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An intriguing opera carried by the brilliant cast and orchestra

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There will always be something incredibly special about seeing a performance at the London Coliseum. It is such a beautiful venue and the production value is always noticeable. However, traditional opera, which the English National Opera excels at, can be difficult to engage with, so it is great to see performances like this one of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. It is a more modern opera, written in the 1950s, which has all of the qualities of Britten’s sometimes challenging music, combined with the intrigue of the story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Britten’s suspenseful music brings the psychological thriller to life. Whilst Britten’s music is often not obviously melodic, the tunes suited the ambiguity of the story in this instance. 

The performance itself from the ENO benefitted from brilliant staging. With two walls moving back and forth to make up the house and hospital wards scenes. The walls cleverly transition from one place to another, whilst also capturing the tense feeling of the characters with regularly changing locations. Black and white film of old houses, forests and lakes was projected onto the walls during certain instrumental sections or arias which added to the discomfort, using the classic shaky camera trope that makes the audience feel on edge. 

The storyline was well portrayed, if a little confusing at times, showing a medical ward with patients, including the governess, whose flashbacks we saw playing out on stage. The flashbacks went to her time as a governess for two children in a quaint house that had a dark past. This played out in a sequence of ambiguous events, with mysterious apparitions portraying the dark themes and entering the minds of the children and the governess. Whilst the themes were evident, it was often difficult to understand the juxtaposition between patient characters being present on stage during the flashbacks that the governess was having. 

Whilst the storyline was a little tricky to follow, the orchestra and the singers truly were the star of this performance. For Duncan Ward, it was their conducting debut with the ENO. Ward directed the orchestra incredibly sensitively, really bringing the most out of the complicated score. In Patricia the percussion section was well utilised throughout. Sopranos, Ailish Tynan and Gweneth Ann Rand, both had stunning voices which they blended and matched to each other beautifully during their many moments on stage together. Additionally Robert Murray’s strong but serene vocals played into his ghostly character well. I particularly liked how he was often singing from off stage or different levels around the scenery, sometimes on the roof or looking through a window which added to the suspense. Also a huge credit to young performers, Jerry Louth and Victoria Nekhaenko, who had a number of incredibly complex solos. Louth’s crystal clear tone in particular shone through in some of the fiendishly difficult moments where the tune jumped around in an unmusical way. 

It was great to see a different style of opera to some of the more traditional performances, and I would encourage anyone wanting a taste of opera to see this performance. However, the telling of the story was a little weak, so I would suggest going for the music and the intriguing set rather than focusing on the confusing storyline.