REVIEW (London): Brilliant, Shocking Festen (Royal Opera House)

A promotional photo for the world premiere of Lee Hall and Mark-Anthony Turnage’s opera Festen, now playing at the Royal Opera House in London. Photo courtesy of the Royal Ballet & Opera, London.

The Royal Opera House in London played host last night to a brilliant world premiere of the opera Festen, a shocking family drama with a score by Mark-Anthony Turnage and a libretto by Lee Hall. While dealing with some of the most difficult subjects imaginable, Festen is thrilling from start to finish.

The opera, which is rooted in an award-winning 1998 Danish film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and a 2004 play of the same name by David Eldridge, explores a series of buried family secrets that erupt explosively. Fans of the film will not miss that work’s greater exposition – the opera adaptation expands the emotional eruptions in a way that compensates ably for its condensation to the musical stage. So, too, is a poignant with the ghost of a deceased character – someone who would be out of place in a more realistic film, but whose appearance from beyond the grave is perfectly in-genre for opera.

Festen was jointly commissioned by London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, in keeping with what has become the new journey of select films to the operatic stage. (In the 19th century, the journey was usually novel or play to opera, sometimes with all three.) It is a commissioning choice that is sure fire to get people talking – at the premiere, audiences excitedly chatted away on their way to the door, the car park, and the Tube.

The score by Turnage, an English composer of contemporary classical music more generally known for his instrumental writing, is far superior to his last operatic outings, and quite accessible to those who don’t normally go for contemporary classical. The vocal writing is clear, and if not always lyric is always commensurate with the action. A mesmerizing solo by Natalya Romaniw is particularly memorable. The score ends with an engaging swell and a gripping epilogue; hopefully, a cast album will be released to enjoy the orchestral writing.

Visually, the opera is quite engaging, particularly the sets by Nicky Gillibrand and costumes by Miriam Buether. However, it is the drama – the confrontations, the accusations, the cascading collapse of piles of lies – that will have you talking well after the curtain has dropped.

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Amy Donahue

Amy Donahue is a staff reviewer at the Twin Cities Arts Reader. She interned with the magazine during the summer of 2017, served as a guest contributor while studying abroad in Europe that fall, and has moved up to regular old reviewing. She served as interim Editor-in-Chief in 2023.

She admits to being at least 50% terrified of contemporary German opera.