Lessons in Love and Violence: glowing music fails to spark icy drama at @hollandfestival

'Love is poison' sings Mortimer in the first scene of Lessons in Love and Violence against the king. The military adviser denounces his relationship with Gaveston, whom he showered with favours while his subjects went hungry. 'Don't bore me with the price of bread' ripostes the king. He would rather treat his lover to poetry and music than care about his people. 'Love makes us human.'

However, this third opera by composer George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp lacks any trace of love. It is an icy drama that has only losers. The king forces Gaveston to swim under ice until his lungs snap and holds his hand over fire.

Conversely, Gaveston's 'love' is rooted in self-interest. He runs a reign of terror among the people, causing Mortimer to be cast out and confiscating his goods. Queen Isabel, in turn, puts up with Mortimer, with whom she raises her infant son to become a puppet king. With him, moreover, she signs the death warrant of Gaveston and her husband. But in the end, she too is left empty-handed.

Love is never selfless

The cynical idea that love is never selfless runs through the performance like a thread. The pursuit of power is all-important. - Nicely symbolised by the illuminated king's crown that is constantly wheeled on and off the stage. Once the 'young king' is crowned, he decides to kill Mortimer and gouge his eyes out. The son has learned his 'lessons in love and violence'.

Crimp may for Benjamin the dreamed librettist are, the same is not necessarily true of opera. Its lyrics, while beautiful and musical, are too abstract to give the characters psychological depth. As a result, you cannot identify with a single character; they are all equally cold and cold. Only the little daughter - simply 'the girl' - manages to evoke some compassion. As a silent bystander, she makes her childlike affection and concern for her father emotionally palpable. A starring role by the actress Ocean Barrington-Crook.

Glowing music

Against the chilly atmosphere on stage, Benjamin sets sultry music full of precious timbres. The subcutaneous tension is constantly palpable in chillingly dissonant sound fields that are, however, cunningly wrapped in sweet-voiced harmonies. - As paradoxical as this may sound. This gently smouldering fire is broken up with loud bursts of brass and percussion. Benjamin follows the text closely and his music sometimes recalls the expressionism of Berg or Schoenberg. Then again, the lyrical, parlando vocal lines recall the operas of Benjamin Britten.

Wagner looks around the corner when the orchestra tells a different story from the singers. For instance, in the magnificent duet between Isabel and the king in the fourth scene. As he bitterly cries out his rage at Gaveston's murder, extremely lovely music sounds. Beautiful are the muted strokes on a cimbalom and stately harmonies in the sixth scene. The king is dead, but Gaveston, as 'the stranger', embraces him one last time. Earlier, a lone hand drum announced both their deaths.

Suffocating universe

It is good to hear that Benjamin wrote his parts to suit the body of his singers. The baritone Stéphane Degout is an imposing king, Gyula Orendt convinces as Gaveston despite a small burr in his throat. Barbara Hannigan enchants us as Isabel, her voice sounding full and round even in the very highest regions. The tenor Peter Hoare shapes his role of Mortimer with clarity and power. Samuel Boden is a wonderfully pure boy/young king.

Katie Mitchel's staging is effective. The seven scenes are set in a dormitory, each seen from a different perspective. Fish still swim in a colourfully lit aquarium at first, but after a few scenes only a barren pile of stones remains. There are no windows: death dominates this bleak universe. The suffocating atmosphere is emphasised by the fact that the characters often move in slow motion.

George Benjamin himself conducts the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, which once again shows its class with a fine interpretation of his glowing music. Unfortunately, it cannot bring the abstract libretto to life.

The National Opera/Holland Festival
George Benjamin/Martin Crimp: Lessons in Love and Violence
The opera can still be seen until 5 July
Info and maps here.

Thursday 28 June will see a semiscene performance of Written on Skin at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ.