Opera review: Gloriana, Royal Opera House

"Did you enjoy it?" I asked.

"No. Not really," she said.

"Was that because it was Benjamin Britten?" I asked.

"Not at all," she said: "Britten is probably my favourite composer."

"That's really strange," I said. "It was exactly the opposite way round for me."

I have harboured a grudge against Benjamin Britten for half a century: it was, after all, his music that persuaded me to leave my school choir. We were singing his cantata St Nicholas, and I thought it was the most dreary, tuneless music I had ever heard.

I was clearly not alone in holding that opinion. When Britten's Gloriana was first performed in June 1953, it was little short of a disaster. It has been commissioned as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, but the audience, which included the new Queen and many other dignitaries, greeted it with no more than polite applause. 

There is even a tale of Benjamin Britten himself hanging over the edge of his box at the final curtain muttering "Clap, damn you, clap!" at the audience. 

Since then, Gloriana has been revived a few times, but never with great success.

The latest revival at Covent Garden, however, may be the first step towards its rehabilitation. It certainly did a good deal to rehabilitate the composer in my mind.

The story of the opera is that of the infatuation of Queen Elizabeth I for the Duke of Essex and their subsequent rocky relationship, culminating in Essex's treachery and the Queen signing his execution warrant.

With Toby Spence wonderful as Essex and Susan Bullock magnificently capturing both the strength  and doubts of the Queen, the production was off to a good start, but its real strength was in the ideas of Richard Jones as director.

Housing the whole set in a village hall surrounding harked back to Gloriana's original and gave the opera the feel of a national tribute to the new Queen.

Schoolboys holding up letters spelling out the location of each scene emphasized the parochial lack of grandeur, and the presentation of the cast to the young Elizabeth II at the start and finish worked as bookends that gave a much-needed touch of humour.

Dramatically, Gloriana is not a well-planned work, with the first half at least half-an-hour too long, but after the interval, both Toby Spence and Susan Bullock were able to show their best as the pace of the action hotted up.

When the Queen venomously rejected the whining appeals of Essex's wife and sister to grant him a reprieve, she did so with a Judy Dench-like magnificence.

Bullock was stunning as Brunhilde in last year's Ring cycle at Covent Garden. Her Elizabeth I was on a par, particularly when the whining Essex girls roused her fury.

Perhaps the whole thing was too much for true Britten lovers, but as a member of the opposite camp, I was astonished how much I enjoyed it.

Tickets (to July 6): www.roh.org.uk or 020 7304 4000      
Verdict: 4/5