PARTENOPE, Handel’s bitter, witty and ironic comedy of sexual intrigue, jealousy and rage, premiered in London in 1730. Four years earlier the erotic libretto had been deemed entirely unsuitable for the Royal Academy of Music and dismissed as too scandalous for English taste.
ENO had a big success in 2008 with Christopher Alden’s production which was repeated in 2017. It now returns with a fine cast of six singers: Nardus Williams, Hugh Cutting, Ru Charlesworth, Jake Ingbar, Katie Bray and William Thomas dazzle with their vocal virtuosity and ensemble acting. There is no chorus.
Partenope (which means virgin in Greek) is the mythical foundress of the city of Naples. She is also famous as one of the sirens, who lured young sailors to their death. Nardus is elegantly costumed by Jan Morrell and there is a reference to Marlene Dietrich in drag.
Alden – taking his inspiration from Man Ray and the Surrealists – has given the opera a 1920’s Paris Art Deco setting, all very chic in white with a curving staircase.
The libretto, translated by Amanda Holden, is not that easy to follow and it isn’t made any the easier by the updating. But Alden’s stylish production is always entertaining and full of camp-witty touches, including a vaudeville routine with top hat and cane and tap dancing by Jake Ingbar, who also tobogganed down the staircase on his stomach. A stuck-in-the-lavatory sequence is cheap and unfunny and should be cut.
Partenope goes on for well over three and half four hours with two intervals, but it doesn’t feel that long. The sound, on stage and in the pit, is absolutely ravishing. Handel is great.
The conductor Christian Curnyn took ill after Act One and William Cole had to take over. The transition was seamless. The evening was a big success. ENO is on a high.
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