Purcell: King Arthur
"Guthrie is hot news; his imagination knows no bounds" Opera Now
"...this concept works brilliantly" The Independent
A production for Armonico
Touring Opera
Director: Thomas Guthrie
Designer: Roger Butlin
Musical Director: Chris Monks
Script Adaptation: Thomas Guthrie
Why World War 1?
The challenge was, as always, to bring Purcell’s music as vividly and truthfully to life as possible. We wanted to update the opera
to an environment that would readily resonate with our audiences, while remaining true to the passionate and deeply felt music in
the score.
But isn’t Dryden’s play full of sprites and magicians?
At first glance, the battles between the Saxons and the Britons fought by King Arthur in the original
Dryden play – now not often performed - seem only partly transferable to the Western Front in 1915. Merlin and Osmond,
Philidel and Grimbald are not so easy to fit in. But when I was introduced to the inspired description of the experiences of a
WW1 batallion by the artist and poet David Jones in his book In Parenthesis, I saw a way to
honour all aspects of the opera – including the supernatural and the patriotic.
Jones speaks of the front as a ‘place of enchantment’ and likens the soldiers to ancient Britains who fought under
Arthur and then on through the centuries. There was the feeling too that in this way the themes in the opera of nationality and
love could find interesting resonance – perhaps particularly in the light of current affairs – updated to a war which in
its horror makes us question the possibility of an
innocent love of ones’ country.
What in particular led you to base the play on In Parenthesis?
I was attracted by the contrast between the enchanted world it evokes and what we know to have been the grim reality of life at the front.
I wanted to find that sort of integrity to match Purcell's music. It also resonated with what I had read of soldiers longing to return to
the front after returning home on leave, of the extraordinary intensity of life they experienced in an environment where life was so difficult
to keep hold of. How in the midst of death they never felt more alive. But perhaps more than these things it was the peculiarly musical and
passionate style in which it is written that drew me to it. I fell in love with it and I felt strongly it was a perfect companion for Purcell's
music. This was the most important thing for me.
Performances
Buxton Festival 9 & 17 July 2007
Warwick International Festival 29 and 30 June 2007
Chelsea Festival 20 June 2007
Salisbury International Arts Festival 4 June 2007
Bath International Festival 31 May 2007
Brighton Festival 17 May 2007
