Scottish Opera, 22/02/2022
Britten : A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford
Dominic Hill's setting for his new production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream is a bit disconcerting initially; the first thing you notice is that it's snowing. The second thing is that there's virtually nothing of nature about. The set is a recessed, glass-cased, framed box of a room, which in the opening scene looks like the morning after a stag party. The fairies run in like a bunch of Dickensian urchins, with matted locks grey with ash. Tytania and Oberon are not much better, less ragged, but equally ash-streaked. I think we were lucky that the love-inducing herb, and its antidote, were actually flowers.
Yet Hill made it work for the piece. The room allowed comings and goings through side-doors that had distinct undertones of French farce, and the snow, of course, was quickly explained, since the quarrel between Tytania and Oberon has upset the seasons. There is, perhaps, an idea that we are only seeing through the dreams of the Athenians. Although the Rustics appear in normal daywear, the Athenians lovers mostly appear in nightwear, and get scruffier and dirtier as the evening proceeds, until they clean up for the final wedding. The floating beds perhaps inevitably raised echoes of Robert Carsen's much-travelled production, but only fleetingly. The Indian Boy, the source of the dispute, is a puppet here, with a visible handler, and in an interesting little twist, Hill has the Boy try to wake Tytania from her enchanted infatuation, fail, and presumably in consequence go voluntarily to Oberon. It's a good solution to one of the trickier points of the play. It's not a beautiful setting, nor, as mentioned, evocative of nature, but it feels human and fairly natural, and as such, it's quite effective, and the direction of actors is good, clear and clean.
Where the evening fell a little short was musically. It's not that there were any serious shortcomings on the vocal front. I'm not a fan of Lawrence Zazzo, he has a way of controlling his sound that I find creates surges and ebbs that, to me, undercut the pure flow of sound, and take away from that ethereal quality that Oberon should have, but he's certainly very comfortable with the role - as he should be, considering he's been singing it for over 25 years. Catriona Hewitson's Tytania, though, seemed a little too fragile, and lacked sensuality. The quartet of Athenians were nicely balanced, special mention for the bright Lysander of Elgan Llyr Thomas. The Rustics were entertaining, though I found them hard to understand occasionally, particularly Jamie MacDougall's Snout, but David Shipley's Bottom was excellent, and there was a bit of luxury casting of Jonathan Lemalu as Theseus.
No, the problem, unusually, was from the orchestra. Dream is one of Britten's most gorgeous scores, a glittering tapestry of sonic textures, incredibly evocative on every level. The opening cello glissandi should instantly transport you, a gentle yet disquieting slide into another world - it didn't happen. The playing was competent, certainly, but there was no magic, it was just an accompaniment, and that was very disappointing. I don't know if there was an element of first-night nerves, that kind of overcooking effect you can get because everyone's almost trying too hard to make sure everything goes right, but I never got that frisson of something eldritch, not even in the beautiful final ensemble. Theatrically, it was enjoyable, infinitely preferable to Olivia Fuchs's chilly, industrial neon-lit setting seen the last time Scottish Opera staged Dream. Musically, though, somebody forgot the stardust.
[Next : 25/02/2022]