Tarik O’Regan’s Heart of Darkness receives glowing reviews
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Tarik O’Regan’s new opera Heart of Darkness received excellent reviews following its world premiere at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio on 1 November. Based on Joseph Conrad’s powerful tale of colonialism in the Congo, O’Regan’s opera was developed as part of OperaGenesis, a collaboration between the Royal Opera House’s ROH2 department and the Genesis Foundation.
What the critics said:
“The craftsmanship of this first opera is indubitable (…) Heart of Darkness is an auspicious debut.”
Anna Picard, Independent on Sunday
“Music of startling beauty (…) Workshopped by OperaGenesis and American Opera Projects, it was developed by Opera East and ROH2 ready for its triumphant world premiere (…) Underpinning all this is a score of concise originality. Restless, leaping woodwind propel the narrative through the murky waters of the Congo, while interesting combinations of sonorities – double bass and classical guitar, for instance – trickle and bubble through the music.”
Stephen Pritchard, The Observer
“[O’Regan] roams inventively through contrasting idioms and avoids too obvious ethnic coloration, evoking authentic Congolese music in the recitatives with harp, celesta, guitar and percussion.”
Barry Millington, Evening Standard
“The sound-worlds [O’Regan] conjures up with the Chroma Orchestra’s percussion, woodwind, strings, harp, and celeste are very beguiling.”
Michael Church, The Independent
“For my money, O’Regan is one of the great hopes for British music in the 21st century (…) And this piece – his biggest undertaking to date – is obviously a landmark.”
Michael White, Telegraph blog
“Heart of Darkness is very good. If you think of opera as an often bloated, over-wrought art form with hammy plots and acting, you would do well to try this one. It is elegant, moving.”
Jeanne Whalen, Wall Street Journal
“The orchestral writing is richly coloured and imaginative (…) [O’Regan] should be given another commission.”
Rupert Christiansen, Telegraph
“The opera demonstrates O’Regan’s wide range of technical skills. The vocal writing is skilful and effective.”
George Hall, The Guardian
“The most striking achievement of Tarik O’Regan’s new work at Covent Garden’s Linbury Studio is to transform [the novel] into a compellingly taut evening of music theatre.”
John Allison, Sunday Telegraph
“An atmospheric psychological drama (…) Reflecting O’Regan’s transatlantic existence, his score references the anguished coiled chromatic vocal phrases of Benjamin Britten and the clean metrics of American minimalism, as well as including an exuberant dance to celebrate the arrival of vital, ship-repair-enabling rivets.”
Edward Bhesania, The Stage