The Australian director Barrie Kosky is always full of ideas, some brilliant, some controversial, some startlingly shocking, and they all come together to great effect in turning Handel’s Saul from an oratorio into a fully formed opera at Glyndebourne. This production was first seen at Glyndebourne ten years ago but even with many now knowing what to expect, it still aroused cheers of admiration from the audience at the end.
The story centres on the Biblical tale of King Saul’s descent into madness brought upon by his envy for the public acclaim for David after his defeat of Goliath. Handel’s glorious music is enough to sustain this as an oratorio, but in addition to great singing an opera needs great acting and striking design, while modern relevance and appropriate choreography can add to the impression. This production has all those factors as well as some glorious visual treats to surprise us.
With today’s world increasingly under the apparent control of megalomaniac billionaire despots, the story of Saul has added appeal for modern times and the way British baritone Christopher Purves and countertenor Iestyn Davies portray the leading roles of Saul and David perfectly adds to the effect. They had the same roles ten years ago but in both cases their acting is better than before: Saul is even madder and domineering and David is more anguished and noble. With Irish soprano Sarah Brady splendidly pompous as Saul’s daughter Merab, who considers David too much of a commoner to take as her husband, and British-Iranian soprano Soraya Mafi deliciously star-stuck as David’s bride, all the main characters are excellently portrayed.
Meanwhile, the striking set designs by Katrin Lea Tag and Otto Pichler’s impressive and often amusing choreography seem to help inspire the chorus and dancers to add to this memorable production. With Jonathan Cohen conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, who are all perfectly in their element with Handel’s music, all it then needed was a touch of magic from Barrie Kosky to complete the impact and as the curtain rose on the enormous head to the decapitated Goliath at the start, we knew we were in for something special.
Among several startling Kosky moments, two in particular are worth mentioning. After Glyndebourne’s characteristic long interval, during which we are encouraged to picnic on their glorious lawns, we returned to a stage lit by 600 candles. Most of the 75-minute interval must have been taken up lighting the candles. Then, to add even greater surprise, a small chamber organ played by Matthew Fletcher, rose in a spiral from among the candles to deliver some glorious Handelian music that provoked amusement and admiration in equal amounts. This was paradoxically reminiscent of the Wurlitzer organs of silent movies a century ago, but a huge improvement on them of course.
The other pure Kosky moment was the sight of Saul slurping milk from the sagging breasts of the Witch of Endor whom he consulted for advice. Undoubtedly repulsive, this sight was also a startling confirmation of the depths of Saul’s madness.
Saul is playing at Glyndebourne on various dates until 24 July.
Box Office and details: 01273 812321 or glyndebourne.com