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Much ado about opera
Beatrice & Benedict Welsh National Opera Birmingham Hippodrome **** NOT many operas can boast a stand-up to
jolly things along but in Donald Maxwell as the tired and emotional (as
a newt) Somarone, Welsh National Opera has a comic character to savour. He has some classic and
even topical lines which would not go amiss in a comedy club indeed the
whole opera, sung in English, is a bit of fun, a lighthearted homage to
Shakespeare's Much Ado About
Nothing. Much of the libretto and
the large amounts of dialogue, by opera standards, could have come
straight from The Globe. Berlioz had a passion for Shakespeare and
literature but this is no Much Ado – The Musical. Berlioz takes just a
part of the Shakespeare comedy concentrating on the love-hate
relationship of Beatrice (Sara Fulgoni) and Benedict (Robin Tritschler)
with the other affair of the play, Hero (Laura Mitchell) and Claudio
(Gary Griffiths) already a done deed reduced to a footnote in the story.
They are getting married and that is it. There is no dark edge, no sinister plots to frame
Claudio or threats to his life and no idiot constable Dogberry to
provide the laughs. Instead we get Somarone who was added to prick
the pomposity of the 19th century musical establishment and
who now pokes a little fun at singers with lines such as “I was a singer
but I saw the light and became a musician” or when arranging his choir
he tells them if they are not sure what part they should sing: “If you
are blonde you are a soprano, if you can read music you are a mezzo.” When his orchestra – of two – appears and play
out of tune in different keys and tempos he declares they were not
playing from the same hymn sheet “but that is what you get in a
coalition!” which got one of the biggest laughs of the night.
We even had a cheeky reference to one of the
other operas in the Spring season. La Traviata, when we were told his
star soprano, Violetta, could not appear as “she was suffering
from a nasty cough in Paris” the result of "too many parties and running
off with a tenor”.
Meanwhile, back at the opera the tale opens with
the victorious army returning to Sicily where Hero awaits her Claudio to
be married. Which is all a bit of a blow for cousin Beatrice who declares that she will belong to no man and Claudio's fellow officer and professional bachelor Benedict who would rather die than be tied down in marriage - and thought Claudio was a fellow traveller. Just to prove their disdain for commitment
the pair spend all their time squabbling and expressing dislike for each
other. But lead by the army commander Don Pedro (Piotr
Lempa) the cast contrive to get the warring couple together by letting
each overhear that the other had expressed undying love for them. As the opera ends at the marriage of Hero
and Claudio we find Benedict and Beatrice finally expressing their love
– for that day at any rate – and ready to tie the knot in a flash, bang,
wallop finale with a wedding tableau picture. There are some interesting moments, such as a
chef having to prepare a pasta meal for 16 on stage – and it is genuine
hot food – and although there is nothing particularly memorable in the
music, nothing to hum on the way home or likely to turn up in the Pub
Quiz, it is pleasant and full of melody. The drawback seems to lie in the spoken dialogue,
not the stock in trade of opera singers, particularly in the language
and Elizabethan word play of Shakespeare, but then again you would not
expect the RSC to put on Tosca or La Traviata. Even if the RSC has been doing the dialogue
though it would still have broken the rhythm and slowed the action with
momentum lost. The result is somehow neither play nor opera but is
stranded on an island in between.
That is not to say that it is not an enjoyable
production though. Tritschler is a male chauvinist of a Benedict, all
bravado and bluster until cupid's arrow deals him a fatal blow and with
no great arias to display his talents has an easy tenor which fits the
part, Sara Fulgoni seems to be keeping her mezzo (she
obviously must be able to read music) in check, again with no great
opportunities to display her undoubted talent although her trio with
Hero and Hero's lady-in-waiting Ursula (Anna Burford) is a delight. It is 1994 since this production directed by
Elijah Moshinsky was first staged and the costume designs by Dona
Granaya and the beautiful set, the terrace of a Messina villa, by
Michael Yeargan looks as fresh and elegant as ever, A mention too for the lighting designed by Howard
Harrison and realised by Paul Woodfield which gives us realistic
sunlight, moonlight, evening lights from the villa and a gradual dawn. The WNO orchestra under Michael Hofstetter were,
as always, the extra cast member and set the tone for the evening with a
splendid overture, often played on its own as a concert piece. Despite misgivings about it falling between two
stools it is one of the most accessible of WNO's productions and
probably the easiest to follow – it's in English with a simple, one
thread plot after all. For operagoers it is a bit of lighthearted fun
while there is still enough there in a most enjoyable evening to
encourage newcomers to perhaps try something with a bit more meat on the
bone. Roger Clarke
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