Scottish Opera / NOS, 21/02/2025
Lust & Laughter
Humperdinck - Verdi - Massenet - Weber - Mozart - Nicolai - Saint-Georges - Mascagni
National Opera Studio
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford
The National Opera Studio works in residencies all around the country, appearing with different opera companies depending on the season. It's been seven years since I last saw them with Scottish Opera, and the idea was similar, a semi-staged concert of operatic scenes around a basic theme. It is certainly nice to get good chunks of the various operas, not just disparate arias, but we were in slightly more familiar territory this year, with 18th and 19th Century operas in Italian, French and German. That said, somewhat to my surprise, of the three German-language excerpts, two were performed in English, and I can't imagine why. There were surtitles available for everything.
The quality was somewhat variable. After a charming opening scene from Hänsel und Gretel, the most serious number was the Act 1 Elvira - Don Carlo duet from Ernani, continuing into the trio with the addition of the title role. This was very much dominated by the baritone Egor Sergeev, with a resonant, slightly dry timbre, but a quite distinctive Eastern European flavour to his tone - you couldn't mistake him for anything other than Russian, at least for now. Rachel McLean was a respectable Elvira, but Luvo Maranti's Ernani was distinctly underwhelming. Maybe I wasn't seated in the ideal spot for the theatre's acoustics, but it was a struggle to hear him over the orchestra.
The Act 2 duet between Cinderella and Prince Charming, from Massenet's opera, introduced us to Ana-Carmen Balestra, who made consistently the best impression throughout the concert. Her Cendrillon was delightfully judged, touching and tender, and Sarah Winn's Prince was smitten with good reason. Maranti fared somewhat better as Max in the Act 2 extract from Der Freischütz, but director Emma Jenkin's ideas ran away with her at this point; she had Sergeev, who is a tall, lanky figure effortlessly able to look sinister, hanging around constantly (though without a note to sing) as Kaspar/Samiel, pulling Max's strings. It was unnecessary, and a distraction. Making Agathe that petulant towards the end also seemed inappropriate, and sat ill with Olivia Rose Tringham's overall performance.
Sergeev reappeared as Così fan tutte's Don Alfonso, playing nicely of Balestra's pert Despina, and Emyr Lloyd-Jones (Ferrando) and Aleksander Kaczuk-Jagielnik (Guglielmo) raised a laugh coming on with a distinct look of the Blues Brothers about them. However, when Moloko Letsoalo (Fiordiligi) and Nancy Holt (Dorabella) joined them, the ensemble lost control of Mozart's precision articulation, and the sextet turned somewhat messy.
We were in much less familiar territory with the remaining numbers. Rachel McLean got a better chance to show her talent as Frau Fluth (Mistress Ford) in the opening duet from Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor. Apart from the Overture, and the "Moonrise" chorus of the last act, this piece isn't very well known outside Germany, and it has to be admitted that Verdi treated the same subject a great deal better. Nevertheless, the music which, based on this sample, is a kind of German belcanto, is appealing, especially given the polished and entertaining performances from McLean and Sarah Winn as Frau Reich (Mistress Page), scandalised at receiving identical propositions from Falstaff, and plotting revenge.
The next piece was an extract from L'amant anonyme, by Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges. Saint-Georges wrote six opéra-comique works, of which L'amant anonyme is the only one to survive complete, and the duet and trio performed here comes in the middle of the second act. Léontine, a young widow, has been receiving declarations from an anonymous suitor, and has been confiding her mixed emotions to her friend Valcour, unaware that he is the anonymous admirer. A mutual friend, Ophémon, encourages Valcour to reveal his sentiments, which are well-received. Again, Jenkins's direction was overly jokey, in my opinion. From what I have read of the piece, Léontine does indeed display very volatile emotions throughout, but in this short extract, she seemed almost bipolar, blowing hot and cold, while Valcour, far from being a hesitant suitor, appeared blatantly lecherous. That aside, however, Balestra and Lloyd-Jones both gave bright, persuasive performances.
Finally, we were in territory for which conductor Stuart Stratford has previously demonstrated particular affection, Mascagni, and what is probably his next most popular opera after Cavalleria rusticana, L'amico Fritz. From this, we heard the final scene, when Fritz finally admits to, and reveals his feelings to Suzel, and the subsequent (and rare, for Mascagni) happy end. In a short extract like this, all the subtleties are missing; that Fritz is more than twice Suzel's age, or the importance of the gift of the vineyard to Suzel at the end, because it makes her a landowner, and no longer a tenant, and therefore socially more Fritz's equal, but in any case, Mascagni's libretto fudges much of what makes the original L'ami Fritz so particular in the first place. Maranti certainly made a better impression here than in either of this two previous appearances, though the issue of power was still a concern, but Mascagni's orchestration was more flattering to his voice, leaving space for it. Tringham too made a stronger impression here, with a big, lyrical sound well suited to this repertory, and there was an even greater degree of sympathetic support from the orchestra than previously in the concert.
These young artists are supposed to be the rising stars of tomorrow, and indeed, I think I will be happy to hear all of them in the years to come. However, it is Balestra who bears the closest watching, as the most versatile and compelling of the group.
[Next : 6th March]