United Kingdom PROM 24 – Purcell, The Fairy Queen: Le Jardin des Voix, Compagnie Käfig, Les Arts Florissants / Paul Agnew (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 6.8.2024. (AK)
Production:
Stage director / Choreographer – Mourad Merzouk
Assistant choreographer – Rémi Autechaud
Costumes – Claire Schirck
Lighting – Fabrice Sarcy
Singers of the Le Jardin des Voix – Paulina Francisco (soprano), Georgia Burashko, Rebecca Leggett, Juliette Mey (mezzo-sopranos), Ilja Aksionov, Rodrigo Carreto (tenors), Hugo Herman-Wilson (baritone), Benjamin Schilperoort (bass-baritone)
Dancers of Compagnie KÄFIG – Baptiste Coppin, Samuel Florimond, Anahi Passi, Alary-Youra Ravin, Daniel Saad, Timothée Zig
I would have not guessed from this performance that I was watching an opera which was related to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Not even the hilarious ‘No, no, no, no, no; no kissing at all’ (Corydon – Mopsa duet) would have necessarily imply any relationship to the Pyramus and Thisbe scene in the play. However, in fairness, in Purcell’s semi-opera it was the spoken text which presented Shakespeare, not Purcell’s contribution. With such a performance, where the entire spoken text has been cut, the link to Shakespeare is easily negated unless practical help is on hand.
The programme notes state right up front that Purcell’s The Fairy Queen is a ‘Semi-opera in a prologue and five acts, libretto (anon.) after A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare.’ Later in the programme notes we do get a thorough description of what Purcell’s storyline in his five scenes (or five masques) is. However, if one does not know/study these notes prior to the performance, the plot is far from obvious.
What we had here was a series of wonderful Purcell songs, choruses, instrumental music, and dance music in excellent music and dance performances. We had surtitles clearly displaying all words which were sung but there was no indication which character was singing which song. Furthermore, although the programme notes listed all singers, no characters were added to their names.
It is customary to include dancers into performances of The Fairy Queen, whether in the full original version or in versions with cuts of different dimensions. However, the inclusion of break dancers is unique to this production. They were not only included; they were integral part of the whole process. Their skills on display included acrobatic moves of mind-blowing proportions but also expressive dance movements fully in accord with the music. Several times Sir Frederick Ashton came to my mind: he was the most musical choreographer with never ceasing inventions and stagecraft. Stage director and choreographer Mourad Merzouki created Ashton-like musicality for all movement, whether delivered by the singers or dancers, and thus blended music and stage into a glorious unity.
Teamwork in all dimensions is a main ingredient of Merzouki’s concept. This is indicated already during the opening lines (‘Come, come, come’) when singers and dancers hug each other. The singers deliver a variety of body movements, which depicts music as well as emotions: to be clear, Merzouki’s choreography extends to the singers too. Some of these movements are humorous, like all arms behind the backs with hands acting as wings while two recorder players present Purcell’s bird-like chirp music front of stage (‘Come all ye Songsters of the Sky’). Even very gentle music has non-stop but very expressive movements: during a soprano solo (‘See, even Night herself is here’) chorus and dancers are crawling on the floor without disturbing the magical pianissimo sound of ‘Let soft Repose’ within the strophe. In ‘Hush, no more’ the dancers are lying on the floor while the singers move and sing a cappella and without a conductor. Awesome!
The beautifully delivered soprano solo ‘If Love’s a Sweet Passion’ is accompanied by a solo dancer, the melismas during ‘Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air’ are visualised by virtuoso dance turns.
In the first half of the show all on the stage – musicians, singers, dancers – wore black. After the interval, some of the black jackets became props being waved, the costumes worn were more colourful. At times chairs also were used as props.
During a soprano aria (‘O let me weep’) the concert master of the orchestra (Augusta McKay Lodge) walked around on stage while playing her solo violin part from memory, thus contributing to a deeply moving duo with the singer.
The final uplifting and happy number had all singers dancing and all dancers singing. Unity and teamwork celebrated Purcell’s glorious music, delivered by excellent musicians, excellent singers, and astonishing break dancers. Mourad Merzouki and conductor Paul Agnew did justice to Purcell’s music and gave us a wonderful evening. However, it is a great loss that the performance was not filmed for BBC TV presentation.
Agnes Kory