HADRIAN
by RUFUS WAINWRIGHT (composer) and DANIEL MACIVOR (librettist) at the
CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY with PETER HINTON director and JOHANNES DEBUS
conductor (Oct 13-27, 2018)
Whether you're a Rufus fan or you simply love good music, then go to see Hadrian. The music is gorgeous and the story compelling. But Wainwright the composer is no Puccini/Lloyd-Webber wannabe. Nor is he the Rufus Wainwright we know from his pop persona.
Wainwright is not breaking any musical barriers here, except possibly his own. You won't hear him pushing the limits of twelve-tone music or trying to out-cage John Cage. You will catch traces of Benjamin Britten and the orchestral colours of Bela Bartok, with a moment or two of Richard Strauss, but the music is distinctive rather than derivative.
The story is a cross between Bellini's Norma, the Druidic priestess who sacrifices herself for war, and Orfeo's search for his lover Eurydice in the Underworld. Hadrian, a Roman general, is in mourning for his young lover, Antinous, while neglecting his country's political affairs. Two spectres, Plotina, who helped him gain the throne in real life, and Trajan, the former emperor whose throne he inherited, make a bargain: sign a decree declaring war against the Jews and Nazarenes in exchange for being allowed to relive two nights with Antinous.
Act one nicely sets up the crisis in the senate and the resulting bargain between Hadrian and the shades. There is virtually no humour in the opera, so Karita Mattila's coquetry as Plotina is a welcome relief when she arrives. Act two sets a glacial pace as Hadrian's wife, Sabina, declares her neglect by her husband. Meanwhile, we await Antinous's arrival, which takes a tad longer than it should. This is offset by the inventive set, however, whose changing visuals are powerful. (More of this would not be unwelcome without risking turning it into a video game.)
Act three begins with a stunning sex scene between Hadrian and Antinous, as beautiful and tasteful as anything seen on stage, while the instrumental music soars and swells. In fact, the entire act is perfection, as we see the love between the two men re-enacted and the trickery that results in Antinous's death.
The cast is well chosen, with notable performances by all the leads (Thomas Hampson as Hadrian, Isaiah Bell as Antinous, and whose mellifluous tones are memorable, and David Leigh as Turbo, the Judas figure who plots Antinous's death.) Particularly outstanding are the two women, Karita Mattila as Plotina and Ambur Braid as Sabina. It's also great to see tenor Ben Heppner back on stage again.
The fourth act gave me a bit of pause, especially after the perfect poise of the preceding act. The pace again was glacial and the music at its most romantic, almost too much so given the tone of the earlier parts. At times it felt as though we were approaching the dénouement of Tristan and Isolde, and the opera's length was clearly verging on Wagnerian proportions. I also took exception to the heavy-handed comment on Middle-Eastern politics at one point and the sticky, quasi-religiosity in the comparison of Antinous with Christ. A sacrifice does not always a saviour make.
That said, Hadrian is a highly welcome addition to the operatic repertoire and a considerable success for Wainwright, who never seems to stop exploring new worlds of sound. A hearty Bravo! to that.
Jeffrey Round is an award-winning author, filmmaker and song writer. His latest book is The God Game (Dundurn Press.)
Whether you're a Rufus fan or you simply love good music, then go to see Hadrian. The music is gorgeous and the story compelling. But Wainwright the composer is no Puccini/Lloyd-Webber wannabe. Nor is he the Rufus Wainwright we know from his pop persona.
Wainwright is not breaking any musical barriers here, except possibly his own. You won't hear him pushing the limits of twelve-tone music or trying to out-cage John Cage. You will catch traces of Benjamin Britten and the orchestral colours of Bela Bartok, with a moment or two of Richard Strauss, but the music is distinctive rather than derivative.
The story is a cross between Bellini's Norma, the Druidic priestess who sacrifices herself for war, and Orfeo's search for his lover Eurydice in the Underworld. Hadrian, a Roman general, is in mourning for his young lover, Antinous, while neglecting his country's political affairs. Two spectres, Plotina, who helped him gain the throne in real life, and Trajan, the former emperor whose throne he inherited, make a bargain: sign a decree declaring war against the Jews and Nazarenes in exchange for being allowed to relive two nights with Antinous.
Act one nicely sets up the crisis in the senate and the resulting bargain between Hadrian and the shades. There is virtually no humour in the opera, so Karita Mattila's coquetry as Plotina is a welcome relief when she arrives. Act two sets a glacial pace as Hadrian's wife, Sabina, declares her neglect by her husband. Meanwhile, we await Antinous's arrival, which takes a tad longer than it should. This is offset by the inventive set, however, whose changing visuals are powerful. (More of this would not be unwelcome without risking turning it into a video game.)
Act three begins with a stunning sex scene between Hadrian and Antinous, as beautiful and tasteful as anything seen on stage, while the instrumental music soars and swells. In fact, the entire act is perfection, as we see the love between the two men re-enacted and the trickery that results in Antinous's death.
The cast is well chosen, with notable performances by all the leads (Thomas Hampson as Hadrian, Isaiah Bell as Antinous, and whose mellifluous tones are memorable, and David Leigh as Turbo, the Judas figure who plots Antinous's death.) Particularly outstanding are the two women, Karita Mattila as Plotina and Ambur Braid as Sabina. It's also great to see tenor Ben Heppner back on stage again.
The fourth act gave me a bit of pause, especially after the perfect poise of the preceding act. The pace again was glacial and the music at its most romantic, almost too much so given the tone of the earlier parts. At times it felt as though we were approaching the dénouement of Tristan and Isolde, and the opera's length was clearly verging on Wagnerian proportions. I also took exception to the heavy-handed comment on Middle-Eastern politics at one point and the sticky, quasi-religiosity in the comparison of Antinous with Christ. A sacrifice does not always a saviour make.
That said, Hadrian is a highly welcome addition to the operatic repertoire and a considerable success for Wainwright, who never seems to stop exploring new worlds of sound. A hearty Bravo! to that.
Jeffrey Round is an award-winning author, filmmaker and song writer. His latest book is The God Game (Dundurn Press.)
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