Resonantly, English National Opera dedicates this run of Handel’s Partenope to Sir Charles Mackerras, who would have been 100 this week. More than anyone else, Mackerras was prime mover of the ENO’s pioneering reimaginings of Handel’s operas. This Partenope, first seen in 2008, is a brave reassertion of that treasured inheritance. Sadly, though, the ENO itself is now a shadow of what it became in Mackerras’s day; its chief exec Jenny Mollica quit earlier this week.
Still, it remains cheering to see ENO can still turn in a high-class Handel show. In Partenope the characters may be classical staples but the superficially political plot is really more of a domestic comedy. Partenope herself, supposed founder of modern Naples, is being wooed by three princely suitors, one of whom, Arsace, is pursued by his former lover Rosmira, thinly disguised as a man. The maelstrom of passions and longings this gang can generate between them, though, are believable enough, sometimes searingly so.
The production by Christopher Alden takes this mix of sex and warfare and punts it into the brittle world of 1920s Parisian surrealism. Partenope is now a society hostess. Her foe Emilio is a Man Ray-type photographer. The suitors are emotionally rudderless hangers-on. Alden has returned to supervise this revival too, and his presence ensures a taut, allusive and sometimes wacky staging. It can be confusing at times, but that does not really matter. Alden’s stage creativity means you don’t have to keep close track of who is who, or why they do what they do, to respond to – and to care about – Partenope’s edgy and erotic modernity.
Nardus Williams is extremely stylish in the updated title role. She has a lot of singing to do, and though she took time to settle into her best voice, the broad lines of her act two aria, where she declares her longing for Arsace, were an ideal fit. As Arsace, the countertenor Hugh Cutting reached the evening’s peak in his emotionally jangled act-three aria of renunciation, with the theorbo and strings captivating in their accompaniment. Katie Bray was infinitely resourceful as the mixed up Rosmira. Jake Ingbar’s Armindo was ingenious, vocally and gymnastically. Ru Charlesworth was unflagging and witty as Emilio, while William Thomas seized his moments – both visually and vocally – as Ormonte.
Christian Curnyn, who conducted Partenope in 2008 and again when it was last revived in 2017, was back in the pit this time, too. Sadly he was taken ill during the first interval, but his assistant conductor William Cole took over for the final two acts with idiomatic assurance.
• At the London Coliseum until 6 December
