RCS, 16/03/2022

Dove : Flight

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Orchestra

Matthew Khofi Waldren

Flight was originally scheduled for the first term of the 20/21 academic year.  A reduced orchestration already existed, very necessary for the RCS which, even under normal circumstances, could not fit the substantial forces Jonathan Dove's original score demands into the pit of the New Atheneum Theatre.  However, under sanitary regulations in force at the time, the Conservatoire approached Dove for another reduction, for 19 players, which was all they were legally allowed to accommodate, and he duly obliged.  Even that, though, had to be shelved, until now, when the Conservatoire was finally able to pick up the project once more, with an orchestra now standing at 32 players, and the original casts, even though some of the young singers have since graduated from the RCS.  

I was interested to hear how a reduced orchestration was going to compare to the full score, which I'd heard for the first time when Scottish Opera staged Flight in 2018.  In the event, the reduction was not particularly noticeable, partly due to the small size of the theatre, of course, and this had its positive and its negative effects.  It's an astonishingly beautiful score, coruscating with light, and a texture that shimmers with percussion (three players, including the timps), piano, celesta and harp.  However, it's also a very dense texture to sing through, and while the voices could almost always be heard, at least as part of the musical weave, the text frequently disappeared into the mix, making comprehension patchy.  Considering that April de Angelis's libretto is both interesting and witty, this is rather a pity, and surtitles would appear to be somewhat essential.

That said, this was an excellent performance all round, starting with the orchestra, conducted with unfailing energy and passion by Matthew Khofi Waldren.  Tom Paris's set had the concrete flying buttresses and curved structures common to 1970s airport design, immediately recognisable, and James Bonas's direction was clearly legible.  What was particularly interesting for me was how different the characters appeared compared to Stephen Barlow's production for Scottish Opera.  The Controller (Rosalind Dobson, coping well with the role's murderously high tessitura) was frankly bitchy here, short-tempered and jealously possessive, rather than aloof and a little inhuman.  Marie McLaughlin's Older Woman had been unfailingly optimistic; Wiktoria Wizner's was much more uncertain and depressive, and her much darker timbre, almost a true contralto, matched that well.  I don't recall the Scottish Opera Minskman too much, but Toki Hamano tonight came across very strongly, earnest and caring, with a good quality, warm baritone.  

Matt Paine was an ingratiating Refugee, constantly seeking allies, always saying what everyone wants to hear, until it's time for him to really speak his piece.  His last monologue, where you finally get his story, perhaps needed a little more edge to it, and here, of all places, one really needed to hear the text in full, and couldn't.  As the Refugee describes his appalling trip, stowed away in the wheel well of a plane, you absolutely know that he knows that his 'brother' (it's never clear whether his travelling companion was literally or figuratively his brother) has died, frozen and falling from the plane in flight, but he's not willing to admit it.  That degree of anguish wasn't quite there, but Paine was still a pleasure to hear.  

All of the rest of the cast was equally reliable, confident in their parts, invested vocally and physically, in a performance and production that had nothing to envy the Scottish Opera one of four years ago.  

[Next : 18th March]