Welsh National Opera |
| Welsh National Opera- Nabucco , Wales Millennium Centre , June 1, 2014 |
The lesson of this season of co-productions with Stuttgart Opera is that the home city of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz might design wonderful cars but their Moses und Aron and now Nabucco should have stayed in the garage. I can only assume that this production that cut out virtually everything that would have been visually interesting and probably expensive to stage was also cheap as (please don’t laugh) WNO tightens its financial belt. Thus the cringe-making recorded announcement from WNO boss David Pountney asking for more money from the audience. So what are we offered up this time? Well, I did not know Nabucco could be played for laughs. I have obviously been missing something all these years. The second lesson of the night that is when you have a stunningly good actor-singer in a leading role an entire production comes alive. The opera might be called Nabucco but as soon as American soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams began to sing her glorious voice and irresistible stage presence made it clear this was Abigaille’s party. What a party director Rudolf Frey and his set designer Ben Baur and costume designers Silke Willrett and Marc Weeger have thrown for Abigaille, Nabucco’s ambitious daughter. Okay so when the production team made their curtain call there were shouts of rubbish but it was jolly entertaining. The show was as camp as Christmas with the lead characters appearing in costumes that gave a fancy-dress prom feel as the chorus wandered around in a dishevelled state. In the second half of the show, gold curtains enclosed what had been a black box for Jerusalem, to convey the Babylonians. The set now has a table on an odd platform that rises and falls and moves back and forward. Well, that is the production dealt with apart from mentioning Nabucco firing a gun causing a shower of gold to flutter down and Abigaille’s retinue sporting black feathers and giving us a bit of a Busby Berkeley and everyone putting on a Michael Jackson white glove. Camp indeed. Fortunately, Mary Elizabeth Williams, the principals, the chorus (immune to whatever stage direction nonsense is required of them) and a marvellous orchestra conducted with vibrancy and passion by Xian Zhang, rose above it all. Ismaele was beautifully sung by Ceredigion-born Robin Lyn Evans. He might have been made to look and act like a nerdy college boy but his voice was gorgeous and we should demand to hear more of him with this opera company. Justina Gringyte sang a feisty Fenena, Abigaille’s love and power rival, and once she had shed her Baby Spice look in the Jerusalem panto scene she grew into the role magnificently. David Kempster as Nabucco was dramatically sound and vocally secure. He too benefitted from getting out of his banana republic uniform and his Peter Stringfellow hair didn’t jar so much when we could focus on his singing. Completing our silly costume role call was Kevin Short as Zaccaria sporting a pair of MC Hammer baggy trousers as he taught the chorus what resembled a dance routine from the 1990s band Steps. Again, fortunately, his sonorous deep voice gave him the gravitas for the role. Mary Elizabeth Williams got away lightly with hair and clothes like Heather Small from M People, okay so I got carried away with the Stars in their Eyes feel of the show. But it was that kind of a show. Her voice displayed the breadth and strength required for this killer of a role and she delivered the range of sound that was neither forced nor strained, a lovely and notable performance. A musically majestic evening dressed up in a hoot of a daft production. Go and enjoy some fine signing, excellent conducting and playing and have a bit of a giggle. Further performances at WMC June 8, 12, 14 |
Reviewed by: Mike Smith |
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