While revered in Europe, the Belgian composer Philippe Boesmans is neglected in Britain; his work has hitherto never been performed here. Music Theatre Wales's latest production should change that. The economy of his chamber opera, Julie, belies the richness of its allusions and the intensity of its emotional insight. If the naturalism of Strindberg's original play broke new ground, what is remarkable about Boesmans' setting is precisely his ability to offer a comparable musical naturalism, absolutely contemporary yet drawing on a lyrical tradition that allows his characters to exist vividly in the present, while maintaining a resonance with the past.
The ease with which Boesmans accomplishes this is deceptive, nowhere more so than when spoken words follow or give the impetus for a sung phrase: the utterance is simple and unaffected, but the effect is potent. The interaction of instrumentalists - all 18 visible behind the open set with conductor Michael Rafferty - and singers adds psychological perspective as well as colouristic detail.
In the title role, Arlene Rolph's warm and voluptous mezzo underlines the sympathy with which Boesmans handles Julie. Conflicting legacies - her father's overpowering presence and her mother's contempt for men - make her vulnerable, and her pursuit of Jean, the count's valet, is as doomed as it is inevitable. Andrew Rupp's Jean is also magnetic: his grappling with Julie's red satin dress on the kitchen table betrays an innate tendency to violence, compounded by his cold decapitation of her pet siskin. When Julie cuts her wrists with the razor he gives her for the purpose, there is an element of blessed martyrdom. As Jean's fiancée, Christine, the expressive Emma Gane parallels Julie's torment. Michael McCarthy's discerning direction honours both Strindberg and Boesmans.
· At Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold (0845 330 3565), on June 8, then touring.
