Opera North

Review: Opera North – Fidelio at The Lowry

kristobel
Image courtesy of Opera North.

Reviewer: Daniel Shipman

Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

We can finally go back inside a theatre! After 15 months of not being able to attend any indoor performances, the atmosphere among the audience at Opera North’s Fidelio is one of anticipation. What the audience lacked in numbers (due to social distancing), it made up for in enthusiasm, with passionate applause as soon as the cast took to the stage.

What the audience lacked in numbers (due to social distancing), it made up for in enthusiasm

Rather than a fully-fledged opera with costuming and set, this was more of a concert performance. In order to maintain social distancing on stage as well as in the audience, the orchestra (under conductor Paul Daniel) were out of the pit and on the stage itself, which allowed for a rare opportunity to appreciate precisely where each strain of music originated from. Between this and the lack of visual distraction, it is so much easier to appreciate Beethoven’s score here, and allow yourself to be swept along with the music.

It is perhaps wise to focus more on the music than understanding the intricacies of the plot, which are pretty absurd at times. Broadly, it follows a woman called Leonore (Rachel Nicholls) who disguises herself as a man called Fidelio and takes up a job as a jailer’s assistant, in order to infiltrate the jail and free her imprisoned husband Florestan (Toby Spence).

The small cast of just seven primary performers are all wonderful to hear live

There are various other elements to the plot, such as a love triangle between another jailer, the jailer’s daughter, and ‘Fidelio’, but these seem strangely disconnected from the main plot and serve more as distractions than anything else. I imagine this is down to the lack of proper staging, which would perhaps have served to glue the whole thing together into a more cohesive whole. Nonetheless, the small cast of just seven primary performers are all wonderful to hear live and they tie in beautifully with the orchestra.

-Daniel Shipman

Opera North: Fidelio will next play at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham on 19 June 2021.

Review: Opera North’s Madama Butterfly at The Lowry, Salford

kristobel

© Opera North
© Opera North

Reviewer: Karen Clough
Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly tells a story of the marriage between American Navy Lieutenant Pinkerton (Merunas Vitulskis) and young geisha Cio-Cio-San (Anne Sophie Duprels), or Madama Butterfly, whilst he is based in Nagasaki in 1904. To Pinkerton, it’s a marriage of convenience; his purchased bride a temporary aesthetic addition whilst in Japan. To Cio-Cio-San, it’s a marriage of true and enduring love – she readily accepts the role of subservient and dedicated wife. Madama Butterfly is a tragedy full of inequality, exploitation and unrequited love, featuring cross-continent and cross-cultural disparities. Pinkerton, charmed by the novel beauty of his 15-year-old bride, is her ‘rescuer’ from life as a poor geisha. Rejected by her community, she commits to her ‘heroic’ Western husband, with a newfound sole purpose as his love and wife.

The audience follows Butterfly’s foreseeable abandonment, denial, naivety and pain in discomfort. She dutifully waits for Pinkerton, watching every ship come and go, for 3 long years. Her pain is softened by their son (Oliver Chambers) and the idyllic delusion that Pinkerton will come back to her. She is his wife and true love, after all? The audience dreads what they know is more likely – he returns, but not to her. Worse, he returns with his ‘proper’ American wife and Butterfly is the last to know. Vitsulkis’ performance as Pinkerton is particularly strong in the final scenes, where the consequences of his flippancy and meaning of Butterfly’s love become clear upon her suicide.

Duprels gives a wonderful performance as Madama Butterfly, evoking her character’s emotions in the audience through her remarkable voice and performance. In Act II, as she excitedly prepares for Pinkerton’s return, Duprels made me hopeful he loved her too, whilst I braced myself for the predictable disappointment. This includes a beautifully constructed scene (Tim Alberry, Peter Mumford, Maxine Braham) between Butterfly and her servant, Suzuki (fantastically portrayed by Ann Taylor), who despairs as she reluctantly helps Butterfly fill the home with petals.

The audience enjoyed robust vocal and acting performances, accompanied by a first-class orchestra (David Greed, Andrew Long, Martin Pickard), across the rest of the cast. Peter Savidge’s Sharpless and Joseph Shovelton’s Goro proved especially popular.

As a newcomer to Opera, I had doubts whether I would be able to follow the story, feel entertained or engaged by the style. Opera North declare an inclusive ethos and promote their work as accessible to all – with their informal approach, simplistic set design (Hildegard Bechtler) and helpful translation displays, I think they successfully achieve this. Madama Butterfly is a captivating and moving production, go and see it and prepare to enjoy it whether you’re an Opera veteran or novice. I suggest you take tissues!

-Karen Clough

 

REVIEW: Opera North’s Don Giovanni at The Lowry, Salford

kristobel

Don Giovanni at The Lowry, Salford
Opera North’s Don Giovanni
© Robert Workman

 

Upstaged Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of Mozart’s most prominent operas, Don Giovanni thrusts into The Lowry, Salford in a masterful retelling of the story of the lascivious Don Juan. Performed as part of Opera North’s Fatal Passions season, this opera seems more relevant than ever to a modern audience, especially in light of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations.

This legendary narrative follows the story of sleazy Don Giovanni, who defines himself by his ability to successfully seduce women. In this production, Don Giovanni is presented as a time-travelling love rat, who has the ability to travel to different eras to escape various awkward situations he manages to steer himself into. Following committing the murder of Il Commendatore, after forcefully trying to seduce his daughter, Donna Anna in the late 19th century – Don Giovanni flees the bloody scene and reappears once again in the 1950’s. Arriving in the midst of Masetto and Zerlina’s he once more causes a ruckus by making advances on the young bride. The sexual menace flees the scene and emerges in the present time 2018.

There are helpful surtitles, placed either side of the stage, to aid the audience in understanding Don Giovanni’s shift in temporality. Adding further depth to the narrative – it’s a clever device and signifies that Don Giovanni is incapable of changing his licentious ways.

William Dazeley’s Don Giovanni is twisted and cunning – I developed a real dislike for him and his antics. Don Giovanni travels with his resilient and faithful manservant, Leporello, played by John Savournin. The female performers really command in this performance – Jennifer Davis as Donna Anna and Elizabeth Atherton as Donna Elvira are both fascinating to listen to and watch. Kathryn Rudge shines as Zerlina – comically brilliant and flawless vocally as she performs a breathtaking aria while straddling her new husband.

Madeleine Boyd’s set and costume design is a real treat and frames the action perfectly. The use of puppetry and a portrait framing device adds further humour and breaks up the serious implications of Don Giovanni’s moral failure. All set to Mozart’s powerful and beautiful score,  Opera North’s Don Giovanni is a really entertaining night out for seasoned opera lovers or those, like me, who are new to the genre.

-Kristy Stott

Opera North’s Don Giovanni runs at The Lowry, Salford until Friday 9th March 2018.

REVIEW – Swanhunter (The Lowry)

kristobel

Adrian Dwyer as Lemminkäinen with ‘The Devil’s Horse’ © Richard Davenport
Adrian Dwyer as Lemminkäinen with ‘The Devil’s Horse’
© Richard Davenport



Date: 25 APRIL 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

THINGSTARS: 

Opera North are passionate about making opera that appeals to the whole family, for children to understand and enjoy just as much as the adults. In this production, Opera North have collaborated with The Wrong Crowd Theatre Company to bring the story of Swanhunter to life. Under the direction of Hannah Mulder, the story is masterfully told by the cast of six, in a simple but highly effective way. The tale is full to the brim with mystical beasts, spooky landscapes and other-worldly characters which heightens its appeal to older children, over the age of 7.

Four backpackers sit around a warm fire as they begin tell the story of the Swanhunter, this campfire tale eagerly becomes a re-enactment of the story of Lemminkainen’s quest to the North to find a wife. This frame story can’t claim to be the most original or inventive but, it is charming and a familiar setting for most of the audience.

During Lemminkainen’s (Adrian Dwyer) quest to find a wife he uses his voice to sing his way out of any trouble – overcoming growling dogs, the Devil’s Elk and the Devil’s Horse – however, will the final task of shooting the Swan (Suzanne Shakespear) that lives on Death’s river prove too much for him?

Ann Taylor as Mother ©Richard Davenport
Ann Taylor as Mother
©Richard Davenport

Luckily, he has cast a spell on a knife and stabbed it into his mother’s door – this knife will let his mother know if he gets into trouble. As with all children’s opera, we need a happy ending and so it is Lemminkainen’s mother, sung emotively by Ann Taylor, who comes to his rescue. Adrian Dwyer is strong and animated in the role of Lemminkainen, although maybe a little too mature for the role of the young man in search of a bride.

Rachael Canning’s clever puppetry and design uses the camper’s circle of tents to bring the narrative into full realisation. All framed by a simple backdrop of mountains, a tent becomes a body for the Devil’s Elk and two rucksacks become the bodies of two fraught snarling dogs.

Jonathan Dove’s music is beautiful, conducted by Justin Doyle, it moves through from the frightening low tones of death to the high piercing notes of the swan’s aria sung beautifully by Suzanne Shakespeare.

Running at around 70 minutes, Swanhunter is a fantastic opportunity for the whole family to experience opera together.

photo

“ I liked all of the puppets, especially the scary ones and the music was really creepy at the start which made me feel excited. I couldn’t believe how high the lady sang as she moved the swan around beautifully on the stage. I found the story really easy to follow because the cast always sang what was happening a few times so that I could understand.”

Thing 1 (age 9)

-Kristy Stott

Swanhunter continues its run at The Alnwick Playhouse on the 26th and 27th April before calling in at The Queen’s Hall, Hexham on the 29th and 30th April 2015. For more details on the tour please click here.