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A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
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London,
Fiona Maddocks's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Annilese Miskimmon.
Cast: Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park, Stuart Stratford (cond), Nicky Shaw (des), The City Of London Sinfonia, Orla Boylan (Iolanta), Mikhail Svetlov (King Rene), Peter Auty (Vaudemont), Mark Stone (Robert), Jonathan Gunthorpe (Ibn-Hakia), Aled Hall (Almeric), Keel Watson (Bertrand), Carole Wilson (Martha), Sarah Redgwick (Brigitta), Patricia Orr (Laura)
Description: Tchaikovsky's tale of a blind princess, directed by Annilese Miskimmon and featuring Orla Boylan in the lead, Mikhail Svetlov as her father King Rene and Peter Auty as the knight who falls in love with her, Vaudemont. Conducted by Stuart Stratford and sung in Russian with English surtitles. A contemporary dance piece inspired by Stravinsky, Pulcinella, precedes the performance.
Trains: Tube: Holland Park, Kensington High Street 
Phone: 0845230 9769
Website: www.rbkc.gov.uk
The climax of Tchaikovsky's one act Iolanta is a soaring duet in praise of light, sung by the blind princess of the title and her lovesick knight, Vaudemont. Soprano Orla Boylan and tenor Peter Auty sang with such heroic ferocity and stormy passion that you quite feared for the safety of Holland Park Opera's awning.
This was the company's last new production of the season, another beguiling rarity of the kind at which Holland Park excels. Vocal standards were impressive, with Mikhail Svetlov's King, Toby Stafford-Allen's Ibn-Hakia and Mark Stone's Robert heading a large ensemble cast, stirringly conducted by Stuart Stratford.
Unearthing curiosities is not the only purpose of festivals such as OHP, Grange Park or Garsington, but it whets operatic appetites and sharpens identity. Donizetti's Roberto Devereux is in the diary for OHP's next season, with Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini the year after. With the Proms happening at the same time, London is privileged to have such a rich musical diet in the middle of summer when most cities fall silent.
Tchaikovksy's last opera is an odd affair, saturated with pathos and melody yet strangely unaffecting. Iolanta has no awareness of her affliction. Enlightened by the powers of redemptive love, plus the mysterious help of a Moorish physician, she can suddenly see.
Wonderful though the music is, characterisation is wooden. So, too, was Annilese Miskimmon's production, designed by Nicky Shaw and set in a sort of faux-CÈzanne forest with a small door in the trees. It just needed more rehearsal time.
To create a full evening, we were treated - a polite word - to Stravinsky's ballet Pulcinella as a curtain-raiser. For those of us blind to the magic of poorly drilled contemporary dance, in a lacklustre musical performance, this set back recovery by years.
Where was Iolanta's doctor with his miracle cure when you needed him?
In rep until 8 August. Information: 0845 230 9769.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
