The Exterminating Angel, opera review: An extraordinary achievement

Thomas Adès’ new opera is his finest stage work so far, writes Barry Millington
Unmissable: The Exterminating Angel tells the story of guests prevented from leaving a dinner party by an unseen force
Monika Rittershaus
Barry Millington27 December 2017

Based on Luis Buñuel’s 1962 surrealist classic The Exterminating Angel, Thomas Adès’ new opera was never likely to offer any easy answers to the film’s dark enigmas. Guests at a high-society dinner party find themselves prevented from leaving by some unseen, metaphysical force. As the hours of their incarceration turn into days, the social veneer is stripped away to reveal the desperate, savage instincts beneath.

Ades’ opera is a triumph: his finest stage work so far. Part of its strength lies in his ability to add texture – both poetic and psychological – to that of the film. Whereas Buñuel’s characters are sometimes difficult to tell apart, Ades’ are clearly differentiated, the music fleshing out their quirks and quiddities.

The soundworld he builds up, with eerily beautiful ondes martinot, harp, guitar, bells and a lorryful of percussion, Mexican brass, Viennese waltz and a haunting offstage Requiem at the end, offers a multi-faceted commentary on the scenario. And interpolated within the overall arc of the story is a series of exquisite solos and duets that deepen the focus on individuals and their obsessions.

Fifteen characters are onstage virtually throughout and it’s a starry line-up that includes John Tomlinson (immaculate of diction), Thomas Allen, Anne Sofie von Otter, Iestyn Davies, Sally Matthews and Christine Rice. Audrey Luna’s hilariously stratospheric coloratura makes Mozart’s Queen of Night sound like child’s play.

The production, by Tom Cairns (also responsible with Adès for the libretto, based on Buñuel), has been honed over an extended rehearsal process in both London and Salzburg (where it originated); the result skilfully teases out the black humour and allows for calm reflection, even while hurling us relentlessly towards the abyss.

Arts picks of the week: 24th-30th April

1/6

Adès himself conducts with sharp-eared precision. An extraordinary achievement: not to be missed.

Until May 8, Royal Opera House; roh.org.uk