This is a one-act curiosity
composed by Bizet three years before Carmen,
inevitably overshadowed by it but in many ways a dry
run.
The story, an Arabian Nights
by-product from the poem Namouna by Musset, concerns
one Haroun, a sex addict from Cairo who is in the
habit of acquiring a new slave-girl concubine each
month, and Djamileh, the discarded lover who succeeds
in domesticating him.
That’s it, really; its
attraction for Bizet clearly lay more in the creation
of Eastern-flavoured atmosphere through harmonic and
rhythmic exotica, and a particularly translucent
orchestration, than any dramatic interest.
It was performed by Les
Azuriales Opera, an English organisation which
provides operas for those unavoidably detained on Cap
Ferrat during Glyndebourne. Much of the score’s magic
was inevitably lost in the piano accompaniment, which
reduced much of the music to a weird blend of Chopin
and Sullivan.
Despite this it was a
good-natured show, particularly beautifully designed
and costumed by Justin Way, Christopher Drake and
Dulcie Best, and the proceeds (top tickets cost a
healthy £100) went entirely to CHASE Children’s
Hospice Service.
The leads were adequately sung
by Dewi Wyn and Georgia Ellis-Filice, though neither
exuded the necessary sex appeal to raise interest in
the story.
Philip Salmon was an engaging
presence as Haroun’s servant Splendiano, a buffo
character whose operetta tunes contrast with
Djamileh’s intense, oriental music and Haroun’s
Gounod-like lyricism. This mixing of styles is an
obvious precursor of Carmen, less integrated but
always easy on the ear.
A lengthy interlude allowed a
troupe of generously built dancers from the Josephine
Wise Academy of Arabic Dance to undulate with varying
degrees of success to a rather nice accompaniment of
bagpipe-style drones, sexist chorus and a serpentine
melody (originally for woodwind).
Although one suspects that this
formula may work better on maquis-scented Riviera
nights it still provided a pretty evening’s
entertainment in sleety London, and it’s rare enough
to see such a well-heeled crowd in the Linbury.
It would be even better if
someone was inspired to produce a full performance of
the opera: Bizet could not write a dull note, and
Djamileh is a pleasant halfway house between the
by-the-yard exoticism of The Pearl Fishers and the
Grand Guignol of Carmen.