Outside, interval conversation involves the intermittent roar of aircraft landing at nearby Stansted. Inside, you might enjoy a drink next to the school office and pop to the Year 10 and 11 toilets. We’re a long way from Bayreuth. But 11 years after opening, Saffron Hall – funded by philanthropy and nestled in an Essex state school – remains a gem of a 730-seat venue with a warm, bright acoustic. Its programming is ambitious, drawing big names in classical music and beyond; ticket prices generally start at under £20.
Those achievements pale in comparison to the ambitions of Saffron Opera Group, established to produce opera in the new hall. Their launch was a concert performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger featuring professional soloists and local instrumentalists and choral singers. Since then, the group’s programming has included a full Ring cycle. Now, for its 10th anniversary, Die Meistersinger was back, boasting bass-baritone Paul Carey Jones – fresh from acclaimed performances in Longborough’s Ring cycle – as Hans Sachs. Unfortunately, Carey Jones was unwell and unable to sing. Other singers were shuffled and Sachs was shared between young bass William Stevens (Acts 1 and 2) and old hand Andrew Greenan (Act 3), who took the role in 2014 and who warmed up as Pogner in Acts 1 and 2.
Wagner would surely have appreciated these make-do-and-mend heroics, not to mention the passionate commitment to his operas that evidently drives the SOG project. And there were some fine solo turns: William Dazeley (Beckmesser) is a consummate singer-actor, Charne Rochford a clarion-voiced Walther. The two women were excellent: Georgia Mae Bishop (Magdalene) was spirited, her tone rich, while Eleanor Dennis was an ideal Eva, with power to burn and the technical control to match. Stevens’ Sachs was buried deep in his score but this was a brave turn, while Greenan’s luxuriously deep-pile bass made for a sympathetic Pogner. The latter’s Act 3 monologue as Sachs was resonant and lyrical – all the more moving for emerging, isolated and determined, from what might best be described as a disorganised orchestral texture.
And that, alas, was the problem. Under conductor Michael Thorne, the orchestra revelled in the Prelude’s opening – enjoying the acoustic with the rest of us – but struggled with much of the detail of Wagner’s intricate score. Too much was too loud, chorus and soloists were periodically drowned out, solos faltered. One musician told me cheerfully that there had been just two day-long rehearsals. I’m afraid more were needed.
