Classical Music Company at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre 19th May 2008 The Study Day on Mozart’s Turkish Operas, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Zaide, was the last in a series of very successful events, and there was undeniably some disappointment in the air when it was revealed that, while they would be a talk next year, it would not focus on Il sogno di Scipione or La finta giardiniera. But, no doubt, Peter Medhurst’s future talks will be very interesting and entertaining, particularly if they continue to feature the excellent singers who have participated in this and previous events. I can’t quite be certain which operas have featured in this series of talks, as I, sadly, haven’t been able to attend them all, but I believe they include Die Zauberflote, Idomeneo and the three Da Ponte operas at the very least. However, as La clemenza di Tito, La finta giardiniera, Mitridate re di Ponto and Il re pastore have all been performed by the Royal Opera in recent years, and by other companies, including English National Opera and Garsington Opera, I can’t help hoping (although this is very greedy of me) that they might feature in future study days led by Mr Medhurst. Mr Medhurst’s method of working through each opera chronologically and asking the singers to perform musical extracts at the appropriate point in the story has always worked very well. At this event, however, he discussed Mozart’s two Turkish operas, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Zaide, concurrently, drawing parallels between the operas, both of which are set in a Turkish Seraglio. It was an excellent idea, but, despite being very familiar with Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, I confess I did become a little confused at times. I was also a little concerned that audience members who were unfamiliar with both operas might have felt still more confused, particularly as both operas feature a bass named Osmin. It might have been more effective to devote the two morning sessions to the completed Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, and the afternoon to the unfinished Zaide. Having said this, I did enjoy it very much as it was. In fact, it proved to be a most informative and entertaining day. As usual, Mr Medhurst had assembled a very fine group of singers, and my only surprise is that I do not encounter these singers more often in my exploration of opera in London and the surrounding areas. Perhaps Classical Opera Company is busy throughout the year in other parts of the country, but I would have expected such excellent Mozartians to be of great interest to the country’s major opera companies. The tenor Richard Rowe sang the roles of Belmonte and Gomatz, the two leading tenor roles. He sang his arias so warmly and stylishly, a member of the audience was moved to comment in the break that he would be a very fine Tamino. The lady, of course, was absolutely right: as a comparison with Gomatz’ portrait aria, Mr Rowe was asked to sing the opening lines of Tamino’s portrait aria in Die Zauberflote, and he did so beautifully. Mr Medhurst’s belief that the later aria is the superior would not usually be disputed, but the Zaide aria also has much to recommend it, and I do rather wonder if part of the difference in the power of the arias was due to the two heroes’ having different characters. Mr Rowe was an earnest Belmonte and his Tamino was clearly overwhelmed by the beauty of Pamina, but Mr Rowe gave Gomatz a slight excitability and impulsiveness. But perhaps it is just as well that Gomatz seems less romantic than the other characters, as Gomatz and Zaide are siblings in Voltaire’s original story. Similarities were also drawn between the role of Blonde and Mozart’s other ‘soubrette’ roles. Hannah Ockendon was a delightful Blonde, extremely amusing but with considerable charm. She did not sing Blonde’s top Es, but I hope this would not deter any opera company from casting her in the role, as she is excellent. Mr Medhurst also asked Miss Ockendon to sing an aria from Handel’s Rinaldo, the beginning of Susanna’s second aria in Le nozze di Figaro and the end of Zerlina’s first aria in Don Giovanni, all of which were very beautifully sung and characterised. This was to demonstrate a similarity in the characters and their music. However, I do wonder if Mozart’s characters are quite as simple as Mr Medhurst appeared to be implying. Perhaps I have misunderstood completely, but I can’t help reflecting there are many quite significant differences between the three characters, and this was shown in Miss Ockendon’s performances. All three ladies are members of the lower classes, and are married or almost-married women pursued by a gentleman of superior rank (in the case of Blonde and Osmin, the difference is minimal, but it certainly exists within the social structure of the Seraglio) - yet they all react differently. Blonde shows her admirer no respect at all; Susanna plays elaborate jokes on hers, and Zerlina succumbs. Even in the arias Miss Ockendon sang, the difference seems quite clear. Blonde’s first aria consists of instructions to Osmin on how to be a gentleman – most disrespectful considering she is effectively his servant, but I applaud her for it all the same. Susanna’s arias are both based on playing jokes (although I do like to think she forgets about the joke quite early in her second aria), and Zerlina, having succumbed to her gentleman suitor, is in a far more vulnerable position than Blonde and Zerlina, and must do all she can to win back Masetto’s trust. Blonde can perhaps most convincingly be compared with Despina, who instructs Fiordiligi and Dorabella how to treat men - but Despina is also like Susanna in her willingness to play tricks (although her gullibility leads her to be duped, like Zerlina). There is a similarity in the type of voice that is associated with these roles, and perhaps this is all Mr Medhurst was trying to demonstrate, but there, I believe, the generalisation ended. Maciek O’Shea sang the roles of the two Osmins – both very different characters, but both very funny. Mr Medhurst was supposed to be singing one of the Osmins, but was unable to sing due to a throat infection that fortunately did not prevent him from speaking – he has a very dynamic style of presentation that could not be easily imitated. Mr O’Shea consequently agreed to sing the other Osmin at short notice – and both were so wonderfully characterised, it would surely have been impossible to guess from listening to him which role was a last-minute affair. Mr O’Shea is a great comedian, and his very lovely bass voice ensured that his contributions were a delight musically as well as being so humorous. Perhaps Mr O’Shea’s lower notes are not yet sufficiently strong for a larger hall than the Purcell Room, but Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Zaide might very well be better-suited to a smaller venue in any case. The two leading soprano roles of Konstanze and Zaide were sung by Dominique Thiébaud, who gave a very touching performance as Zaide. It is a great shame this work is not performed more often, and I feel sure that it would be much more popular were it not for its sadly unfinished state. Miss Thiébaud is an excellent lyric soprano, and it is a great shame she was not asked to sing Konstanze’s ‘Traurigkeit’, which would have provided a contrast with Konstanze’s faster arias, as well as showing her strengths to great effect. But she nevertheless gave a determined, and very well-acted performance of ‘Ach ich liebte’ and ‘Martern aller Artern’, two very demanding arias which can provide a real challenge even for some of the most flexible of coloratura sopranos. Miss Thiébaud is also an inventive comedienne: she provided her audience with a marvellous masterclass on ‘What (Not) to Do During the Extremely Long Introduction to Martern aller Artern’, which involved a lot of movement, the striking of poses, checking her watch, as well as demonstrating the many moments in the introduction which a nervous soprano (and I would most certainly be absolutely terrified if I ever had to sing Konstanze, though, admittedly, I’m unlikely ever to develop into a soprano) might mistakenly take for her cue. Tenor Andrew O’Brien sang the roles of Pedrillo Die Entfuhrung and Sultan Soli