English opera begins with Venus and Adonis, John Blow's exquisite masterpiece written in 1682 for Charles II. The king's mistress played Venus at the first performance, which has saddled the opera with the reputation of being an inconsequential piece of erotica. In fact, it's a wittily sensual idyll that is shockingly fractured by Adonis's death and the tragic force of Venus's subsequent lamentation. It was influential, too: Blow was Purcell's teacher, and Dido and Aeneas is unthinkable without it.
Netia Jones's production for Transition Opera reimagines the piece in terms of the flimsiness of contemporary hedonism. Andrew Radley's camp Cupid runs an internet dating chatroom that enlivens dull days in the office. Venus (Katherine Manley) is a fashion victim, given to preening in mirrors while Adonis (Dawid Kimberg) is away hunting. The closing scenes, in which Adonis's gored body is borne through the audience as this gaudy world implodes, are disquietingly effective. Graciously conducted by Christian Curnyn, it's finely sung, with Manley and Kimberg looking and sounding terrific together and some beautiful ensemble work from the small chorus of fine singer-actors.
Poor diction is a drawback, however, and has an even more detrimental effect on its companion piece - a sequence of Purcell's songs, which Jones stages as a bittersweet analysis of the emotional vagaries of speed-dating. Manley is the girl who tries too hard and ends up alone, while Kimberg is the bounder out for casual sex. Radley times the exchanges with his stopwatch, overseeing the event with cool cynicism. A wonderful conceit, it would be funnier and sadder if we could hear more of the words.
• Ends tonight. Box office: 020-7702 2789.
