Reign of Kane: 4.48 Psychosis at Lyric Hammersmith
4.48 Psychosis
Royal Opera
Lyric Hammersmith
Stalls B2, £15
2 May 2018
ROH page
After last month’s The Gender Agenda I went into 4.48 Psychosis circumspect. Would it move me as it did at its premiere, given I had now seen some of the tricks of Venables’s trade, in two works where the seams showed garishly?
Unsurprisingly, the answer is both yes and no. I was still moved tremendously; I think this is a very effective piece, emotionally draining and nothing short of harrowing, as it should be. But arriving slightly more sceptical of Venables than when I saw 4.48 cold at its premiere, the nature of my ardour is somewhat tempered, my verdict downgraded, if you like, from great modern opera to an excellent setting of a great modern play.
Not that this really matters. Being able to capture and preserve the soul of a great work across two different media is arguably the greater skill. I do think Venables has selected excellently: the cuts he makes, the instrumentation he chooses, the writing for voices each display a visionary sensitivity to the cadence and urgency of Kane’s writing, its beauty and sorrow and anger. This is a gift, a wonderful achievement, ample raison d’être, and should not be undermined.
And yet I felt some seams where before I felt none, perhaps just as much a result of having seen the piece before as having encountered a few lesser works. The seams were principally of pacing – does this scene have to be this long? Why is the music still like what it is? And I think they derive largely from Venables’s open-hearted curiosity about what words and music can be together, something I still find endearing about his adaptation. Of course I would: it matches my personal interest – but I think at points it threatens to become a rabbit warren, luring Venables away from Kane’s programme.
It’s never more than a threat, a potential distraction that hangs around just long enough to be noticed before dissolving as Venables reins in the self-indulgence and gets back with Kane. The impact is minimal, and barely registers against the overwhelming emotive power the opera harnesses from Kane’s writing. As at the premiere, the entire ensemble, singers and instrumentalists, is superb.
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