Primi Divi

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA & PAGLIACCI
Hairy McMungo always enjoys productions of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci because he met Mrs McMungo in the interval at a performance of these operas. But the lack of Scottish singers is shocking. In Cav, Turiddu is sung by Peter Auty who let Aled Jones take the credit for his singing for years. Hairy is glad to report Jones won’t be trying that again this time. Alfio is sung by Roland Wood who has at least performed with Scottish Opera. ENO regulars Mary Plazas and Mark Stone are Nedda and her bit on the side Silvio. The conductor is Edward Gardner, the new music director of the ENO. They should have got a Scotsman really but Hairy doesn’t know any Scotsmen who would have done it. Luckily Gardner is a good conductor.

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
The conductor at this performance is the great Rory Macdonald. Rory conducted one performance of this opera brilliantly for the ROH when he was a Young Artist. It would be very difficult for him to conduct this performance any better but Hairy can confirm he’ll do so anyway. The designer is Tanya McCallin. Hairy still isn’t sure if she’s really Scottish but as the designs for this production are so good Hairy is sure she must be. The wonderful (if English) Andrew Shore returns as Bartolo and the title role is played by Garry Magee who is very funny but Hairy would like him more if he spelled his last name McGee.

PARTENOPE
Another great conductor presides over this production, Christian Curnyn who was born in the beautiful city of Glasgow. Partenope is an opera that can drag but Hairy is sure that like the great productions of Agrippina and Alcina directed by the great David McVicar, the performances will seem too short if anything. The English but nevertheless distinguished cast includes Rosemary Joshua, John Mark Ainsley and Christine Rice.

AIDA
Most people were surprised when Aida was such a sell-out triumph last year but Hairy McMungo of course saw it all coming. He also predicted that the great Scottish bass-baritone Iain Paterson (Amonasro) would be particularly acclaimed and of course Hairy was right. The only new addition to the cast is Matthew Best as Ramfis but Hairy does not need to tell you he will do very well and Hairy is glad you do not need him to tell you this as he would rather not praise another Englishman for the time being as he has done it rather too much. Claire Rutter and John Hudson (in better voice than when Hairy saw him last) are Aida and Radames.

BORIS GODUNOV
Again there are no Scottish performers which Hairy thinks is ridiculous unless of course this is for financial reasons. But as Hairy McMungo has already granted John Graham-Hall an honorary Scottish citizenship in honour of his great performances he is free to tell you that Graham-Hall is excellent. And not even Hairy McMungo could describe performers such as Peter Rose and Robert Murray as anything other than great singers.

RIDERS TO THE SEA
Riders to the Sea is an opera that Hairy McMungo hasn’t heard of. Usually Hairy McMungo would usually not predict great success for such a modern opera but with the great Scottish baritone Leigh Melrose in the cast it can’t fail to be very much admired, even if the ticket sales aren’t quite as high as Hairy would like. But in Hairy’s experience his expectations of acceptable tickets sales seem to be much too high. The conductor is Richard Hickox and the director is Fiona Shaw. Not Scottish but certainly not bad.

HAIRY McMUNGO

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Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Barbican, Mostly Mozart Festival

26th July 2008

Lots of people say La clemenza di Tito is Mozart’s greatest opera. I suppose it depends on what you’re looking for really. I prefer the funny ones, but I enjoyed this because it was really well performed. Everyone really seemed to have a character. I don’t know this opera very well, but I’ve kind of got the impression the characters are much stronger in some of Mozart’s other operas. But then again, Vitellia and Sesto’s arias are really exciting.

It was a concert performance, but the singers entered and left the stage a lot, or they went to sit at the side of the stage. I prefer concert performances like this because it makes it clearer who can hear what. I’ve never seen a concert performance of The Marriage of Figaro, but there are so many secrets and disguises, I imagine it would be a bit of a nightmare to follow. La clemenza di Tito is very easy which gives you more of a chance to focus on the music.

Toby Spence was really good as Tito. The others were saying Tito’s a bit of a bland character normally, not someone you really get to know like Vitellia and Sesto or even Annio and Servilia, someone who only really stands out by his actions and not his character. But Toby Spence gave a really strong sense that the whole thing was really difficult for Tito. First the girl he loves leaves him, then the girl he asks to marry him says she’d rather marry someone else, then he finds out his best friend tried to kill him. So he should be someone you care about and Toby Spence was but apparently that’s quite unusual. I really liked his voice too.

Alice Coote was Sesto, she did a lot of acting and she was very good but it seemed a bit as though she was expressing all her emotions in the same way. Whenever something bad happened, she half-whispered instead of singing. It’s probably realistic to react in the same sort of way all the time, but it got a bit predictable. She sang really well when she wasn’t whispering, though.

I’ve seen Hillevi Martinpelto on videos in quite a few Mozart roles and I always really liked her. But Vitellia didn’t seem to suit her quite as well as some of her other roles somehow. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m used to seeing her in close-up, it could be she does her emotions facially rather than with movement, I know the bits in her videos that really stand out for me are facial moments. Or maybe she felt restricted by having to stand still and read her music. But I felt that while she sang really well, she didn’t really help me to get to know the character of Vitellia. I was looking forward to seeing her because I was thinking, if anyone can make sense of Vitellia, it’s Hillevi Martinpelto. But she didn’t.

Annio was Fiona Murphy. I thought even when she was watching it she really made the music come alive, and the others agree with me. Her clothes were too feminine for me to take her seriously as a man, but I don’t think it matters to the plot if Servilia is a lesbian. I enjoyed Fiona Murphy’s performance, and even though everyone goes on about Sesto’s and Vitellia’s arias, Annio has some lovely ones too. I think she did well to stand out so much when Sesto and Vitellia have the arias that are seen as the showstoppers.

Servilia is a tiny role. Barry said she had another aria in the original libretto, but Mozart made a lot of cuts. Sarah Tynan did really well, she sang beautifully, and you got a real sense that she was really nice. It’s easy to see why Tito wasn’t offended when she stood up to him, she’s just not the offensive type. It’s a shame she doesn’t have more plot really as Vitellia isn’t really the most likeable heroine.

Matthew Rose completed the cast as Publio. He had a very big strong voice, but it was very attractive. When a lot of basses sing Mozart, it sounds like they’re struggling a bit, but Matthew Rose did very well. He also interacted with the other characters well I thought.

Edward Gardner was the conductor. I thought the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment made the opera sound really dramatic. It’s supposed to be the boring one of Mozart’s operas, but there was a lot going on. Fires, arrests, attempted murder… it’s not dull. But Don Giovanni has all those things, and it manages to be funny too.

Madam Caterpillar

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk

Royal Opera

20th July 2008

I shouldn’t be reviewing this because I’m on a lads holiday but it’s like 5pm and they’re still asleep and I’m so bored, it sucks having a girlfriend sometimes because if I was single there would always be something for me to do but I’m not single so all I can do was like sit in the room for like hours or go on the Internet and really the Internet option sounded like miles better. And I’m glad I came online because I got some really cool messages and even a whole email from a real life opera singer, how about that?

The Young Artists Concert is usually loads of short extracts all with the same theme but sometimes they do something a bit different. One year the first half was an extract from Cosi fan tutte and a whole opera, called Der Kaiser von Atlantis. This year they had three extracts. And before the concert started I was thinking, which is the best way to do it? Longer extracts means more time for the singers to get into character which is good but the short ones are fun too because you get to see a bit of everything.

This year’s concert with three extracts did give the singers the chance to be versatile. They did the whole of Act 4 of Figaro to start off with (apart from the Marcellina and Basilio arias), then they did a bit from Capriccio, then a bit from this opera by Rossini called Il viaggio de Reims. But the problem with doing short extracts like this is that everyone has to be in almost everything and everyone isn’t always going to be suited to everything especially when they’re as different as these three operas. When they did Cosi and Der Kaiser von Atlantis it didn’t matter so much because they more or less had the lighter singers in Cosi and the heavier singers in Der Kaiser but the three extracts here had millions of characters in so everyone was in at least two of them.

The second problem I had with the concert was that it was much too short. It was only like 1 hour 45 minutes altogether and that was including the interval, it would only have been like 1 hour 20 minutes without that. I’m sure it’s usually more than 2 hours. They were doing it as a matinee so I suppose they didn’t need to make it that long but at the end it did kind of leave me feeling like, was that it? I’m sure they could have done one more thing at least. The theme this year was Counts and Countesses but there must be more of those, there’s the other Figaro operas for a start like Il barbiere (she’s not a Countess yet in that but they do get married at the end so she kind of is) and Cherubin by Massenet and this opera based on the 3rd Figaro play called La mere coupable by this bloke called Darius Milhaud. And there must be like millions of others.

But anyway Act 4 of Figaro came first. I think it should have come last. First of all because it is obviously the end of the opera so it felt weird getting to the end and it was only the interval. Also it’s a good one to end on, the Il vaggio de Reims one was funny and really good but not really dramatic. Capriccio was probably right for the middle because it’s probably the most challenging to listen to.

Most of the singers in the Figaro section were playing the roles they’d covered this season. They all performed really well but I couldn’t help thinking, like why is this singer playing this role? Kishani Jayasinghe was a brilliant Susanna as far as her acting goes, she was really funny and sexy and she really got the character just right but she’s not exactly a soubrette and it sounded really odd for Susanna to be heavier than the Countess. Barbarina was even heavier, Pumeza Matshikiza, she sang her aria really really well and even got some humour into it but she’s another one with a big voice. Ji-Min Park who sang Don Basilio is obviously not a Mozart singer either and he’s really more of a romantic lead than a comic tenor, I’m surprised they didn’t get Haoyin Xue to do it, he loves all that comic stuff but Ji-Min did a really good job actually.

Monika-Evelin Liiv I thought would have trouble with Cherubino but she so didn’t. She’s a bit heavier than you’d expect but she really got the phrasing and the character was just so funny, she was slouching all over the stage like a cool version of my brother. It was amazing, she’s a really hot girl but I didn’t fancy her one bit when she was Cherubino.

Then there was Krzysztof Szumanski as Figaro, he is seriously good. He’s not totally confident yet, the music and the character weren’t quite there all the time but you can just tell he’s going to be a great Figaro once he’s got a bit more experience. He’s funny but you can tell he wants to make Figaro into a really nice character who has a bit of a tough time really instead of just a comedy one.

But all this did kind of make me think okay I am enjoying this but is this really the right time the right place and the right people? If this was the whole opera I’d be a bit pissed off if the singers were this unusual and in a way I feel like it was a bit mean to make Krzysztof sing a huge role like Figaro in one of the top opera houses in the world, he’s going to be great and he was pretty great actually but there’s no need to push him.

Some people were great like Jacques Imbrailo as the Count, he is so obviously a Gerald Finley wannabe but they do have similar voices and similar approaches to the character, it does seem quite natural when Jacques does all his mannerisms and stuff but Gerry is so like distinctive (we have to go and see him loads because CLV knows him so I know his performances quite well, not that I’m complaining) it’s like I recognise his performance. He’s going to be great too, he should sing the Count for the ENO or somewhere like that.

Then there were some really good performances in the other roles, Vuyani Mlinde and Kostas Smoriginas were good as Bartolo and Antonio. Elizabeth Sikora who’s not a Young Artist was Marcellina, she’s always really funny and she’s got this role totally nailed. Rachel Walters who wrote the programme notes was Antonio’s Girlfriend. She looked younger than his daughter, Barbarina must be so embarrassed! Lucky guy though, Rachel’s well hot.

But seriously as soon as Anita Watson came onto the stage as the Countess I could kind of get why they were doing this piece. Anita was the lightest soprano in the concert, kind of midway between the typical Susanna and typical Countess I’d say. But as the Countess she was just brilliant. She’s got this really gorgeous voice (she’s gorgeous all over actually) and even though most of the time she was pretending to be Susanna she really got into the character, she was obviously a bit upset over the whole Count-Susanna thing but she wasn’t let anyone walk all over her. And she’s funny, there aren’t many really funny Countesses but you’d be surprised how well it works.

Anita was the star of the Capriccio section as well, this time she was the Soprano Singer who gets drunk and she was so funny, so was Haoyin Xue as the Italian singer, like I said before he knows all about how to do comedy.

Pumeza Matshikiza was good as the Countess, I couldn’t really imagine her singing Strauss but she’s got something about her, she’s not a flirt or anything like that, she’s just got this magnetic power, you can tell why all the blokes are after her. But Frances Millar as the ballerina was obviously getting lots of attention off them as well and I can see why. She’s not with the Royal Ballet, she was an actress in Figaro and some other operas but she looked like a proper ballet dancer to me.

Monika-Evelin Liiv was Clairon the actress, she was wearing this short dress, if the Primi Divi do a Best Legs award she could win it. She was a bit of a slag though. Jacques Imbrailo was cool as Oliver, that’s another Gerald Finley role but it’s a role that really suits him because he’s got like all this energy.

Ji-Min Park sang Flamand, another role I wouldn’t have expected him to sing but he did really well and he was one of the singers (Jacques was another one) who really got the whole Strauss thing and you could really hear where all the tunes were. Vuyani Mlinde was La Roche the director, I kind of expect him to be quite an old bloke but it actually worked really well having this young cool guy, you can imagine he’s got some really out-there ideas.

There were lots of really good things in Capriccio but there was something missing, and what I reckon it was was proper Straussian energy.

Then the concert finished with the Il vaggio de Reims extract which was quite funny and everything and it was good music I suppose but it was just a load of people standing in a line and some of them sang a song. Jacques Imbrailo sang God Save the Queen which was funny and everyone sang really well in this which was quite impressive really because lots of it’s a capella but nothing really happened. It was interesting but I don’t think it really made a good Finale. So they should have done more extracts, maybe not including the ones they actually did and they should have done them in a different order. But apart from that it was great.

FitCrit

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk

Academy of St Martin in the Fields at the Barbican

17th July 2008

Danielle de Niese, is not only, a soprano, of significant, promise, she is, what is known, in the modern world, as a sex symbol. Her image, adorns, every programme, and poster, advertising, the 2008, Mostly Mozart, festival, but, I believe, she sings only, in this concert, and only, altogether, three operatic arias, and one, concert aria. Much as it is not, within me, to deny, the beauty of the radiant, Danielle, I can’t help, feeling, that the handsome face, of the sensational young flautist, Adam Walker, should instead, have denoted, this series, of concerts. Danielle, is, truly, rather beautiful, but, most certainly not, my type. Adam, who is only twenty, is far more, the sort of person, I can imagine, having fantasies about. But perhaps, I would like to fantasise, about being, Danielle. I would love to be, so ethereally, beautiful.

The first item, on the minimal programme, was not by Mozart, in fact, the whole first half, was not by Mozart, in its entirity. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, which is hardly, I must say, a snappy title, that sits easily, in the memory, gave, nevertheless, a performance, of vitality, and potency, of the Symphony No. 70 (it is difficult, to comprehend, that any composer, even so great, a genius, as Haydn, could find the time, and the inclination, to compose, so many).

After that, Danielle de Niese, wearing a dress of extravagant ruffles, that looked more like a wedding garment than concert attire, entered the stage. She sang, three arias, from Handel’s operas, firstly, Endless Pleasure, from Semele, then, Lascia ch'io pianga, from Rinaldo, then, a reversion, to Semele, with Myself I Shall Adore. Danielle’s voice, is luminessant, and, she is, an actress, of considerably, ability, but, tragically, I feel, that, dramatic, embellishes, are inappropriate, in the concert hall, and she looked, truthfully, rather ridiculous, in her declamations, and gestures. She would, be outstanding, in a staged performance, but, this was not, staged. Vocally, she sang, with supreme beauty, after, a slightly uncertain, beginning, to capture the very hearts, of all, who surveyed, her.

After the interval, we witnessed, the delights, of the stratospherically, gifted, Adam Walker, whose flute teacher, at least, in the early days, of his development, was, none other, than Adam himself, what a miraculous achievement! His playing, was bewitchingly winsome, it reminded me, so exilleratingly, of the melody, in Die Zauberflote, where Tamino, sings, how strong is not, the magic tone, oh sweet flute. He was joined, in Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto, by a harpist, Sally Pryce. I thought Sally was magnificent, but the gentleness, of her tender strings, could not penetrate, so easily as Michael, the tumult of the orchestra, it was not a balance, of equality. I abhor, as a rule, microphones, but this imbalance, was such a tragedy, perhaps a place, might be found, for these electronic devices.

After the interval, Danielle returned, to sing, the ravishing, Exultate Jubilate. I confess, I almost applauded, once the famous part, came to its conclusion, as I had, quite forgotten, there was more to be sung! This was, prettily, performed, but I don’t know, how well, she understood, the heart, of the music. It seemed, rather, as though, the piece was about her, rather than, the central message.

Violetta

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk

Piccadilly Theatre

9th July 2008

I wouldn’t normally go and see this but my girlfriend wanted to go because she’s going to be in it She was really worried about going because when she went to Opera Holland Park these b*ds started taking the piss out of her which is just so totally not on and I don’t just mean people in the audience, I mean staff. I think that’s well unprofessional and like totally out of order too. Sophie’s got learning disabilities so she can seem a bit weird sometimes but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to make fun of her. It’s not like she talks during the opera, she never does that. She usually only talks when she’s telling me to shut up. We were supposed to go out Saturday night but we couldn’t because Sophie was still upset about OHP. I’m not going there again in a hurry, I’ve sold all my tickets now. Brilliant opera productions and everything but I’m not putting up with people like that.

The staff at the Piccadilly Theatre were nice. They were really patient when Sophie was trying to choose a seat and they didn’t shout at her when she went somewhere she wasn’t allowed by accident (she’s not stupid or nothing, she’s got enough A Levels to get 3 people into uni but she’s well ditzy) and they didn’t even tell her off when one of their machines went wrong, it wasn’t Sophie’s fault obviously but you’d be shocked how many people do that.

So yeah Grease isn’t usually my sort of thing but it was really cool. The singer playing Danny (who really was called Danny, Danny Bayne) won some reality TV contest called Grease is the Word but he was off sick so the singer who was supposed to be Kenickie sang Danny which meant the singer who was usually Sonny had to sing Kenickie and the singer who was usually Johnny had to sing Sonny (I think Johnny’s just chorus so they could do it without him). That must have been well confusing especially as the first Kenickie cover is also the second cover for Danny and all the boys were dressed alike so when Rizzo (that’s one of the girls) has to come in and go over to Kenickie she must have been like hang on a minute, who’s my bloke tonight? She is a bit of a slut though so they could have improvised round it if she had got confused.

You don’t get things like that happening in opera. Like in Figaro Barbarina is usually covering Susanna but you’d never get Barbarina covering Cherubino and Cherubino covering Susanna. Yeah I know Cherubino’s a mezzo part but there are loads of sopranos who sing him anyway like Amy ‘nice bum’ Freston, she’s sung Barbarina too and she probably will sing Susanna one day because she’s ideal for the role, really funny and sexy. I suppose if Figaro was a musical you might even have Barbarina covering Cherubino who’s covering the Countess who’s covering Susanna because from listening to recordings and stuff they don’t always seem that fussed about timbre, you get light-voiced Sandys and heavy-voiced Sandys. I reckon it would be a good thing in a way if voice types weren’t associated so much with particular roles. I was listening to Kishani Jayasinghe singing Barbarina on the radio, she’s also covering Susanna and she’s such a great singer, she’s well sexy and funny and in theory she’d be brilliant at comic Mozart roles but because we expect little soubrettes and she’s got quite a big voice she just sounded just like so weird as Barbarina, just totally wrong even though she sang it really well.

Most of the singing in Grease was good. Stuart Ramsay who took over as Danny seemed a bit nervous at first but he soon settled into it and he ended up being really funny. Danny’s a bit of a tosser if you think about it but Stuart made sure he wasn’t a total loser.

Nicola Brazil sang Sandy, the girl who won the role in Grease is the Word has already pissed off somewhere or other. Nicola is well hot but to be honest I thought she looked better before she got that dodgy perm. Good outfit in the final scene though. Sophie says Nicola’s boobs looked funny in that outfit but I wasn’t looking obviously. I thought they looked fine though.

But everyone always goes on about Sandy being a good girl but she’s so not a good girl, she’s got a serious anger problem. She shoves Rizzo just because Rizzo gives her the finger, yeah Rizzo was being a bit annoying and immature but I reckon shoving someone is worse than just sticking your finger up. Then Sandy pushes Patty over just because Patty’s better at cheerleading than she is. You can get excluded for doing less than that. So yeah Sandy’s a stupid aggressive cow but Nicola’s a great singer even though I couldn’t hear her at the end because she was trying to sing into her microphone and cuddle up to Danny and it’s really difficult to do both, not that I’ve ever snuggled up to Danny. Danni maybe but not Danny.

There were only 2 people in the cast I’d heard of, one of them was Ray Quinn who came second in The X Factor when Leona won. Seriously major respect to him for taking a supporting role. A lot of people like him start out cool but then they get so sucked into the celebrity world they end up getting really up themselves and they wouldn’t even consider singing any role in Grease except Sandy or Danny. But Ray just looks like he’s having a brilliant time singing Doody who’s probably only like the 5th most important character, if that. He was one of the best singers there, he’s a brilliant actor (he’s won awards for acting, only for being in a soap but still an award) and he can really dance too. Sophie and our gay mate were just like dribbling, I was more laid back obviously but I was quite impressed in a totally non-sexual way.

Bennett Andrews was the Kenickie cover, he’s the really tough one with a crap car. Great singer and he seemed totally comfortable in the role. Natalie Langston (who was Rizzo, that’s the role Sophie wants) has a really powerful contralto type voice, really sexy but even though she did the cool and aloof stuff really well I reckon it would have been possible to make Rizzo more likeable.

The second person I’d heard of was Tyman Boatwright (got to be a stage name) who was the Sonny understudy. He was good, I know him from On the Town at the ENO. Then there was one more understudy, Selina Hamilton as Cha Cha the dancer who picks her nose and flashes her bits. She and Stuart Ramsey danced really well together but it looked a bit like they hadn’t practised together much, there were a few moments when I was thinking like oh sh**, he’s going to drop her! Eugene the geek really did drop Patty the cheerleader but I think he was supposed to.

Benjamin Ibbotson was really good as Eugene. There was something about the way he did his moves, he looked like he was getting the dance right but somehow he was moving in a really geeky way. Kristofer Harding who was Roger was really funny when he sang his Mooning song. Jason Capewell really got on my nerves as Vince and Teen Angel but they’re both annoying characters.

Emily Bull who sang Frenchy (that’s the role Sophie wants if she can’t be Rizzo) was hot and just a really nice girl. She didn’t do a lot of singing but she’s a great actress. Laura Wilson (Jan) wasn’t the best singer there but she kind of sang how I expect Jan would sing if that makes sense. Emma Stephens (Marty) and Emma Green (Patty) were these well hot blondes and even Chloe Brooks as the teacher Miss Lynch was quite sexy, bit intimidating though.

Grease is actually quite well put-together. It has a lot of storylines in it and it seems to take place over a couple of months or something but it really moved from one scene to another really easily and you always got what was going on and the writers really manage to put a lot of info across in quite short scenes. And it’s quite short, most operas are quite a bit longer I think.

The only thing I don’t like about Grease is that some of the ideas are a bit off. I don’t like the idea that Sandy had to change herself into a slut so she could go out with the guy she liked and be friends with the people she wanted to be friends with. Maybe it’s realistic but that’s so not how it should be. It’s also total crap that the musical seems to be saying if you’re in a relationship you have to have sex with each other, that’s so not true, you do it when you’re both ready which okay TOTALLY sucks but you just have to deal with that. I reckon a major musical like Grease should be helping people to feel it’s okay to be yourself instead of one of the crowd if that’s what you want but it doesn’t really do that. Really great evening out though.

FitCrit

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk

Opera Holland Park

4th July

Anyone who wishes to attend an opera, and wishes to be assured before buying their ticket that the performance will be of an exceptionally high standard, would do very well to book to see a production at Opera Holland Park. Advance booking is necessary, as they sell out quicker than the Royal Opera House. The seating is all outside, under a canopy, but this is actually very pleasant, even when it’s raining, although a coat is certainly recommended.

Conductor Jane Glover gave a thrilling reading of the score – after an embarrass of Zauberfloten this season, if not an actual surfeit, I was perhaps not awaiting the production with the eagerness the opera truly deserves, but Miss Glover certainly brought the magic back into the flute, and helped to ensure this was one of this season’s best interpretations. Tom Phillips’ very colourful designs were possibly a little bit of a shock to begin with, as was the rather surprising translation, but the humour was particularly well done, and, under the direction of Simon Callow – whose acting roles include not only Mozart but also Die Zauberflote’s librettist and original Papageno, Emmanuel Schikaneder – this production turned out to be both warm and magical.

In all the many productions of Die Zauberflote we’ve seen this season, none has offered a performer quite as ideal for the role of Tamino as Andrew Staples. The young tenor has sung the role of the First Armed Man for the Royal Opera this season, as well as coming to the aid of Classical Opera Company, for whom he was formerly an Associate Artist, when they lost their scheduled tenor to illness. Here, Mr Staples sang the leading role beautifully. Many excellent singers have trouble with characterising Tamino, but, in Mr Staples’ interpretation, he was very earnest and most endearing.

As Pamina, Fflur Wyn was, perhaps, just a little underpowered, but she too clearly has a talent of great promise. She has a light and attractive voice, and a real feeling for the lyricism in the role, but ideally needs a venue where she is not required to compete with Opera Holland Park’s peacocks. Penelope Randall-Davies also seemed to have some difficulty in her role, the Queen of the Night, as far as the lower part of her voice was concerned, but her top Fs were beautiful. Impressive-sounding top Fs are not unusual – indeed, they are expected – but it is unusual to find a very high note that sounds as lovely as that of Miss Randall-Davies.

However, the soprano honours are shared between Pippa Goss’ charming Papagena and First Lady Natasha Joul. The Three Ladies were among the best-matched trios of singers I have heard in these roles, with mezzo-sopranos Carolyn Dobbin and Alexandra Sherman both well up to Miss Joul’s high standards. The Three Ladies were elegant of dress as well as voice.

Papageno was to have been sung by Roland Wood, English Touring Opera’s Don Giovanni, but was instead taken by the same company’s Leporello, the excellent Jonathan Gunthorpe. Mr Gunthorpe is extremely amusing, and, moreover, without ever taking a joke so far as to distract attention away from the main story. He is always a delightful, energetic and very likeable performer, with whom the audience can easily identify. I wish Mr Wood a speedy recovery, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed his performance very much (Hairy McMungo tells me Mr Wood’s nationality did not prevent him from giving a fine performance in the role for Scottish Opera). However, I am extremely grateful to Opera Holland Park for providing us with such a wonderful understudy, and I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to see Mr Gunthorpe as Papageno.

A role that often – understandably – suffers from a decision to employ a young cast is that of Sarastro, but there seem to be an increasing number of resonant young basses, of which Opera Holland Park’s Tim Mirfin is undeniably one. As the Speaker, Stephen Gadd (Glyndebourne on Tour’s unforgettable Macbeth) displays many of the same qualities. Coversely, Mark Le Brocq’s considerable experience was certainly an advantage in the development of Monostatos’ character – he gives another fine and very amusing performance.

If I might be permitted one small niggle: surely the excellent Michael Bracegirdle should have been given a larger role than that of the First Armed Man (although perhaps his appearances in OHP’s Il trovatore explains this). But just one of Mr Bracegirdle’s virtues is the considerable ingenuity with which he invests every role. Whether he’s Lensky or Steva Jenufa or the First Armed Man, he always offers a high-quality performance. I await his Tamino for ENO – and Opera Holland Park’s future productions – with great anticipation.

Barry Tone

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It’s nearly that time of year again – when the Primi Divi get together to choose our best moments and favourite singers in all the operas we’ve seen this year.

BEST STAFF
2006-07 - Opera Holland Park
2005-06 – Opera Holland Park

English National Opera

27th June 2008

Maybe the ENO should keep away from musicals. On the Town was excellent, but, with a mostly musical rather than operatic cast, it barely counted as an opera production at all. Kismet wasn’t as bad as people said, but the fact that I was pretty much the only person who liked it shows it wasn’t exactly successful. As for Candide, what can I say? I’m not Hairy McMungo, but ‘can I have a refund?’ springs to mind.

Robert Carsen’s production was well-thought out, and the gimmicks were mostly understandable to most people. Let’s ignore the fact I thought it was cringe-makingly awful. Most people found it very amusing, and Michael Levine’s designs did manage to convey quite a lot. I liked the way the stage was turned into a TV set. Conductor Ruman Gumba was excellent – the ENO orchestra played well, and occasionally managed to get some real meaning out of the music, even though most of it is total fluff.

There wasn’t any really bad singing. Actor Alex Jennings, in the multiple roles of Voltaire, Dr Pangloss, and the miserable Martin was easily up to the standards of the operatically-trained performers, and completely showed them up when it came to the comedy. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that a trained actor is so much better at comedy than opera singers, but I wouldn’t have expected the difference to be that great – particularly as several members of the cast are usually brilliant at comedy The only funny thing about the opera singers’ performance was the glaring contrast between Jennings’ effortlessly smooth, polished performance, and the ridiculousness everywhere else.

Beverley Klein was possibly the weakest singer in the stage, but she invested the Old Lady with so much character, it was difficult not to enjoy her performance - although there were times when I wished her diction wasn’t quite so good, as some of the most disgusting lines in the libretto happened to be hers. I don’t know how she managed to get any humour from those moments at all. She also looks great in a sparkly leotard – despite her character’s only having one buttock.

The title role was sung by Toby Spence, who sang beautifully, and even made Candide vaguely interesting and likeable. But it was hard not to lose patience for his continuing devotion to Anna Christy’s slut of a Cunegonde, who can’t even go through Immigration without being unfaithful. Christy’s performance was wholehearted, impressively sung, and she looked beautiful in all her costumes, which seemed to grow skimpier in every scene. But I couldn’t stand Cunegonde as a person. You can be unfaithful and yet rather adorable – like Valencienne in The Merry Widow. You can also be utterly disreputable, yet with a sensual and magnetic charm – like Carmen. But Cunegonde, promiscuous, vain, shallow, disloyal and cruel, has nothing to recommend her.

There was also some strong singing from Mark Stone as Cunegonde’s brother Maximilian – Stone also played Christy’s brother when she made her ENO debut as Lucia di Lammermoor. I look forward to seeing them Marguerite and Valentin or Manon and Lescaut. As Pacquette, ENO Young Singer Mairéad Buicke spent most of her time onstage being groped or dressed up as a bunny girl, but seemed completely unfazed, and sang beautifully. The first time I saw her I said she wasn’t suited to the lighter repertoire. I was wrong: she’s actually suited to it very well.

But there is more to the opera than the singing, and it’s difficult to enjoy even that when such horrible things are going on all the time. There’s much too much death, mutilation, prostitution… I know this kind of thing goes on in the world, but it’s not something I want to pay to watch. The whole opera seemed to be about nasty people cheating other nasty people, and telling gruesome stories along the way with the occasional frothy song. The ENO can do so much better. Forget the musicals. Why can’t we see The Carmelites, King Arthur, Lucia di Lammermoor, Eugene Onegin, The Fairy Queen, The Silver Tassie, Gaddafi or Alcina again?

Cunning Little Vixen

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Royal Opera

1st July 2008

This was a weird one! To start with, I thought it was going to be a comedy like Der Rosenkavalier. Definitely an opera of two halves. Did I like it? Can’t make up my mind!

The first half was set backstage in the home or an art patron. They’d arranged for two celebratory performances, an opera and a singing/dancing performance by a comedy troupe. First they argue about what is going to be performed first, then they decided there’s no time for both, so both will be performed at the same time.

I didn’t know the story, and I thought it was a great idea, but it turned out the second act wasn’t very funny at all. The comedy troupe had their moments, but Ariadne spent the whole time being miserable. Apparently, Theseus has dumped her. This is the same Ariadne and Theseus who met in The Minotaur, but other people think it’s Bluebeard who dumped her, there’s also a French opera together called Ariadne and Bluebeard which Barry thinks he might have seen many years ago. Then in this one she ends up with Bacchus. It’s quite confusing.

The sets were interesting. Fit Crit was especially excited about seeing the second-act set because he’s only seen this production once but the first set got stuck, so in the end they had to perform the second act on the first act set, which must have been very interesting. The interval was extra-long even though it was 40 minutes to start with. Can’t help thinking the second half was probably more effective with all that dark blue lighting.

There were lots of good things in the first half. Loved Thomas Allen as the Music Master. Hairy says he’s so good, he’s practically Scottish, and I think he has a point. He’s just very funny with lots of energy. Shame he was only in the first half. Then there was Christoph Quest as the Major-Domo. The opera is mostly all sung, but the Major-Domo is a spoken role. I don’t know why Strauss decided to do this, but it didn’t seem strange. His speaking was very rhythmic and it followed the style of the music.

Really enjoyed the comedy troupe, especially in the first half. Gillian Keith was a very pretty Zerbinetta – amazing singer with lots of high notes to sing. She also had to take her top off, but she really seemed to be enjoying herself right through the opera. Also really liked the men – Markus Werba as Harlequin, Jeremy White as Truffaldino, Ji-Min Park as Scaramuccio and Haoyin Xue as Brighella. One of them was wearing a kilt, but I’m not sure which one. He had good legs though. They were all really funny, and made a great addition to the first act. It was quite strange having them in the second act as well, and to be honest they were the best thing in the second act.

There was a bit of controversy the last time Ariadne was performed at the ROH. Apparently, Deborah Voigt was supposed to sing Ariadne, but she was sacked because she didn’t fit into the little black dress. No idea if this is true or not, but it makes a good story. Deborah Voigt did sing at this performance, but the story goes she was cast after she’d had a stomach-stapling operation. Poor girl, operas are famous for their large sopranos but the truth is opera people seem to be as shallow as everyone else. Pathetic really. I thought Deborah Voigt looked pretty good in the dress. She’s voluptuous, but far from unattractive. Violetta says she looks better than the other Ariadnes in the dress, and I’m happy to take her word for it. Wish I could say her singing was great too, but I thought it was a bit hard and shrill.

Robert Dean Smith sang the role of the Tenor in the first act and Bacchus in the second act. He was very funny as the Tenor, but Bacchus didn’t really do it for me. Don’t really know what he sees in a misery-guts like Ariadne either. Maybe the problem is I just don’t understand the music. Kristine Jepson who sang the Composer was another shrill one but Anita Watson, Sarah Castle and Anna Leese as Naiad, Dryad and Echo sounded good. But maybe the problem with an opera with two such different styles is that if you love the first act, you might not love the second act as much.

Madam Caterpillar

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English National Opera

5th June 2008

This is just such a cool opera. It starts with these 2 girls in bed having an orgasm and you kind of feel things just couldn’t get any better after that. But somehow it does get better or at least it doesn’t get worse. The opera is just really funny, it has some really cool characters. After that bit there’s some more lesbian stuff and a bit of fighting and cross-dressimg and it’s got some really great music as well. Okay yeah so parts of it are a bit of a slush fest but I can live with that when it’s got all the other stuff too. It’s got something for everyone, Der Rosenkavalier.

The only problem with it is that it’s a really long opera and I had to sit in the balcony and it was a bit squashed but I didn’t really notice it because I was so into the performance. David McVicar has done a really fun production with lots of visual jokes, I think it would have been quite easy to follow if you didn’t know the story already. Some of the music is quite sexy like the plot and Edward Gardner who was conducting put that over quite well. He milked the slushy bits a bit but I think that’s fair enough really, it’s an important part of the opera.

Sarah Connolly was Octavian, she was seriously good. She didn’t just sing it really well, she really has this cool teenage walk thing going on which was annoying in a way because a lot of the time I forgot she was a girl so I couldn’t get excited about the lesbian stuff but that’s a good thing really I suppose as you’re not supposed to think she’s a lesbian. Do you know something though, Octavian’s the same age as me and he’s pulled the Marschallin who’s in her thirties! My mates were really impressed I’d pulled Sophie (that’s my girlfriend, not the character in Der Rosenkavalier) who’s 3 years older than me and I thought it was quite good going really even though she does go for younger guys but seriously if I could pull some hot babe in her thirties like Octavian did that would be very cool. If Sophie’s reading this obviously I’m joking.

But yeah brilliant performance from Sarah and one really interesting bit about this production was that Octavian wanted to go back to the Marschallin but she was pushing him at Sophie (that’s Sophie in the opera). They didn’t change the words I don’t think, they just showed her walking off to leave them along together and him trying to follow her. I can understand in a way, if I was with some hot older woman and she dumped me and tried to fix me up with some 15 year old I’d be like hang on a minute, it’s up to me who I go out with. Octavian’s a bit pathetic though and he stayed with Sophie but it would have been a bit difficult for him to do anything else really when he had more words to sing. But you could tell even though he really fancied her and kept kissing her (yes more lesbian stuff!) he wasn’t very happy with how things turned out.

Sarah Connolly also got to kiss Baron Ochs and the conductor so she really got around a bit! The scenes where Octavian pretends to be a girl and goes on a date with Baron Ochs, that was so cool. Sarah did the weird voice but I could still understand what she was singing. It’s stupid she’s never sung at the ROH. She’s sung at the Met though.

Sarah Tynan was Sophie, she was wearing a weird dress that stuck out so if Octavian had tried to put his arm round her I don’t reckon he’d have been able to reach properly. Sometimes it sounded like Sarah was pushing her voice a bit to get through the orchestration which I don’t think she should do, they should just play quieter but she’s a total babe and a brilliant singer. Sophie’s a bit fake though, she acts all innocent but when she kissed Octavian it looked like she’d done that before. Seriously though, dumb blonde is not the word!

The Marschallin was Janice Watson, some crits haven’t been that sure about her but I really liked her. She made the Marschallin seem a lot more human than she usually is. She is a bit girly especially in bed and she’s sexy in a posh sort of way. Some people think she was a bit emotionless but I’d say she was too emotional if anything, she was almost like clingy in the first scene. But major respect to her for letting Octavian go like that, how many girls would react like that if they caught their boyfriend with another girl? She should be an inspiration to girls everywhere.

Baron Ochs was John Tomlinson, he is just so funny, even his first line which was offstage was really clear. What a total prat though! He’s got this dance he does when he thinks he’s pulled, it’s just like so hilarious! He just totally fills the stage with his personality but at the same time he’s like really really pathetic.

Andrew Shore is one of those people who’s always going on about how the ENO shouldn’t have surtitles. I get his point, it’s really annoying when you can’t understand people and it’s not like the surtitles spoil the jokes, if it’s a funny bit they like wait till the last word of the joke before putting it up on the surtitles most of the time. He is right though that they should try to improve people’s diction, maybe one day there won’t be any surtitles at all and it won’t matter but I think they need to have surtitles when they’re getting all the improvements sorted out. Maybe what they could do (this would be really mean though) is to get people at the first night to vote on which singers need surtitles and then they could set the surtitles up so they only work when someone with crap diction is singing. It would be mean but if singers thought that was going to happen they might be more likely to try to have perfect diction. In case you’re wondering Andrew’s diction is brilliant. His character von Faninal is another prat but he’s a nice guy, just totally useless.

Barry Banks was the Italian Tenor, it was supposed to be Dwayne Jones from the Young Singers programme but they had Barry at some performances and Alfie Boe at other performances. I don’t know why Dwayne couldn’t do it but if Barry Banks is in a production you don’t complain about it! The only thing I didn’t like about his performance was that it was so good, it really pissed me off when Baron Ochs interrupted him and wouldn’t let him finish. I know it’s a slushy song but when you get a really good tenor like that you want to hear him don’t you? Baron Ochs should just like shut up for 5 minutes then do his bit. But Baron Ochs wouldn’t shut up for 5 seconds, no way 5 mins.

Madeleine Shaw from the Young Singers programme sang all her stuff though, she’s good. She sang Annina, that’s a character that doesn’t usually make much impression on me really but even when Madeleine’s not singing there was just something so obviously dodgy about Annina, she was all kind of skulking around the stage, it was brilliant. Hairy said she showed a Scottish commitment to getting her money or something, Annina is actually Italian though Hairy! She even had more stage presence than Stuart Kale who was Valzacchi, the other dodgy one and he’s good.

There was only one person in the cast that wasn’t brilliant, I think he/she was maybe trying too hard to put lots of character into his/her voice and it didn’t work for me. I’m not saying who it was though, that would be mean. And I think the ending’s a bit crap, they should think up something else to do in the last bit. I mean like, Sophie drops her handkerchief and sends this little boy or servant guy in to get it, so what? What’s so dramatic about that? Then you have to put up with the servant doing this stupid pose like he’s the star of the opera. Total anti-climax. What I’d want to do is as they’re still in the hotel where Octavian was on his date with Baron Ochs and there’s a bloody great bed there (that’s what Octavian called it, really good line that, it’s always well funny when people swear in the middle of an opera) maybe it should finish how it starts with 2 women in bed together only Octavian and Sophie this time. That would be a much better ending.

FitCrit

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