WNO in Plymouth

Theatre Royal Plymouth, April 2019

When a work makes a really strong impression there is always a danger that one’s memory may be at fault. Experiencing the WNO Donizetti Tudor Trilogy in 2013-14 I had been bowled over by Roberto Devereux but would it live up to my memory? It did – and given the unplanned change of cast – even more so. With the unfortunate indisposition of Barry Banks, Devereux was sung by Robyn Lyn Evans. It was revelatory. A young singer, with the virility and passion the part needs but also the high lyricism in the voice to carry off all the emotion and charm the character requires. It was one of the most exciting evenings I can recall in recent years of many, many performances.

Robert Lyn Evans

Not that the rest of the cast were in his shadow. Justina Gringyte’s young and often fragile Sara comes into her own towards the end when she accepts the reality of the situation, though she has little chance given the misogynistic aggression of Rhys Jenkins’ Nottingham – himself standing in at the last minute and making much of a nasty character.

At the heart of the work is Joyce El-Khoury’s Elisabetta. If she is not mad at the start she certainly is at the end, and Alessandro Talevi’s often surreal approach helps us to navigate the twists and turns of her increasingly delusional thinking. The parallels with Brexit – a leader who does not listen and puts their personal feelings before the needs of their country – were uncomfortably obvious, even when hugely enjoyable.

James Southall drove his forces with enormous enthusiasm and fresh, intensive playing. The Chorus – as ever – were splendid and obviously loving the spider.

Joyce El-Khoury’s Elisabetta

The strength of this evening rather put the other two into the shade though David Poutney’s new Un ballo in maschera was engaging and challenging in just the right amount as well as being very well sung. Poutney has a love not just of theatre but of the theatrical so it was no surprise that Riccardo emerged in the first scene from a coffin and spent some considerable time there. Added to this, the whole set was made up of tiny proscenium arches, banked up as walls which moved smoothly to convey different spaces. All the time, however, we were aware that characters were performing, both to seen and unseen audiences. The moveable seats on stage constantly reminded us that we are watching a performance, our minds are being controlled. There is no problem then at the end where Riccardo is not actually stabbed – and it is not a case that the wrong person is stabbed – for nobody is stabbed because that does not happen in theatre. The singer pretends to die and then receives a curtain call, so why pretend they were dead in the first place when we don’t want them to be? Poutney takes this to its logical conclusion and allows Riccardo to watch his own death and the sadness it brings, even though he is still very much alive.

Gwyn Hughes Jones is a likeable Riccardo with a fine top to the voice and a ready humour. He is well matched by Julie Martin’s androgynous Oscar – strongly sung and flamboyantly acted. Sara Fulgoni has an easier task than usual as Ulrica as she is obviously a favourite with the court unlike Mary Elizabeth Williams’ strongly characterised Amelia – the only person we really feel concerned about as she is the only one with any heart, a reality which is clearly evident in her passionate singing.

Roland Wood sang Renato for the first half but was indisposed for the second, miming on stage while Phillip Rhodes sang from the wings. This proved to be more than a simple cover and as with Robyn Lyn Evans above we may hopefully hear a lot more from both singers.

Gareth Jones drove his forces with aplomb and made the whole an unexpectedly happy event.

Dominic Cooke’s production of The Magic Flute is very familiar though it still has many strengths. It lends itself particularly to strong characterisation which it certainly got from Mark Stone’s Papageno. His diction is exemplary – the sort of style you expect in operetta but rarely get these days – as is his sense of humour. He was well matched by Anita Watson’s Pamina, their bei mannern being a highlight of the first half. Ben Johnson’s Tamino is fluently sung but lacks passion so that it was difficult to see quite what Pamina saw in him. Samantha Hay was a strong Queen of the Night (though wouldn’t it be wonderful just once to hear it like Florence Foster Jenkins?!) and Phillip Rhodes an impressive speaker.

The production does not water-down the strong misogynistic content of the text nor ameliorate Sarastro’s arrogance. It does however, as usual, side-step the problem of Monostatos no matter how well sung by Howard Kirk.

Damian Iorio’s conducting was fluid and persuasive even from Plymouth’s deep pit – splendid for Verdi but a bit too cave-like for Mozart.

 

 

 

Battle Choral Society: Messiah

St Mary’s, Battle, 6 April 2019

Messiah has undergone a vast rethink over the last half century, from monumental performances under Sir Malcolm Sargent to original instrument, pared-down editions of exceptional lightness and speed.

 

What is a local choir to do when approaching a work at once so familiar and yet so challenging? John Langridge, directing Battle Choral Society, seems to have gone for a mean average, taking the strengths from a range of approaches and moulding them into an enjoyable whole. To take the most recent thinking first. Although there was no harpsichordist on the day, Nigel Howard’s exemplary organ continuo set a tone for early-music style which was engaging and entirely appropriate. We could hear the continual gently ornamented accompaniment which mirrored that of the soloists and enhanced their own readings. His playing brought a freshness and vitality to tempi which were often on the slow side.

The four soloists, of whom tenor Gary Marriott came the closest to any real Georgian sensitivity, used ornaments freely and with obvious enthusiasm. Their voices carried easily in the warm acoustic of St Mary’s church though it was a pity they were positioned so far to the north side that many of the audience would not have been able to see them.

The choral singing became more confident as the evening progressed, with the triple chorus – Surely / And with his stripes / All we like sheep – finding them at their most positive. They coped very well with Worthy is the Lamb and gave us a rousing Amen. Here they were aided by the splendid trumpet playing of Andrew Baxter and Dean Pelling as well as timpanist John Davies.

As noted, tempi throughout tended to be on the slow side though bass Michael White’s For behold, darkness was surprisingly fast and there were occasional hints of the dance rhythms which actually underpin Handel’s score. Once you have heard the Pifa – the pastoral symphony – played at dance-speed underpinned as if by a hurdy-gurdy you can never hear it any other way!

The next concert will be Bach’s t Matthew Passion on 19 October 2019. Two orchestras, three choirs plus soloists – we look forward in expectation.

Brian Hick

 

Hastings Philharmonic: Carmina Burana

St Mary in the Castle, Hastings, Saturday 6 April 2019

In many ways the hero and heroine of this concert were Francis Rayne and Stephanie Gurga on piano. Not only did they perform Brahms’s sonata for two pianos in F minor op 34b – an unusual outing – with tender intelligence in the first half but they gave us energetic accompaniment to Carl Orff’s best known work after the interval.

This Carmina Burana used the Willhelm Killmayer concert version (authorised by Orff) scored for two pianos and sic percussionists. It must be great fun do because the scoring is very imaginative and it’s good to see percussion to the fore. The six players here, several of them very young, did a fine and precise job.

And so to the choir. Carmina Burana is a very challenging and long sing but the energy held up pretty well. Marcio da Silva – a conductor who mouths every word – has an unusual style carving visual shapes with his hands but he brings the best out in the singers most of the time with remarkably few wobbly moments considering the demands of the piece. What with all those unfamiliar words (we’re obviously a long way from the comfort zone of the usual masses and magnificats here), cross rhythms and syncopation this is not, simple as it sounds in places, a work for the chorally faint hearted.

High spots included the vibrant sound in the opening and closing choruses, the very rich confident alto work in the exposed section of Primo vere and slow section of Swaz hie gat umbe and the well handled shift into 3|4 time for Floret silva.

There was some lovely solo singing – full of colour and character – from Ricardo Panela although he struggles for those cruel falsetto notes and ducked out of one top G altogether. Ellen Williams, the soprano soloist, has an ethereally sweet voice which worked well here to connote innocence especially in Dulcissime.

St Mary in the Castle, which I was visiting for the first time, has a terrific acoustic and it’s a credit to Hastings Borough Council which originally facilitated the rebirth of this attractive Grade 2* listed building as an arts venue. Today, however, it has no council funding and certainly needs more care and investment. My plus 1 is disabled and I reckon that the venue’s two person lift, which wasn’t working at all at the beginning of the evening, is the slowest in Sussex. The loos aren’t great either. Venues like this are too valuable to the community to be put at risk.

Susan Elkin