Review by Ian Boughton, grandson of Rutland.

There was a time when Bethlehem was performed regularly by choral groups and amateur dramatic societies around this country, as well as overseas, during the Christmas seasonal period but, like its composer Rutland Boughton, the work has fallen into decline and is now rarely heard. Yet, year 2005 has witnessed not one but two productions of this work. The first was in Glastonbury in January (reviewed by Lewis Foreman in News 105) and the other was in London in December. To judge a good performance of Bethlehem by the quality and standard of the singing and playing, the performance on 17 December 2005 by New London Opera Group would make a fine example.

[There follows a lengthy discourse on the piece, the importance of staged, rather than concert format and the cuts frequently made in performances]

In 1993, the Boughton Trust observed the sanctioned cuts (as well as making others) for the somewhat controversial recording made with Hyperion. This is something I personally regret and now having heard the New London Opera Group give credit to the whole score by performing Bethlehem in its entirety – the first time, I believe, by any group in years – has convinced me that we might have missed an opportunity! Indeed, one of the highlights for me of this concert was hearing, for the first time, the music for the oriental ballet. It is well scored and I feel reminiscent of some of the music from Tchaikovsky’s opera, Eugene Onegin.

Chris Cann (as Jem and Zarathustra), Philip Hayes, (as Sym and Nubar), and Graham Rogers (as Dave and Merlin), clearly enjoyed their different roles as Shepherds and Wise Men….... tenor Mark van Ments possessed strong presence and voice and was aptly cast as Herod.

Given that Bethlehem was new to all members of the group, this was a performance of a very high standard and notably appreciated by an audience of around 100 people; not bad an attendance when one considers that there had been an afternoon of Christmas music given at the nearby Royal Albert Hall!. There were touching moments and wonderful singing from soprano Catrine Kirkman as Mary, and bass-baritone Nicholas Lester, as Joseph, whilst mezzo Zoe South brought an authoritative interpretation to her role as the Angel Gabriel. Equally, Ruth Elleson (Herodias), Megan Currier (The Believer) and Ashley Mercer (Unbeliever and Calchas) were well suited for their roles. A note should particularly be made about the chorus who not only sang with precision and were well balanced - both “on-stage” and “off-stage” – they remained attentive and disciplined at all times. The a cappella choral interlude “The Seven Joys of Mary” was especially well sung.

I have not seen this company before and New London Opera Group can be congratulated for their performance of Bethlehem; I hope one day they will be bold enough to consider undertaking a fully staged version – not only because the work calls for it but this group would give it the credence it deserves.

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Review by Richard Whitehouse

The Glastonbury Festival that we know today was very different from that which flourished between 1914 and 1926 – when, under the aegis of Rutland Boughton, it was an experiment in community-based opera that gave rise to seven ‘choral dramas’. The first of these, “The Immortal Hour”, remains the best known - though its follow-up, “Bethlehem”, probably achieved even more widespread success in its day: indeed, it was Boughton’s insistence on staging the work as ‘socialist versus capitalist’ morality in 1926 that led to a major withdrawal of funding and the effective cessation of the festival in 1927.

Today, its political dimension seems as quaint as does much of the ‘radical’ ideology of its era, and hardly a barrier in staging or appreciating the piece itself. Adapted from the Coventry Nativity Play, “Bethlehem” follows a narrative trajectory very similar to that of “L’Enfance du Christ” – and makes an analogy with the modally-inflected content of Berlioz’s masterpiece through an emphasis on folksong-like melodies that, in common with Vaughan Williams and Holst (and most likely the early, unpublished stage-works of Tippett), was the basis for British music-drama in the three decades before Britten’s started work in the genre.

[There follows a lengthy discussion of the work’s weaknesses]

No masterpiece, then, but an assured treatment of ‘the greatest story ever told’ that retains much of its honesty and pathos today. And this performance, by the New London Opera Group, conveyed these qualities over and above its undoubted limitations. Solo singing was variable, but Zoë South was a thoughtful, understated Gabriel, with Catrine Kirkman’s small but elegant voice well suited to Mary and Nicholas Lester a strong-willed but humane Joseph. The trio of cloth-capped Shepherds, who became be-suited Wise Men, were a characterful bunch, and there were telling cameos from Megan Currier and Ashley Mercer as Believer and Unbeliever respectively. Mark van Meents stole the show – as indeed he should – with a portrayal of Herod whose stark ruthlessness, concealing a pathological fear, was made manifest in a dramatic span that could yet find favour out of context.

The chorus acquitted itself well – not least in the carols, lushly if fussily harmonised, which separate scenes in place of the expected entr’actes (something Tippett may have drawn upon in the spirituals that fulfil a similar function in “A Child of Our Time”), while the numerous offstage contributions had the right ‘angelic’ quality. Orchestral playing was slightly less secure, though never so much as to undermine either the vocal contributions or the unfolding drama. To this end, Benjamin Ellin directed with no mean appreciation of theatrical momentum, and went some way to encouraging performers to project beyond the unfocused ambience though highly appropriate setting of Holy Trinity Church.

Summing up, this was a capable performance of a work which, if its claims on today’s repertoire are hardly overwhelming, has enough musical and dramatic substance to warrant its periodic revival by a dedicated company such as the New London Opera Group, which can take credit for raising the profile of “Bethlehem” - and, should the intention be a traversal of Boughton’s other ‘choral dramas’ over the next few years, then its efforts on behalf of this notable – if notably uneven – composer will be deserving of support.