Opera review: Taverner

Published on Monday 9 November 2009 18:07

TAVERNER ***** CITY HALLS, GLASGOW

WHY has it taken so long to revive Peter Maxwell Davies's early opera Taverner? It was the devil of its day, when its only UK staging took place in 1972. On Sunday it finally made a comeback in a concert performance as part of Glasgow's celebrations of the composer's 75th birthday.

The work's extravagance has probably gone against it: every solo part is vocally demanding and it requires a symphony orchestra, main chorus, children's chorus and stage band, so the cost is significant.

The story – based on the life of the 16th century composer John Taverner, who turned away from his music to champion religious fanaticism – is universally chilling. And there's Max's musical style – a swirling matrix of contrapuntal complexity.

I was blown away by its emotive power. Martyn Brabbins engineered a performance that held us rapt from its declamatory start to a hauntingly moving ending, where a snatch of Taverner's own music fades into oblivion.

Max's orchestral writing operates like a nervous system on edge, but it underpins the frontline action with subliminal filmic subtlety.

Top-notch soloists – Daniel Norman, Roderick Williams and the extraordinary countertenor Andrew Watts – were outstanding among a solid performing unit that involved the BBC SSO, the RSAMD and Glasgow University Chapel choirs, and the RSNO Junior Chorus.

My one regret? Not seeing it fully staged. Think if the Edinburgh Festival had taken this on board, and how that would have made up for the insipidness of this year's opera programme. All these performers on our doorstep, and an opportunity missed