By - 3 Mar 2011
"Heroes don't come much kookier than Xerxes. He may be the King of Persia but he opens Handel's opera by extolling the beauties of a plane tree; a man who, as one character comments, "is aroused by a rough trunk."
By William Dart
Read this review on NZHerald.co.nz
"For three hours, NBR New Zealand Opera's production of
Xerxes transports us to an eighteenth-century Neverland. A
libido-driven cast frolic in, around and about John Verryt's
elegant colonnade in Trelise Cooper finery, with director Roger
Hodgman ensuring the pace of a good Broadway musical.
Every recitative counts, earning regular laughs and chuckles from
the audience. Nips and tucks to the original score are subtle; an
occasional repeat is trimmed, an adroit second act reshuffle
sharpens momentum.
Tobias Cole delivers Xerxes with Monty Python timing,
an effete and dithery foil to William Purefoy's more seriously
inclined Arsamene.
Purefoy moves us with his lament, Quella che tutta fe,
delivered under one of Matt Scott's more effective lighting washes;
Cole rages stylishly, even if his stamina is slightly tested in the
final Crude furie.
Together they make a fine pair of duelling countertenors.
Tiffany Speight's Romilda ups the glamour quotient. Her early
kittenish coloratura gives no hint of a tougher sparing duet to
come, with Xerxes, in minuet time.
If Trelise Cooper's sumptuous cape marks her as the star, Handel
has supplied more than enough music to accord her that status and
she relishes it.
Amy Wilkinson is a sly Atalanta, vocally assured and rewarded
with a general in her arms at the end of the opera. Kristen
Darragh, working with the more earnest character of Amastre, seemed
less relaxed with the demands of arias like Or che
siepe.
Handel gives us good reason to rejoice in this opera with not
one, but two tremendous bass roles. Stephen Bennett sings well and
enjoys hamming it up as a jocular servant, shivering in storms one
moment and dragging up as an eighteenth-century Minnie Pearl the
next.
Presenting Ariodate as one hilariously pompous general, Martin
Snell makes every note count in his rousing arias, even throwing in
the occasional dance routine between verses.
The German Lautten Compagney, providing accompaniment under the
baton of Wolfgang Katschner, is a major bonus. Martin Ripper's
recorder scampers are an effervescent joy as is the endlessly
flexible and inventive continuo work.
Brave, stylish and historic, in that this is our country's first
fully-staged production of a Handel opera, Xerxes deserves
your support before the short season closes on Sunday."
*Xerxes, as part of the Auckland Arts Festival,
is on till Sunday at the Civic Theatre.