As usual, an incredible production by the ROH. The Head itself, like a giant Buddha, was worth the ticket price. This was introduced on a blackened stage from the start and was the focus of some very clever and dramatic light work. It would, In thought, be a suitable installation for the Tate's turbine Hall.
The first act introduced the story of the young charismatic shepherd who arrives at King Krol's court, advocating a certain hedonism and appealing to Krol's wife, Roxana.
This triggered for me a Freudian perspective on the opera with the shepherd and Krol as elements of the same personality. In Act 2 the head was reversed and so the action took place within it, seemingly justifying the psychological reading of the script. We had figures writhing on the bottom layer and Krol, the shepherd and Krol's wife and his advisor at different levels of the head.
After the interval, act 3 takes place with the head no longer present. We do, however, have an equally spectacular fire/pyre on stage, used for the burning of books. Krol ends up alone on stage and a seeringly bright light shines out on to the audience.
I suppose the psychological ideas are not particularly original but this struck me as a most powerful vehicle for getting one to reflect upon the tensions of our psyches.
At the end, I definitely want to see it all again.
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