Wormsley, 19 June 2014
Summer festivals are an ideal time for rediscovering some of the cul-de-sacs of the operatic world and David Parry has unearthed a little gem in Offenbach’s Vert-Vert. The complex plot involves a girls’ school, a set of unlikely dragoons and a dead parrot. Any thoughts of Monty Python are perfectly acceptable given the tortuous nature of the narrative and the fact that three of the four eloping couples are already married! All of this is set within a fairy tale convent and costumes straight out of conventional operetta – bright red dragoons and gently purple damsels.
At the heart of the evening is Robert Murray’s Valentin, an unworldly boy who grows up rather more quickly than Albert Herring but very much in the same way. Offenbach uses the conceit of his voice to make the change – Valentin is a fine tenor and, escaping from the convent, just happens to be snapped up by a world famous opera singer. This is one of the diversions which, while amusing, does not quite work. The opera singer, La Corilla, sung with great abandon by Naomi O’Connell, is the star of act two yet disappears from then on.
The one singer who does hold the evening together is Fflur Wyn’s radiant Mimi, florid of voice and pert of character and appearance. She drives the narrative forward, even in the most unlikely of circumstances, and gets her man in the end.
Of the large cast, Geoffrey Dolton impressed as Baladon, the dancing master, not only for his fleetness of foot and voice but his ability to turn cart-wheels at a moment’s notice – not many opera singers have this in their CV. The chorus, as so often at Garsington, were obviously thoroughly enjoying themselves and their joy was catching.
The opera has some memorable music. Mimi’s Vert-Vert’s surely not a child, Valentin’s The happy man who would remain and the lovely Summer Night sextet stand out, though there are rarely any dull moments. The problem, if there is one, is with the dinner interval which makes for a very long first half and a short, though effective, final act.
David Parry rediscovered the work some years ago and recorded it in French. This new version is given in his own very witty translation and it would be good to see this alongside the original. He has a flair for comedy which should be recognised alongside this many skills as a conductor.
