Conducted by
Mark Shanahan
Directed by
Elijah Moshinksy
Designed by
Maria Bjornson
Ernani
Rhys Meirion
Don Carlo
Ashley Holland
Don Silva
Alastair Miles
Elvira
Cara O'Sullivan
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Ernani
by Giuseppe Verdi
English National Opera
London Coliseum
7 June - 2 July 2004
Two features stand out in this production of Verdi's powerful story of love, betrayal, forgiveness and unforgivingness. One is the design, in the form of beautiful costumes and an evocative set; the other is the magnificent singing of the four principals, and most especially of Alastair Miles as Don Ruy Gomez de Sliva, every inch a Cervantes-esque grandee, producing from his tall lean frame a voice of plangent richness.
Like many opera plots the story of Ernani requires its implausibilities, and the libretto makes them worse. Conspirators against Don Carlo, King of Spain, set aside their mutual enmity on the basis of a strange oath that one of them (Ernani himself) will kill himself if the other (Don de Silva) blows a horn. Their enmity results from their competition for the love of Elvira. So when the conspiracy fails and the conspirators are magnanimously pardoned by Carlo, who further allows Ernani to marry his Elvira at last, all looks set for happiness except that the merciless Don de Silva desires his revenge against Ernani, and therefore blows the horn. Ernani keeps his oath de Silva remaining obdurate despite pleas from Elvira thus turning a happy story into a tragedy. Objectively (if it were not for the consummate music and its vast dramatic power) this would be tragedy as farce. But we are dealing with Verdi here, and Verdi in full cry; so even if the tale had fewer pointless twists and an even less improbable end, it would remain great art because it flows from the spirit of a great artist.
For the story scarcely matters, except as a frame on which to hang the music. Musically, indeed, this work is exquisite, and cannot fail to thrill: the full-throated choral episodes, the haunting arias and duets, the subtle interweaving of three and four vocal parts carrying the dramatic nodes of the story strongly forward, all in a ceaseless stream of melodic invention, make Ernani a wonderful work. It is surprising that it is not performed more often. Here the ENO give it excellent treatment: beautifully played, staged and presented, in sumptuous style both visually and musically, it is one of the best things ever to happen on the Coliseum stage.
AC Grayling
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