Prom 68: Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream from Garsington Opera

Britten
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – opera in three Acts to a libretto by the composer & Peter Pears, adapted from the Shakespeare play [sung in English, with English surtitles]

Iestyn Davies
Oberon

Lucy Crowe
Tytania

Daniel Vening
Bottom

Caspar Singh
Lysander

James Newby
Demetrius

Stephanie Wake-Edwards
Hermia

Camilla Harris
Helena

Nicholas Crawley
Theseus

Christine Rice
Hippolyta

John Savournin
Quince

Frazer Scott
Snug

James Way
Flute

Geoffrey Dolton
Starveling

Adam Sullivan
Snout

Jerone Marsh-Reid
Puck

Garsington Opera Youth Compamy

Philharmonia Orchestra
Douglas Boyd
conductor

Rebecca Meltzer
Director, based on the 2024 Garsington Opera production

Every time opera comes to the Proms in a semi-staging of a summer production, doubts arise about how it will all work, mainly to do with singers being heard and seen from much greater distances, and nearly every time those doubts are confounded. And magically so in Garsington’s visit to the Proms, bringing its new production of the Britten-Pears reimagining of a play that has cast its spell over many an artist and composer over the past four centuries.

To be sure, the Albert Hall delivered an imposing forest of experience, but Rebecca Meltzer’s semi-staging worked efficiently, particularly in the case of the Garsington Opera Youth Company’s phalanx of black-clad, eccentric fairies (costumes by Netia Jones, who directed the full staging), who mysteriously appeared then vanished, and sang with other-worldly confidence. The social and supernatural hierarchies were neatly delineated, and the only seriously head-scratching element of the basic set was a giant gyroscope. Otherwise there was Tytania’s couch, and, for the mechanicals’ play, a trampoline stage, which was a delight. The long screen at the back of the stage gave us some projections of trees, sky and greenery, leavening the generally dark staging.

Garsington fielded a medium-sized Philharmonia Orchestra (with three double basses), and from the moment those ectoplasmic glissandos materialise, you are amazed by how Britten’s music flatters and gets inside Shakespeare’s words. All those quotes from the play that have become integral to everyday expression gather another layer of meaning – just think of Britten’s superbly ‘right’ setting of ‘Ill met by moonlight’ for our first encounter with Oberon and Tytania. The Philharmonia’s assumption of the various musical identities was peerless, and Douglas Boyd, Garsington’s Artistic Director, was a sure-footed guide through the sexual intricacies, high comedy and deft characterisation of Britten’s score.

The various conjunctions of the four lovers were made admirably clear, and the roles were lovingly performed. Caspar Singh’s lyrical tenor was perfect for his ardent Lysander. James Newby’s macho, slightly baffled Demetrius was a good fit for his attractive, easy baritone. As Hermia, Stephanie Wake-Edwards added some impressive fury to her lovely mezzo for her Act Two set-to with Camilla Harris’s impetuous Helena, whose gleaming soprano expressed a formidable opponent. The lovers’ fight suddenly built up quite a head of steam and was a highlight of the evening, as was their radiant Act Three reunion.

Richard Burkhard had had to withdraw and Bottom was sung by the young bass Daniel Vening, who had been covering the role at Garsington, and he seized the day with an assured, funny and finely sung performance. John Savournin was even funnier as a bossy, boring Peter Quince, dancing a fine bergomask, and despite protests James Way’s sweet-voiced Flute/Thisbe was a triumph of transvestitism. Speculation was rife as to which current media diva he was channelling. Frazer Scott as Snug/Lion, Geoffrey Dolton as Starveling/Moonshine and Adam Sullivan as Snout/Wall played the Pyramus and Thisbe play shamelessly for laughs. Nicholas Crawley played Theseus as a drunk, which probably made sense in the full staging, and Christine Rice’s Hippolyta was luxuriously cast and sung.s

As king and queen of the fairy band, Iestyn Davies had a sinister self-possession as Oberon, with an equally steely glint to his exceptional voice, and Lucy Crowe’s sumptuous, hall-filling and agile coloratura gave us a commanding Tytania. Jerone Marsh-Reid, as a young-man Puck in a lime-green suit, spoke clearly and was very athletic.