Krishna review โ the mystery of John Tavenerโs โmystic pantomimeโ is why it has been staged
Grange Park Opera, West Horsley, Surrey Singers and orchestra toiled admirably with this posthumous world premiere about the Hindu god, complete with inflatable deadly serpent. But the work feels straight from the 19th-century Orientalism playbook The first thing you should know about John Tavenerโs 2005 opera Krishna is that it is actually a โmystical pantomimeโ. If that very idea provokes even the faintest amusement, this is not the country-house opera for you. The second thing you should know is that by the end of Krishnaโs posthumous world premiere at Grange Park Opera, there was warm applause for the musicians. Rightly so. Without Ross Ramgobinโs intense, poised commitment as the Celestial Narrator, or Eliran Kadussiโs sweet, flexible countertenor as the adolescent Krishna, or the impeccably lucid, admirably agile sopranos of Rosa Sparks (the child Krishna), Nazan Fikret (his wife Rukmini) and Jennifer Statham and Julia Sitkovetsky (Radha as child and woman respectively), this short work would have felt even more interminable. Continue reading...