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12“Throughout the opera (Kumar) is a towering presence, troubled but insistent, rising to raging vocal heights as the tragic denouement approaches.”
“José (portrayed by the excellent tenor Alok Kumar) remains a figure almost predestined to destructive and self-immolating desperation...and Kumar (is) superb throughout.”
Matthew Richardson's 2011 production of Verdi's Rigoletto for Scottish Opera '“ revived now with new cast, new conductor and, unfortunately, the original uninspired designs of Jon Morrell '“ alludes to a central theme of women as men's playthings. And that's a fair point for an opera that had to undergo heavy censorship in Verdi's own day, lest its callous, misogynist message offend the accepted moralities of the time. Individually there are golden moments, especially from the two key females. Lina Johnson invests in the role of Gilda a radiant girlish innocence, her portrayal growing massively in stature and impact as her tragedy unfolds. Sioned Gwen Davies plays the cruel siren figure of Maddalena with a disturbing coldness that fuels the hideous chill and horror of the final act.
Vannina Santoni est une magnifique Mimi. Avec sa grande voix lyrique au médium plein, aux graves solides et à l’aigu péremptoire, elle donne moins à voir la fragilité de l’héroïne qu’une sorte de dignité tragique transcendant la destinée de la cousette poitrinaire. Distribuer une soprano de ce type dans le rôle, c’est lui éviter d’emblée toute mièvrerie. Doté d’une voix solaire, le ténor arménien Liparit Avetisyan - pour Kévin Amiel initialement annoncé - aborde Rodolfo avec autant de facilité que de netteté, sans exagérer la corde sentimentale, et il négocie chaque phrase avec beaucoup de naturel. Bien que puissante et superbement projetée, la voix est capable de superbes demi-teintes dans les airs « Che gelida manina » ou « O Mimi tu piu non torni ». De son côté, le baryton russe Mikhaïl Timoshenko campe un Marcello à la fois lyrique et puissant, toujours soucieux de faire vivre un personnage complexe. La pétillante Marie Perbost joue Musetta avec beaucoup de chien, mais son éclat n’est pas seulement scénique, sa voix fraîche possédant toute souplesse et le brillant requis. Le Schaunard chaleureux d’Edwin Fardini et le Colline superlatif de Julien Véronèse (qui nous a accordé récemment une interview) complètent un quatuor de bohèmes particulièrement crédibles. Enfin, le Chœur et la Maîtrise maison font grande impression par leur tenue.
Scottish Opera’s Opera Highlights opens at Websters Theatre, Glasgow.
The Scottish Opera orchestra, under the baton of Derek Clark, delivers Sullivan’s exhilarating score with colourful, expressive gusto. It is, all-in-all, a marvellously no-holds-barred staging of an absolutely joyous comic opera.There is, in The Gondoliers, a few jokes at the expense of, Gilbert’s bugbear, the Joint Stock Companies Act of 1862 (whereby a large company, such as a major football club, to take an entirely random example, could declare itself bust, leaving creditors out of pocket, at very little personal expense to the major shareholders). There’s very much more on the subject in G&S’s lesser-known opera Utopia, Limited.Given a smart and engaging treatment here as a semi-staged concert (which plays at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh on November 5), the piece is an enjoyable comedy in which the Anglophile King of Utopia declares his country a “company limited”.As Ireland is joked about in parenthetical asides, Gilbert makes an interestingly modern observation. In his passion for all things British, the Utopian regent makes no distinction at all between “Englishness” and “Britishness”.
Scottish Opera uses colour and movement to conjure up a feast for the eyes and ears. Derek Clark sets a good pace for the numbers, a few faster than might be expected. The orchestral excellence was very much appreciated and it was nice that the audience of traditional theatregoers allowed the overture to run in absolute silence. The brilliant string playing by a large section was perhaps occasionally drowned by ‘delicately-modulated’ brass in vocal passages, but this did not affect the singing, which was magnificent throughout.
