I am not, by any means, an authority on Polish pole-dancing, but I believe it is unusual for men to do it in any circumstances, let alone in a baroque opera. But let’s get back to the music and the production in general. My expectations at the start were not high. When a work has not been produced for over 270 years, there is often a good reason for it. Furthermore, this was written by Handel not as an opera but an oratorio with an orchestra and singers, but no onstage action.
The job of converting it to an opera had been entrusted to the director Katie Mitchell and we were told this was a modern, feminist reimagining of the story of a Christian martyr, originally set in the Roman Empire in the fourth century. I was pleased to discover that, for the most part, I had been unduly worried on that score.
The central figure Theodora is condemned by the Romans for refusing to celebrate the birthday of the emperor Diocletian, so she is portrayed as a strong woman battling hopelessly against a vicious patriarchal society. A feminist theme was therefore inherent in the story.
The modernism was more questionable. Setting the story in the kitchen and other rooms of some grand embassy in Antioch was acceptable, and even turning one of those rooms into a brothel to which Theodora was condemned gave the opportunity to introduce the pole-dancing.
Orlinski and Bullock change clothes in a very well timed scene to let her escape, perfectly fitting the music, and this sets up his pole-dancing, rising up the pole as we hear the words ‘The youth begins to rise’, which brought a lovely touch of humour to a grim scene.
However, portraying Theodora’s colleagues in the kitchen as a terrorist group, plotting to blow up the embassy with a bomb, was more questionable. There is nothing in the libretto to suggest any of this, and giving the whole opera a happy ending was totally unjustified. Theodora and her lover Didymus have just sung about the joys awaiting them in heaven.
To have them rescued makes no sense, even if what we were seeing was meant to portray their thoughts rather than reality. Like much of the action, the escape scene and triumph of terrorism was acted in slow motion to let the music keep pace, but the necessity for this only emphasized the difficult of turning an oratorio into an opera.
In compensation for such dodgy plot elements, however, the music and the singing were a real treat. Julia Bullock was excellent in the title role and, as I said, Joyce DiDonato was superb as her ally Irene. Her voice is wonderful throughout its wide range and the powerful emotions she conveys in her singing are a delight to hear.
Jakub Orlinski’s singing is even more impressive than his pole-dancing and brilliantly suited to the demands of Handel’s writing, while Hungarian-Romanian baritone Gyula Orendt was convincing as the ruthless Roman ambassador Valens. He was born in Transylvania, incidentally, which must be a good start for a villain.
Surprisingly, for a work that is so rarely performed, the music is some of Handel’s best – as indeed it has to be in a work of nearly four hours’ duration. In many respects, this was a risky venture for the Royal Opera House, but to judge from their cheers at the end, the audience thoroughly enjoyed it. Whatever other plaudits it may receive, this Theodora is a cert for any award for Best Male Pole-Dancer in an Opera.
