It seems amazing that Covent Garden's production of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen is 20 year's old. Bill Bryden's production seemed fresh and charming when it was new and, remarkably, it has still preserved these qualities despite the fact that William Dudley's sets have rather a lot of moving parts.
Dudley's designs are highly mechanistic, but very evocative, and it can be argued that Bryden's production is a little too anthropomorphic (plus it relies a little too much on cute children). For me it contains one of the most memorable scenes in any staging of the opera, when the Spirit of the Vixen appears on a trapeze outlined against the moon and the starry sky.
The interest in this revival wasn't just that fact that it remains one of my all time favourite productions of the opera, but also that Sir Charles Mackerras was at the helm. His first time conducting the opera at Covent Garden. Despite apparent frailty (he stayed in the pit for the whole time and took his bow from there), his account of the opera was masterly, warm, transparent and vibrant.
The Forester was sung by Christopher Maltman with his characteristic charm and frankness. His final scene didn't quite reach the mystical element that I've experienced in other performances, but Maltman's warmth and directness were winning.
As the Vixen, Emma Matthew's displayed a spunky charm and worked very hard, but it cannot be denied that her voice was a size too small for the Covent Garden. There is always a tendency to cast the Vixen as a soprano with a slightly too small voice. But in this case, even Mackerras's sympathetic accompaniment couldn't disguise the problem.
Emma Bell was supposed to sing the Fox but she was ill so her place was gamely taken by Elisabeth Meister who turned in a fine performance, though her costume was hardly flattering. The remainder of the cast were all Covent Garden regulars with Jeremy White as the Badger and the Priest, Elizabeth Sikora as the Innkeeper's wife, Alasdair Elliot as the Innkeeper and Robin Leggate as the Mosquito and the Schoolmaster. Amazingly this was Leggate's 900th performance at Covent Garden. Matthew Rose made a welcome appearance as Harasta the Poacher.
The orchestra played finely under Mackerras's direction, making the orchestral interludes a delight to hear.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl...
-
Handel Suites de Pièces nos 1-4, 1720; Pierre Hantaï; Mirare Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 4 December 2020 Star rating: 5.0 (★★★★★)...
-
My top CD this year must be the world premiere recording of Ethel Smyth's late masterwork The Prison , an amazing discovery and a terrif...
-
Handel: Messiah - Academy of Ancient Music, Richard Egarr - Barbican (Photo Mark Allan/Barbican) On the day that it was announced that Londo...
-
Tippett: The Heart's Assurance - Tom Elwin, English Touring Opera The week leading up to Christmas Day got off to a great musical sta...
-
Haydn String Quartets Op.74 , Folk music from Scotland; Maxwell Quartet; Linn Records Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 31 December 2020...
-
Vincent Larderet (Photo Karis Kennedy) The French pianist Vincent Larderet 's most recent discs have involved the music of his countryme...
-
The Academy of London In 1991, conductor Richard Stamp and the Academy of London , the ensemble that he founded, recorded Richard Strauss &...
-
Aberdene 1662 , Songs from John Forbes' Songs and Fancies ; Maria Valdmaa, Mikko Perkola; ERP Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 11 J...
-
Puccini: Tosca - Kristján Jóhannsson, Claire Rutter - Icelandic Opera 2017 (Photo Johanna Olafsdottir) All is not happy in opera in the Lan...

No comments:
Post a comment