It is surprising that no one has previously considered an opera on this richly dramatic period of Indian history. With passionate romance, and endless palace intrigues involving jealous dowagers and murderous sibling rivalries, you already have a potent brew even before you add in the Taj itself as a ‘teardrop on the cheek of time’ and the sparkling bejewelled costumes and hardstone-embellished marble interiors of Mughal palaces.
Eminent sitar player, Nishat Khan, has taken up the challenge and created a continuously absorbing evening that samples these sumptuous ingredients to the full, while blending elements of Western and Indian classical traditions into a fascinating sequence of choral, orchestral and solo scenes.
Khan himself takes centre stage, seated with his sitar on a platform that slides from side to side of the stage as and when his functional role as narrator is needed. The main scenes dive in and out of chronological sequence chronicling the passage from youth to old age of Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj, as a memorial to his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. We witness their courtship and tricky passage through the later reign of his drunken father, Jahangir, and his scheming second wife, Nur Jahan. We then see history repeat itself as rivalry between their sons after Mumtaz’ death leads to civil war and Shah Jahan’s own imprisonment, alongside his eldest daughter, all at the hands of his youngest son, Aurungzeb.
The music is skilfully threaded together, with some of the most compelling scenes being the choral elegies and laments that dominate the second half. In general the quieter, reflective sections seemed more memorable than the scenes of battle and conflict, though there was a very impressive Iago-like number for Aurungzeb towards the end and had real dramatic punch, not least through the fine projection of singer Ross Ramgobin. Surprisingly, perhaps, what I missed most here was more virtuosic singing and playing by Nishat Khan himself, who rather underplayed himself in comparison to the other elements in the composition.
The solo voices were given taxing roles and most acquitted themselves well. In the lead role of Shah Jahan, Caspar Singh aged plausibly from impetuous youth and romantic lover through to embittered and defeated old man. Ramgobin also delivered a second fine characterisation of Jahangir, the fierce warrior-ruler laid low by alcohol addiction. In the matching lead role of Mumtaz, Julia Sitkovetsky acted the journey from timid ingenue to maternal empress with skill, but was sometimes placed under challenge by the very demanding writing in the higher register (something of a suprise after her great success in the equally demanding Daughter of the Regiment last year). Elizabeth Karani and Victoria Simmonds gave very solid supporting performances in the roles of Jahanara and Nur Jahan.
The Gascoigne Orchestra and Grange Park Chorus adapted well to the demands of this new material under the leadership of George Jackson and director Stephen Medcalf ensured that there was plenty of visual action on stage even in static numbers – an example would be a delightful, witty number in the first half, that celebrated the role of jewellery in the lives of elite Mughal women.
However, perhaps the greatest glory of the evening lay in the scenery and visual projections – and that is not intended as faint praise. Designer Yannis Thavoris and video specialist Hayley Egan had a huge challenge to meet in an opera focused on the backstory and building of one of the world’s greatest architectural wonders. If as Ruskin, architecture is ‘frozen music’, then how were music and set design going to collaborate? I was most impressed by their range of indirect solutions – yes, we did get to see the Taj as both model and larger projection. But more importantly video was used creatively in conjunction with the music to demonstrate the transforming and overwhelming power of Mughal decorative schemes and the bewildering range of precise detailing and abstract imagination that goes into devising the overall setting and context.
This collaboration demonstrated powerfully how video design is one of the most exciting and rapidly maturing aspects of operatic productions. Things have moved on so far even here at Grange Park in just a few years, and I hope some of the other opera companies were able to benefit from seeing this fine case study in action.
Gascoigne Orchestra & Grange Park Opera Chorus
Composer: Nishat Khan
Conductor: George Jackson
Director: Stephen Medcalf
Cast includes: Elizabeth Karani, Ross Ramgobin, Victoria Simmonds, Caspar Singh, Julia Sitkovetsky
4 hrs with dining interval
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner