Scottish Opera, 08/09/2020
Stuart Stratford
It has seemed like an eternity without seeing a live performance, without hearing live music performed directly, there in front of you, almost literally close enough to touch, if such a thing was allowed these days. Scottish Opera's breakthrough initiative, providing actual performances of Puccini's perennial favourite La bohème cannot be anything but welcome, and all the more so that there is real thought, commitment and passion in these performances, directed by Roxana Haines. What they have contrived here is not a solution that's going to work through the winter months - indeed, it's just about borderline even now, in early September - but it's a promise that solutions can be found, and that the company is working towards finding them.
These performances are being staged in the car park of Scottish Opera's workshop warehouse, not too far away from their primary home of the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. An open-sided marquee has been set up, with transport trailers, equally open-sided on two sides, serving as the sets for Acts 1/4 and 3, and a central, fake grass-covered platform for Act 2. All around the car park are set chairs, singles and pairs, and threes or fours set around tables, in such a way that it's immediately apparent that we, the audience, are also the customers of the Café Momus of Act 2. For, of course, there's no chorus, that's the most immediate victim of the necessary safety measures. This is a pared-down version of La bohème, originally prepared by Jonathan Dove for the Birmingham Opera Company, with a reduced orchestration (some 30 players), the chorus parts completely cut out, and the Benoit episode of Act 1 omitted, reducing the overall playing time to about 90 minutes, performed without interval. The orchestra itself plays from inside the warehouse, where they have the room to effect proper distancing, and the whole is passed through a soundboard and amplifier and broadcast through multiple speakers attached to the ceiling struts of the marquee.
The soundboard to make sure orchestra and singers are heard synchronised, the amplification was genuinely very necessary. The marquee's covering is sheets of stiff plastic overhead, but nothing at the sides, and there were two clear issues. Firstly, the performance takes place at 5 p.m. The warehouse sits less than 50 metres from a busy main road, and the noise of traffic at rush hour was very obvious. On top of that, although the temperature remained mild (thank goodness!), tonight was windy, and at times very windy, to the point the wind was catching at some of the microphones. I can only imagine what it would be like if it had been raining as well. So the amplification really was required. The downside was that any subtlety of dynamics was a bit lost, the singing, from everyone, tended to sound consistently loud regardless of whether it was meant to be or not. This was a little hard on the singers, who were clearly putting a lot of work into the expression, but it was getting somewhat lost in translation.
Speaking of translation, the company has also chosen to perform in English. Now, I had a problem with this. Despite the cast being wholly English-speaking, the text was not always completely clear, and when it was, sometimes the English-language adaptation was fine, but sometimes I just wanted to cringe and, frankly, I'd rather not understand some of the Italian of what is, after all, an extremely well-known work, than understand English that is either stressed in the wrong place because it doesn't fit the music, or is just plain naff.
That aside, however, there was much to enjoy in the singing. Elizabeth Llewellyn was a touching, creamy-voiced Mimì, with a warm throb to her timbre that was very appealing. Samuel Sakker was her Rodolfo, a good, bright tone with a suitably ringing top, but there's a touch of bleat to his singing that left me a little unhappy with him. Rhian Lois was a vibrant Musetta, her soprano a shade shrill at times, but a very strong presence, and there was real chemistry between her and Roland Wood's robust, full-toned Marcello. Arthur Bruce was a rather elegant Schaunard, and Colline was nicely delivered by David Ireland, though I usually prefer a darker bass voice in this role. Finally, because of the stripped down cast, Francis Church's Alcindoro came across rather more prominently than this character usually does, and he was very funny.
I'm not sure quite how the singers were getting their cues from Stratford, because he was effectively standing behind them - although the orchestra was out of sight, the conductor was visible in the doorway of the warehouse. I did see a couple of screens, but there must have been more; at any rate, the cohesion of the ensemble was excellent on the whole. Once or twice the tempo was markedly on the slow side, but overall, Stratford ran a tight ship and there were no audible issues coming from a socially distanced orchestra that was certainly performing well up to par.
[Next : 26th September]