossini's L'occasione fa il ladro, see my review) managed to make Ruggiero seem passive but not stupid, which was quite a feat, and her finely musical account of Ruggiero's arias ensured that there was a depth to his character, culminating in his showpiece 'Sta nell’Ircana' which dazzled but was warmly characterful too.

Maya Wheeler-Colwell's Bradamante was bewildered, the newbie in this complex and puzzling world, but she/he kept their calm and negotiated the waves with great aplomb and a nice musicality. Wheeler-Colwell gave Bradamante a sense of pliability, softness even, without the quasi-male posturing that sometimes goes with the role. And more importantly, when it was her turn in the spotlight she held our attention with subtle musicality.

Kieran White (who was also in the recent L'Egisto) made a sympathetic Oronte, reduced to doing what he was told and rightly puzzled by Morgana's behaviour. White and Nic Dhiarmada made the relationship believable so that during the first two acts it did not simply seem like hi-jinks, which can often be the case. White's tenor has a nice, plangent quality to it which suits the music admirably. As is often the case with smaller Handel roles, you wished he had a greater role in the drama.

John Holland-Avery made a fine, upright Melisso, presenting a great steadying hand on the impulsiveness of the younger generation. The sub-plot involving the youth Oberto searching for his father was added by Handel at quite a late stage in the planning of the opera, probably when it became apparent that the boy, William Savage, was able to sing the role. As such the whole sub-plot can be cut without too much violence to the drama. Here, Poppy Shotts made Oberto a wonderfully appealing character and managed the trick of making Oberto seem an essential part of the drama.

Directed by Marcio da Silva and Stephanie Gurga (who both doubled on recorder where necessary) the instrumental ensemble might have been small but it certainly was not lacking in punch and drama. From the first notes of the overture this was a strongly characterful account of the score, and whilst more strings would have given a more refulgent tone, there was little lacking in expressivity and drama.

Listening and watching the opera in Arcola Outside was an intriguing experience. Like Opera Holland Park, the outside world impinges on the performance but whereas in Holland Park it is the wind in the trees and the cries of the peacocks, here it was the sounds of traffic, revellers at the bar opposite and the smell of cooking emanating from nearby restaurant kitchens. A fascinating and not unpleasant experience, and I do hope that Arcola Outside will become a regular feature of our Summer theatre going.

The strength of Ensemble OrQuesta's performance was that the balanced and talented cast produced an array of characterful performances which drew us into the drama.