Grange Park Opera's perfect Prokofiev

Full of zest: Grange Park's Love for Three Oranges

Grange Park

Country-house opera seems to bring out the latent eccentricity in the English: throw in a request that visitors wear something orange and, at the risk of looking like a rather posh EasyJet convention, you certainly get a feast for the eyes. A heavenly summer’s afternoon saw the black-and-orange-tied crowds spilling out of their Range Rovers, Mercs and Audis for a performance of Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges in the glorious setting of Grange Park, about an hour and half south west of London.

Grange Park is an extraordinary pile that has a wonderful ad hoc theatre built in what was once the orangery; the house itself hardly looks habitable but with imaginative temporary décor of netting, wall-hangings and chandeliers lends itself to a near-perfect dining-room. Picnickers can loll around on the lawns or book a table in an adjacent marquee: it’s a bit like Glyndebourne, though without that organisation’s seriousness. Grange Park Opera is fun and slightly whacky! And the fun certainly spilled into the theatre.

The Love for Three Oranges is bonkers and a real gift for a director with flair and wit, and in David Fielding they have found someone absolutely able to deliver the visual gags, but always attuned to the music. Some nice use of stage craft – beautifully lit by Wolfgang Goebbel – and some great costumes (Fielding as well) made this a real laugh a minute (Francisco Javier Borda as part dominatrix, part nurse, part cook and all man despite the latex frock was a masterstroke). There was some fine singing – Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts as the Prince and Wynne Evans as Truffaldino both had character and plenty of power. Anne-Marie Owens (Clarice), Henry Waddington (Leandre) and Clive Bayley (the King) all offered beautifully rounded characters. The chorus too, full of characters, sang and acted with terrific verve. The English Chamber Orchestra under Leo Hussein played with zip and fizz, making the most of Prokofiev’s at-times splendidly mechanical marches (something Fielding picked up on).

And those oranges! In one of the most shameless (and witty!) example of product placement, the three princesses emerged from Innocent orange juice cartons – a nice touch, even if the way they grew as they were carried  across stage recalled a similar trick in David Pountney’s classic ENO production (where in a chase the characters got smaller each time they dashed across the stage). But Fielding is a director of profligate visual imagination and has provided me with some of my funniest moments in the opera house though (in true country-house opera style) a half a bottle of Bolly beforehand would have made Wozzeck seem a bundle of laughs.

Editorial update

In the original posting, thanks to some confusion in the programme, I singled out the
wrong princess for particular praise. Belinda Williams sang Princess Linetta, a
charming and lively stage presence and a fine actor, and alongside her, Lilly
Papaioannou, sang Princess Nicoletta, the singer with the dusky mezzo that,
even in a few short lines, made quite an impression. Both, I’m sure, will be well
worth looking out for in the future.