Review by Albert Herring – Eno heralds a new era with a masterful rendition of Britten’s story of the Mummy’s Boy | Opera

TIt is English National Opera’s first co-production between London and Greater Manchester – where the company has had to plan to move its base, following the dictates of the Arts Council of England. The choice of a relatively small-scale opera – which is necessary in these circumstances – means that it will never be the kind of show that announces the new era with great fanfare. Albert Herring is a 1947 Britten work based on a 19th-century French short story about a mummy boy who suddenly finds freedom. It requires only a small orchestra and no choir, so the company will not be heading en masse to Salford next week. It’s standard fare at music colleges thanks to its large and even cast, but surprisingly this show is the first of its kind at ENO.

Billing Anthony McDonald’s production as a semi-theatrical sells it short. The scene is simple enough – the stuffy village of Albert in Suffolk is evoked by a pair of cork-covered walls, conveniently taped to indicate which shop, saloon or hall we are now in. The period, judging by Mr. Duck’s haircut and Nancy’s new-look skirt, is the 1950s—postwar, but with a bit of a Dad’s Army feel thanks to Emma Peel’s portrayal of Mrs. Bellows as a khaki-wearing tyrant, one part Captain Mainwaring and three parts Miss Trunchbull.

To some extent, the sitcom feel suits the story, as Lady Bee, the self-appointed moral guardian, attempts to elect a virtuous village May Queen, only to discover that all the local girls have disqualified themselves, and the only option is Albert, the cute shop boy – who promptly drinks his drink, takes his prize money and goes on a rampage. Macdonald adds an unsophisticated perception that we are the studio audience. The stage manager sits at a desk, ready to bring out a sign inviting applause from the audience, but also to provide sound effects – mostly the shop doorbell, but there’s a lovely moment when a drunk Albert is in charge of the gas lamp. It’s not a laugh-out-loud moment, and Daniel Cohen’s flowing, sometimes brilliant musical performance can’t hide the fact that Britten takes a long time to tell a short story.

But oriental laughter was not what Britten was after: as ever, he was more interested in hypocritical humanity, and his rambunctious cast delivers finely plotted performances across the board – from Mayor Mark Le Brocq, who plies a clandestine trade in silk stockings, to Eddie Wade’s deputy and the Scoutmaster, who pursues the children with a bag of candy, to the children themselves, who – on opening night – played a scene-stealing character. From The Sopranos. Abigail Sinclair, Natasha Oldbury and the Henry Carp trio. Dan D’Souza and Anna Elizabeth Cooper grace the stage as Sid and Nancy, and Caspar Singh is the charismatic Albert, his tenor airy and sweet, if a bit cathedral chorus. Tall and stuttering at first, his stage presence grows as we watch. The ENO era in Salford began with a solid and enjoyable show: not a fanfare, but no complaining either.

This was repeated on 16 October, then at Lowry, Salford, on 21 and 22 October.