Thomas Arne: Artaxerxes

This staging is without doubt the most sumptuous show the Royal Opera has mounted at the Linbury. The Sunday Times Ian Page and his Classical Opera Company are owed a debt of gratitude for exhibiting the musical wealth that traces this classical imbroglio of murder and mayhem to its happy ending. Opera Thomas Arnes Artaxerxes was one of the most important and successful of all English operas. Following its premiere on 2 February 1762 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (predecessor of the Royal Opera House), it remained in the London repertoire almost continuously until the 1830s, and received a documented one hundred and eleven performances before 1790. The young Mozart almost certainly attended a performance when he came to London in 1765, and Haydn was also acquainted with the work, reportedly saying that he had no idea we had such an opera in the English language. In 2009 Classical Opera collaborated on the hugely successful Royal Opera production of Artaxerxes at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the companys new recording of the work was released on Linn Records in January 2011 to widespread acclaim. In 2012, to mark the 250th anniversary of the operas first performance, Classical Opera will revive the Royal Opera production, touring in China as part of the UK Now Festival 2012. Arne is best known today as the composer of Rule, Britannia!, but his output was immense. Between 1733 and 1776 he wrote music for about 90 stage works, including plays, masques, pantomimes and opera, and Artaxerxes was generally considered his masterpiece. The main reason for the works subsequent neglect is that the manuscript and all the original performance materials were burnt in the disastrous fire which destroyed the Theatre Royal in 1808. The operas overture, arias and duets had already been published, and so survive intact, as does the libretto, but none of the recitatives or the finale were printed, and they are therefore lost. For the 2009 Covent Garden production Ian Page, Classical Operas conductor and artistic director, wrote new recitatives for the opera and commissioned a new finale in the style of Arne from composer and musicologist Duncan Druce. This widely praised completion effectively added to the repertoire a brand new English baroque opera of considerable interest, beauty and quality. The music of Artaxerxes ranges from a series of exquisite slow airs, such as Arbaces O too lovely, too unkind and Why is death forever late? to Mandanes three virtuosic showpieces, which culminate in the famous The soldier, tird of wars alarms. This aria quickly became a touchstone for vocal virtuosity, and has in more recent times been championed by such artists as Dame Joan Sutherland. The opera is also remarkable for the richness of its scoring, and there are frequent suggestions throughout the score of Arnes considerable influence on the young Mozart. It looks an absolute treat. A midnight blue box festooned with twinkling starlights descends into a pristine white orchestral pit...Think Persia and all the exquisite paintings youve ever seen animated in the manner of 18th century mechanical dolls. The Independent The performance is thrilling, with exemplary singing and playing. Gramophone