Daily Archives: 7 May, 2013

Opera South-East; The Pearl Fishers

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White Rock Theatre, Hastings 26 April 2013

Sometimes known as the One Song Opera, sometimes judged ‘far too long for any UK performance’ and thus rarely heard in its entirety, moreover ‘it’s set in Ceylon’ (as Sri Lanka then was) ‘and who wants to know about that?’

       Just some of the reasons why few of the audience knew what was in store.  However Director Jenny Miller  put such fears to rest with an unusual but highly workable setting, virtually playing the entire story on the front half of the theatre’s stage, with seating for the chorus on Actors’ Left and on Actors’ Right, plus two large sails, lit from behind so that they virtually became shadowgraphs.  With cleverly concealed coloured floods discreetly  positioned amid the performance area, the different times of day and moods of action were unobtrusively indicated.

       The story is basically the eternal ‘triangle drama’ of the film world, two men in love with the same woman.  Only in this case one of the men, fisherman Nadia (tenor Ian Parrett) had chosen to make himself scarce, so that all was well with the romance of the leader of the fishermen Zurga,(baritone Peter Grevatt,) and the beautiful Leila, soprano Luci Briginshaw.   Before Nadir left he and Zurga swore that they would never fall in love with the same woman in the one piece from the opera that is familiar, known merely asThe Duet from the Pearl Fishers.  The audience was doubtless surprised that the one ‘big’ number of the opera was heard so early, though in fact the orchestra later reprised the melody.    Nadir did return as Zurga  was explaining that a boat was coming from an adjoining island with the high priest Nourabad (bass-baritone Toby Sims) bringing a veiled lady a nun who if she breaks her vows will be punished with death.  

     The veiled lady was of course Leila, and when she saw Nadir, her hymn to the Goddess Siva turned ito a declaration of love for him.  Leila as a girl had given sanctuary to a fugitive whom in return had presented her with a necklace.  Leila gave this necklace to one of the guards   Zurga saw this and snatched it back, realising that Leila was the young girl who saved his life.  The villagers had prepared a funeral pyre for Leila and Nadir, but Zurga, resigned to the loss of his love, told Nadir and Leila to flee whilst Zurga remained to face the fury of the villagers and in a fit of rage Nourabad stabbed him to death.

     Kenneth Roberts conducted the Sussex Concert Orchestra, leader Andrew Laing, with obvious delight at having the opportunity to present something fresh and they responded magnificently.  Mention must be made of the original props and stage dressings which added so much to the atmosphere of the production and the originality of the setting, which permitted the chorus to add greatly to the development of the story.

     And above all, thanks indeed to Jenny Miller whose expertise and experience showed throughout every aspect of the production so that one looks forward to the next time Miss Miller takes on the directorial role of Opera South-East. MW

Brighton Festival: Paul Lewis

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Glyndebourne Opera House, 5 May 2013

Sublime is an overused epithet but when one comes to sum up Paul Lewis’ performance of Schubert’s late piano works over the last two years there is really no other word that does them justice. On a radiantly sunny Sunday afternoon, with picnics out for the first time this year, he drew the cycle to a close with performances of the last three piano sonatas, D 958-60.

Hi stage presence is stark. Wearing black against Glyndebourne’s black fire curtain and a black piano he almost disappears, but this is fully in keeping with an approach which eschews histrionics and focuses entirely on the music.

The opening Allegro of the C minor sonata has strong Beethovian echoes but quickly mellows to a more romantic and gentler impact, moving seamlessly into the beautifully crafted Adagio, with its moments of authority and nobility. The Menuetto’s rapid figuration brought a return of tension which carried over into the final Allegro, where lighter moments only served to highlight the underlying anxiety.

The emotional range of the A major sonata is even greater than that of the C minor. The Allegro proved warmer than anything we had encountered in the previous sonata with even greater fluidity, though Paul Lewis also found an edgy undercurrent which seemed at one with the following Adagio. It was difficult to ignore the shadow of Winterreise which seems to hang over this movement, both in the cantabile opening and the contrasts between delicate phrasing and painful tensions, and a final chord which fails to settle. The Scherzo comes as something of a relief and prepares the way for the melodic outpouring of the final Rondo.

The Molto moderato which opens the B flat major sonata is more highly developed than anything we had previously heard this afternoon, and here it was the momentary silences, the stillness, which impressed, as if the music hesitates to speak. Unlike the earlier Rondo movement Schubert seems driven by the melody here, returning to it in ever more fascinating ways, toying with it in an almost improvisatory way. This mood continues into the Andante which frequently seems to blossom and fly as if released from the tensions which had underpinned so much of the earlier scores. The joy of the Scherzo led to the deeper warmth and extrovert enthusiasm of the final Allegro.

It has been a long journey, but Paul Lewis has taken us deep into Schubert’s heart in a way few musicians have ever done before. BH