Written in 1718, Handel’s first English opera might easily have premiered alfresco at Cannons, the Palladian seat of the Duke of Chandos. It’s tailor-made then for Opera Holland Park’s canopied stage, grafted as it is on to the site’s Jacobean remains. But whereas Handel’s perfectly formed confection, part Purcellian romp, part Italian serenata, is all pastoral wit and grace, Louise Bakker’s hectic send-up fails to sway the senses.
Not trusting the music to hold the attention, the director’s solution is an overworked ensemble, choreographed by Merry Holden, whose job it is to hop, skip and generally fidget around, pulling focus whenever Handel wants you to pay attention to his gloriously tuneful score.
Alyson Cummins’s colourful set, respectably lit by Johanne Jensen, comprises multicoloured lanterns, a rotatable rotunda and offcuts of astroturf dotted with flowers. The minute the bustling sinfonia gets under way, on bounds the chipper chorus like wannabe Isadora Duncans escaped from some fay Edwardian masque.
In Galatea’s delicious Hush, Ye Pretty Warbling Quire, they scamper about carrying paper birds; in Acis’s Where Shall I Find the Charming Fair, they run on as sheep, bleating loudly before needlessly hanging around to crop the fake grass. Things calm down in the second half, but in Act I, the simmering lovers don’t get a moment’s privacy. In short, silliness, posturing and artifice drain the work of its sincerity.
All is not lost, however, thanks to a breezy, shapely account of the score by Michael Papadopoulos. The City of London Sinfonia – pared down to nine strings (notably played without vibrato), a pair of oboes and recorders, bassoon, theorbo and harpsichord – generate some exquisite colours, even when the conductor presses them hard.
As Galatea, Elizabeth Karani possesses a fruitier soprano than is often cast in the role. Warm and flexible, she decorates the da capo sections imaginatively while plumbing emotional depths in her concluding Heart, the Seat of Soft Delight. Anthony Gregory is her Acis, a bright, heroic tenor with an easy stage manner and plenty of charisma. Love in Her Eyes Sits Playing is handsomely done; Love Sounds the Alarm rings out with disarming fervour.
Chuma Sijeqa’s firm, focused baritone is a little light for the brutish Polyphemus’s ripe bottom notes, but he works hard and imbues the character with a surprising charm. Ruairi Bowen’s light, carefree tenor is just right for Damon. Consider, Fond Shepherd, taken daringly slow, is splendid.
Too much movement inevitably leads to rocky moments within the ensemble. It is not until the mercifully unfussy finale that music and staging come together at last as Acis is transformed into a visually arresting river of fairy lights. It is a powerful conjunction, but one that only serves to remind us of what we’ve been missing.
• At Opera Holland Park, London, until 2 August
