Un Ballo in Maschera (Royal Opera)

"Un Ballo in Maschera" has just about every Opera convention you could want and the Royal Opera's production does little to bring it into the modern opera house. Massive sets, stock opera gestures and a Negro witch who to all intents and purposes is a gypsy. This feeling of period staging isn't helped by the excessively loud warblings of Angela Marambio (who looks almost comically like a classical dramatic soprano). It's a strongish cast vocally, but dramatically this is comic stuff. Lots of murder, deceit and magic making for a merry night at the opera.

Mario Martone's production doesn't do much wrong, the Boston setting is unpopular in some quarters but I can't say I'm much fussed, but it doesn't really do much right either. This doesn't have to be a deeply political piece (I'm not even sure it can be), the interest, in this production at least, is on broad strokes characters getting into a pickle and killing each other (deep and meaningful it ain't). Big, stagey sets are what the production delivers although it's not till the titular ball that a true wow moment arrives. The angled mirror is hardly a new trick but it's used spectacularly. Disappointingly though, whilst the sets never dominate the action (strong designs that remain in the background) the singers fail to make much impact largely due to weak direction. Arm waving and eye brow raising will only get one so far and quite why the action is so static I'll never know. Only in Act III do the characters finally start to navigate the stage, the name drawing scene tautly directed.

Some blame for the poor acting must fall on the singers. Marambio has a potent soprano, often used effectively, but she wails her way through the high stuff and little was delivered piano. Her shifting emotions should be a cornerstone but they weren't readily apparent, she existed in her own little operatic world, there were few sparks with the two men in her life. Ramón Vargas has a beautiful tenor and understands his music, phrasing with real detail and care, but was at times underwhelming, a heavier instrument wouldn't harm the role. He had a little more success than Marambio in the acting department but too often fell back frowns. Dalibor Jenis gave a strong, weighty performance but subtlety didn't enter the equation. Plenty more frowning from him. For entertainment Elena Manistina's Ulrica would be hard to beat. All beady eyes and stick waving glee, she had a throaty set of bottom notes that sent chills down my spine. Anna Christy made a witty house debut with her scene-stealing Oscar. As the rest of the cast looked miserable she joyously bounced around, her impressive coloratura the icing on the cake.

I enjoyed this a lot but not for any of the reasons that Verdi aficionados would be pleased by. A frolic through opera stereotypes with sumptuous music, finely played under Maurizio Benini, and some loud, one-dimensional singing. There's clearly more to this piece but Martone's production reveals little of it. Great fun but rather forgettable.