Scottish Opera, 03/03/2024

The French Collection -  Extracts from operas by Chabrier, Massenet, Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Gounod and Delibes

Alexandra Lowe, soprano

Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano

Alok Kumar, tenor

Roland Wood, baritone

Orchestra of Scottish Opera

Stuart Stratford

Concerts of 'bleeding chunks' - Wagner or other - are not usually my thing, but I have to admit this was a particularly enticing collection from some of my favourite operas, and with a very attractive line-up of soloists.  It was also a very nicely balanced programme, an orchestral excerpt to open each half, then a significant extract featuring several of the soloists, and lastly a duet.  The only voice not to get a solo number as part of the proceedings was the baritone, but for all that the programme looked short-ish on paper, in concert it was a well-filled 90 minutes, plus interval.  

Stuart Stratford and the orchestra opened in festive mood with Chabrier's Fëte polonaise, an orchestral bonbon concocted from music written for his light opera Le roi malgré lui.  It opens with a brass fanfare, which trumpets and trombones were enjoying, but which revealed the besetting defect of the afternoon.  The concert was held in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.  I've not heard them play here before, and wonder if they have, because I think the acoustic favoured the brass too much, and they hadn't adjusted to it fully, so they tended to be a little overpowering.  That aside, however, there was plenty of verve to the performance and it was a nice upbeat opening to contrast with Massenet's brooding Werther, which followed.  

We were given a large part of Act 3.  Personally, I would have included all of the Charlotte/Werther duet, even after "Pourquoi me réveiller", but there is no other point at which the orchestra really comes to a full stop after that, so I can see why Stratford opted to end it after the tenor aria.  It began, of course, with Charlotte's immense Letter Scene, and Catriona Morison, who has had this role under her belt for a few seasons now, gave a sober, taut reading.  She did, however, somewhat upstage herself with "Va, laisse couler mes larmes", which could have wrung tears from a stone.  In between those two numbers, Alexandra Lowe was a bright and charming Sophie (even if her choice of footwear was frankly peculiar), while Alok Kumar confirmed the good impression he made as Don José last season.  His French is good, there is a slight tendency to bleat occasionally, which should be stamped out and, I think, could be, the vocal quality is pleasing and he showed a good dynamic range, which he carried into the famous Pearl Fishers duet.

The second half began with the Bacchanale from Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila, which was nicely paced, Ruari Donaldson had a real heart-pounding, foot-stamping, tribal beat to the timpani for the start of the last section, and sounded like he was enjoying himself immensely.  Then came most of Act 3 from Gounod's Faust, the Garden Scene, which includes Faust's "Salut, demeure chaste et pure" and Marguerite's Jewel Song.  Roland Wood, singing Mephistopheles, was a late replacement for an indisposed Callum Thorpe, and if he had been able to sing the Bizet from memory, it was a different matter here, he required the score, which kept him somewhat immobile on the platform.  This was a bit of a pity; Wood is a good actor, and the blend of comic and sinister required for this part is right up his street.  Still, he did what he could, adding a scarlet tie and pocket handkerchief to his black suit and shirt.  The voice is a little light for the part, as Mephisto is a bass role, and Wood is more a baritone, and the demonic laugh at the end could have been a bit more pronounced, but the sneering condescension as he puts Faust back on the track of seduction was nicely calculated.  He and Morison played off against each other well - at this stage in her career, she's really somewhat better suited to young Siébel than the matronly Marthe, but she made the most of it, and played the cougar with glee.

Kumar handled the Cavatina well, the top C with just a little head voice in so he could take it very softly, as marked, and not hung on to for too long.  Lowe brought the same freshness as earlier to Marguerite, the Ballad suitably melancholy, while the Jewel Song was effortless and girlish.  Best of all, though, their duet was sweetly lyrical, tender and tentative in the right way, and a real pleasure to hear.  Combined with the magnificent sweep of the orchestra in that final passage, expressing everything that could not, in those days, be decently put into words, or even song, one can only wonder why, when the musical resources are clearly available, the company has not staged this opera since 1966.  

Officially, that was the end of the concert, but since the gentlemen had had their moment earlier, it was only logical the ladies should have theirs, with the female equivalent, the Flower Duet from Lakmé.  Lowe and Morison's voices entwined headily, well attuned to each other and with the orchestra, and more than one audience member could be heard humming the tune as they left the hall.  

[Next : 9th March]