What a joy to welcome back to the Cotswolds a designer who believes in keeping it simple. This has become one of Longborough Opera Festival's resolute strengths; so too, is managing more with less. To end their successful 2017 season, designer Richard Studer is back to create another simple set, just as he did for Jenůfa last year. No vast Perspex cubes as used by Scottish Opera, nor stadium terracing as at the Met, just a simple stepped arrangement drawing the eye to the urn which contains Euridice's ashes. This set is very reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 1977 intelligible productions in Cologne.
Gluck was an innovator; he sought to reform the excessive ornamentation of operas and create a stronger connection between the music and the drama. This reform began with Orfeo ed Euridice in 1762, continued with Alceste in 1767, with the turning point being the 1774 version of Orphée et Eurydice in Paris with its significant additions, now incorporated into most productions.
This season's Tristan und Isolde, Magic Flute and Orfeo exhibited the virtues of simplicity of design. Fidelio broke the mould and was the least successful of the four. The message is simple. For a small stage in a small house there is no need for complex set designs. With Dan Saggers' clever lighting plots, just as powerful as those he provided for his 2016 Alcina success, it was down to Jeremy Silver and his band in the pit to work his magic. This he does, just as he did in Alcina, with most of his capable band playing all four of the season's operas. Harpist Catherine White returns to the pit after her significant contribution to Tristan and features even more prominently and confidently in Orfeo, notably at the beginning of Act 2, as Orfeo pleads with the furies for mercy; the music of his lyre placating them.