Dove: Tobias and the Angel

I've been unable to muster a lot of concentration and focus in my listening over the last few weeks. June was largely dedicated to travelling, including a week-long solo bicycle trek through France. On the road I happily limited myself to re-listening again and again to Autumn Chorus' The Valley to the Vale and the new Sigur Ros album, Valtari. These gently epic pieces resonated very well with the placid landscapes that unfolded before my eyes.

Also, it seems I have moved temporarily out of Debussy's orbit in which I have been thankfully circling for almost nine months. It's not that I'm feeling in any way tired of his music, but there is a faint urge to explore some new horizons. That isn't too difficult as I have literally stacks of CDs and LPs with unfamiliar repertoire waiting for a first audition. Recently I took advantage of a Presto Classical promotion of Chandos albums. One of the discs I purchased is Tobias and the Angel, a single-act opera by British composer Jonathan Dove. I listened to his Siren Song last autumn and was favourably impressed. I also have Flight in my collection, but haven't gone through that yet. With Tobias I have access to all of his stage works available on CD (his Pinocchio is only on DVD).

It took me a while to warm to this piece. Siren Song had charmed me because of the keen sense of drama, the compelling psychology and the fresh, humane vocal writing. Musically it is not an overpowering experience. Dove's ideas are cloaked in an attractive, accessible and discreet minimalism that doesn't seem to be interested in scaling Himalayan heights. Tobias and the Angel initially struck me as slightly too episodic to hold my attention. Siren Song had the advantage of a very limited cast. It's a chamber opera that revolves around essentially three characters. The claustrophobic quality of this setting significantly adds to the quality of the drama. Tobias is a church opera, written by Dove in the late 1990s for a Birmingham parish as a canvas for community participation. So it's conceived for a much larger and more differentiated cast, including multiple choruses. (The supporting instrumental ensemble, however, is as lean as in the case of Siren Song. It consists of a single violin, cello, double-bass, harp, organ, accordion, clarinet, flute, with percussion on top.) I must admit of listening the first couple of times without having read the libretto. As the the story is a rather caleidoscopic affair that shifts between locations and perspectives, this certainly contributed to my initial sense of disorientation. Given the setting for which it was composed the ambience is also less serious and introspective compared to Siren Song. At times it veers into Broadway. There is ostentatious reliance on Klezmer style

However, after having listened to the piece a couple of times (initially mostly in the car) and after having read the synopsis of the story I started to get the hang of it. I recognised that, as in the other work, there is a compelling triadic relationship at the heart of the piece. Here it is between Tobias, an insouciant youth, Sara, a possessed beautiful young lady and Raphael, an angel (sung by a countertenor). The latter has a mystical relationship with visible reality and hence the trees, rivers and mountains play a decisive and musical role. That is similar to Siren Song, where the omnipresent sea assumes a genuinely important dramatic persona.

The piece really comes up to speed after an initial part that is mostly dominated by the forces of darkness. Tobias and Raphael undertake a journey which turns out to be some sort of vision quest and puts the drama on an exalted footing. Dove is able to maintain and deepen that ambience of quiet ecstasy as the drama unfolds. This culminates in a finale that is showered by a heavenly blaze of compassion and joy.

The production recorded by Chandos seems to me exemplary on all accounts. Great and engaging singing from the large vocal forces involved (with a special mention of counter-tenor James Laing), an instrumental ensemble that is very much on top and everything firmly in the hand of American conductor David Charless Abell. The recording leaves nothing to be desired too.

Once I was into the piece it was difficult to get it out of my head. I think over time I will learn to love it more than Siren Song. This is contemporary music that is utterly accessible. There is nothing highbrow about it. But it inspires, fills our minds with light and makes us pause. I'm not asking for more.