Review: JETTE PARKER ARTISTS: TALES OF LOVE AND LOSS, Royal Ballet And Opera

Marking the 25th anniversary of the Jette Parker Artists Programme, Tales of Love and Loss presents an operatic triple bill for the first time in its history. Three English-language pieces composed by women are programmed together in the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House.

Five young singers make up the cast for the evening. Each chamber opera is making its debut here, and the programme begins with a classic: The Departure, with music by Elizabeth Maconchy and libretto by Anne Ridler. This dates back to 1961 and was last performed in 2007 at Sadler's Wells. Julia and Mark are a young couple, and she is upstairs, preparing for an event, an event which becomes clear to them and us.

The Departure is led by mezzo-soprano Ellen Pearson as Julia, who moves from giddy preparation to peaceful resolve. It offers a forceful and tragic story that perfectly anchors themes of love and loss, notable by the change in melodies and instrumental accompaniment once Mark (baritone Sam Hird) arrives. They engage, dance, and part with the music that underscored Julia's first monologue, now remaining with Mark. An off-stage chorus add to the dour and potent atmosphere.

For Making Arrangements, with music by Charlotte Bray and libretto by Kate Kennedy, the tone is somewhat lighter, as a husband comes to terms with the end of his marriage. Sam Hird is central to this one, as Hewson, reacting to a letter from the wife, Margery, who left him, and bringing their happier moments back to life. 

Norwegian soprano Hannah Edmunds plays Margery, in a lively, teasing, sparkling performance of a wife who loves to dance and finds her husband a bore. Together with tenor Giorgi Guliashvili, who takes on the minor role of her new beau, Leslie, she offers a comic performance that pushes our sympathy towards Hewson, a man who loved and lost because he lacked passion and drive.

This chamber opera made its debut at the Tête à Tête Festival in 2012, based on a short story by Elizabeth Bowen. As we witness the transformation of the husband into someone dealing with surprise, grief, jealousy, obsession, and anger, Hird's singing and acting draw us into the plot. A special mention also for mezzo-soprano Jingwen Cai, who opens proceedings with a beautiful tone and adds some splendid reactions to Hewson's resignation.

Finally, the longest opera of the evening is Four Sisters, a comic romp with music by Elena Langer and libretto by John Lloyd Davies. The character names are taken from Chekhov, but the setting is Manhattan, where a rich father has died - his coffin is set at the back of the stage - and Olga (Cai), Irina (Pearson) and Masha (soprano Madeline Robinson, who is not a Jette Artist) are waiting impatiently for the reading of the will. Their maid (Edmunds) has other plans in mind.

The ladies have plenty of chances to shine in this piece, rescored here for chamber ensemble rather than a full symphony orchestra. Their dreams of wealth and freedom are styled by different types of music, emphasising the diversity of the USA. Tensions and changes in mood move from traditional (if tongue-in-cheek) lament to comic calypso. 

Once lawyer Krumpelblatt (Hird again, now in full farcical mode and full-bodied voice) arrives, the mood becomes chaotic and desperate. As each sister fends off phone enquiries from their mother, the maid seizes the opportunity to have the last laugh - after all, she is invisible in her service.

This trio of chamber operas displays ingenuity and style, although I found The Departure (the only piece I had seen before) a little ponderous, with Hird and Pearson sometimes unconvincing from an acting point of view. Making Arrangements and Four Sisters redressed the balance, with only a little overdominance from the Britten Sinfonia's playing against Masha's singing at times.

Director Talia Stern and conductor Peggy Wu discuss the operas in the printed programme, noting the stylistic differences in each but also the core similarities of "intimate, domestic stories about relationships". Ana Inés Jabares-Pita's set feels familiar and clearly defines time and place: The Departure remains in the 1960s; Making Arrangements moves into the 1970s, where a woman could choose to live independently; Four Sisters is in the materialistic 1980s, where 'greed is good'.

The changes of style in the music are notable, from the almost folk-style melodies of The Departure to the discordance of Making Arrangements and the patchwork of Four Sisters—all in all, an enjoyable evening highlighting women creators and changing social attitudes.

Jette Parker Artists: Tales of Love and Loss plays until 9 May at the Royal Opera and Ballet, with a BSL interpreted performance on the 6 May.