Rameau's Platée at Garsington Opera

This little-known work from the mid-18th century by the French composer Rameau found no favour at the court of Louis XV where it was performed for the wedding of the Dauphin in 1745. And no wonder - it is anything but classical, far from deferential and could be seen as downright disrespectful to the gods of Olympus, the royals of myth and legend. Poking fun at the gods is only one step away from poking fun at your rulers. A small step. 

Moreover, the humour makes no concessions to those people who are easily offended. If you're one of the PC brigade, you'll be in tears. Everyone else will be in tears of laughter.

The first surprise may be the music. Rameau's score has an arresting opening, and is brash, jagged and boisterous. From the opening paean in praise of wine and Bacchus, dance-rhythms predominate and tambourines add to an atmosphere of somewhat uncourtly revelry.

In the second half, the mood varies and there is more grace and lyricism, but the energy and pace are still often frenetic. This is a score as spiky as a Punk hairstyle, more Vivienne Westwood than classical.

Louisa Muller's production transforms Olympus into TV celeb culture, the world of Big Brother and Love Island, a world full of glamour, sex and fierce rivalry. Jupiter is a tireless girl-chasing pop star, Mercury is his PR agent and the naiads vying for his favour are contestants on a glittering, steamy show.

Juno, Jupiter's jealous wife, is a slightly older but still glamorous WAG, with a team of staff to carry her perfectly matching luggage. The plot revolves around Mercury's plan to cure her jealousy by having Jupiter (Ossian Huskinson) court Platée, an ugly marsh-nymph who is convinced she is irresistible to men. When she turns up dressed as a blushing bride, Juno (Annabel Kennedy) takes one look at her and bursts out laughing. This did not go down well at the Dauphin's wedding, to a princess who was considered ill-favoured by Nature. 

It won't please everyone these days either, as the rôle of Platée is written to be sung by a man. It is a very challenging rôle, that ranges from tenor to high counter-tenor regions, and it is performed by Samuel Boden, who is very, very good singer. It is of course broadly comic, and he played it as a clownish rôle, with a big moustache drawn on his face with lipstick.

During the dinner interval I heard other members of the audience discussing certain well -known individuals, including a former newsreader and a former comedian who recently put himself forward as a possible Labour party candidate.

This is a chance to see and hear an opera outside the well-known repertory, and it's not surprising that it attracted a large audience from a very wide radius.

Garsington Opera is going from strength to strength in its idyllic setting on the Wormsley estate, surrounded by miles of tranquil green hills and woodland. The opportunity to dine or picnic in these surroundings on a perfect summer's evening is pretty close to heaven. The show is sold out. And so it should be. 

https://garsingtonopera.org/whats-on/platee/?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BO24%3APre-seasontrigger&utm_content=version_A