This opera was the first to be staged in the new Linbury and did not disappoint. The tale is truly operatic of a girl named Hel who was born with a normal upper body but rotting flesh for her lower regions. She was lucky - her brother were born a wolf and a snake. All this because her giant mother shagged (as the opera put it) the Norse god Loki.
Hel is banished by Odin to be the queen of the dead but not before she has fallen for Odin's son Baldr. Eventually, he turns up in Hel's kingdom but all does not end happily.
The staging of this opera was extremely creative with Hel represented by a puppet while Marta Fontanals-Simmons sung her part, recounting the tale of her life as well as acting her role in the present. Sung in English, all was mostly clear to the ear. The music by Gavin Higgins and played by the Aurora Orchestra under Jessica Cottis worked well I thought and gave us an excellent if not jolly evening.
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