English National Opera has previously staged non-operatic works such as Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St John Passion and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius. Now, to mark the centenary of the Armistice, it adds Britten’s War Requiem staged by Daniel Kramer, with designs by the photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, and a deeply moving experience it is.
The work in many ways lends itself to a staged treatment. Wilfred Owen’s plangent poetry (though not so much the Latin Mass for the Dead with which it’s interwoven) has vibrant immediacy, with powerful symbolism such as the “long black arm” of field artillery and the “profound dull tunnel” in which the dead combatants find themselves at the end.
Kramer and Tillmans conjure arresting images for many of these scenes. Particularly memorable is the appearance of the soprano soloist (Emma Bell) weaving among prostrate human figures, with a large white chrysanthemum against a black background, in the Lacrimosa; a draped coffin is brought on to military fanfares, with a grieving mother and child, in the Sanctus.
Elsewhere, imagery occasionally seems less well focused and the Requiem’s lack of narrative or dramatic arc less imaginatively compensated for. The cumulative impact, however — thanks also to the persuasive conducting of Martyn Brabbins — is compelling.
The choral ensemble that made such an impression in Porgy and Bess last month joins the ENO Chorus, the juxtaposition of skin colour providing a telling parallel to the reconciliation of English and German soldiers.
Tenor David Butt Philip and baritone Roderick Williams were excellent in the latter roles, Williams savouring the nuances of Owen’s text with distinction. Fine contributions came too from the Finchley Children’s Music Group and the child actors of the Sylvia Young Theatre School.
Until Dec 7 (020 7845 9300, eno.org)
