Review: Appomattox ***
Leeds Youth Opera, under the jointly inspired leadership of artistic director Jonathan Clift and musical director Michael Williamson, never fails to lift our spirits with the presentation of repertoire favourites, occasional hidden masterpieces or, as this week, something quite new. Appomattox is the account of the final engagement of Confederate and Union armies at the end of the American Civil War, a Confederate surrender that was signed at the Appomattox Court House in April 1865.
This is the most recent opera by Philip Glass, perhaps America's most prolific and accessible composer, born 1937 and still raising eyebrows.
First performed in San Francisco in 2007, the theme is anti-war and anti-segregation; its closing scenes link the historical events with the present by replaying an Obama message and highlighting present attitudes there.
There are some fine performances in this production, its first in the UK, and the teamwork is outstanding, with strong lead parts from Jonathan Wilby and Adam-Paul Lacey as the two generals and Che Seabourne as Abraham Lincoln, and among many others Joe Thompson as an outspoken journalist.
A sombre evening and a strong story, but musically uninteresting – an almost continuous recitative, with little memorable apart from some very effective wordless choruses and a civil rights song near the end ("A hundred years we still are free"). Costumes and staging are superb, and the orchestra under Michael Williamson's direction worked through their repetitions valiantly.
The final performances are tonight and tomorrow evening.
The Carriageworks, Leeds
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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