Handel beautifully handled by the ENO

Thanks to excellent singing from a very talented small cast, Handel's scintillating music shines through this revival of Handel's comic opera Partenope by the English National Opera. The plot has all the elements one expects in an Elizabethan farce: mistaken identity, gender confusion and several suitors vying for the hand of a capricious female, all made even more confusing in Christopher Alden's 2008 production by setting it in 1920's Paris, with a strong hint of surrealism.

Partenope, Queen of Naples, faces the attentions of four Princes: Arsace, Arminio, Emilio and Eurimene, the last of whom is not really a prince at all but a princess in disguise. She is in fact Rosmira, Princess of Cyprus, former fiancée of Arsace, out for revenge. The love-hate relationship between these two forms the main role of the story.

The title role is superbly played by British soprano Nardus Williams. Her acting effortlessly ranged through all the emotions expressed by the volatile Partenope, from vivacious to vengeful, while her singing coped impressively with all the fast coloratura musical runs, leaps and trills which Handel imposed on her. Mezzo-soprano Katie Bray was good with a false moustache as Eurimene, but even better when she revealed herself as the jilted Rosmira.

Of the real male suitors, the most impressive was the countertenor Hugh Cutting whose deliciously expressive voice and unusually wide vocal range were very well suited to the role and the demands of the composer. Jake Ingbar and Ru Charlesworth as the other princely suitors, Armindo and Emilio, fit in well with the ensemble feel of the production and the general air of comedy is completed by bass William Thomas as their friend Ormonte. Ingbar also showed particularly good comic skill in finding so many different ways to fall down or hang from the staircase that was the main feature of the stage design.

The greatest failing of the opera itself is the flimsiness of the plot and the lack of proper character development at the start which leaves the audience rather bemused as to what is going on. Alden's production tries to make up for this by setting it all in arty surroundings in 20th century Paris, but for me that rather added to the confusion. Various references to early surrealists, Man Ray, Salvador Dali and André Breton were completely lost on me until I read about them in the programme afterwards.

The ENO Orchestra gave an excellent account of Handel's joyful music. In the first act, they were conducted by Christian Curnyn, but he was then taken ill and was replaced by Assistant Conductor William Cole who took his place with great assurance and competence.