Soprano Angela Meade triumphs as Elizabeth I on the Globe Theatre stage as part director Stephen Lawless' production at L.A. Opera

English director Stephen Lawless’ production of Roberto Devereux, in a staging inspired by London’s Elizabethan era Globe Theatre, was first presented in Toronto by Canadian Opera Company in 2014 and followed with a season at San Francisco Opera, both starring Sondra Radvanovsky as the Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I. It was L.A. Opera’s turn this season but things didn’t quite go according to plan in the lead up to opening night.

Ramón Vargas as Roberto Devereux and
Angela Meade as Queen Elizabeth I

The first hiccup came after allegations of sexual harassment forced Artistic Director Plácido Domingo’s departure from the company as well as his place on the stage as the Duke of Nottingham. Then, days before opening, leading lady Davinia Rodriguez withdrew due to illness. When soprano Angela Meade stepped up to the task at short notice, she sang from the side as choreographer Nicola Bowie went through the moves on opening night. I wasn’t there.

With good fortune, I was at the second performance and it gave everything you could want. Meade was on stage giving her magisterial best and the resonance, depth and finery of Donizetti’s music was realised with beautiful ease and great accommodating effect under conductor Eun Sun Kim’s leadership in the pit. L.A. Opera Orchestra took flight expertly. The strings shimmered and the woodwind in particular floated superbly.

Donizetti’s 1837 opera is an interwoven tragedy of personal desire, suspicion, betrayal and vengeance and the manner in which Lawless emphasises an ailing, desperate queen hellbent on keeping Devereux’s heart adds to the success of a production full of intriguing detail. Lawless brings a refreshing theatrical surprise and novelty to the stage without trivialising the gravitas that underlies the work. Making excellent use of the melodic overture, which includes a tributary snippet of “God Save the Queen”, Lawless energises the work without delay as part of Benoît Dugardyn’s handsome set design - a sturdily built timber form mimicking London’s original Globe Theatre. This make-believe world of a stage within a stage concept serves well as a reminder that facts and truths easily evaporate in the service of artistic and dramatic license, just as Donizetti and his librettist Cammarano’s work bends history for theatrical effect.

Ashley Dixon as Sara and Angela Meade as Queen Elizabeth I

An elderly Elizabeth enters and an unfurling of memories begin around her. Three vitrines roll in, one containing Elizabeth as a child between two others encasing her quarrelling parents Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn - later, the distinct impression you get is that Elizabeth’s issues of trust have their roots back here. Then, Shakespeare pops out of a basket, a ballet sequence slots in delightfully and cut-outs of miniaturised battle ships cross the stage while surtitles give a little history lesson above. Lawless cleverly gives the immediate sense that we are firmly planted in Elizabeth’s domain and it’s from her perspective that we’ll be looking.

As Elizabeth I, Meade takes command with a stamp of her feet, the force of her stick and can wield a sword to drive home a point. But it’s the voice that really exerts the monarch’s power and emotions, imbuing her with huge regal dominance and hints of emotional frailty.‬ Just as extraordinary is Meade’s fullness of sound and sustained richness as she took to the plummeting end of the scale in a manner of meaning business. Most poignant, even heartbreaking, was the uncertainty and conflict Elizabeth encountered not as ruler, but as a woman. After having signed the execution order for the man she regrettably sent to his death, Elizabeth’s ‘performance’ was over. In a dressing-room-like setting, the regal attire hangs over the dresser and Elizabeth appears in her undergarments - wig-less, disoriented and unfulfilled as a woman.

Quinn Kelsey as the Duke of Nottingham

He might not look decades younger than his queen as history tells but tenor Ramón Vargas brings fearlessness and convincing passion to the title role and the queen’s favourite, Devereux. Vargas does so with an armoury of vocal devices, adding to the drama’s momentum and comfortably knocking out the top notes. Ashley Dixon, elegantly voiced with delectably smooth ornamentation, gave an assured performance as Sara while Quinn Kelsey’s warm, molten baritone is best suited to Nottingham’s more compassionate side. That sentiment was in no evidence alongside his wife Sara  and, in his rage in learning of her associations with Devereux, Kelsey occasionally coarsened. The smaller roles are filled with strong performances including Anthony Ciaramitaro as Lord Cecil and Michael J. Hawk as  Sir Walter Raleigh.

It’s one of those works in which the voice rules and the fireworks of coloratura demonstrate superhuman talents not to be missed. Angela Meade is something to witness in the role and just three performances remain to get yourself there.


Roberto Devereux 
L.A. Opera 
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Centre of L.A.
Until 14th March 2020


Production Photos: