Kurt Cobain opera Last Days worms its way into your mind

Did Kurt Cobain ever see his life in operatic terms? It seems unlikely, though in retrospect his descent into depression and suicide mirrors some of opera’s most desolate characters, from Donizetti’s Lucia to Britten’s Peter Grimes.

Whatever Cobain might have thought, composer Oliver Leith clearly saw operatic potential in Gus Van Sant’s 2005 film Last Days, a fictionalised account of the Nirvana frontman’s death. Leith’s opera of the same name has just been given its premiere by the Royal Opera in partnership with the Guildhall School of Music.

The introspective and fatalistic mood of the film hangs powerfully over the opera. Do not expect biography here. Cobain has become Blake, a successful musician, and nothing concrete is said about him or his life. Instead, we look inside the singer’s disintegrating mind as he retreats into an inner cocoon of isolation. Playing Blake, French actress Agathe Rousselle barely gets to speak, merely whimpering from time to time, almost inaudibly.

From Blake’s disconnected standpoint reality gets skewed into surrealism. Visitors, such as a DHL delivery person and a pair of Mormons, become part of his fevered imagination, joining in an ensemble that slowly winds down as if everybody is caught in a contracting time warp. Telephone calls from Blake’s exasperated agent come across as incomprehensible gabble. Even the sound of breakfast cereal going into a bowl becomes amplified, electronic music in Leith’s hallucinatory score.

Aside from some humorous observations on the absurdity of everyday life, everything is about Blake’s slow-motion decay into nothingness, and the opera stands or falls by that. The production is imaginatively directed by Matt Copson and Anna Morrissey, extravagantly costumed by Balenciaga and well sung by a good cast. Jack Sheen conducts the 12 Ensemble in a score that is hardline contemporary with no hint of Nirvana about it.

In no way are the unbroken 90 minutes an easy sit. The opera is well advanced on Blake’s slow-motion trajectory towards oblivion even before curtain-up — but stick with it. There is a hypnotic quality to Last Days that worms its way into one’s mind.

★★★★☆

‘Last Days’, to October 11, roh.org.uk

For the next four weeks, English Touring Opera is out on the road with its autumn season. As often in recent years, this comprises three operas by Handel: Ottone, Agrippina and a new production of Tamerlano, composed in Handel’s golden year of 1724.

The strong dramatic grip exerted by Tamerlano makes it the most compelling of the three. Director James Conway’s no-nonsense production focuses on the emotional conflicts of the central characters without any distractions. A decent cast is headed by two fine, contrasting counter-tenors, Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo as macho Tamerlano and James Hall as the lyrically sensitive Andronico. The conductor, Jonathan Peter Kenny, draws plenty of dramatic energy out of the score and the Old Street Band has earned its place among period ensembles. Even so, after so much Handel, it is surely time to reward ETO’s regional audiences with a change of direction.

★★★☆☆

ETO touring to November 12, englishtouringopera.org.uk