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Welsh
National Opera
The Magic Flute (Mozart)
Tosca (Puccini)
Katya Kabanova (Janacek)
Apollo
Theatre, 26th-30th June 2001
Strangely for a company
so brim-full of talent and imagination as Welsh National Opera, the
productions which they have brought on their summer tour represent
rather a mixed bag in terms of quality.
On the one hand, their Tosca is a sumptious feast for both the eyes
and the ears - an exhilarating triumph which had its audience roaring
in appreciation before the last chord had died away. If it weren't
for the very high quality of the singing, one would say that the production's
greatest strength is its sets: three gloriously imposing creations,
highly artistic and yet entirely evocative, which require extended
intervals for their installation but are well worth the wait. For
Act I, the hushed, towering, darkness of the church of Sant'Andrea
della Valle, broken only when the great wooden doors are flung open
to allow the Roman sun and the crowds of the pious to flood in; for
Act II, lowering grey walls preside over the menacing opulence of
Scarpia's apartments; as Act III progresses the sun rises imperceptibly
over battlements which seem to create more space than one had thought
existed on the Apollo stage. Uniting the three is the awesome statuary
- Christ in the church, a diabolical satyr in the chambers, then the
angel of justice for the denoument. Uniting the whole, too, is the
beautiful artistry of the staging, from the procession of gorgeously
attired priests to the silhouettes of the soldiers on the battlements
in the closing bars.
But the music is by no means secondary in this production; the cast,
far from being overshadowed by the grandeur of the set, feed on it
and complement it. Most importantly, the three main protagonists each
turn in truly memorable performances. Miranda van Kralingen is captivates
in the title role, with singing that is by turns passionately alluring
and powerfully defiant. Stephen O'Mara, though he rarely takes the
trouble to act in his role as her lover, has a voice of such majestic
power and expressiveness that this matters little. Peter Sidhom played
the part of the odious villain with obvous relish, and also sang with
exhilarating power and gravitas.
The WNO's Magic Flute, on the other hand, is a rarity for the company,
for it contrives to combine rather unimaginative staging with a less
than ideal cast; while the result is not uniformly bad, it is, at
best, uninspiring.
Göran Jävefelt's original conception for this production
was in effect an attempt to simplify the story - to strip away the
layers of Masonic imagery and mystery, and show The Magic Flute for
what, in his opinion, it is at heart: a representation of the passage
of youth to adulthood, and an encomium on human love. But while this
approach might make the piece more comfortably comprehensible, and
though it lends a pleasantly sentimental, idealistic air to the more
serious moments of the piece, in many ways it misses the point. The
overt misogyny and Masonic mystery of Magic Flute are what give the
opera its spice; an over-sanitized version like this - a version which
pretends not to notice that the forces of darkness are all women,
while the temple of light is staffed entirely by men - is always going
to be bland and unsatisfying.
There are some fine performances to savour. Christopher Purves combines
powerful singing, impressive stage presence and an infectious sense
of fun into a show-stealing performance as Papageno. Peter Wedd sings
beautifully, and negotiates the challenging role of Tamino with apparent
ease. Overall, however, the cast is let down by some uncharacteristically
weak performances. And Claron McFadden, though her negotiation of
most of the Queen of the Night's music showed her to be a highly accomplished
singer, does not have a top F; to cast someone in a role who clearly
does not have the equipment to sing it amounts to an insult to audiences.
The WNO's visit to Oxford also includes a new production of Janacek's
tale of adultery and guilt, Katya Kabanova.
Matthew Rogers, 27
/ 6 / 01
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