When George Gershwin wrote Porgy and Bess, he believed himself to be writing an opera – and so by general acceptance he was, although its requirement for coachloads of black singers with the vocal strength to shine in small but spotlit roles makes it a hard one for European opera companies to stage.
As a result, it tends to be presented as a musical with Broadway-style performers (which is no bad thing, given that opera singers can be awkwardly self-conscious in this kind of repertoire). And it’s significant that English National Opera has avoided Porgy until now – with a production that’s a welcome hit after the run of dismal failures that have dogged the company of late.
It’s a conventional production playing safe and careful with material that, in times of sensitivity to racial slight, can be a minefield. But it’s also a production that makes a clear statement for the piece as “opera”, with a substantial orchestra (skilfully led by John Wilson, a conductor whose calling card is modern American music) and a cast of “opera” singers – none of them quite stars with golden throats and glamorous charismas but still good, effective artists who do well with what they’re given.
The sole problem is the piece itself, which I always hear as a great sequence of songs – among the best in music history – but not (whatever Gershwin thought and ENO insists) great opera. Structurally, it’s shapeless, leaden and long-winded – though in fairness ENO works hard to deal with that and for the most part keeps a sense of pace. And while I don’t deny that there are characters onstage, they never really fill out or develop beyond cartoon depth.
That said, presenting characters who register is one of opera’s standard challenges; and it’s a challenge not entirely met in Juliana, a new opera by Joseph Phibbs that premiered at the Presteigne Festival in the Welsh Marches during the summer, and has just had its first London airing at St John’s Smith Square (not ideal as a space for theatre).
Simply staged, it updates Miss Julie, Strindberg’s play about love, power and loneliness. And as music it’s impressive, with a fresh, ear-catching lyricism that I’ve heard in other works by Phibbs and makes him one of Britain’s most rewarding and worthwhile composers. But I wish the vocal writing left me feeling more connection with the characters. It struck me as deliberate and four-square by comparison with the free-wheeling beauty of the instrumental score (resourcefully delivered by a small ensemble under the conductor George Vass). If the words had only had such vibrant packaging …
