It was Eurovision all over again, as Birmingham Conservatoire paired two baroque operas from opposite sides of the Channel in an inspired double bill. And if it wouldn’t exactly be fair to say that John Blow’s ramshackle Venus and Adonis scored nul points against the sumptuous invention of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Actéon, both works certainly received performances of engaging style and conviction.
For that, the co-directors – veteran Michael Barry and recent Conservatoire alumnus Brock Roberts – deserve praise; making imaginative use of the matchbox-sized Studio Theatre, and moving the action along as briskly and clearly as the acoustic allowed. Alan and Jennet Marshall’s attractive costumes set Venus and Adonis as a sort of early-Georgian fête champêtre, and Actéon as a Regency society drama, complete with hunting pinks and Empire line dresses.
From two strong ensembles – and some eloquent choral singing, particularly in the Charpentier - three singers stood out. Elizabeth Adams was a demure but sensuous Venus with a voice that opened out thrillingly in the upper registers. Eloise Fabbri brought a smokey tone and a sense of menace to Charpentier’s goddess Diane. And if neither of the male leads (David Phillips looking the part as Adonis, and Robert Tilson as a committed Actéon) seemed to have quite the same vocal focus, Alison Gormley, as Cupid, embodied the role with grace and a voice of bell-like purity and sweetness.
Andrew King conducted an excellent period-instrument orchestra, giving Blow’s music a dance-like swing. It’s hard to imagine these two operas more winningly done: but please, why no translations – either in the programme or surtitles – of Charpentier’s sung text? A ha’porth of tar…
