Bullish On Opera: Birtwistle's Minotaur Scawes London

Tony Pappano introduced a bovine new hero of the opera in London last night.

Hilarity ensued.

Rape, massacre and the consumption of the Minotaur's half-dead sacrificial victims, the Innocents, by the greedy Keres, vulture-like harpies: all were to follow

And:

Ten half-dead bodies spew their guts all over the stage. The killer, a grotesque man-bull, staggers around in bloodlust. A gloating chorus bays from the tier of a gore-smeared bullring.

The orchestra lurches into a macabre dance of death, propelled by jagged percussion blitzes and searing woodwind discords. Screeching harpies swoop on the bodies and rip out their hearts.

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Primeval violence and ritual sacrifice shape the drama, punctuated by the sex-starved longings of Ariadne, fearsomely portrayed by Christine Rice, who sets her gaze on Theseus, sung by the excellent, lithe Danish baritone Johan Reuter. It is his destiny to enter the labyrinth and kill the Minotaur, the climax of the opera.

More on Birtwistle here.