Jean-Philippe Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie had its glamorous premiere in 1733, in the Palais Royal in Paris. The composer probably didn’t imagine his opera turning up on the backstreets of Dalston, but here it is, part of Grimeborn, Arcola Theatre’s annual festival of out-there opera productions.
Hippolyte was the first opera to which the word “baroque” was applied. It wasn’t a compliment, but it gives a clue to Rameau’s highly stylised musical and dramatic language.
Marcio da Silva’s staging (sung in French) doesn’t really manage to turn the Arcola’s far from palatial setting into a living theatrical space. Movement is often exaggerated slo-mo, while interaction between characters is chilly rather than emotive, despite some fine singing. As Hippolyte, Kieran White displays ardour and elegance, while Alexandra Bork makes Phèdre a dangerously deep-voiced fanatic.
Besides directing, da Silva takes the role of Thésée, delivered with sonorous gravitas, and when he’s not singing, he slips into the orchestra to play baroque guitar. Beyond that, he also provides the orchestral reduction (played by his own outfit, Ensemble OrQuesta, Kieran Staub conducting) that makes this chamber presentation affordable. Moments of cranky intonation lend a not-inappropriate rustic feel, but the vibrancy of Rameau’s original surfaces only intermittently. Still, Rameau in Dalston? As the French say, “Ça vaut le voyage”.
Until August 17 (020 7503 1646, arcolatheatre.com)
