Past Production Reviews
5Matthew Richardson's 2011 production of Verdi's Rigoletto for Scottish Opera '“ revived now with new cast, new conductor and, unfortunately, the original uninspired designs of Jon Morrell '“ alludes to a central theme of women as men's playthings. And that's a fair point for an opera that had to undergo heavy censorship in Verdi's own day, lest its callous, misogynist message offend the accepted moralities of the time. Individually there are golden moments, especially from the two key females. Lina Johnson invests in the role of Gilda a radiant girlish innocence, her portrayal growing massively in stature and impact as her tragedy unfolds. Sioned Gwen Davies plays the cruel siren figure of Maddalena with a disturbing coldness that fuels the hideous chill and horror of the final act.
The Scottish Opera orchestra, under the baton of Derek Clark, delivers Sullivan’s exhilarating score with colourful, expressive gusto. It is, all-in-all, a marvellously no-holds-barred staging of an absolutely joyous comic opera.There is, in The Gondoliers, a few jokes at the expense of, Gilbert’s bugbear, the Joint Stock Companies Act of 1862 (whereby a large company, such as a major football club, to take an entirely random example, could declare itself bust, leaving creditors out of pocket, at very little personal expense to the major shareholders). There’s very much more on the subject in G&S’s lesser-known opera Utopia, Limited.Given a smart and engaging treatment here as a semi-staged concert (which plays at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh on November 5), the piece is an enjoyable comedy in which the Anglophile King of Utopia declares his country a “company limited”.As Ireland is joked about in parenthetical asides, Gilbert makes an interestingly modern observation. In his passion for all things British, the Utopian regent makes no distinction at all between “Englishness” and “Britishness”.
Scottish Opera uses colour and movement to conjure up a feast for the eyes and ears. Derek Clark sets a good pace for the numbers, a few faster than might be expected. The orchestral excellence was very much appreciated and it was nice that the audience of traditional theatregoers allowed the overture to run in absolute silence. The brilliant string playing by a large section was perhaps occasionally drowned by ‘delicately-modulated’ brass in vocal passages, but this did not affect the singing, which was magnificent throughout.
