{"id":3687,"date":"2017-07-24T19:23:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T18:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=3687"},"modified":"2017-07-28T12:27:15","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T11:27:15","slug":"opera-holland-park-zaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=3687","title":{"rendered":"Opera Holland Park: Zaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

This accomplished revival of Leoncavallo\u2019s 1900 opera makes you wonder why it isn\u2019t performed more often. It was entirely new to me \u2013 hitherto my acquaintance with Leoncavallo stopped at Pagliacci<\/em>. I found it a piece full of harmonic lushness, imaginatively witty orchestration and a great deal of 3|4 and 6|8. It also has what musical theatre people call a strong \u201cbook\u201d. The words are by Leoncavallo too and they tell a powerful story of an actress with a past who falls deeply in love with a man she later discovers to be married. There is nothing remotely fantastical or fey about any of it. The composer\u2019s intention was to explore just how far the grittiness of real life could be presented through opera.<\/p>\n

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At the heart of this production, directed by Marie Lambert, is a stunning performance by Anne Sophie Duprels as Zaza. It\u2019s a massive role \u2013 and a plum part\u00a0 – and she is rarely off stage in two and a half hours. Looking like a young Imelda Staunton, Duprels finds warmth, passion, despair, affection, anguish, regret and much more. Her singing and acting are immaculately nuanced and sustained.<\/p>\n

As the two men in her life Joel Montero (tenor) as Milo and Richard Burkhard (baritone) as Cascart create triangular tension. Montero sings with charismatic appeal \u2013 the man (and we\u2019ve all met him!) who thinks he\u2019s entitled to have his cake and eat it regardless of anyone else\u2019s feelings. Burkhard\u2019s Cascart, former lover now friend, counsels, advises and supports her with gravitas and a pleasingly commanding voice.<\/p>\n

Among the support roles there\u2019s incisive work from Ellie Edmonds as the pregnant Natalia, Zaza\u2019s dresser and confidante. Louise Winter is both funny and mildly moving as Zaza\u2019s mother who also has a chequered past.<\/p>\n

Designing a set for Holland Park\u2019s very wide space must always be a challenge but Alyson Cummins has come up trumps for this production. In the first half of this four act opera Zaza\u2019s dressing room is centre stage while the stage right space gives us a sideways view of the comedy club show which proceeds continuously. Stage left is occupied by Natalia\u2019s costume store where she sits and knits (for the baby?) when she\u2019s not with Zaza and over it is a walkway meant to suggest the way in and out of the building. It\u2019s very ingenious use of space although the later boring, projected Eiffel Tower to suggest Paris looked as if the budget had run out after Acts 1 and 2.<\/p>\n

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City of London Sinfonia, meanwhile, does an enjoyable job under Peter Robinson\u2019s baton in Holland Park\u2019s shallow pit which means all players are on view and double bass scrolls sit four feet over the footlights. The advantage is acoustic, though. Orchestral detail is crystal clear \u2013 Deborah Davis\u2019s piccolo interjections for example, some delightfully evocative horn work and some pleasing solos from leader Gabrielle Painter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This accomplished revival of Leoncavallo\u2019s 1900 opera makes you wonder why it isn\u2019t performed more often. It was entirely new to me \u2013 hitherto my acquaintance with Leoncavallo stopped at Pagliacci. I found it a piece full of harmonic lushness, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3687"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3701,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions\/3701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}