Mozart's Requiem - Glyndebourne Tour 2022
Theatre Royal
Norwich city centre appeared unusually busy on Thursday night as I negotiated the rush hour traffic and the (by now) inevitable road works and lane closures. Entire streets had been shut off on the approaches to Norwich Theatre Royal, and large crowds were gathering around The Forum concourse and its surrounding area.
Now, whilst Glyndebourne's Autumn Concert is a huge event in all Norfolk opera-lovers' diaries, I would not expect it, alone, to bring the city centre to a grinding halt. However, whilst the theatre auditorium was, indeed, filled to the rafters with an expectant, and well-turned-out audience, I have to report that it was the anticipated arrival of 'Britain's Got Talent' singer Linda John-Pierre, here to turn on the Christmas lights in the city centre, that was responsible for the swelling crowds outside. She is appearing as Fairy Fullabeans in this year's pantomime, 'Jack and the Beanstalk', also at Norwich Theatre Royal.
Not that the singers and players of the Glyndebourne Tour had not already made their own big impression on me and the Norwich audiences this week. I was at Norwich Theatre Royal for a spectacular performance of 'The Marriage of Figaro' on Tuesday, and my Outline colleague was due to attend Puccini's 'La Bohème' last night. But I was here on Thursday to experience a choral work that I have loved for so many years, but never enjoyed live – Mozart's Requiem in D minor, K626.
The stage for the Requiem is way simpler than when I was here on Tuesday – the towering sets from Count Almaviva's Sevillian castle have been stripped away, and the stage is now fitted with four rows of raked seating for the twenty eight members of The Glyndebourne Chorus and the four soloists. The Glyndebourne Tour Orchestra is ensconsed, by necessity, in the theatre pit, from where they have been passionately and elegantly guided this week by the talented young conductor Stephanie Childress.
Mozart's Requiem was his last work to be published, and he died before completing it. Whilst there has been much debate about how it was finished, and by whom, almost everyone is in agreement that the Requiem is one of the finest choral works ever written, grappling as it does with ideas of life eternal as well as with death itself. I would challenge anyone to listen to it in its entirety and not be moved by its contemplative twin themes of loss and hope.
And the four soloists in this Glyndebourne performance are magnificent in hitting exactly the right mixture of solemnity and exaltation, complemented with a rich and fine range of voices in the chorus. William Thomas (bass) had, earlier in the week, sung the part of Colline in 'La Bohème' the previous night. He was excellently matched in the Requiem by the voices of Benjamin Hullett (tenor), Alexandra Lowe (soprano), and Amy Holyland (mezzo-soprano). And, even though the orchestra could not be seen, I particularly loved the sound of the trombones in the tuba mirum. The stirring Sanctus and the beautifully moving Agnus Dei both had the goosebumps standing to attention.
Opening the evening programme had been an innovative version of 'The Anonymous Lover' directed by Simone Ibbett-Brown. It is based around the comedy romance of the same name, written in 1780 by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a contemporary of Mozart and known to his friends simply as Saint-Georges. The son of a rich plantation owner and an enslaved Seagalese-born mother, he was born on the island of Guadeloupe. Sent to Paris at the age of seven to study violin, Saint-Georges became a celebrated swordsman as well as a conductor and composer, and became a member of Parisian society. Yet he never could ignore the prejudice that he, as a black man, experienced in Europe.
In Ibbett-Brown's version we see Saint-George (played by actor Darragh Hand in period costume of frock coat and breeches) describing those prejudices he faced as a mixed-race composer in 18th century France as he writes and composes 'The Anonymous Lover'. Meanwhile, on-stage, four modern-day opera singers are rehearsing a contemporary version of the same piece for their absent director. They play the parts of husband and wife Colin (Guy Elliott) and Jeannette (Mariam Battistelli), widowed Léontine (Alexandra Lowe), her secret admirer Valcour (James Way) and his friend Ophémon (Luthando Qave). As they each practise their singing parts, and joke about how nobody has even heard of the composer, our Saint-George continues to berate the inequalities of French society until the four singers tire of their no-show director, and go off to see the Christmas lights turned on instead.
This is a wonderful version of 'The Anonymous Lover' that not only ties in beautifully with the 'Voices of Love and Loss' theme of Glyndebourne's Autumn Concert, but also reflects on how privilege and diversity are still real issues within the arts, almost two hundred and fifty years after Saint-George's experiences in Paris. Thoroughly recommended, and full marks to Simone Ibbett-Brown for her vision and direction.
And, once again, thank you Glyndebourne for continuing to bring your annual tour to Norwich Theatre Royal, and long may we remain on your itinerary. You are certainly one of the cultural highpoints of my entire year.
