Lucio Silla is Ceausescu and Honecker and Hitler rolled into one, a despot in a suit at the end of his tether. He wants Giunia, Cecilio's wife, the way a child wants a coveted toy. His palace is crumbling around him, his citizens are on the brink of revolt. As certainties melt and shift, tensions mount. Anything could happen.
Does opera get any better than this? The Netherlands Opera's Lucio Silla has the suspense and sudden twists of a thriller and the character insights of a psychodrama. It has detail and humour. And it has such music that after three hours and 40 minutes you wish the performers would start straight away at the beginning again.
Of course Mozart went on to write scores that were more compact and sophisticated. But with Adam Fischer and the phenomenal Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, you hear that there was precious little immaturity to the 16-year-old Mozart. There is grace in every phrase, clarity of thought behind every line, an extraordinary sense of atmosphere, and empathy for every character.
The cast is outstanding, from Jeffrey Francis' terrifying, infantile Silla to Cyndia Sieden's hilariously torn Cinna. Mary Dunleavy's Giunia is a heart-rending combination of anguish and nobility, Henriette Bonde-Hansen plays Celia as an air-head with wonderful depths of expression, Johannes Chum's Aufidio is a committed functionary headed for a bad end. Best of all is Kristine Jepson's Cecilio, a condemned man until the final chorus. Her voice is rich, agile and laden with secrets. When she sings, time stops.
This is opera about emotional extremes and political realities, finely observed and magnificently executed. Bewilderingly, there were boos at the end. There was nothing here to cause offence, unless genuine emotion offends, or unless you really believe that Mozart should only be sung in corsets and bustles.
Anna Viebrock's gently subversive sets and costumes, Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito's subtle, refined direction, and performances of absolute commitment from all concerned make this a thrilling come-back for a neglected opera. No towering egos, no grand statements, no histrionics. Just superb music theatre.
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