© Tristram Kenton
Angel’s Bone, by composer Du Yin and librettist Royce Vavrek, began life in 2011 as a 35-minute chamber opera that had been commissioned by Philadelphia’s Mann Center for Performing Arts. It was then developed into a full length (although still one act) opera, with the premiere of this 80-minute version taking place on 6 January 2016 at the 3LD Art & Technology Center in Lower Manhattan.
The story sees two Angels, simply referred to as the Boy Angel and Girl Angel, reveal a nostalgia for earthly delights that ends up bringing them back to the world. There they are found by Mr And Mrs X.E. whose own financial woes have made their relationship toxic, and pushed their marriage to breaking point. After initially taking care of the Angels, they decide to exploit them to restore their financial fortunes by clipping their wings and forcing them into prostitution. This entails hosting lavish parties in which the guests deem sleeping with one of them to be either exotic or divine, no matter how horrendous the experience may be for the Angels. Although the pair eventually win back their plucked feathers and leave Mr And Mrs X.E.’s house, it feels as if they can never regain the innocence they have lost. The end points for the two married people are also markedly different as one loses literally everything, while the other capitalises on all that has occurred to achieve fame and fortune.
The opera received the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music, and it is easy to see why given the innovative and overwhelming nature of the score. The music comprises an intoxicating mix of styles including electronica and cabaret. The vocal writing is extremely powerful as the chorus can be chanting on one occasion in a manner that does not seem so far removed from Renaissance polyphony, and doing so on another while stamping their feet in an angst ridden and completely modern feeling gesture. The music makes moments such as the clipping of the wings feel particularly disturbing, while the subject matter itself is obviously so. It is hard to imagine anything being more abhorrent than the violation of an Angel, and yet that is exactly what we see unfold before our eyes.
The story also feels reflective of the modern age because one character who was responsible for the original evil succeeds in exploiting what they set in motion for their own gain. While Don Giovanni chooses to live by the life he has led and accept his fate, here the shaking of moral compasses seems so complete that the character has little problem with avoiding punishment and positively benefiting from their crime.
Mariam Wallentin, ENO’s Angel’s Bone 2026, London Coliseum © Nirah Sanghani
English National Opera’s production, directed by Kip Williams and designed by Marg Horwell, first appeared in Manchester’s Aviva Studios last May, and has now come to the London Coliseum. If the opera’s music pushes boundaries by mixing so many different styes, this production, which includes video designs by Ash J Woodward, helps it to feel like a multimedia experience in every sense. There is a touch of the Brechtian about the staging as scene changes take place in full view of the audience, while key components of the action are filmed by three onstage camera operators and projected live on huge screens. This gives the evening a cinematographic quality as characters’ expressions can be seen in close up.
One section of the opera sees Mr and Mrs X.E.’s entire house rotate so that we glimpse what is happening in different rooms, while being drawn to the most salient events on the screens. This, however, is the moment when things are taken too far as the screens dominate and prevent us from glimpsing much of the secondary, but nonetheless important, action. There are also times in this section when the intimate connection that live opera thrives on between the performer on the stage and the audience is broken as much is physically blocked by the screens, and everything feels overshadowed by the technology. This is partly the consequence of a production that was previously presented ‘in the round’ suddenly being placed on a proscenium stage where the angles from which the action can be viewed are far more restricted. Nevertheless, the difficulty only manifests itself when the complete house dominates the stage, and when the set is kept more open everything works much better.
The religious imagery in the staging is also notable as Mr X.E.’s self-punishment recalls the flagellation of Jesus. When the Angels finally stagger out of the house, they look like Adam and Eve in Masaccio’s The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, two other figures who have lost their innocence. While the majority of the couple’s guests view violating the Angels as some form of divine novelty, one attacks the ethereal beings for supposedly never answering their prayers.
Allison Cook, ENO’s Angel’s Bone 2026, London Coliseum © Nirah Sanghani
The cast is first rate as Allison Cook, with her engaging mezzo-soprano, makes Mrs X.E. a commanding, though far from sympathetic, presence across the entire evening. Rodney Earl Clarke asserts his persuasive baritone to excellent effect, while making Mr X.E. feel a pathetic figure, right up to the moment when his supposed repentance simply looks like regret for where he has ended up. Matthew McKinney reveals a beautiful tenor as the Boy Angel, while Mariam Wallentin demonstrates much versatility as the Girl Angel as many of the sounds she is required to deliver are not conventionally operatic. Keith Pun’s role may only be described as the Male Soprano, but he appears as an Angel overseer and his voice is certainly ethereal. The chorus comprises the outstanding Kantos Chamber Choir, while the Orchestra of English National Opera is conducted superbly by Baldur Brönnimann.
The production carries several content warnings, which should be considered before attending. This is because some people may find the opera difficult, not simply because it depicts human trafficking and sexual aggression, but because the manner in which it does so could make the experience feel too overbearing and unrelenting for them. By the same token, however, Angel’s Bone is quite an extraordinary creation, and it is only right that English National Opera should be presenting such groundbreaking work.
By Sam Smith
Angel’s Bone | 16 - 31 October 2026 | London Coliseum
the 18 of October, 2026 | Print
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