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Precious is a new-style weepie but one that is much more bracing than depressing
Precious
Theatre
Ian McKellen is captivating throughout. He delights in the play’s gallows humour, yet is also maudlin and poignant
Waiting for Godot
Theatre
Slight quibbles notwithstanding, this will set the West End’s stock riding high
Enron
Utterly, utterly brilliant. You really are in for a treat
Though 'Trilogy' has won rave reviews, I personally found myself exasperated after about an hour
We went on a quiet sunday evening and the food was excellent, but the experience let down by the service and ambiance
London,
Fiona Maddocks's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Tom Hawkes.
Cast: Opera Holland Park, City Of London Sinfonia, Opera Holland Park Chorus, Noel Davies (cond), Peter Rice (des), Allison Bell (Lakme), Philip O'Brien (Gerald), Grant Doyle (Frederic), Graeme Broadbent (Nilakantha), Antonia Sotgiu (Mallika), Anne Collins (Miss Benson), Rob Burt (Hadji), Pamela Hay (Ellen)
Description: Tom Hawkes directs Delibes's Eastern-tinged tale of an officer of the Raj, Gerald (Philip O'Brien) and his forbidden love for Lakme (Allison Bell), the daughter of Brahmin high priest Nilakantha (Graeme Broadbent). Conducted by Noel Davies and sung in French with English surtitles.
Trains: Tube: High Street Kensington, Holland Park 
, Tube / Bus: 9, 10, 27, 28, 33, 49, 328 
Phone: 0845230 9769
Flower power: Antonia Sotgiu and Alison Bell perform the Flower Duet
The tunes are famous thanks to that ad for the world's favourite airline yet the opera is unknown. Once again, pioneering Holland Park has dug out a rarity. If it's not a piece one need hear more than once, and it is not, we are lucky to have had the chance. Tom Hawkes has directed an effective Raj-style staging, complete with brightly coloured saris, temple dancers and Hindu deities in Peter Rice's designs.
Delibes's 1883 exotic fantasy takes as its starting point religious oppression in Imperial India. A clumsy British officer ambles into a sacred Hindu garden. He compounds his blasphemy by falling in love with the Brahmin priest's daughter, Lakme, leaving pretty Miss Ellen, his fiancee, high and dry.
Tragedy ensues, at some considerable length and with several rousing melodies, notably the coloratura Bell-Song, appropriately sung by Allison Bell in the title role and the BA ad Flower Duet, together with some atmospheric Indian dances. "When I first heard it, I thought oh God it's effing Bollywood," observed Michael Volpe, Opera Holland Park's singular general manager. It is not Bollywood but French Orientalism, characteristic of its time if, religiously speaking, a mishmash of Muslim-Hindu symoblism. That said, it is a model of tact compared with, say, Kismet.
The cast, not outstanding but decent, negotiated this unfamiliar score well. Bell had intonation problems but hit some ringing top notes, as did Philip O'Brien, constrained in the middle register but capable of elegant phrasing. Noel Davies, conducting, kept the pace moving. The excellent City of London Sinfonia, sensibly wearing woollies and flat caps, made the most of the score's exotic details.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
I disagree with Fiona Maddocks comment regarding the cast of Lakme being 'not outstanding but decent'. Alison Bell was wonderful as Lakme, dramatically and musically, and gave the role a depth that frankly isn't really in the story (which is a bit ropey) and her Bell song was a tour de force. Given the weather was so cold and the cast were so scantily clad (and we could see steam coming from the singers' mouths) I could forgive a few intonation problems! The singer who played Lakme's father also deserves a special mention - his voice was powerful and he also brought real life and depth to what initially seemed a rather unsympathetic character. Philip O'Brien also did a fine job although I can't imagine why this girl would kill herself over such a dreadful character...! The supporting roles, chorus and dancers were fully committed and full of colour and character, and it was wonderful to see Anne Collins in the role of the English mistress. A wonderful evening!
- Maria Hilbert, London
