St Mary-in-the-Castle, Hastings, Sunday 10 April 2016

As a critic one is normally faced with professional performances, amateur performances or a mix of the two. The Academy run by Marcio de Silva lies somewhere outside of these parameters. Singers are auditioned for a course which ensures them a solo part in a professional production but in effect they only get one go at it in public, as there is a separate cast for each of the two performances. What I enjoyed on Sunday may therefore be very different from what happened on Saturday, and any of the singers may have learned far more from the experience as a whole than simply appearing before an audience, as most of them have had considerable exposure before the public.

If this seems a lengthy preamble it is necessary to set the scene as the performances we encountered were, of necessity, a mixed bag. Elizabeth Reeves’ Marcellina and Wagner Moreira’ Basilio were both outstanding. The clarity of diction, in a very difficult acoustic, was exemplary and their characterisation subtle and effective. I was glad that Marcellina’s Act 4 aria was included and a little saddened that Basilio’s was cut – though I realise this still tends to be standard practice.

Zsuzsa Zseni was a lively Cherubino with a voice to match, her two arias at correct tempi for a young man bursting with energy. Ricardo Panela’s Almaviva was more complex. Though he obviously can’t sing the part in The Barber of Seville his characterisation was far closer to Rossini than to Mozart. He often seemed ill at ease, though his singing was pleasing and his ensemble work fine. There was never any real sense of menace here or of dangerous authority which is needed if we are to believe that he really does have total autocratic power. Roxana Nite’s Countess was suitably subdued and her two arias brought us introspective insights into her past history, with much beautiful phrasing.

Judith Charron sang Barbarina’s only aria with real pathos, though for much of the rest of the evening she seemed over-excited. Figaro and Susanna – Gheorghe Palcu and Julia Cubo – were well matched dramatically but neither were quite right vocally. This is not a criticism of their individual voices, more that the parts did not really suite them. Neither brought the clarity of diction we need in the recitatives, and the arias, while pleasantly sung, never really hit the spot. Only Susanna’s Deh vieni non tardar in the fourth act finally started to move us.

There was nothing in the programme to indicate who had provided the orchestral arrangement which was convincing throughout. A string quintet plus two clarinets – an odd combination – but one that proved to be absolutely right for the acoustic in St Mary’s. When one added to this the splendid harpsichord continuo of Petra Hadjuchova – filling in the gaps with aplomb and linking scenes to avoid unnecessary applause – the orchestral side under Marcio de Silva was as near faultless as one could ask.

Jenny Miller’s production made much of the building and its potential, not only for a wide range of entrances but equally allowing us to see what other characters were doing while another was singing. This worked well and characterisation was clear and well-focused throughout. The empty picture frame provided a strong link between the settings, though bringing all the characters together at the end seemed a little too close to wish-fulfilment after all that has gone before.

This was a highly enjoyable evening, and one which was hopefully of benefit to all involved, not least the singers.