Mother finds her voice

Missing a deadline is not the worst sin a composer can commit, but when the work is an opera, it does cause problems.

The show, after all, must go on, so when in 2000, Param Vir failed to complete his opera Ion in time for the premiere, emergency measures were called for, and a speaking narrator was drafted in to fill the gaps.

In the event, the singing-speaking hybrid proved eminently workable, but Vir, quite rightly, was not satisfied. He wanted Ion to be completely sung, and so he went ahead and finished it.

Now it reaches the stage, in Michael McCarthy's production for Music Theatre Wales, and while the staging may not always be dramatically acute, it is portable, uncluttered and handsomely lit by Ace McCarron.

David Lan's libretto derives from Euripides, and Vir's strong sense of musical narrative, underpinned by his skill at balancing orchestra and voices, ensures that we follow most of its twists and turns.

There are murderous plots and a baying chorus, but the story boils down to something resonantly familiar: a mother (Creusa) refinds the son (Ion) she abandoned at birth after a brief romantic dalliance. The father may have been no less a figure than the god Apollo, but this is not about gods, it's about mortals.

Lan is a distinguished playwright and his text balances humour, pathos and downright bathos. But plays and operas make quite different demands, and like so many librettists, Lan fills the stage with words, leaving the composer insufficient room to make the music breathe.

That is a shame because Vir is a gifted musical dramatist, capable of conjuring up mood and atmosphere with the briefest gestures. He writes well for the voice, so that even if there are too many words, he gives them a strong musical shape.

He also writes superbly for his 18-piece orchestra, allowing pungent winds and piano to provide the forward momentum while a string quintet offers characterful support.

It is, though, the voices that carry an opera. Vir serves his singers well, and in return, is well served by them. While supporting roles are skilfully handled, it is the central relationship that defines the piece.