<<  -- 5 --  Roderic Dunnett    Maschinist Hopkins

In Act II the drama slightly picked up. 'What was that noise?' 'That was the sound of starvation. We will all be made redundant' seemed as on-target for the 1990s as for 1929. The eerie passage for bassoon-accompanied mezzo (almost an anticipation of Schmidt's Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln) was highly atmospheric; the direction remained firmly desultory. By the time Hopkins surfaces, Brand is writing music that makes Moses und Aron sound like euphony. Some able brass players came to the fore, most notably in an appealing Pelleas-like passage (with oboe) for Nell, whose self-beautifying onstage was rather effective. The translation rather creaks here : 'You killed Jim, your husband.' 'Not me.' Who did?' 'I've no idea' lacks -- well, something. Two bow-tied male observers were rather good (in fact all the -- mainly male-voice -- short vocal scenes -- quartets, trios and sextets keep intruding -- were rather good). Snide woodwind (and a very well-played sax) consistently added to the 'nasty' atmosphere -- witness the mocking bassoon for Hopkins' challenge.

Finally came the voice of the machine (distinctively sung by Carmen Gutteridge's Nell) -- a long aria, virtually an operatic scena - a mad monologue, very strong and effective, with shades of both Wozzeck and Der Ferne Klang. As Hopkins asserts his control of the factory, the opera winds to a halt with grinding percussion and brass. But you can tell, from how much I fathomed of the plot without poring over the (rather good) programme notes, how completely inconsequential and lacking in lucidity this staging was. Potentially a good opera visually, it would make a classic for Opera North. Best left to the professionals.