Review: Welsh National Opera, Ainadamar, part of their autumn season at The Bristol Hippodrome
Posted on: 18 Oct 2023Vivienne Kennedy reviews Ainadamar, performed by Welsh National Opera at The Bristol Hippodrome on Tuesday 17 October 2023
I’ve always liked Welsh National Opera’s habit of including lesser known, and sometimes quite modern, operas in their repertoire and for their autumn season, visiting The Bristol Hippodrome this week, they’ve done it again, opening this evening with Osvado Golijov’s Ainadamar, which premiered just 20 years ago.
When scheduling the programme, WNO could not have predicted the horrific events that have occurred over the past couple of weeks. However, although set in Spain rather than the Middle East and about that country’s civil war in the 1930s, Ainadamar feels particularly relevant right now. At one point the words ‘the world is broken’ are projected onto the stage and I almost expect the audience, as one, to reply ‘Yes; yes it is’.
At the centre of the story is the assassination of the Spanish playwright and poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, who died in August 1936. His crime? He was a homosexual, with liberal views. We are told he died alongside a teacher and a bullfighter. The character of Lorca is a trouser role, sung by a mezzo-soprano – Hanna Hipp in this production - it’s thought this is Golijov’s way of challenging gender constructions and a hint at the poet’s queer identity.
Lorca’s story is told from the viewpoint of his friend and muse, the Catalan actress Margarita Xirgu, who spent her career playing the part of 19th-century political martyr Mariana Pineda in Lorca’s play of the same name. It’s not always easy to follow with a narrative featuring dreamlike memories and flashbacks. It’s very dramatic!
It’s quite different to other WNO productions I have seen, with a score combining classical music with Spanish, Arabic, and Jewish influences and both Cuban and Flamenco rhythms. At times I find myself quite distracted by two members of the orchestra clapping in absolute synchronisation; a skill I deeply admire as someone who simply cannot keep time.
Dance is as important as the music, and spellbinding to watch, particularly during a section set in Havana (one of the dreamlike memories I mentioned a couple of paragraphs back). The set is kept very simple, most of the action takes place behind a kind of chain curtain with lighting and projection work creating the mood. I find the projected words, including Lorca’s poetry, very moving… it’s that relevance again, really stirring the emotions.
Ainadamar is just 80 minutes long, with no interval, which feels perfect. It’s an intense watch and an interval would have broken the atmosphere and mood. It is sung in Spanish, with surtitles in English. It’s only being performed once at each venue on the tour, so you won’t have a chance to see it in Bristol (unless WNO brings it back again in some far distant season); if, however, you are visiting Plymouth, Birmingham, Milton Keynes or Southampton over the next few weeks, do look out for it!
On Thursday and Saturday evening, WNO will be performing La Traviata, and on Saturday afternoon, there’s a special treat for young opera buffs and their families, Play Opera Live, a space-themed interactive and educational family show suitable for all ages. Visit The Bristol Hippodrome website to find out more and book online.
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Vivienne Kennedy says she lives and works in Bristol but sleeps in Weston-super-Mare, which is where she’s actually lived pretty much all her life. During the day, she is Head of Broadmead BID (Business Improvement District), supporting retailers in Bristol Shopping Quarter. Away from work, she’s been reviewing theatre, music and art in Bristol for more than 12 years and is rarely happier than when watching a good show at the Hippodrome or Old Vic.
